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Baptist
Church
Baptist
churches are part of a Christian movement often regarded
as an evangelical, protestant denomination. Baptists emphasize
a believer's baptism by full immersion, which is performed
after a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior. A congregational governance system gives autonomy
to individual local Baptist churches, which are sometimes
associated in organizations such as the Southern Baptist
Convention. Historically, Baptists have also played a key
role in the idea of separation of church and state. In the
late 1990s, there were about 43 million Baptists worldwide
with about 33 million in the United States.
Beliefs
Baptist churches do not have a central governing authority,
resulting in a wide range of beliefs from one Baptist church
to another. However, Baptist distinctives are beliefs that
are common to all Baptist churches. Some of these distinctives
are shared with almost all other post-reformational churches
while other distinctives are only shared with a few.
Baptist distinctives acronym
This acronym is used by some Baptist churches as a summary
of the distinctives or distinguishing beliefs of Baptists.
Biblical
authority
Autonomy
of the local church
Priesthood
of the believer
Two
ordinances (Believer's Baptism and Communion)
Individual
soul liberty
Separation
of Church and State
Two
offices of the church (Pastor and Deacon)
Believer's baptism
Believer's baptism is an ordinance performed after a person
professes Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and is symbolic
of the cleansing or remission of their sins. In the Baptist
demonination, baptism plays no role in salvation and is
simply an outward expression of the inward change that has
already taken place. Baptists emphasize baptism by full
immersion, which follows the method used by John the Baptist.
This usually consists of lowering the candidate in water
backwards, while a pastor invokes the Trinitarian formula
of Matthew 28:19. This mode of baptism is also preferred
for its parallel imagery to the death, burial, and resurrection
of Jesus. A few Baptist churches allow for baptism by sprinkling
as an alternative mode for the disabled or elderly. Most
Baptist churches will recognize baptisms performed in other
orthodox Christian churches that were not performed on infants.
Baptism is also seen as a public identification of the person
with Christianity and that particular church and is often
used as a criterion for membership in Baptist churches.
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Through
the influence of Anabaptist teachings, Baptists reject the
practice of infant baptism or pedobaptism because they believe
parents cannot make a decision of salvation for an infant.
Only a person who has reached an "Age of accountability"
is eligible for baptism. This is not a specific age, but
rather the age at which God determines that person is accountable
for their sins. Jesus began to visibly do the work of God
at the age of 12 and somewhere around there is the typical
"Age of Accountability". Children and other people
who are not mentally or emotionally capable of discerning
their sins are not held accountable for their sins and are
considered to be in a state of grace. All Baptists practice
believer's baptism, but some do not hold the concept of
an "Age of Accountability".
Most
Anabaptist, Pentecostal, Restorationist and non-denominational
churches share a similar understanding of baptism.
Congregationalism
Congregationalist church governance gives autonomy to individual
local churches in areas of policy, polity and doctrine.
Baptist churches are not under the direct administrative
control of any other body, such as a national council, or
a leader such as a bishop or pope. Administration, leadership
and doctrine are decided democratically by the lay members
of each individual church, which accounts for the variation
of beliefs from one Baptist church to another.
John
Wyclif and the Lollards who followed him and Huldrych Zwingli
were strong influences in the early development of the idea
of congregationalism. In a manner typical of other congregationalists,
many cooperative associations of Baptists have arisen. The
largest of these in the United States is the Southern Baptist
Convention. The second largest is the National Baptist Convention,
USA, Inc., which is also America's second largest predominantly
African-American denomination. There are hundreds of Baptist
conventions and many Baptist churches do not fall into any
of them. In addition, there are sometimes very strong disputes
even within conventions, which are often divided between
Christian fundamentalists and moderates.
Other
congregationalist churches include Anabaptists, Pentecostal,
Congregationalist Churches, the United Church of Christ
and many non-denominational churches.
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Separation of Church and State
Baptists have played an important role in the struggle for
freedom of religion and separation of church and state in
England, the United States, and other countries, including
many who were imprisoned and even died for their faith.
Some important figures in this struggle were John Smyth,
Thomas Helwys, Edward Wightman, Leonard Busher, Roger Williams
(who was a Baptist for a short period but became a seeker),
John Clarke, Isaac Backus, and John Leland.
In 1612
John Smyth wrote, "the magistrate is not by virtue
of his office to meddle with religion, or matters of conscience".
That same year, Thomas Helwys wrote that the King of England
could "comaund what of man he will, and wee are to
obey it," but concerning the church -- "with this
Kingdom, our lord the King hath nothing to do." In
1614, Leonard Busher wrote what is believed to be the earliest
Baptist treatise dealing exclusively with the subject of
religious liberty.
Baptists
were influential in the formation of the first civil government
based on the separation of church and state in what is now
Rhode Island. Anabaptists and Quakers also share a strong
history in the development of separation of church and state.
