Baptists and the Reformation

As the Protestant Reformers separated from the Roman Catholic Church they usually took with them some of her practices and doctrine with them. Two of the practices that the Protestants maintained were infant baptism and a state-church policy, putting them at strong conflict with the Anabaptists. Reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin were antagonistic toward Anabaptists. In some cases Reformers would even prescribe death to those who persisted in the “Anabaptist heresy.”*

John Smyth was an early Baptist minister of England, and a defender of the principle of religious liberty. Many historians consider John Smyth as a founder of the modern Baptists.

Smyth was ordained as an Anglican priest in England. Soon after his ordination, he broke with the Church of England and became a Separatist. In 1609, Smyth came to a belief in believer's baptism and opposed to infant baptism. Smyth baptized himself and his followers. It is true that he later rejected this baptism and sought baptism from the Mennonites, but this brought about a separation between Smyth and a group of Baptists led by Thomas Helwys a well to do layman. The churches that descended from Smyth and Helwys were of the General Baptist persuasion.

Let me back up a bit. Baptists were first identified by the name General Baptists in 17th century England. They were called General Baptists because they believed in a general atonement meaning they taught that the death of Christ made salvation possible for any persons who voluntarily exercises faith in Christ. In my estimation this is biblical, sound, and true. However, these churches were also Arminian in tendency and held the possibility of falling away from grace. In my estimation this is not biblical, it is unsound, and false. The earliest known church of this type was founded about 1609 in the Netherlands. Early leaders of the movement were those afore mentioned, namely Thomas Helwys and John Smyth (circa 1560-1612). Smyth and Helwys gathered a band of believers in the Midlands, but migrated to Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1607. In 1611, after Smyth left to join the Mennonite, Helwys led a small group back to England and established in Spitalfield what appears to have been the first General Baptist church on English soil. Smyth and Helwys were also ardent defenders of religious liberty for all men.

General Baptists slowly spread through England and into America, but never seemed to command as vital an existence as the Particular (or Calvinistic) Baptists. The English General Baptists declined due to several factors. Early Quaker converts were drawn from the General Baptists, and many other churches moved into Unitarianism. Most surviving Arminian elements would eventually be absorbed into the Baptist Union of Great Britain, though a few remain semi-autonomous as the Old Baptist Union.

Baptist history helps us to grow and mature in our convictions. It facilitates learning from our past mistakes so we may correct them, and strengthens us in our veracity so that we may become more authentic as Christians. Though there are incidents in our history that may make us blush, Baptist history is rich, and full of events that have benefited all people. To God be the glory!

* See Anderson and Gower, Biblical Distinctives of Baptists (Adult Teacher), p.81

Baptists since the Reformation

In England
Both the General (Arminian) Baptists and the Particular (Calvinistic) Baptists drifted into doctinal errors. The General Baptists drifted into the error of unitaianism, the teaching that God is absolute in one person, rejecting the Trinitarian view of Three Persons in One Godhead. In the meantime, the Particular Baptists drifted into the error of hyper-Calvinism, over-emphasizing divine election to the neglect of evangelism, and antinomianism, supposed freedom from any moral law. England sliped into moral decline in the first half of the 1700’s and the Baptists went right down with her. But thank God revival was sparked through the minstries of John Wesley, George Whitefield, and others. This revival became known as the Second Reformation of England. This revival lasted well into the 1800’s! The results were church growth and missionary effort.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, an outstanding Baptist preacher, and William Carey, a leader in Baptist missions were two promenent figures of this peiod in England.

It is reported that during an appeal to a church to raise money to reach the heathen a Dr. Ryland shouted at Carey to “Sit down young man; when the Lord gets ready to convert the heathen, He will do it without your help or mine!” Carey went right on in his zeal for the Lord and wrote a little pamphlet titled, “An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen” and he preached his famous sermon, “Expect Great Things from God; Attempt Great Things for God.” He went on to become known as the Father of Modern Missions.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was saved in 1850, and was called to the New Park Street Church in Southwark, London. Under his diligent service to the Lord the congregation grew and relocated several times and finally became the 6,ooo seat Metropolitan Tabernacle, built in1861. Spurgeon established a pastors’ college, an orphanage, and wrote volumes. He died in 1892 and is still known as the “Prince of Preachers.”

In the U.S.A.
Religious liberty was being contested for. It was 1636, when a man was banished from Massachusetts. This man, Roger Williams with God’s help, was then sucsessful at establishing the colony of Rhode Island in 1639, he is also responsible for founding the first Baptist church in America at that time. Rhode Island was the first colony to grant full religious freedom. William’s biblical concept of separation of church and state was ultimately adopted by congress and the United States of America was the first western civilization to guarantee complete religious liberty on a national level.

Missionary Endevors
William Carey of England and Adoniram Judson of the United States were both Baptists and pioneers in the modern missionary movement. Many conventions, associations, and societies were formed for the purpose of sending missionaries to the field at home and abroad. Baptist churches to this present time are still calling and sending missionaries out in the fulfillment of the Great Commision of our Lord.

