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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]
One global fellowship of Baptists reports more than 37 million members in more than 150,000 congregations.[5] In 2002, there were over 45 million Baptists worldwide and over 33 million in North America.[3] The largest Baptist association is the Southern Baptist Convention, with over 16 million members.[4]
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Etymology
* 2 Origins
o 2.1 Outgrowth of English Separatism
o 2.2 Influence of Anabaptists
o 2.3 Baptist belief in perpetuity
* 3 Baptists in the UK
* 4 Baptists in North America
* 5 Baptist associations
* 6 Membership
o 6.1 Statistics
o 6.2 Qualifications
* 7 Baptist beliefs and principles
* 8 Beliefs that vary among Baptists
o 8.1 Controversies which have shaped Baptists
+ 8.1.1 Missions crisis
+ 8.1.2 Slavery crisis
+ 8.1.3 Landmark crisis
+ 8.1.4 The Modernist crisis
* 9 See also
* 10 Notes
* 11 References
* 12 External links
[edit] 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]
.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].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].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].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
Main article: Baptist successionism
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]
[edit] Baptists in the UK
Historical chart of the main Protestant branches. Baptists appeared in the early 1600s as part of the Radical Reformation.
In 1612, Thomas Helwys established a Baptist congregation in London, consisting of congregants from Smyth's church.[3] A number of other Baptist churches sprang up, and they became known as the General Baptists.[3] The Particular Baptists were established when a group of Calivinist Separatists adopted believers' Baptism.[3] The Baptists emphasized the autonomy of each congregation, with no spiritual authority recognized above a congregation's minister.[3] The congregations maintained relations through associations, which continue to be vital to Baptist Church life.[3]
Baptist numbers increased over the centuries, more than keeping pace with the rise in population.[3] There still exist today in areas such as Plymouth very traditional Baptist sects, known as the strict baptists.
[edit] Baptists in North America
Both Roger Williams and John Clarke, his compatriot in working for religious freedom, are variously credited as founding the earliest Baptist church in North America.[28] In 1639, Williams established a Baptist church in Providence, Rhode Island, and Clarke began a Baptist church in Newport, Rhode Island. According to a Baptist historian who has researched the matter extensively, "There is much debate over the centuries as to whether the Providence or Newport church deserved the place of 'first' Baptist congregation in America. Exact records for both congregations are lacking."[10]
The Great Awakening energized the Baptist movement, and the Baptist community experienced spectacular growth.[3] Baptists became the largest Christian community in many southern states, including among the black population.[3]
In 1845, the Baptists congregations in the United States split over the issue of slavery. The Baptists from the Southern states supported slaveholding, and when Northern Baptists tried to prevent slaveholders from being missionaries, the Southern Baptists formed a separate organization, the Southern Baptist Convention. The northern congregations later formed their own umbrella organization.
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Many Baptist churches choose to associate with associational groups that provide fellowship without control.[3] The largest Baptist association is the Southern Baptist Convention, but there are many other Baptist associations. There are also autonomous churches that remain independent of any denomination, organization, or association.[29]
In 1905, Baptists worldwide formed the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). The BWA now counts over 200 Baptist conventions and unions worldwide with over 37 million members.[citation needed] The BWA's goals include caring for the needy, leading in world evangelism and defending human rights and religious freedom. Though it played a role in the founding of the BWA, the Southern Baptist Convention severed its affiliation with BWA in 2004.[30]
[edit] Membership
[edit] Statistics
See also: List of Christian denominations by number of members
See also: List of Baptist sub-denominations
According to the Barna Group researchers, Baptists are the largest denominational grouping of born again Christians in the U.S.[31] A 2009 ABCNEWS/Beliefnet phone poll of 1,022 adults suggests that fifteen percent of Americans identify themselves as Baptists.[32]
Besides North America and Europe, large populations of Baptists also exist in Asia, Africa and Latin America, notably in India (2.4 million), Nigeria (2.5 million), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (1.9 million), and Brazil (1.7 million).[citation needed]
Ninety-two percent of Baptists are found in five bodies—the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC); National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. (NBC); National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.; (NBCA); American Baptist Churches in the USA (ABC); and Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI).[33]
[edit] Qualifications
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The primary external qualification for membership in a Baptist church is baptism.[34] General Baptist churches will accept into membership people who have made a profession of faith but have not been baptized as a believer. These are included as members alongside baptized members in the statistics. Some Baptist churches do not have an age restriction on membership, but will not accept as a member a child who is considered too young to fully understand and make a profession of faith of their own volition and comprehension. In such cases, the pastor and parents usually meet together with the child to verify the child's comprehension of the decision to follow Jesus. There are instances where persons make a profession of faith but fail to follow through with believers' baptism. In such cases they are considered saved and usually eligible for membership. Baptists do not believe that baptism has anything to do with salvation. It is considered a public expression of one's inner repentance and faith.[10]
Baptists believe that the act of baptism is a symbolic display of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.[10] When a person who has already been saved and confessed Christ submits to scriptural baptism, he or she is publicly identifying with Christ in His death to old self, burial of past sinful thought and action, and resurrection in newness of life, to walk with Christ the remainder of their days.[10]
Some churches, especially in the UK, do not require members to have been baptized as a believer, so long as they have made a believer's declaration of faith—for example, been confirmed in the Anglican church, or become communicant members as Presbyterians.[citation needed] In these cases, believers would usually transfer their memberships from their previous churches. This allows people who have grown up in one tradition, but now feel settled in their local Baptist church, to fully take part in the day to day life of the church, voting at meetings, etc. It is also possible, but unusual, to be baptized without becoming a church member immediately.
[edit] Baptist beliefs and principles
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Main article: Baptist beliefs
Part of a series of articles on
Baptists
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Historical Background
Protestantism · Puritanism · Anabaptism
Soteriology
General · Strict · Reformed
Doctrinal distinctives
Priesthood of all believers · Individual soul liberty · Ordinances · Separation of church and state · Sola scriptura · Congregationalism · Offices · Confessions
Pivotal figures
John Smyth · Thomas Helwys · Roger Williams · John Bunyan · Shubal Stearns · Andrew Fuller · Charles Spurgeon · D. N. Jackson
Baptist Conventions and Unions
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Baptism by immersion2.png Baptist portal
Baptists, like other Christians, are defined by doctrine—some of it common to all orthodox and evangelical groups and a portion of it importantly distinctive.[35] Through the years, different Baptist groups have issued confessions of faith—without considering them to be creeds—to express their particular doctrinal distinctions in comparison to other Christians as well as in comparison to other Baptists.[36] Most Baptists are evangelical in doctrine, but Baptist beliefs can vary due to the congregational governance system that gives autonomy to individual local Baptist churches. Historically, Baptists have played a key role in encouraging religious freedom and separation of church and state.[37]
Shared doctrines would include beliefs about one God; the virgin birth; miracles; atonement through the death for sins, burial, and bodily resurrection of Jesus; the Trinity; the need for salvation (through belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God, his death and resurrection, and confession of Christ as Lord); grace; the Kingdom of God; last things (Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth, the dead will be raised, and Christ will judge everyone in righteousness); and evangelism and missions. Some historically significant Baptist doctrinal documents include the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, 1742 Philadelphia Baptist Confession, the 1833 New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message, and written church covenants which some individual Baptist churches adopt as a statement of their faith and beliefs.
Most Baptists hold that no church or ecclesiastical organization has inherent authority over a Baptist church. Churches can properly relate to each other under this polity only through voluntary cooperation, never by any sort of coercion. Furthermore, this Baptist polity calls for freedom from governmental control.[38]
Exceptions to this local form of local governance include a few churches that submit to the leadership of a body of elders, as well as the Episcopal Baptists that have an Episcopal system.
Baptists generally believe in the literal Second Coming of Christ. Beliefs among Baptists regarding the "end times" include amillennialism, dispensationalism, and historic premillennialism, with views such as postmillennialism and preterism receiving some support.
Some additional distinctive Baptist principles held by many Baptists include the following:[39].2
* The supremacy of the canonical Scriptures as a norm of faith and practice. For something to become a matter of faith and practice, it is not sufficient for it to be merely consistent with and not contrary to scriptural principles. It must be something explicitly ordained through command or example in the Bible. For instance, this is why Baptists do not practice infant baptism—they say the Bible neither commands nor exemplifies infant baptism as a Christian practice, even though nowhere does the Bible forbid it. More than any other Baptist principle, this one when applied to infant baptism is said to separate Baptists from other evangelical Christians.
* Similarly prominent is their insistence on regenerate ("saved") members who have received Believers' Baptism. To Baptists, the "church universal" is the entire body of those who have personally become partakers of the salvation of Christ.
* Baptists believe that faith is a matter between God and the individual (religious freedom). To them it means the advocacy of absolute liberty of conscience.
