Baptist
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Source : http://en.wikipedia.org
Baptists are a group of Christian denominations, churches, and individuals who subscribe to a theology of believer's baptism (as opposed to infant baptism), salvation through faith alone, Scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice, and the autonomy of the local church. They generally practice baptism by immersion (as opposed to affusion or sprinkling) and disavow authoritative creeds. Baptist churches are Protestant, and some churches or individuals further identify with evangelicalism or fundamentalism. Baptists recognize two ministerial offices, pastor-elders and deacons, but not bishops. Diverse from their beginning, those identifying as Baptists today differ widely from one another in what they believe, how they worship, their attitudes toward other Christians, and their understanding of what is important in Christian discipleship.[1]
Historians trace the earliest Baptist church back to 1609 in Amsterdam, with English Separatist John Smyth as its pastor.[2] In accordance with his reading of the New Testament, he rejected baptism of infants and instituted baptism only of believing adults.[3] Baptist practice spread to England. Here, the General Baptists considered Christ's atonement to extend to all people, while the Particular Baptists believed that it extended only to the elect.[4] In 1639, Roger Williams established the first Baptist congregation in the American colonies.[4] In the mid-1700s, the Great Awakening increased Baptist growth.[4] Baptist missionaries have spread the church to every continent.[3]
The Baptist World Alliance reports more than 37 million members in more than 150,000 congregations.[5] In 2002, there were over 100 million Baptists and Baptistic group members worldwide and over 33 million in North America.[3] The largest Baptist association is the Southern Baptist Convention, with over 16 million members.[4]
Etymology
The term Baptist comes from the Greek word βαπτιστής (baptistés, "baptist," also used to describe John the Baptist), which is related to the verb βαπτίζω (baptízo, "to baptize, wash, dip, immerse"), and the Latin baptista.
The term Baptist as applied to Baptist churches is a modification of the term Anabaptist (which means rebaptizer),[6] and was used into the 19th century as a general epithet for churches which denied the validity of infant baptism, including the Campbellites, Mennonites and Schwarzenau Brethren or German Baptists, who are not identified with modern day Baptists.[7] The English Anabaptists were called Baptists as early as 1569.[8] The name Anabaptist continued to be applied to English and American Baptists, even after the American Revolution.[9]
[edit] Origins
Baptist Historian Bruce Gourley outlines four main views of Baptist origins, including the modern scholarly consensus that the denomination traces its origin to the 17th century via the English Separatists, as well as the view that it was an outgrowth of Anabaptist traditions, the perpetuity view which assumes that the Baptist faith and practice has existed since the time of Christ, and the successionist view which argues that Baptist churches actually existed in an unbroken chain since the time of Christ.[2]
[edit] Outgrowth of English Separatism
The predominant view of Baptist origins is that Baptists came along in historical development in the century after the rise of the original Protestant denominations.[10] It was a time of considerable political and religious turmoil. Both individuals and churches were willing to give up their theological roots if they became convinced that a more biblical "truth" had been discovered.[11]
The Baptist faith originated from within the Separatist movement. Prior to the Reformation, the Church of England (Anglicans) had broken away from the Catholic Church. Then came the mainstream Protestant Reformation.[2] There were some Christians who were not content with the achievements of the mainstream Protestant Reformation.[1][12] There also were Christians who were disappointed that the Church of England had not made corrections of what some considered to be errors and abuses. Of those most critical of the Church's direction, some chose to stay and try to make constructive changes from within the Anglican Church. They became known as "Puritans" and are described by Gourley as cousins of the Separatists. Others decided they must leave the Church because of their dissatisfaction and became known as the Separatists.[2]