Before the Great Awakening, there were eight Baptist churches in Masschusetts; but between 1740 and 1775, 27 more were started. By 1787 there were 151 Baptist churches in all of New England. The American Revolution interrupted church growth, but shortly afterward growth resumed and religious liberty was granted by all of the states. As the pioneers forged westward Baptist did too. Often Baptist preachers called itenerate preachers would make a circuit shepherding several churches.

Individual Baptist churches cooperated in specific projects like missions and education the mid 1800’s. Finally, there was the formation of the General Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States for Foreign Missions. It was agreed, at the start, that a missionary canidate’s position on slavery would not be a factor in his or her aceptance. Then they decided that they would not accept any missionary who owned slaves. Shotly after this, in May of 1845, 310 deligates from southern churches decided to withdraw from the General Convention and formed the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). The SBC, however, was more than a missionary society, it was an organization of cooperative churches. This marked the first organizational division of Baptist churches in America.

After the withdraw of the SBC, the General Convention Changed its name to the American Baptist Missionary Union. There was still no organization of Baptist churches in the North until 1907, when the Northern Baptist Convention (NBC) was formed. Later they changed the name to American Baptist Convention, and today it is known as the American Baptist Church in the U.S.A.

In the late 1800s religious liberalism began to make it’s inroads into every protestant church in America through European literary criticism. Baptist churches were not left unscathed by this “modern” way of “thinking”. It became evident that there were some things more precious to many Baptists than loyalty to their distinctives (see this) the fudamentals of the faith! The 1900s in the U.S.A. started with a raging conflict between these “modernests” and “fundamentalists”. In the NBC some fundamentalists tried to oust the liberals. They were faced with defeat again and again.

Feeling the need to stand for historical Christianity the Baptist Bible Union (BBU) was formed in 1923.The BBU reached its summit in 1926 and then declined. Seeing the failure of the BBU, some fundamentalists hoped to “purge” the liberals from within the NBC. Others decided to obey the Scriptures and “separate” from the apostassy. In 1932 at the Belden Avenue Baptist Church in Chicago, 32 men met from eight states and organized the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC). One of the leading figures in this movement was Robert T. Ketcham.Another group known as the Conservative Baptist Assocition pulled out of the NBC in 1947.

With a growing dissatifaction among its strong fundamentalists during the 1950s and 1960s, certain members desired that the CBA represent a more Baptistic and separatist viewpoint, as well as be clearly premillennial and pretribulational in its eschatology. Formal organization was concluded June 10, 1965 at Eagledale Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, with 27 churches participating. A Constitution and a Confession of Faith were adopted, and the New Testament Association of Independent Baptist Churches (NTAIBC) began as a national fellowship of fundamental independent Baptist churches. The leader in the movement was Richard V. Clearwaters, a pastor for 42 years in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and founder of the Central Baptist Theological Seminary in 1954.

Biblical Distinctives of Baptists in Review

Biblical Authority
The Bible is the final authority in all matters of which it speaks, because the Bible is inspired by God and bears the absolute authority of God Himself. Whatever the Bible affirms, Baptists should accept as true. No human opinion or decree of any church group can override the Bible. Not even creeds and confessions of faith, which attempt to articulate the theology of Scripture, do not carry Scripture's inherent authority.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:20, 21

Practical application: I will to the best of my finite understanding live by the Book. His Book, the Holy Bible.

Autonomy of the Local Church
The local church is an independent body accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church. All human authority for governing the local church resides within the local church itself. Thus the church is autonomous, or self-governing. No religious hierarchy outside the local church may dictate a church's beliefs or practices. Autonomy does not mean isolation. A Baptist church may fellowship with other churches around mutual interests and in an associational tie, but a Baptist church should not be a "member" of any other body.

Scripture: Colossians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, 19, 23

Practical application: I will do my best to seek God’s direction though prayer and His Word, to be involved as an active member of a local body of believers, to contribute within my strengths and limitations, to promoting the local church which God has designed.

Priesthood of the Believer
A "priest" is "one authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and God." Every believer today is a priest of God and may enter into His presence in prayer directly through our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. No other mediator is needed between God and people. We all have equal access to God--whether we are a preacher or not.

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 5:9, 10

Practical application: I am a priest of God; I will do my best to establish a consistent systematic study of God's Word, pray for others, and offer spiritual worship to God. We all have equal access to God--whether we are a preacher or not.

Two Ordinances
Local Baptist churches hold to two ordinances: baptism and communion.

(1) Baptism by immersion in water identifies the individual believer with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is a picture of what took place in the believer’s heart; being dead to sin and alive to Christ having trusted in Him for forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Immersion (baptism) is an outward public declaration of what has already occurred in one’s heart when that one was born again (that one is baptized into Christ’s body by the Holy Spirit). It is the also the “initiation” into the local church.