* Insistence on immersion as the only mode of baptism. Baptists do not believe that baptism is necessary for salvation. Therefore, they do not consider it to be a sacrament, since it imparts no saving grace.[39]
Further information: List of Baptist confessions
The following acrostic backronym, spelling BAPTIST, represents a useful summary of Baptists' distinguishing beliefs:[40]
* Biblical authority (Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
* Autonomy of the local church (Matt. 18:15–17; 1 Cor. 6:1-3)
* Priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:5-9; 1 Timothy 5)
* Two ordinances (believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper) (Acts 2:41–47; 1 Cor. 11:23-32)
* Individual soul liberty (Romans 14:5–12)
* Separation of Church and State (Matthew 22:15–22)
* Two offices of the church (pastor-elder and deacon) (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1–2)
Most Baptist traditions believe in the "Four Freedoms" articulated by Baptist historian Walter B. Shurden:[36]
* Soul freedom: the soul is competent before God, and capable of making decisions in matters of faith without coercion or compulsion by any larger religious or civil body
* Church freedom: freedom of the local church from outside interference, whether government or civilian (subject only to the law where it does not interfere with the religious teachings and practices of the church)
* Bible freedom: the individual is free to interpret the Bible for himself or herself, using the best tools of scholarship and biblical study available to the individual
* Religious freedom: the individual is free to choose whether to practice their religion, another religion, or no religion; Separation of church and state is often called the "civil corollary" of religious freedom
[edit] Beliefs that vary among Baptists
Protestantism
95Thesen.jpg
(The Ninety-Five Theses)
The Reformation
History
Pre-Reformation movements
Hussites • Lollards • Waldensians
Reformation era movements
Anabaptism • Anglicanism • Calvinism • Counter-Reformation • Lutheranism • Polish Brethren • Remonstrants
Since there is no hierarchical authority and each Baptist church is autonomous, there is no official set of Baptist theological beliefs.[41] Baptists have different divisions, sects, and groups. Although they agree on many things, their differences are enough to keep them apart. Despite some common doctrines and practices which characterize the greater part of Baptists, there are many beliefs and practices which vary from church to church and among associations. Some doctrinal issues on which there is widespread difference among Baptists are eschatology, Calvinism and Arminianism, the doctrine of separation from "the world" and whether to associate with those who are "of the world", glossolalia (speaking in tongues)[42], how the Bible should be interpreted (hermeneutics), the extent to which missionary boards should be used to support missionaries, the extent to which non-members may participate in the Lord's Supper services, which translation of Scripture to use from the pulpit and in Bible classes (see King-James-Only movement),[43] the very nature of Gospel, the role of women in marriage, and the ordination of women as deacons or pastors.[44]
Some of the smaller Baptist groups are devoted to some peculiar traditional practice or doctrine.[citation needed] Some Primitive Baptists practice the laying on of hands after baptism and footwashing, as do some Freewill Baptists. The Seventh Day Baptists insist biblical worship should be conducted on the traditional Sabbath (Saturday) rather than on Sunday. Landmarkism holds to strict closed communion wherein only the members of the church can participate in the Lord's Supper. On the other hand, some Baptists have embraced modernistic trends, such as The Alliance of Baptists which officially affirms homosexual relationships[45]
[edit] Controversies which have shaped Baptists
Baptists have faced many controversies in their 400-year history, controversies of the level of crises. Baptist historian Walter Shurden says the word "crisis" comes from the Greek word meaning "to decide." Shurden writes that contrary to the presumed negative view of crises, some controversies that reach a crisis level may actually be "positive and highly productive." He claims that even schism, though never ideal, has often produced positive results. In his opinion crises among Baptists each have become decision-moments that shaped their future.[46] Some controversies which have shaped Baptists are:
* Landmark crisis
* Missions crisis
* Modernist crisis
* Racial crisis
[edit] Missions crisis
Early in the 19th century, the rise of the modern missions movement, and the backlash against it, led to widespread and bitter controversy among the American Baptists.[47] During this era, the American Baptists were split between missionary and anti-missionary. A substantial secession of Baptists went into the movement led by Alexander Campbell, to return to a more fundamental church.[48]
[edit] Slavery crisis
Leading up to the American Civil War, Baptists became embroiled in the controversy over slavery in the United States. Whereas in the First Great Awakening, Methodist and Baptist preachers had opposed slavery and urged manumission, over the decades they made more of an accommodation with the institution. They worked with slaveholders in the South to urge a paternalistic institution. Both denominations made direct appeals to slaves and free blacks for conversion. The Baptists particularly allowed them active roles in congregations. By the mid-19th century, northern Baptists tended to oppose slavery. As tensions increased, in 1844 the Home Mission Society declared that a slave owner could not be a missionary under its patronage.
The Southern Baptist Convention formed in 1845, founded on the premise that the Bible sanctions slavery and that it is acceptable for Christians to own slaves. However the Southern Baptist Convention voted June 20, 1995, to adopt a resolution renouncing its racist roots and apologizing for its past defense of slavery. More than 20,000 Southern Baptists registered for the meeting in Atlanta. The resolution declared that messengers, as SBC delegates are called, "unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its forms, as deplorable sin" and "lament and repudiate historic acts of evil such as slavery from which we continue to reap a bitter harvest." It offered an apology to all African-Americans for "condoning and/or perpetuating individual and systemic racism in our lifetime" and repentance for "racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously or unconsciously." Although Southern Baptists have condemned racism in the past, this was the first time the predominantly white convention had dealt specifically with the issue of slavery.
The statement sought forgiveness "from our African-American brothers and sisters" and pledged to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry." The SBC was founded in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia, by Baptists in the South seceding from the national Triennial Convention of Baptists after that body decreed it would not appoint slaveholders as missionaries. Currently about 500,000 members of the 15.6-million-member denomination are African-Americans and another 300,000 are ethnic minorities. The racism resolution marked the denomination's first formal acknowledgment that racism played a role in its founding.[49]
As early as the late 1700s black Baptists began to organize separate churches, associations and mission agencies, especially in the northern states. Many of the slaves were forced to remain members of the same churches with the whites up until the American Civil War. After emancipation, black Baptists generally separated from the white Baptists, as they wanted to establish their own institutions outside white supervision.[50] Currently American Baptist numerical strength is greatest in the former slaveholding states. The Baptist faith is the predominant faith of African Americans.[51]
[edit] Landmark crisis
Southern Baptist Landmarkism sought to reset the ecclesiastical separation which had characterized the old Baptist churches, in an era when inter-denominational union meetings were the order of the day.[52]James Robinson Graves was the primary leader of this movement and one of the most influential Baptists of the 19th century.[53] While some Landmarkers eventually separated from the Southern Baptist Convention, the movement's influence on the Convention continued well into the 20th century.[54] Its influence continues to affect Convention policies. In 2005 the Southern Baptist International Mission Board forbade its missionaries to receive alien immersions for baptism.[55]
[edit] The Modernist crisis
The rise of theological modernism in the latter 19th and 20th century also greatly affected the Baptists.[56] The Landmark movement, already mentioned, has been described as a reaction against incipient modernism among Southern Baptists.[57] In England, Charles Haddon Spurgeon fought against modernistic views of the Scripture in the Downgrade Controversy.[58]
The Northern Baptist Convention had internal conflict over modernism in the early 20th century, ultimately embracing it. Two new conservative associations were founded as a result: the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches in 1933 and the Conservative Baptist Association of America in 1947.[59] Following similar conflicts over modernism, the Southern Baptist Convention adhered to conservative theology as its official position. Two new Baptist denominations were formed by former Southern Baptists who either embraced or favored toleration of the modernist approach to the Scripture: the radical Alliance of Baptists in 1987 and the moderately liberal Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in 1991.[60]
[edit] See also
Search Wikisource Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Baptists.
* List of Baptist denominations
* List of Baptist confessions
* List of Baptists
[edit] Notes
1. ^ a b Shurden, Walter (2001). "Turning Points in Baptist History". Macon, GA: The Center for Baptist Studies, Mercer University. http://www.centerforbaptiststudies.o...ningpoints.htm. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gourley, Bruce. "A Very Brief Introduction to Baptist History, Then and Now." The Baptist Observer.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Baptists." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
4. ^ a b c d "Baptist." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
5. ^ "Member Body Statistics". Baptist World Alliance. May 30, 2008. http://www.bwanet.org/bwa.php?site=Resources&id=19. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
6. ^ Newman, Albert Henry (1894). A History of the Baptist Churches in the United States. Christian Literature. http://books.google.com/books?id=wCrmT5eki7YC. "This rejection of infant baptism and this insistence on believers' baptism were so distinctive of these Christians that they were stigmatized as Anabaptists, Catabaptists, and sometimes as simply Baptists; that is to say, they were declared to be "rebaptizers", "perverters of baptism", or, as unduly magnifying baptism and making it the occasion of schism, simply "baptizers"."
7. ^ "The Illustrated Book of All Religions From the Earliest Ages to the Present Time", Star Publishing Company, 1895.
8. ^ Christian, John T. A History of the Baptists. Broadman Press (1922, chapter 15,pages 205-206): "The word Baptists was used by a high official of the English government in the earlier days of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. That official was Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burleigh, then the Secretary of State and especial adviser of the Queen. The date is March 10, 1569.". http://www.reformedreader.org/histor...hob1/ahobp.htm.