Historians trace the earlist Baptist church back to 1609 in Amsterdam, with John Smyth as its pastor.[2] Even prior to that, in 1606, John Smyth, a Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge, had broken his ties with the Church of England. Reared in the Church of England, he became "Puritan, Separatist, and then a Baptist Separatist," and ended his days working with the Mennonites.[11]:p.23 He began meeting in England with 60-70 English Separatists, in the face of "great danger."[13] The persecution of religious nonconformists in England led Smyth to go into exile in Amsterdam with fellow Separatists from the congregation he had gathered in Lincolnshire, separate from the established church (Anglican). Smyth and his lay supporter, Thomas Helwys, together with those they led, broke with the other English exiles because Smyth and Helways were convinced they should be baptized as believers. In 1609 Smyth first baptized himself and then baptized the others.[12][14] In 1609, while still there, Smyth wrote a tract titled "The Character of the Beast," or "The False Constitution of the Church." In it he expressed two propositions: first, infants are not to be baptized; and second, "Antichristians converted are to be admitted into the true Church by baptism."[11]:p.24 Hence, his conviction was that a scriptural church should consist only of regenerate believers who have been baptized on a personal confession of faith. He rejected the Separatist movement's doctrine of paedobaptism.[15][16] Shortly thereafter, Smyth left the group, and layman Thomas Helwys took over the leadership, leading the church back to England in 1611.[2] Ultimately, Smyth became committed to believers' baptism as the only biblical baptism. He was convinced on the basis of his interpretation of Scripture that infants would not be damned should they die in infancy.[11]:p.25
Smyth, convinced that his self-baptism was invalid, applied with the Mennonites for membership. He died while waiting for membership, and some of his followers became Mennonites. Thomas Helwys and others kept their baptism and their Baptist commitments.[11]:p.25
The modern Baptist denomination is an outgrowth of Smyth's movement.[12] Wanting neither to be confused with nor identified with Anabaptists, Baptists rejected the name Anabaptist when they were called that by opponents in derision. McBeth writes that as late as the eighteenth century, many Baptists referred to themselves as "the Christians commonly—though falsely—called Anabaptists."[17]
This view of Baptist origins has the most historical support and is the most widely accepted.[2] Representative writers include William H. Whitsitt, Robert G. Torbet, Winthrop S. Hudson, William G. McLoughlin and Robert A. Baker. This position considers the influence of Anabaptists upon early Baptists to be minimal.[2]
[edit] Influence of Anabaptists
This view holds that although Baptists originated from English Separatism, some early Baptists were influenced by some Anabaptists. According to this view, the Dutch Mennonites (Anabaptists) shared some similarities with General Baptists (believer's baptism, religious liberty, separation of church and state, and Arminian views of salvation, predestination and original sin). However, there were significant differences between Anabaptists and Baptists. Anabaptists tended towards extreme pacifism. They promoted communal sharing of earthly goods, [citation needed] did not practice baptism by immersion, an unorthodox optimistic view of human nature[citation needed]. Therefore, few Baptists hold to this theory of Baptist origins. Representative writers include A. C. Underwood and William R. Estep. Gorley writes that among some contemporary Baptist scholars who emphasize the faith of the community over soul liberty, the Anabaptist influence theory is making a comeback.[2]
The relations between Baptists and Anabaptists were early strained. In 1624 the then five existing Baptist churches of London issued an anathema against the Anabaptists.[18]. Today there is little dialogue between Anabaptist organizations (such and the Mennonite World Conference) and the Baptist bodies.[citation needed]
[edit] Baptist belief in perpetuity
Prior to the 20th century, Baptist historians generally wrote from the perspective that Baptists had existed since the times of Christ.[19] The Baptist perpetuity view considers the Baptist movement to have always been historically separate from Catholicism and in existence prior to the Protestant Reformation.[20] The historians who advocate this position consider Baptists and Anabaptists as one and the same people and point out that many Reformation era historians and apologists considered the Anabaptists to pre-date the Reformation.[21]
Baptist historian John T. Christian (1854–1925) wrote: "I have throughout pursued the scientific method of investigation, and I have let the facts speak for themselves. I have no question in my own mind that there has been a historical succession of Baptists from the days of Christ to the present time."[22]
The perpetuity view is often identified with The Trail of Blood, a successionist pamphlet by J.M. Carrol published in 1931[23] Other Baptist writers holding the perpetuity view are Thomas Crosby, G.H. Orchard, J.M. Cramp, William Cathcart, Adam Taylor and D.B. Ray[24][25] This view was also held by English Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon[26] as well as Jesse Mercer, the namesake of Mercer University.[27]
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