The
Danbury Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut sent
a letter, dated October 7, 1801, to the newly elected President
Thomas Jefferson, expressing concern over the lack in their
state constitution of explicit protection of religious liberty,
and against government establishment of religion. As a religious
minority in Connecticut, the Danbury Baptists were concerned
that a religious majority might "reproach their chief
Magistrate... because he will not, dare not assume the prerogatives
of Jehovah and make Laws to govern the Kingdom of Christ,"
thus establishing a state religion at the cost of the liberties
of religious minorities. In their letter to the President,
the Danbury Baptists also affirmed that "Our Sentiments
are uniformly on the side of Religious Liberty — That
Religion is at all times and places a matter between God
and individuals — That no man ought to suffer in name,
person, or effects on account of his religious Opinions
- That the legitimate Power of civil government extends
no further than to punish the man who works ill to his neighbor..."
[1] (http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/dba_jefferson.html)
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Thomas
Jefferson's response, dated January 1, 1802, concurs with
the Danbury Baptists' views on religious liberty, and the
accompanying separation of civil government from concerns
of religious doctrine and practice. Quoting the First Amendment
of the United States Constitution, he writes: "...I
contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole
American people which declared that their legislature should
'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a
wall of separation between Church & State." [2]
(http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html)
While
there is a general belief that the state should not decide
what the church can believe and should not prohibit the
practice of religion, Baptists do disagree among themselves
as to the degree to which the church should influence the
state and what exactly constitutes state prohibition of
religion. These disagreements manifest themselves in issues
such as whether the state should restrict gambling, the
purchase of alcohol, and abortion and the question of whether
the prohibition of state-sanctioned public prayer in public
schools in the United States is an example of prohibition
of religion. Many conservative Baptists oppose gambling,
alcohol, tobacco, and some even prohibit dancing and movies.
Especially in areas where Southern Baptists form a majority
of the population, the denomination has been successful
in imposing its values on the general population –
"dry counties" in the South or the ban on music
and dancing in the film Footloose) are examples.
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Biblical
authority
Authority of the Scriptures or sola scriptura states that
the Bible is the only authoritative source of God's truth
and any view that cannot be directly tied to a scriptural
reference is generally considered to be based on human traditions
rather than God's leading. Each person is responsible before
God for his or her own understanding of the bible and is
encouraged to work out their own salvation with fear and
trembling.
Biblical
inerrancy is also a common position held by Baptists in
addition to literal interpretations of the bible and fundamentalist
theologies. However, because of the variety allowed under
congregational governance, many Baptist churches are neither
literalist nor fundamentalist, although most do believe
in biblical inerrancy. Even though it is only the Bible
that is authoritative, Baptists also cite other works as
illustrative of doctrine. One work which is commonly read
by Baptists is the allegory Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.
This is a position shared by almost all post-Reformation
Christian groups, with only a few exceptions (such as Quakers).
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Priesthood
of all believers
The Baptist position of the priesthood of believers is one
column that upholds their belief in religious liberty. Priesthood
of all believers removes the hierarchical layers of priests,
traditions and authority so that all Christians have equal
access to God's revelation of truth through the careful
study of the Bible. This is a position shared by all post-reformational
Christian groups.
Justification by faith
Justification by faith or sola fide states that it is by
faith alone that we receive salvation and not through any
works of our own. Baptists have a strong emphasis on the
concept of salvation. Baptist theology teaches that humans
have been contaminated by the sin of Adam and Eve's rebellion
against God and that for this sin we are condemned to damnation.
The theology holds that Christ died on the cross to give
humans the promise of everlasting life, but that this requires
that each individual accept Christ into his life and ask
for forgiveness. Nevertheless, the Baptist view of soteriology
runs the gamut from Calvinism to Arminianism. Justification
by faith is a position shared by all post-reformational
Christian groups.
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Beliefs that vary among Baptists
Because of the congregational style of church governance
on doctrine, doctrine on the following issues often varies
greatly between one Baptist church and another.
doctrine
of separation
Calvinism/Arminianism
the nature of Law and Gospel
the ordination of women
homosexuality
Eschatology
Baptists generally believe in the literal Second Coming
of Christ at which time God will sit in judgment and divide
humanity between the saved and the lost (the Great White
Throne judgment Book of Revelation 20:11) and Christ will
sit in judgment of the believers (the Judgment Seat of Christ
Second Epistle to the Corinthians 5:10), rewarding them
for things done while alive. Amillennialism, dispensationalism,
and historic premillennialism stand as the main eschatological
views of Baptists, with views such as postmillennialism
and preterism receiving only scant support.
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Comparisons with other denominations
Baptists share certain emphases with other groups such as
evangelism and missions. While the general flavor of any
denomination changes from city to city, this aspect of Baptist
churches is much more prominent than in most Episcopal,
Lutheran and Presbyterian churches.