9. ^ John T. Christian, History of the Baptists , volume I page 205 and volume II page 212|http://www.reformedreader.org/histor...hob1/ahobp.htm
10. ^ a b c d e Brackney, William H. (2006). Baptists in North America: an historical perspective. Blackwell Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 1405118652.
11. ^ a b c d e Leonard, Bill J. (2003). Baptist Ways: A History. Judson Press. ISBN 978-0817012311.
12. ^ a b c Briggs, John. "Baptist Origins". Baptist History and Heritage Society. http://www.baptisthistory.org/contissues/briggs.htm. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
13. ^ Beale, David (2000). The Mayflower Pilgrims: roots of Puritan, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Baptist heritage. Emerald House Group. ISBN 978-1889893518.
14. ^ Traffanstedt, Chris. "A Primer on Baptist History". http://www.reformedreader.org/history/pbh.htm. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
15. ^ Nettles, Tom J. (Spring 2009). "Once Upon a Time, Four Hundred Years Ago...". Founders Journal (Founders Ministries) 76: 2–8. http://www.founders.org/journal/fj76/article1.html.
16. ^ Vedder, H. C.. "A Short History of the Baptists". The Reformed Reader. http://www.reformedreader.org/history/vedder/ch14.htm. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
17. ^ McBeth, H. Leon. "Baptist Beginnings". Baptist History and Heritage Society. http://www.baptisthistory.org/baptistbeginnings.htm. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
18. ^ Melton, J.G. Baptists in "Encyclopedia of American Religions". 1994
19. ^ Robert G. Torbet, A History of the Baptists, pages 18-19, Valley Forge: Judson Press - 1975)
20. ^ H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage, pages 59-60, Nashville: Broadman Press - 1987
21. ^ John T. Christian, History of the Baptists, Volume one, pages 83-282
22. ^ Christian, John T (vol.1, 1922; vol.2, 1926). A History of the Baptists. Broadman Press. http://www.reformedreader.org/histor...hob1/ahobp.htm.
23. ^ H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage, pages 58-60, Nashville: Broadman Press - 1987.
24. ^ H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage, pages 59-60, Nashville, Broadman Press - 1987
25. ^ Robert Torbet, A History of the Baptists, page 18 Valley Forge: Judson Press - 1975
26. ^ The New park Street Pulpit, Volume VII, Page 225
27. ^ Jesse Mercer (1838), A History of the Georgia Baptist Association, pages 196-201, http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com/1811cl_mercer.html
28. ^ Newport Notables
29. ^ Moore, G. Holmes. "300 Years of Baptist History." Bible Baptist Church of St. Louis, MO, is an example of an independent Baptist church that has never been a denominational church in the sense of belonging to some convention or association. Web: 17 January 2010. [1]
30. ^ Cooperman, Alan (16 June 2004). "Southern Baptists Vote To Leave World Alliance". Washington Post: p. A4. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Jun15.html. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
31. ^ "Catholics Have Become Mainstream America." July 9, 2007. Web: 16 January 2010. Born again Christians in U.S. (Barna defines Born again Christians as "people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.")
32. ^ Langer, Gary. "Poll: Most Americans Say They're Christian. Varies Greatly From the World at Large." 18 Jul 2009 Web: 16 January 2010. Poll: Most Americans Say They're Christian
33. ^ Albert W. Wardin, Baptists Around the World (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1995) p. 367
34. ^ Pendleton, J. M. (1867). Church Manual For Baptist Churches. The Judson Press. http://www.reformedreader.org/rbb/pe...nual/bcm01.htm.
35. ^ Nettles, Thomas J.. "A Foundation for the Future: The Southern Baptist Message and Mission".
36. ^ a b Shurden, Walter B. (1993). The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms. Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys Publishing. ISBN 978-1880837207.
37. ^ "Baptists." Web: 17 January 2010
38. ^ Pinson, William M., Jr.. [htpp://www.baptisthistory.org/contissues/pinson.htm Trends in Baptist Polity]. Baptist History and Heritage Society. htpp://www.baptisthistory.org/contissues/pinson.htm.
39. ^ a b Newman, Albert Henry (1915). A History of the Baptist Churches in the United States (3 ed.). Christian Literature. http://books.google.com/books?id=F38uAAAAYAAJ.
40. ^ Articles on Baptists beliefs, polity, ministries, practices, organizations, and heritage. The information is intended to be useful for Baptists and non-Baptists alike.
41. ^ Hammett, John and John S. Hammett.Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology. Kregel Publications, 2005. ISBN-13: 978-0825427695
42. ^ "Position Paper Concerning the IMB Policy on Glossolalia." Florida Baptist Witness Web: 18 Mar 2010. http://www.gofbw.com/news.asp?ID=5592 Glossolalia]
43. ^ "An Introduction to Bible Translations." Trinity Baptist Church Discipleship Training, April 2005. Web: 18 Mar 2010. An Introduction to Bible Translations
44. ^ Beck, Rosalie. "Response to 'The Ordination of Women Among Texas Baptists' by Ann Miller.” Perspectives in Religious Studies. Journal of the NABPR, Baylor University. Baptist General Convention of Texas. Web: 18 Mar 2010. [http://www.bgct.org/texasbaptists/Document.Doc?&id=3338 Response to “The Ordination of Women Among Texas Baptists”]
45. ^ http://www.allianceofbaptists.org/le...ionalresources.
46. ^ Shurden, Walter B.. Crises in Baptist Life. http://www.baptistdistinctives.org/crises.pdf. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
47. ^ John T. Christian, History of the Baptists, volume 2 pages 404-420 (Nashville: Broadman Press - 1926
48. ^ John T. Christian, History of the Baptists, volume 2, pages 421-436 (Nashville: Broadman Press - 1926
49. ^ "SBC renounces racist past - Southern Baptist Convention." The Christian Century. July 5, 1995.
50. ^ Leroy Fitts, A History of Black Baptists, pages 43-106 (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press - 1985)
51. ^ Department of Geography and Meteorology, "Baptists as a Percentage of all Residents, 2000" Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana.
52. ^ Robert Ashcraft, Landmarkism Revisited, pages 84-85 (Ashcraft Publications, Mabelvale, Arkansas, 2003)
53. ^ Ben M. Bogard, Pillars of Orthodoxy, page 199 (Louisville: Baptist Book Concern - 1900)
54. ^ Smith, Handy & Loetscher, American Christianity: An Historical Interpretation With Representative Documents, Volume II: 1820-1960, page 110 (Charles Scribner's Sons - 1963)
55. ^ "Guideline on Baptism". International Mission Board. http://www.imb.org/main/news/details...9&StoryID=3837.
56. ^ Torbet, Robert G. (1975). A History of the Baptists. Valley Forge: Judson Press. pp. 424–445. ISBN 978-0817000745.
57. ^ History of the American Baptist Association, edited by Robert Ashcraft, pages 63-66 (Texarkana: History and Archives Committee of the American Baptist Association - 2000)
58. ^ Robert G. Torbet, A History of the Baptists, page 114 (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press - 1975).
59. ^ Robert G. Torbet, A History of the Baptists, pages 395 and 436 (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press - 1975).
60. ^ "CBF History".
[edit] References
* Gavins, Raymond. The Perils and Prospects of Southern Black Leadership: Gordon Blaine Hancock, 1884–1970. Duke University Press, 1977.
* Harrison, Paul M. Authority and Power in the Free Church Tradition: A Social Case Study of the American Baptist Convention Princeton University Press, 1959.
* Harvey, Paul. Redeeming the South: Religious Cultures and Racial Identities among Southern Baptists, 1865–1925 University of North Carolina Press, 1997.
* Heyrman, Christine Leigh. Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt (1997).
* Isaac, Rhy. "Evangelical Revolt: The Nature of the Baptists' Challenge to the Traditional Order in Virginia, 1765 to 1775," William and Mary Quarterly, 3d ser., XXXI (July 1974), 345–68.
* Leonard, Bill J. Baptist Ways: A History (2003), comprehensive international history
* Life & Practice in the Early Church: A Documentary Reader, New York University press. 2001. pp. 5–7. ISBN 9780814756485.
* McBeth, H. Leon, (ed.) A Sourcebook for Baptist Heritage (1990), primary sources for Baptist history.
* McGlothlin, W. J. (ed.) Baptist Confessions of Faith. Philadelphia: The American Baptist Publication Society, 1911.
* Pitts, Walter F. Old Ship of Zion: The Afro-Baptist Ritual in the African Diaspora Oxford University Press, 1996.
* Rawlyk, George. Champions of the Truth: Fundamentalism, Modernism, and the Maritime Baptists (1990), Canada.
* Spangler, Jewel L. "Becoming Baptists: Conversion in Colonial and Early National Virginia" Journal of Southern History. Volume: 67. Issue: 2. 2001. pp 243+
* Stringer, Phil. The Faithful Baptist Witness, Landmark Baptist Press, 1998.
* Torbet, Robert G. A History of the Baptists, Judson Press, 1950.