(2) The Lord's Supper or communion is symbolic it is a picture of what Jesus did. Communion is a memorial commemorating Christ’s death for our sins and a promise that He will return to this present earth. “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.” (Luke 22: 16-18) “…ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.” (1Cor.11:26)

Scripture: Matthew 28:19, 20; Luke 22; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

Practical application: Therefore, I will do my best to promote being identified with Christ’s body; the church. I will encourage believers to get baptized, thereby making it publicly known that they too are in Christ. I will observe the ordinance of communion with the local church as a solemn memorial of what Jesus Christ has done for me and reflect on His promise to return one day.

Individual Soul Liberty
Every individual, whether saved or unsaved, has the liberty to choose what he believes is right in the religious realm. No one should be forced to assent to any belief against his will. (Baptists have always opposed religious persecution.) However, this liberty does not exempt one from responsibility to the Word of God or from accountability to God Himself.

Scripture: Romans 14:5, 12; 2 Corinthians 4:2; Titus 1:9

Practical application: I will accept others in the dignity of being created in the image of God and do my best to contend for their liberty as well as mine. But I will also through persuasion of word and deed actively proclaim the gospel that others may receive true liberty in Christ (1Cor. 15:1-8).

Saved, Baptized Church Membership
Local church membership is restricted to individuals who give a believable testimony of personal faith in Christ and have publicly identified themselves with Him in believer's baptism. When the members of a local church are believers, it unifies the members, gives us a sense of family, and brings us into full responsibility to one another in the bond of peace.

Scripture: Acts 2:41-47; 1 Corinthians 12:12; 2 Corinthians 6:14; Ephesians 4:3

Practical application: I will do my best to keep the unity of my local church family and carry out my responsibilities to the best of my abilities as governed by the Holy Spirit and the Word which He authored, the Holy Bible.

Two Offices
The Bible mandates only two offices in the church--pastor and deacon. The three terms--"pastor," "elder," and "bishop," or "overseer"--all refer to the same office. The two offices of pastor and deacon exist within the local church, not as a hierarchy outside or over the local church.

Scripture: 1Timothy 3:1-13; Acts 20:17-38; Philippians 1:1

Practical application: I will do my best to demonstrate the utmost respect for and support those ordained of God; the pastor/s of my church and help him/them in any way that I am fit within the scope of my strengths and limitations. Further, I will demonstrate the utmost respect for the those ordained of God who serve the church and pastor/s in the diakonia. I will, also do my best to affirm these two offices as altogether biblical, and contend that they are NOT an invention of Romanism.

Separation of Church and State
God established both the church and the civil government, and He gave each its own distinct sphere of operation. The government's purposes are outlined in Romans 13:1-7 and the church's purposes in Matthew 28:19 and 20. Neither should control the other. There should not be an alliance between the two. Christians in a free society can properly influence government toward righteousness, which is not the same as a denomination or group of churches controlling the government.

Scripture: Matthew 22:15-22; Acts 15:17-29

Practical application: I will pray and do my best to influence those who God ordained to govern our land to do so in righteousness. I will further do my best to obey the laws of the land, and still exercise my influence to preserve the separation of church and state.

Summary
The biblical distinctives of Baptists are biblical and practical. Baptists are people of the Book. The aim of this study was to encourage Baptists to be Baptists genuinely and not just by name by providing greater clarification of the biblical distinctives of Baptists. This was a study of who we are, what we believe, why we believe it, and how to live as biblical Baptists.

If you are not a Baptist you should now, at least, have seen what Baptists really believe and why Baptists really believe it.

A word from the G A R B C
What sets one church apart from all the others? We have seen that it is the church's distinctive beliefs that set it apart from all others and that Baptists, in general, hold to some convictions that make them different from all other groups. Regular Baptist churches will continue to hold to the Baptist distinctives because these distinctives are historically Biblical. They are relevant to the issues facing contemporary society and the church. So when "shopping" for a church, look for the name "Baptist" and then take a closer look to make sure that church is upholding the Biblical Baptist distinctives.

A personal word from the Earnest Contender
Perhaps you have heard the saying, “There’s no such thing as a perfect church.” I both agree and disagree with this saying. I agree with this saying because on earth there is no perfect church. Churches are organizations made up of sinners, some more than others. Baptist churches are no exception. In Christ we all have differences and partialities, ideas and convictions, presuppositions and idealistic leanings. My church is not perfect (they let me become a member), the association of churches which we fellowship with (the GARBC) are not perfect either. It seems many separate more over policy, principles, and personal preferences. There are legitimate reasons for one to leave a church, but our desire should be to keep the peace in the bond of love, biblical love.

This brings us to why I disagree with the saying, “There’s no such thing as a perfect church.” Jesus shed His blood… for the church (Eph.5:25) in God’s eyes the church is perfect because he views it as an organism of which He purchased with His own blood. Who will say that Christ’s body (the church) is not perfect?

My point is this; we all have differences, this should give us strength in the Lord as we bring those differences to the table of fellowship in the unity of Christ. How? We are able to establish, sharpen, and define our convictions, test our doctrine and keep our focus on our Lord Jesus Christ.

In His fellowship,
Brother John

If you have any questions or wish to make a comment or two please go to the following link. Biblical Distinctives of Baptists in Review