The
Pacifism of the Anabaptists and the Quakers is not an ideal
held by most Baptists. The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North
America was organized in 1984 to promote peace, justice,
and non-violence, but it does not speak for all Baptists
that accept the ideal of pacifism.
Origins
There are several views about the origins of Baptists within
the Baptist church.
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Landmarkism
Landmarkism is the belief that Baptist churches and traditions
have preceded the Catholic Church and have been around since
the time of John the Baptist and Christ. Proponents believe
that Baptist traditions have been passed down through a
succession of visible congregations of Christians that were
Baptist in doctrine and practice, but not necessarily in
name.
This
succession grants Baptist churches the status of being unstained
and separate from what they see as the corruptions of Catholicism
and other denominations. It also allows for the view that
Baptists predate the Catholic church and is therefore not
part of the reformation or the protestant movement. Alexander
Campbell of the Restoration Movement was a strong promoter
of this idea.
Historically
the evidence is too weak to either prove or disprove this
belief. It can be shown however that churches holding many
of the Baptist beliefs existed prior to the reformation
(thus they are not Protestant) and that there is no known
point of origin if their claim is not correct. While this
theory of Baptist origins is quite popular among some Baptists,
there is historical evidence that indicates that these "anonymous"
Baptist churches existed prior to the reformation. There
is neither enough evidence to prove this theory, nor is
there enough evidence to disprove it historically. However,
many Landmarkers use the words of Jesus when he said, "...the
gates of hell shall not prevail against [the church]"
to prove it theologically.
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Anabaptist
Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites) did share many
teachings of the early Baptists, such as the believer's
baptism and religious freedom. They were probably influential
in the development of Baptist characteristics. While their
names suggest some connection, some Anabaptists differed
from the Baptists on many other issues such as pacifism
and the communal sharing of material goods.
It is
difficult to say how much influence the Anabaptists had
on the actual formation of Baptist churches. One of the
strongest relationships between the two groups happened
when John Smyth's General Baptists attempted but failed
to merge with the Mennonites.
The
term Anabaptist is one that was given to a broad category
of churches that "rebaptized" former members of
other churches that did not share their beliefs. The "rebaptism"
may have been for a person who had been baptized as an infant
or had been baptized as an adult in a church that the Anabaptist
church did not recognize as a church.
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Separatists
The view that suggests that Baptists were originally separatists
in the Puritan reaction to perceived corruptions in the
Church of England in the 1600s. In 1609, John Smyth, led
a group of separatists to the Netherlands to start the General
Baptist church with an Arminian theology. In 1616, Henry
Jacob led a group of Puritans in England with a Calvinist
theology to form a congregational church that would eventually
become the Particular Baptists in 1638 under John Spilsbury.
Both groups had members who sailed to America as pilgrims
to avoid religious persecution in England and Europe and
who started Baptist churches in the early colonies. The
Particular and General Baptists would disagree over Arminianism
and Calvinism until the formation of the Baptist Union of
Great Britain in the 1800s under Andrew Fuller and William
Carey for the purpose of missions. American Baptists soon
followed suit.
See also: 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith
Difficult labels
Many Baptists object to labels such as protestant, denomination,
evangelical and even Baptist to them or their churches,
while others accept those labels.
Those
who reject the label Baptist prefer to be labeled as Christians
who attend Baptist churches. Others accept the label Baptist
because they identify with the distinctives they consider
to be uniquely Baptist.
The
label protestant is rejected by some because Baptists do
not have a direct connection to Luther, Calvin or the Roman
Catholic Church. They do not feel that they are protesting
anything and Landmark Baptists believe they pre-date the
Roman Catholic Church. Other Baptists accept the label protestant
as a demographic one that describes churches that share
similar theologies of sola scriptura, the priesthood of
all believers and other positions that Luther, Calvin and
traditional reformers held in contrast to the Roman Catholic
Church in the 1500s.
The
label denomination is rejected by some because of the congregational
governance system used by Baptist churches. Being a denomination
is viewed as having a hierarchy that substitutes for the
hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. Another reason for
the rejection of the label "denomination" is the
influence of the Restoration period, which emphasized a
tearing down of denominational barriers, on Baptist churches.
Other Baptists accept the label of denomination because
it does not carry a negative connotation to them, but is
used as a synonym for Christian or religious group.
The
label evangelical is rejected by some fundamentalist Baptists
who consider the term to describe a theological position
that is not fundamentalist enough. It is rejected by some
liberal Baptists who consider the term to describe a theological
position that is too conservative. It is accepted by moderate
Baptists who identify with the revival in the United States
in the 1700s known as the First Great Awakening.
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Famous Baptists
John Bunyan
William Carey
Jimmy Carter
Tommy Douglas
Jerry Falwell
Billy Graham
Stanley Grenz
Jack Hyles
Martin Luther King, Jr.
David Pawson
John R. Rice
Lee Roberson
Jack Schaap
Charles Spurgeon
Roger Williams
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