* Underhill, Edward B. (ed.). Confessions of Faith and Other Documents of the Baptist Churches of England in the 17th century. London: The Hanserd Knollys Society, 1854.
* Underwood, A. C. A History of the English Baptists. London: Kingsgate Press, 1947.
* Wills, Gregory A. Democratic Religion: Freedom, Authority, and Church Discipline in the Baptist South, 1785–1900, Oxford.
[edit] External links
* Baptists at the Open Directory Project
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptists"
Categories: Baptist | Christian denominational families | Protestantism | Christian terms
Orthodoxy
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For the book by G. K. Chesterton, see Orthodoxy (book).
For other uses, see Orthodox (disambiguation).
Search Wiktionary Look up orthodox in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The word orthodox, from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion", from orthos ("right", "true", "straight") + doxa ("opinion" or "praise", related to dokein, "to think"),[1] is typically used to mean the adherence to accepted or traditional and established norms, especially in religion.[2]
The term did not conventionally exist with any degree of formality (in the sense in which it is now used) prior to the advent of Christianity in the Greek-speaking world, though the word does occasionally show up in ancient literature in other, somewhat similar contexts.[citation needed] Orthodoxy is opposed to heterodoxy ("other teaching"), heresy and schism. People who deviate from orthodoxy by professing a doctrine considered to be false are most often called heretics or radicals, while those who deviate from orthodoxy by removing themselves from the perceived body of believers are called schismatics. The distinction in terminology pertains to the subject matter; if one is addressing corporate unity, the emphasis may be on schism; if one is addressing doctrinal coherence, the emphasis may be on heresy.
Apostasy, for example, is a violation of orthodoxy that takes the form of abandonment of the faith, a concept largely unknown before the adoption of Christianity as the state religion of Rome on February 27, 380 by Theodosius I, see also First seven Ecumenical Councils. A lighter deviation from orthodoxy than heresy is commonly called error, in the sense of not being grave enough to cause total estrangement, while yet seriously affecting communion. Sometimes error is also used to cover both full heresies and minor errors.
The concept of orthodoxy is the most prevalent in many forms of organized monotheism, but orthodox belief is not usually overly emphasized in polytheistic or animist religions. Often there is little to no concept of dogma, and varied interpretation of doctrine and theology is tolerated and sometimes even encouraged within certain contexts. Syncretism, for example, plays a much wider role in non-monotheistic (and particularly, non-scriptual) religion. The prevailing governing idea within polytheism is most often orthopraxy ("right practice") rather than "right belief".
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Orthodox groups
o 1.1 Christianity
* 2 Saints
* 3 Critical uses
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links
[edit] Orthodox groups
Some groups have laid claim to the word orthodox as part of their titles, most commonly in order to differentiate themselves from other, 'heretical' movements. Within Christianity, the term occurs in the Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches as well as in Protestant denominations like the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Orthodox Judaism focuses on a strict adherence to what it sees as the correct interpretation of the Oral Torah, but the Greek-based word "Orthodox" was not applied to Jews until the 19th century, long after it was applied to Christians, and some traditional Jewish groups still prefer not to use it.
[edit] Christianity
See also: Orthodox Christianity
In classical Christian usage, the term orthodox refers to a set of doctrines which gained prominence in the 4th century AD. The Roman Emperor Constantine I initiated a series of ecumenical councils (see also First seven Ecumenical Councils) to try to standardize what was by then, not a necessarily homogeneous religion in terms of theology.[citation needed] The most significant of these early debates was that between the Homoousian doctrine of Athanasius and Eustathius (Trinitarianism) and the Heteroousian doctrine of Arius and Eusebius (Arianism). The Homoousian doctrine gradually won out in the Roman Church and came to be referred to as orthodoxy in most Christian contexts, since this became the viewpoint of the majority (although, of course, many non-Trinitarian Christians still object to this terminology). Following the Great Schism, both the Western and Eastern churches continued to consider themselves uniquely orthodox and catholic. Over time the Western church gradually identified itself more with the "Catholic" label and Westerners gradually associated the "Orthodox" label more with the Eastern church (in some other languages the "Catholic" label is not necessarily identified with the Western church). In addition to the Eastern Orthodox Church, there also exists a separate Oriental Orthodox communion, as well as other smaller communions that are commonly associated with the "Orthodox" label.
The Eastern Orthodox Churches uses the original form of the Nicene Creed created at the First Council of Constantinople in 381, in contrast to the Roman Catholic church, which uses the Nicene creed with the addition of the phrase 'and the Son' (see Filioque clause). This change is one of many causes for the Great Schism formalized in 1054 by simultaneous proclamations of "Anathema" from the leadership of the Orthodox Churches in the East and the Bishop of Rome (Pope) in the West. This emphasis on the use of the original "creed" is shared today by all Eastern Orthodox churches.
The changes brought about in the Roman Catholic Church at the Second Vatican Council (1962-5) have made a gradual "rapprochement" between Rome and Orthodoxy at the official level. Likewise, the simultaneous revocation of the anathemas of 1054 should not be underestimated in "restoring mutual trust" and a recognition that there is "a vast area of common ground that the two sides share." Regarding dogma, Orthodox often feel that "Latin scholastic theology makes too much use of legal concepts, and relies too heavily on rational categories and syllogistic argumentation, while the Latins for their part have frequently found the more mystical approach of Orthodoxy too vague and ill-defined." There are also "psychological barriers [in Eastern Europe] that need to be overcome."[3] For example, in 2008, Patriarch Alexie of All Russia complained about the presence of Catholic clerics and missionaries in Russia, noting," "If they consider Orthodoxy to have just as much the grace of God and salvation as Catholicism, then what is the point of persistent attempts to convert people to the other faith?" [4] The Russian Church, for example, in a gesture of good will, does not demand that Roman Catholics "receive Chrismation" when they convert to Orthodoxy, only make a simple profession of faith ("though Anglican and other Protestants are always received by Chrismation.")[5] The biggest difference, however, is Orthodoxy's "understanding of the Papal ministry within the Church."[6] For their part, the Roman and Eastern Catholic Churches do not consider the Eastern Orthodox Church to be schismatic and heretical, only "defective" for not accepting the universal jurisdiction of the See of Rome. At the same time, Rome's document Dominus Iesus calls Orthodox Churches "true particular churches": "an unusual use of 'true' referring to any but the Catholic Church." [7] Needless to say, Rome recognizes that Orthodoxy has valid sacraments and full apostolic succession. Recent declarations between the two churches have also brought the two churches even closer together. For example, a joint commission of Orthodox and Catholic theologians agreed that the Pope is "protos among the patriarchs,"[8] though disagreements about the extent of his authority still continue, see also Papal primacy. The Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue reached the agreement in a meeting in Ravenna, Italy in October 2006.[9] The Orthodox believe that among the five Patriarchs and ancient Patriarchates (i.e., Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem), a special place belongs to Rome, a "primacy of honor," not of supremacy.[10] However, to disassociate the "See of Rome" from this "equalisation," Benedict XVI recently dropped the title "Patriarch of the West," seeing the designation as an attempt to Orientalize Western ecclesiology.[11] However, Benedict still considers the five Sees, dating back to the first millennium, to be "Sister Churches within a certain ecumenical context.[12]
In Ukraine, Romania, Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere there are Greek Catholics who utilize Byzantine rite, but accept the primacy of the Pope. Many of these Eastern Catholic Churches broke away from the Eastern Orthodox communion during the 17th and 18th centuries in order to establish communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Most of them follow liturgical practices identical to those of the Orthodox Church.
Confusingly, the term "Western Orthodox" is sometimes used to refer to Uniate Catholic churches in communion with the Roman See, also known as Eastern Catholic Churches. Today the term "Western Orthodox" refers to groups of apostolic Orthodox Christians in the United Kingdom, United States and perhaps smaller numbers in Denmark, Serbia, Finland, France, Germany and the Netherlands, who wish to be Orthodox and yet want a western and Latin Rite. It can also refer to the Orthodox churches that have implemented a Western rite such as the Antiochian Orthodox church.
The term Oriental Orthodoxy is used to refer to non-Chalcedonian eastern Christians, as opposed to Christians of Eastern Orthodox Churches, who accept the Council of Chalcedon (See Ecumenical Councils) and generally worship according to the Byzantine Rite. They have been traditionally referred to as Monophysite. They are found in Egypt, Ethiopia, some parts of Syria, Iraq and Iran, Armenia, and southern India in Kerala State. They accept only the first three of the ecumenical councils. In the last century there has been some rapproachment between these and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, particularly in Syria. There have been claims after dialogue, that really the differences have been of phraseology all along, and a simple misunderstanding of what each church holds. This is not entirely satisfactory to many in Eastern Orthodoxy, and it is not considered in each church's competence to use a General Holy Synod to bring about communion. These Eastern Orthodox Christians hold that it would take another Great and Holy Council of every Eastern Orthodox Bishop together to reverse the Anathema, and this raises problems of its own.
Some religious groups are considered by all of the aforementioned to be unorthodox (or even arbitrarily cults, as they are less commonly called in Protestant circles), including members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarians, and some of the more radical forms of liberal theology.
