Baptists

I

Introduction

Baptists, Protestant Christians who accept the basic tenets of the 16th-century Reformation (justification by faith, the authority of the Scriptures, and the priesthood of the believer) but have added other beliefs and practices, including baptism of only adult believers by immersion only, the separation of Church and state, and the autonomy of the local church. The Baptists are important for their emphasis on these and other beliefs and for their numbers.

In the early 21st century, there were an estimated 47 million Baptists worldwide; the great majority of these (more than 35 million in 2004) are located in the United States, where they make up between one-third and one-half of the Protestant population. Other countries of Baptist strength in descending order of total membership are India, Brazil, Myanmar (Burma), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Kingdom, Canada, Romania, and Nigeria. Baptists espoused some of the religious convictions of the Anabaptists, although no established connection existed between the two groups. Organizationally, Baptists originated in the early 17th century in Holland and England, with John Smyth and Thomas Helwys, English separatists from the Anglican Church, as leaders.

II

Distinctive Beliefs

Baptists believe in a Church composed only of regenerated or converted individuals, that is, people who have had a personal experience of the Christian religion. The theological term is “a gathered Church”. Individuals join voluntarily following repentance for sin and affirmation of faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. This is in contrast to a state Church, in which all who are born within a given geographical territory and receive the sacraments automatically become members, or a Church in which infants who are baptized are considered members. Baptists’ conviction regarding regenerate membership, even more than their belief in believer’s baptism by immersion, led to their early persecution.

The Baptist emphasis on believer’s baptism (practised by immersion rather than by sprinkling or affusion) implies sufficient maturity to make a religious decision and is a specific rejection of infant baptism, for which Baptists believe there is no biblical precedent. Baptism is regarded as a personal profession of belief, and therefore can only be undertaken by those who have reached a time of understanding (usually early teenage years and after) and who thus have the ability to make a meaningful commitment to faith. The mode of immersion is employed because it most closely follows the example of Jesus when he was baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan and because it corresponds symbolically with the death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus as well as with the Pauline symbolism of the “death” of the old, selfish nature and the “resurrection” of the new, unselfish individual. Baptists do not, however, consider baptism a sacrament through which special grace is received, but rather an ordinance whereby one makes public confession of a faith already received. In addition to the ordinance of baptism, Baptists also observe the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, or communion; many congregations do so on the first Sunday of each month. They interpret this as a memorial experience. See Eucharist.

The Bible, interpreted by the individual, is regarded as the ultimate religious authority in matters of faith and practice. This is in contrast to other possible authorities, such as tradition, reason, and human experience. Infrequently, Baptists have adopted creeds to give expression to their faith and to clarify their beliefs, but they have not elevated these to a place of equal or superior authority to the Scriptures. Individual biblical interpretation, in terms of theology, has resulted in a variety of Baptists.

Baptists follow the doctrine of separation of church and state, with a corresponding emphasis on religious liberty. In both England and America, Baptists were among the forerunners protesting against an established Church or a union between church and state. This was based on the conviction that religion is a personal relationship between the human soul and God, a relationship with which no one may interfere. Early in the 17th century, as advocates of such religious liberty, the Baptists led in the founding (in what is now Rhode Island) of the first civil government in the world to be based on a separation of church and state (see Church and State). Although Baptists have opposed an official tie between the state and any religious organization, nevertheless they feel a responsibility to exert moral and spiritual influence on the state.

Baptists believe in the autonomy of the local church, which is the key unit in Baptist polity. The local church ordains and calls its own clergy and theoretically may dismiss its own clergy. No power—ecclesiastical or secular—may dictate to a local Baptist congregation. Voluntarily, however, most Baptist churches unite with other Baptist churches in associations, state conventions, national denominations, and the Baptist World Alliance for the purposes of fellowship, mutual assistance, and the support of common educational, evangelistic, and missionary goals. Baptists argue that the self-government of the local church preserves the spirit of democracy, encourages the participation of lay people in the Church, and permits a wide range of theological expression.

Baptists have never adopted a universal creed, although on occasion they have adopted confessions of faith (Philadelphia, 1742; New Hampshire, 1832). More frequently they have adhered to Church covenants that are not doctrinally oriented but set forth general ethical standards by which Baptists are expected to live.

III

History

John Smyth and Thomas Helwys, English separatists of Congregational persuasion, founded the first Baptist church, on Dutch soil, at Amsterdam in 1609. Smyth eventually joined the Mennonites and Helwys returned to an unfriendly England. There, in 1611 or 1612, he led a small group of Christians in establishing the first Baptist church on English soil, at Spitalfields, near London. As they grew in number, English Baptists came to be divided between General Baptists and Particular Baptists. The former, who were Arminians (see Arminianism), believed that the spiritual benefits of the death of Jesus applied potentially to all people; the latter believed, with the Calvinists, that those benefits applied only to the elect (see Predestination). Eventually these two groups united in the 19th century, when theological issues had changed and the need of an effective missionary advance helped to draw them more closely together. From their base in England, Baptists have grown to number more than 1 million members in Europe.

It was in America, however, that Baptists experienced their greatest growth. Roger Williams, an English Puritan clergyman, founded the first Baptist church in America at Providence, Rhode Island, in 1639. About the same time, the doctor and minister John Clarke established a Baptist congregation at Newport, Rhode Island. Frequently the subject of bitter persecution, the denomination at first grew slowly, but Baptist growth accelerated in the 18th century largely as a result of the movement known as the Great Awakening. Later in the same century, the Baptists ardently supported the American War of Independence and thus became more popular. In the 19th century the Baptists, like most other Protestant denominations, split over the issue of slavery. This led to the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845. In 1907 the northern Baptists formed the Northern Baptist Convention (now the American Baptist Churches in the United States). In the midst of their growth, the Baptists had a strong appeal for members of the black community. Today, seven-eighths of the black population in the United States that claims denominational affiliation belongs to either a Baptist or a Methodist Church. In Canada, Baptist congregations were first formed about 1760, and the longest continuous history of a single Baptist church is claimed by a congregation organized in Horton (now Wolfville, Nova Scotia), in 1778.

IV

Current Attitudes

On social issues no single “Baptist” position exists, because of the Baptist belief in religious liberty and local church autonomy. It is noteworthy, however, that by 1975 the American Baptist Churches in the United States had ordained 50 women as ministers. Theologically, the issue of biblical inerrancy remains a concern of many Southern Baptists.

The divide over slavery still profoundly affects the Baptist churches in the United States. Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister but so were many of the strongest opponents of the civil rights movement. The conservatism of the Southern Baptist Convention has been drawn upon by recent presidents and by the “moral majority” to back conservative social agendas such as anti-abortion and anti-gay rights legislation. Many Baptists are also prominent in the Creationist Movement that denies the theory of evolution in favour of a more biblically based understanding of Creation. Alongside this conservatism, however, runs the witness of Baptists in many parts of the world where religion is persecuted. Baptists have been at the forefront of moves for greater religious freedom in Russia and in parts of Africa. The historic tension within the Baptist tradition between radical movements and conservative movements, all founded upon readings of the Bible, continues to this day.