Inside each of these ecclesiastical communities there are issues that correspond to estrangement or refinements of perceived orthodoxy. For example, the Roman See often issues recommendations as to what practices it considers orthodox so as to curb excesses or deficiencies by its prelates. Some evangelicals are pursuing innovations that other, more conservative evangelicals consider unorthodox and term "neo-evangelical," "neo-pentecostal," or "fringe Charismatic."
[edit] Saints
The true Orthodox church uses Saints as protectors, guides and intercessors to the King (or Lord). Each Saint has their own different ability and talent. For instance, the Mother of God is for general help; Saint Antipas helps individuals with teeth problems; Saint Phanurios finds lost belongings, having them miraculously appear at a spot where an individual has already vigorously looked; and Saint George for accidents and returning abducted children to their families. These are only four names out of an infinite number of saints.
[edit] Critical uses
In certain intellectual contexts, the terms "orthodox" and "orthodoxy" are used in an unfavorable sense, similar to that associated with "dogma" and "dogmatic". The implication is that orthodox beliefs are not rationally justified but are imposed by some overseeing body, such as the dominant group in an academic discipline. For example, the term orthodox economics is commonly used by critics to refer to the dominant approach to economics, which its supporters would more commonly call mainstream economics. In this sense, orthodox economics is commonly counterposed to radical[13] or heterodox economics.[14]
[edit] See also
* Fundamentalism
* Heresy
* Theology
* Neo-orthodoxy
* Paleo-orthodoxy
* Proto-orthodox Christianity
[edit] References
1. ^ orthodox. Dictionary.com. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/orthodox (accessed: March 03, 2008).
2. ^ orthodox. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/orthodox (accessed: March 03, 2008).
3. ^ Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (London: Penguin, 1993), 314,15.
4. ^ Ronald Roberson, "Russian Steps to unity," The Tablet, 13 December 2008, 15.
5. ^ Ware, 279.
6. ^ Ware, 316.
7. ^ Francis Sullivan, "The Impact of Dominus Iesus on Ecumenism," America, 28 October 2000, 8.
8. ^ Ravenna Document, no. 41
9. ^ Catholics and Orthodox agree on primacy of pope
10. ^ Timothy Wise, Orthodoxy (London: Peguin Books, 1993), 27.
11. ^ John Allen, "The 'Patriarch of the West' Retires," The National Catholic Reporter April 7, 2006, 21.
12. ^ Joseph Ratzinger, "Sister Churches," The Tablet 9 September 2000, 1205.
13. ^ The Canadian Encyclopedia - Economics, Radical
14. ^ UNSW School of Economics - The Society of Heterodox Economists
[edit] External links
* [1]
* OrthodoxWiki - Eastern Orthodox Wiki Site
* Apostasy in the Christian church
* The "Changing" God of the New Theologies
* The Dangers of the Emerging Church
* God's Country—the differences among American Fundamentalist, Evangelical and Liberal Christians
* Orthodox Buddhism
* Orthodox Judaism
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodoxy"
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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]
One global fellowship of Baptists reports more than 37 million members in more than 150,000 congregations.[5] In 2002, there were over 45 million Baptists worldwide and over 33 million in North America.[3] The largest Baptist association is the Southern Baptist Convention, with over 16 million members.[4]
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Etymology
* 2 Origins
o 2.1 Outgrowth of English Separatism
o 2.2 Influence of Anabaptists
o 2.3 Baptist belief in perpetuity
* 3 Baptists in the UK
* 4 Baptists in North America
* 5 Baptist associations
* 6 Membership
o 6.1 Statistics
o 6.2 Qualifications
* 7 Baptist beliefs and principles
* 8 Beliefs that vary among Baptists
o 8.1 Controversies which have shaped Baptists
+ 8.1.1 Missions crisis
+ 8.1.2 Slavery crisis
+ 8.1.3 Landmark crisis
+ 8.1.4 The Modernist crisis
* 9 See also
* 10 Notes
* 11 References
* 12 External links
[edit] 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]
.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].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].25Smyth, 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]
.25The 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
Main article: Baptist successionism
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]
[edit] Baptists in the UK
Historical chart of the main Protestant branches. Baptists appeared in the early 1600s as part of the Radical Reformation.
In 1612, Thomas Helwys established a Baptist congregation in London, consisting of congregants from Smyth's church.[3] A number of other Baptist churches sprang up, and they became known as the General Baptists.[3] The Particular Baptists were established when a group of Calivinist Separatists adopted believers' Baptism.[3] The Baptists emphasized the autonomy of each congregation, with no spiritual authority recognized above a congregation's minister.[3] The congregations maintained relations through associations, which continue to be vital to Baptist Church life.[3]
Baptist numbers increased over the centuries, more than keeping pace with the rise in population.[3] There still exist today in areas such as Plymouth very traditional Baptist sects, known as the strict baptists.
[edit] Baptists in North America
Both Roger Williams and John Clarke, his compatriot in working for religious freedom, are variously credited as founding the earliest Baptist church in North America.[28] In 1639, Williams established a Baptist church in Providence, Rhode Island, and Clarke began a Baptist church in Newport, Rhode Island. According to a Baptist historian who has researched the matter extensively, "There is much debate over the centuries as to whether the Providence or Newport church deserved the place of 'first' Baptist congregation in America. Exact records for both congregations are lacking."[10]
The Great Awakening energized the Baptist movement, and the Baptist community experienced spectacular growth.[3] Baptists became the largest Christian community in many southern states, including among the black population.[3]
In 1845, the Baptists congregations in the United States split over the issue of slavery. The Baptists from the Southern states supported slaveholding, and when Northern Baptists tried to prevent slaveholders from being missionaries, the Southern Baptists formed a separate organization, the Southern Baptist Convention. The northern congregations later formed their own umbrella organization.
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Many Baptist churches choose to associate with associational groups that provide fellowship without control.[3] The largest Baptist association is the Southern Baptist Convention, but there are many other Baptist associations. There are also autonomous churches that remain independent of any denomination, organization, or association.[29]
In 1905, Baptists worldwide formed the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). The BWA now counts over 200 Baptist conventions and unions worldwide with over 37 million members.[citation needed] The BWA's goals include caring for the needy, leading in world evangelism and defending human rights and religious freedom. Though it played a role in the founding of the BWA, the Southern Baptist Convention severed its affiliation with BWA in 2004.[30]
[edit] Membership
[edit] Statistics
See also: List of Christian denominations by number of members
See also: List of Baptist sub-denominations
According to the Barna Group researchers, Baptists are the largest denominational grouping of born again Christians in the U.S.[31] A 2009 ABCNEWS/Beliefnet phone poll of 1,022 adults suggests that fifteen percent of Americans identify themselves as Baptists.[32]
Besides North America and Europe, large populations of Baptists also exist in Asia, Africa and Latin America, notably in India (2.4 million), Nigeria (2.5 million), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (1.9 million), and Brazil (1.7 million).[citation needed]
Ninety-two percent of Baptists are found in five bodies—the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC); National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. (NBC); National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.; (NBCA); American Baptist Churches in the USA (ABC); and Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI).[33]
[edit] Qualifications
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The primary external qualification for membership in a Baptist church is baptism.[34] General Baptist churches will accept into membership people who have made a profession of faith but have not been baptized as a believer. These are included as members alongside baptized members in the statistics. Some Baptist churches do not have an age restriction on membership, but will not accept as a member a child who is considered too young to fully understand and make a profession of faith of their own volition and comprehension. In such cases, the pastor and parents usually meet together with the child to verify the child's comprehension of the decision to follow Jesus. There are instances where persons make a profession of faith but fail to follow through with believers' baptism. In such cases they are considered saved and usually eligible for membership. Baptists do not believe that baptism has anything to do with salvation. It is considered a public expression of one's inner repentance and faith.[10]
Baptists believe that the act of baptism is a symbolic display of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.[10] When a person who has already been saved and confessed Christ submits to scriptural baptism, he or she is publicly identifying with Christ in His death to old self, burial of past sinful thought and action, and resurrection in newness of life, to walk with Christ the remainder of their days.[10]
Some churches, especially in the UK, do not require members to have been baptized as a believer, so long as they have made a believer's declaration of faith—for example, been confirmed in the Anglican church, or become communicant members as Presbyterians.[citation needed] In these cases, believers would usually transfer their memberships from their previous churches. This allows people who have grown up in one tradition, but now feel settled in their local Baptist church, to fully take part in the day to day life of the church, voting at meetings, etc. It is also possible, but unusual, to be baptized without becoming a church member immediately.
[edit] Baptist beliefs and principles
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Main article: Baptist beliefs
Part of a series of articles on
Baptists
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Historical Background
Protestantism · Puritanism · Anabaptism
Soteriology
General · Strict · Reformed
Doctrinal distinctives
Priesthood of all believers · Individual soul liberty · Ordinances · Separation of church and state · Sola scriptura · Congregationalism · Offices · Confessions
Pivotal figures
John Smyth · Thomas Helwys · Roger Williams · John Bunyan · Shubal Stearns · Andrew Fuller · Charles Spurgeon · D. N. Jackson
Baptist Conventions and Unions
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Baptists, like other Christians, are defined by doctrine—some of it common to all orthodox and evangelical groups and a portion of it importantly distinctive.[35] Through the years, different Baptist groups have issued confessions of faith—without considering them to be creeds—to express their particular doctrinal distinctions in comparison to other Christians as well as in comparison to other Baptists.[36] Most Baptists are evangelical in doctrine, but Baptist beliefs can vary due to the congregational governance system that gives autonomy to individual local Baptist churches. Historically, Baptists have played a key role in encouraging religious freedom and separation of church and state.[37]
Shared doctrines would include beliefs about one God; the virgin birth; miracles; atonement through the death for sins, burial, and bodily resurrection of Jesus; the Trinity; the need for salvation (through belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God, his death and resurrection, and confession of Christ as Lord); grace; the Kingdom of God; last things (Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth, the dead will be raised, and Christ will judge everyone in righteousness); and evangelism and missions. Some historically significant Baptist doctrinal documents include the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, 1742 Philadelphia Baptist Confession, the 1833 New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message, and written church covenants which some individual Baptist churches adopt as a statement of their faith and beliefs.
Most Baptists hold that no church or ecclesiastical organization has inherent authority over a Baptist church. Churches can properly relate to each other under this polity only through voluntary cooperation, never by any sort of coercion. Furthermore, this Baptist polity calls for freedom from governmental control.[38]
Exceptions to this local form of local governance include a few churches that submit to the leadership of a body of elders, as well as the Episcopal Baptists that have an Episcopal system.
Baptists generally believe in the literal Second Coming of Christ. Beliefs among Baptists regarding the "end times" include amillennialism, dispensationalism, and historic premillennialism, with views such as postmillennialism and preterism receiving some support.
Some additional distinctive Baptist principles held by many Baptists include the following:[39]
.2* The supremacy of the canonical Scriptures as a norm of faith and practice. For something to become a matter of faith and practice, it is not sufficient for it to be merely consistent with and not contrary to scriptural principles. It must be something explicitly ordained through command or example in the Bible. For instance, this is why Baptists do not practice infant baptism—they say the Bible neither commands nor exemplifies infant baptism as a Christian practice, even though nowhere does the Bible forbid it. More than any other Baptist principle, this one when applied to infant baptism is said to separate Baptists from other evangelical Christians.
* Similarly prominent is their insistence on regenerate ("saved") members who have received Believers' Baptism. To Baptists, the "church universal" is the entire body of those who have personally become partakers of the salvation of Christ.
* Baptists believe that faith is a matter between God and the individual (religious freedom). To them it means the advocacy of absolute liberty of conscience.
* Insistence on immersion as the only mode of baptism. Baptists do not believe that baptism is necessary for salvation. Therefore, they do not consider it to be a sacrament, since it imparts no saving grace.[39]
Further information: List of Baptist confessions
The following acrostic backronym, spelling BAPTIST, represents a useful summary of Baptists' distinguishing beliefs:[40]
* Biblical authority (Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
* Autonomy of the local church (Matt. 18:15–17; 1 Cor. 6:1-3)
* Priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:5-9; 1 Timothy 5)
* Two ordinances (believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper) (Acts 2:41–47; 1 Cor. 11:23-32)
* Individual soul liberty (Romans 14:5–12)
* Separation of Church and State (Matthew 22:15–22)
* Two offices of the church (pastor-elder and deacon) (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1–2)
Most Baptist traditions believe in the "Four Freedoms" articulated by Baptist historian Walter B. Shurden:[36]
* Soul freedom: the soul is competent before God, and capable of making decisions in matters of faith without coercion or compulsion by any larger religious or civil body
* Church freedom: freedom of the local church from outside interference, whether government or civilian (subject only to the law where it does not interfere with the religious teachings and practices of the church)
* Bible freedom: the individual is free to interpret the Bible for himself or herself, using the best tools of scholarship and biblical study available to the individual
* Religious freedom: the individual is free to choose whether to practice their religion, another religion, or no religion; Separation of church and state is often called the "civil corollary" of religious freedom
[edit] Beliefs that vary among Baptists
Protestantism
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(The Ninety-Five Theses)
The Reformation
History
Pre-Reformation movements
Hussites • Lollards • Waldensians
Reformation era movements
Anabaptism • Anglicanism • Calvinism • Counter-Reformation • Lutheranism • Polish Brethren • Remonstrants
Since there is no hierarchical authority and each Baptist church is autonomous, there is no official set of Baptist theological beliefs.[41] Baptists have different divisions, sects, and groups. Although they agree on many things, their differences are enough to keep them apart. Despite some common doctrines and practices which characterize the greater part of Baptists, there are many beliefs and practices which vary from church to church and among associations. Some doctrinal issues on which there is widespread difference among Baptists are eschatology, Calvinism and Arminianism, the doctrine of separation from "the world" and whether to associate with those who are "of the world", glossolalia (speaking in tongues)[42], how the Bible should be interpreted (hermeneutics), the extent to which missionary boards should be used to support missionaries, the extent to which non-members may participate in the Lord's Supper services, which translation of Scripture to use from the pulpit and in Bible classes (see King-James-Only movement),[43] the very nature of Gospel, the role of women in marriage, and the ordination of women as deacons or pastors.[44]
Some of the smaller Baptist groups are devoted to some peculiar traditional practice or doctrine.[citation needed] Some Primitive Baptists practice the laying on of hands after baptism and footwashing, as do some Freewill Baptists. The Seventh Day Baptists insist biblical worship should be conducted on the traditional Sabbath (Saturday) rather than on Sunday. Landmarkism holds to strict closed communion wherein only the members of the church can participate in the Lord's Supper. On the other hand, some Baptists have embraced modernistic trends, such as The Alliance of Baptists which officially affirms homosexual relationships[45]
[edit] Controversies which have shaped Baptists
Baptists have faced many controversies in their 400-year history, controversies of the level of crises. Baptist historian Walter Shurden says the word "crisis" comes from the Greek word meaning "to decide." Shurden writes that contrary to the presumed negative view of crises, some controversies that reach a crisis level may actually be "positive and highly productive." He claims that even schism, though never ideal, has often produced positive results. In his opinion crises among Baptists each have become decision-moments that shaped their future.[46] Some controversies which have shaped Baptists are:
* Landmark crisis
* Missions crisis
* Modernist crisis
* Racial crisis
[edit] Missions crisis
Early in the 19th century, the rise of the modern missions movement, and the backlash against it, led to widespread and bitter controversy among the American Baptists.[47] During this era, the American Baptists were split between missionary and anti-missionary. A substantial secession of Baptists went into the movement led by Alexander Campbell, to return to a more fundamental church.[48]
[edit] Slavery crisis
Leading up to the American Civil War, Baptists became embroiled in the controversy over slavery in the United States. Whereas in the First Great Awakening, Methodist and Baptist preachers had opposed slavery and urged manumission, over the decades they made more of an accommodation with the institution. They worked with slaveholders in the South to urge a paternalistic institution. Both denominations made direct appeals to slaves and free blacks for conversion. The Baptists particularly allowed them active roles in congregations. By the mid-19th century, northern Baptists tended to oppose slavery. As tensions increased, in 1844 the Home Mission Society declared that a slave owner could not be a missionary under its patronage.
The Southern Baptist Convention formed in 1845, founded on the premise that the Bible sanctions slavery and that it is acceptable for Christians to own slaves. However the Southern Baptist Convention voted June 20, 1995, to adopt a resolution renouncing its racist roots and apologizing for its past defense of slavery. More than 20,000 Southern Baptists registered for the meeting in Atlanta. The resolution declared that messengers, as SBC delegates are called, "unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its forms, as deplorable sin" and "lament and repudiate historic acts of evil such as slavery from which we continue to reap a bitter harvest." It offered an apology to all African-Americans for "condoning and/or perpetuating individual and systemic racism in our lifetime" and repentance for "racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously or unconsciously." Although Southern Baptists have condemned racism in the past, this was the first time the predominantly white convention had dealt specifically with the issue of slavery.
The statement sought forgiveness "from our African-American brothers and sisters" and pledged to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry." The SBC was founded in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia, by Baptists in the South seceding from the national Triennial Convention of Baptists after that body decreed it would not appoint slaveholders as missionaries. Currently about 500,000 members of the 15.6-million-member denomination are African-Americans and another 300,000 are ethnic minorities. The racism resolution marked the denomination's first formal acknowledgment that racism played a role in its founding.[49]
As early as the late 1700s black Baptists began to organize separate churches, associations and mission agencies, especially in the northern states. Many of the slaves were forced to remain members of the same churches with the whites up until the American Civil War. After emancipation, black Baptists generally separated from the white Baptists, as they wanted to establish their own institutions outside white supervision.[50] Currently American Baptist numerical strength is greatest in the former slaveholding states. The Baptist faith is the predominant faith of African Americans.[51]
[edit] Landmark crisis
Southern Baptist Landmarkism sought to reset the ecclesiastical separation which had characterized the old Baptist churches, in an era when inter-denominational union meetings were the order of the day.[52]James Robinson Graves was the primary leader of this movement and one of the most influential Baptists of the 19th century.[53] While some Landmarkers eventually separated from the Southern Baptist Convention, the movement's influence on the Convention continued well into the 20th century.[54] Its influence continues to affect Convention policies. In 2005 the Southern Baptist International Mission Board forbade its missionaries to receive alien immersions for baptism.[55]
[edit] The Modernist crisis
The rise of theological modernism in the latter 19th and 20th century also greatly affected the Baptists.[56] The Landmark movement, already mentioned, has been described as a reaction against incipient modernism among Southern Baptists.[57] In England, Charles Haddon Spurgeon fought against modernistic views of the Scripture in the Downgrade Controversy.[58]
The Northern Baptist Convention had internal conflict over modernism in the early 20th century, ultimately embracing it. Two new conservative associations were founded as a result: the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches in 1933 and the Conservative Baptist Association of America in 1947.[59] Following similar conflicts over modernism, the Southern Baptist Convention adhered to conservative theology as its official position. Two new Baptist denominations were formed by former Southern Baptists who either embraced or favored toleration of the modernist approach to the Scripture: the radical Alliance of Baptists in 1987 and the moderately liberal Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in 1991.[60]
[edit] See also
Search Wikisource Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Baptists.
* List of Baptist denominations
* List of Baptist confessions
* List of Baptists
[edit] Notes
1. ^ a b Shurden, Walter (2001). "Turning Points in Baptist History". Macon, GA: The Center for Baptist Studies, Mercer University. http://www.centerforbaptiststudies.o...ningpoints.htm. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gourley, Bruce. "A Very Brief Introduction to Baptist History, Then and Now." The Baptist Observer.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Baptists." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
4. ^ a b c d "Baptist." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
5. ^ "Member Body Statistics". Baptist World Alliance. May 30, 2008. http://www.bwanet.org/bwa.php?site=Resources&id=19. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
6. ^ Newman, Albert Henry (1894). A History of the Baptist Churches in the United States. Christian Literature. http://books.google.com/books?id=wCrmT5eki7YC. "This rejection of infant baptism and this insistence on believers' baptism were so distinctive of these Christians that they were stigmatized as Anabaptists, Catabaptists, and sometimes as simply Baptists; that is to say, they were declared to be "rebaptizers", "perverters of baptism", or, as unduly magnifying baptism and making it the occasion of schism, simply "baptizers"."
7. ^ "The Illustrated Book of All Religions From the Earliest Ages to the Present Time", Star Publishing Company, 1895.
8. ^ Christian, John T. A History of the Baptists. Broadman Press (1922, chapter 15,pages 205-206): "The word Baptists was used by a high official of the English government in the earlier days of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. That official was Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burleigh, then the Secretary of State and especial adviser of the Queen. The date is March 10, 1569.". http://www.reformedreader.org/histor...hob1/ahobp.htm.
9. ^ John T. Christian, History of the Baptists , volume I page 205 and volume II page 212|http://www.reformedreader.org/histor...hob1/ahobp.htm
10. ^ a b c d e Brackney, William H. (2006). Baptists in North America: an historical perspective. Blackwell Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 1405118652.
11. ^ a b c d e Leonard, Bill J. (2003). Baptist Ways: A History. Judson Press. ISBN 978-0817012311.
12. ^ a b c Briggs, John. "Baptist Origins". Baptist History and Heritage Society. http://www.baptisthistory.org/contissues/briggs.htm. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
13. ^ Beale, David (2000). The Mayflower Pilgrims: roots of Puritan, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Baptist heritage. Emerald House Group. ISBN 978-1889893518.
14. ^ Traffanstedt, Chris. "A Primer on Baptist History". http://www.reformedreader.org/history/pbh.htm. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
15. ^ Nettles, Tom J. (Spring 2009). "Once Upon a Time, Four Hundred Years Ago...". Founders Journal (Founders Ministries) 76: 2–8. http://www.founders.org/journal/fj76/article1.html.
16. ^ Vedder, H. C.. "A Short History of the Baptists". The Reformed Reader. http://www.reformedreader.org/history/vedder/ch14.htm. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
17. ^ McBeth, H. Leon. "Baptist Beginnings". Baptist History and Heritage Society. http://www.baptisthistory.org/baptistbeginnings.htm. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
18. ^ Melton, J.G. Baptists in "Encyclopedia of American Religions". 1994
19. ^ Robert G. Torbet, A History of the Baptists, pages 18-19, Valley Forge: Judson Press - 1975)
20. ^ H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage, pages 59-60, Nashville: Broadman Press - 1987
21. ^ John T. Christian, History of the Baptists, Volume one, pages 83-282
22. ^ Christian, John T (vol.1, 1922; vol.2, 1926). A History of the Baptists. Broadman Press. http://www.reformedreader.org/histor...hob1/ahobp.htm.
23. ^ H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage, pages 58-60, Nashville: Broadman Press - 1987.
24. ^ H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage, pages 59-60, Nashville, Broadman Press - 1987
25. ^ Robert Torbet, A History of the Baptists, page 18 Valley Forge: Judson Press - 1975
26. ^ The New park Street Pulpit, Volume VII, Page 225
27. ^ Jesse Mercer (1838), A History of the Georgia Baptist Association, pages 196-201, http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com/1811cl_mercer.html
28. ^ Newport Notables
29. ^ Moore, G. Holmes. "300 Years of Baptist History." Bible Baptist Church of St. Louis, MO, is an example of an independent Baptist church that has never been a denominational church in the sense of belonging to some convention or association. Web: 17 January 2010. [1]
30. ^ Cooperman, Alan (16 June 2004). "Southern Baptists Vote To Leave World Alliance". Washington Post: p. A4. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Jun15.html. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
31. ^ "Catholics Have Become Mainstream America." July 9, 2007. Web: 16 January 2010. Born again Christians in U.S. (Barna defines Born again Christians as "people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.")
32. ^ Langer, Gary. "Poll: Most Americans Say They're Christian. Varies Greatly From the World at Large." 18 Jul 2009 Web: 16 January 2010. Poll: Most Americans Say They're Christian
33. ^ Albert W. Wardin, Baptists Around the World (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1995) p. 367
34. ^ Pendleton, J. M. (1867). Church Manual For Baptist Churches. The Judson Press. http://www.reformedreader.org/rbb/pe...nual/bcm01.htm.
35. ^ Nettles, Thomas J.. "A Foundation for the Future: The Southern Baptist Message and Mission".
36. ^ a b Shurden, Walter B. (1993). The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms. Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys Publishing. ISBN 978-1880837207.
37. ^ "Baptists." Web: 17 January 2010
38. ^ Pinson, William M., Jr.. [htpp://www.baptisthistory.org/contissues/pinson.htm Trends in Baptist Polity]. Baptist History and Heritage Society. htpp://www.baptisthistory.org/contissues/pinson.htm.
39. ^ a b Newman, Albert Henry (1915). A History of the Baptist Churches in the United States (3 ed.). Christian Literature. http://books.google.com/books?id=F38uAAAAYAAJ.
40. ^ Articles on Baptists beliefs, polity, ministries, practices, organizations, and heritage. The information is intended to be useful for Baptists and non-Baptists alike.
41. ^ Hammett, John and John S. Hammett.Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology. Kregel Publications, 2005. ISBN-13: 978-0825427695
42. ^ "Position Paper Concerning the IMB Policy on Glossolalia." Florida Baptist Witness Web: 18 Mar 2010. http://www.gofbw.com/news.asp?ID=5592 Glossolalia]
43. ^ "An Introduction to Bible Translations." Trinity Baptist Church Discipleship Training, April 2005. Web: 18 Mar 2010. An Introduction to Bible Translations
44. ^ Beck, Rosalie. "Response to 'The Ordination of Women Among Texas Baptists' by Ann Miller.” Perspectives in Religious Studies. Journal of the NABPR, Baylor University. Baptist General Convention of Texas. Web: 18 Mar 2010. [http://www.bgct.org/texasbaptists/Document.Doc?&id=3338 Response to “The Ordination of Women Among Texas Baptists”]
45. ^ http://www.allianceofbaptists.org/le...ionalresources.
46. ^ Shurden, Walter B.. Crises in Baptist Life. http://www.baptistdistinctives.org/crises.pdf. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
47. ^ John T. Christian, History of the Baptists, volume 2 pages 404-420 (Nashville: Broadman Press - 1926
48. ^ John T. Christian, History of the Baptists, volume 2, pages 421-436 (Nashville: Broadman Press - 1926
49. ^ "SBC renounces racist past - Southern Baptist Convention." The Christian Century. July 5, 1995.
50. ^ Leroy Fitts, A History of Black Baptists, pages 43-106 (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press - 1985)
51. ^ Department of Geography and Meteorology, "Baptists as a Percentage of all Residents, 2000" Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana.
52. ^ Robert Ashcraft, Landmarkism Revisited, pages 84-85 (Ashcraft Publications, Mabelvale, Arkansas, 2003)
53. ^ Ben M. Bogard, Pillars of Orthodoxy, page 199 (Louisville: Baptist Book Concern - 1900)
54. ^ Smith, Handy & Loetscher, American Christianity: An Historical Interpretation With Representative Documents, Volume II: 1820-1960, page 110 (Charles Scribner's Sons - 1963)
55. ^ "Guideline on Baptism". International Mission Board. http://www.imb.org/main/news/details...9&StoryID=3837.
56. ^ Torbet, Robert G. (1975). A History of the Baptists. Valley Forge: Judson Press. pp. 424–445. ISBN 978-0817000745.
57. ^ History of the American Baptist Association, edited by Robert Ashcraft, pages 63-66 (Texarkana: History and Archives Committee of the American Baptist Association - 2000)
58. ^ Robert G. Torbet, A History of the Baptists, page 114 (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press - 1975).
59. ^ Robert G. Torbet, A History of the Baptists, pages 395 and 436 (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press - 1975).
60. ^ "CBF History".
[edit] References
* Gavins, Raymond. The Perils and Prospects of Southern Black Leadership: Gordon Blaine Hancock, 1884–1970. Duke University Press, 1977.
* Harrison, Paul M. Authority and Power in the Free Church Tradition: A Social Case Study of the American Baptist Convention Princeton University Press, 1959.
* Harvey, Paul. Redeeming the South: Religious Cultures and Racial Identities among Southern Baptists, 1865–1925 University of North Carolina Press, 1997.
* Heyrman, Christine Leigh. Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt (1997).
* Isaac, Rhy. "Evangelical Revolt: The Nature of the Baptists' Challenge to the Traditional Order in Virginia, 1765 to 1775," William and Mary Quarterly, 3d ser., XXXI (July 1974), 345–68.
* Leonard, Bill J. Baptist Ways: A History (2003), comprehensive international history
* Life & Practice in the Early Church: A Documentary Reader, New York University press. 2001. pp. 5–7. ISBN 9780814756485.
* McBeth, H. Leon, (ed.) A Sourcebook for Baptist Heritage (1990), primary sources for Baptist history.
* McGlothlin, W. J. (ed.) Baptist Confessions of Faith. Philadelphia: The American Baptist Publication Society, 1911.
* Pitts, Walter F. Old Ship of Zion: The Afro-Baptist Ritual in the African Diaspora Oxford University Press, 1996.
* Rawlyk, George. Champions of the Truth: Fundamentalism, Modernism, and the Maritime Baptists (1990), Canada.
* Spangler, Jewel L. "Becoming Baptists: Conversion in Colonial and Early National Virginia" Journal of Southern History. Volume: 67. Issue: 2. 2001. pp 243+
* Stringer, Phil. The Faithful Baptist Witness, Landmark Baptist Press, 1998.
* Torbet, Robert G. A History of the Baptists, Judson Press, 1950.
* Underhill, Edward B. (ed.). Confessions of Faith and Other Documents of the Baptist Churches of England in the 17th century. London: The Hanserd Knollys Society, 1854.
* Underwood, A. C. A History of the English Baptists. London: Kingsgate Press, 1947.
* Wills, Gregory A. Democratic Religion: Freedom, Authority, and Church Discipline in the Baptist South, 1785–1900, Oxford.
[edit] External links
* Baptists at the Open Directory Project
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptists"
Categories: Baptist | Christian denominational families | Protestantism | Christian terms
Orthodoxy
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For the book by G. K. Chesterton, see Orthodoxy (book).
For other uses, see Orthodox (disambiguation).
Search Wiktionary Look up orthodox in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The word orthodox, from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion", from orthos ("right", "true", "straight") + doxa ("opinion" or "praise", related to dokein, "to think"),[1] is typically used to mean the adherence to accepted or traditional and established norms, especially in religion.[2]
The term did not conventionally exist with any degree of formality (in the sense in which it is now used) prior to the advent of Christianity in the Greek-speaking world, though the word does occasionally show up in ancient literature in other, somewhat similar contexts.[citation needed] Orthodoxy is opposed to heterodoxy ("other teaching"), heresy and schism. People who deviate from orthodoxy by professing a doctrine considered to be false are most often called heretics or radicals, while those who deviate from orthodoxy by removing themselves from the perceived body of believers are called schismatics. The distinction in terminology pertains to the subject matter; if one is addressing corporate unity, the emphasis may be on schism; if one is addressing doctrinal coherence, the emphasis may be on heresy.
Apostasy, for example, is a violation of orthodoxy that takes the form of abandonment of the faith, a concept largely unknown before the adoption of Christianity as the state religion of Rome on February 27, 380 by Theodosius I, see also First seven Ecumenical Councils. A lighter deviation from orthodoxy than heresy is commonly called error, in the sense of not being grave enough to cause total estrangement, while yet seriously affecting communion. Sometimes error is also used to cover both full heresies and minor errors.
The concept of orthodoxy is the most prevalent in many forms of organized monotheism, but orthodox belief is not usually overly emphasized in polytheistic or animist religions. Often there is little to no concept of dogma, and varied interpretation of doctrine and theology is tolerated and sometimes even encouraged within certain contexts. Syncretism, for example, plays a much wider role in non-monotheistic (and particularly, non-scriptual) religion. The prevailing governing idea within polytheism is most often orthopraxy ("right practice") rather than "right belief".
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Orthodox groups
o 1.1 Christianity
* 2 Saints
* 3 Critical uses
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links
[edit] Orthodox groups
Some groups have laid claim to the word orthodox as part of their titles, most commonly in order to differentiate themselves from other, 'heretical' movements. Within Christianity, the term occurs in the Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches as well as in Protestant denominations like the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Orthodox Judaism focuses on a strict adherence to what it sees as the correct interpretation of the Oral Torah, but the Greek-based word "Orthodox" was not applied to Jews until the 19th century, long after it was applied to Christians, and some traditional Jewish groups still prefer not to use it.
[edit] Christianity
See also: Orthodox Christianity
In classical Christian usage, the term orthodox refers to a set of doctrines which gained prominence in the 4th century AD. The Roman Emperor Constantine I initiated a series of ecumenical councils (see also First seven Ecumenical Councils) to try to standardize what was by then, not a necessarily homogeneous religion in terms of theology.[citation needed] The most significant of these early debates was that between the Homoousian doctrine of Athanasius and Eustathius (Trinitarianism) and the Heteroousian doctrine of Arius and Eusebius (Arianism). The Homoousian doctrine gradually won out in the Roman Church and came to be referred to as orthodoxy in most Christian contexts, since this became the viewpoint of the majority (although, of course, many non-Trinitarian Christians still object to this terminology). Following the Great Schism, both the Western and Eastern churches continued to consider themselves uniquely orthodox and catholic. Over time the Western church gradually identified itself more with the "Catholic" label and Westerners gradually associated the "Orthodox" label more with the Eastern church (in some other languages the "Catholic" label is not necessarily identified with the Western church). In addition to the Eastern Orthodox Church, there also exists a separate Oriental Orthodox communion, as well as other smaller communions that are commonly associated with the "Orthodox" label.
The Eastern Orthodox Churches uses the original form of the Nicene Creed created at the First Council of Constantinople in 381, in contrast to the Roman Catholic church, which uses the Nicene creed with the addition of the phrase 'and the Son' (see Filioque clause). This change is one of many causes for the Great Schism formalized in 1054 by simultaneous proclamations of "Anathema" from the leadership of the Orthodox Churches in the East and the Bishop of Rome (Pope) in the West. This emphasis on the use of the original "creed" is shared today by all Eastern Orthodox churches.
The changes brought about in the Roman Catholic Church at the Second Vatican Council (1962-5) have made a gradual "rapprochement" between Rome and Orthodoxy at the official level. Likewise, the simultaneous revocation of the anathemas of 1054 should not be underestimated in "restoring mutual trust" and a recognition that there is "a vast area of common ground that the two sides share." Regarding dogma, Orthodox often feel that "Latin scholastic theology makes too much use of legal concepts, and relies too heavily on rational categories and syllogistic argumentation, while the Latins for their part have frequently found the more mystical approach of Orthodoxy too vague and ill-defined." There are also "psychological barriers [in Eastern Europe] that need to be overcome."[3] For example, in 2008, Patriarch Alexie of All Russia complained about the presence of Catholic clerics and missionaries in Russia, noting," "If they consider Orthodoxy to have just as much the grace of God and salvation as Catholicism, then what is the point of persistent attempts to convert people to the other faith?" [4] The Russian Church, for example, in a gesture of good will, does not demand that Roman Catholics "receive Chrismation" when they convert to Orthodoxy, only make a simple profession of faith ("though Anglican and other Protestants are always received by Chrismation.")[5] The biggest difference, however, is Orthodoxy's "understanding of the Papal ministry within the Church."[6] For their part, the Roman and Eastern Catholic Churches do not consider the Eastern Orthodox Church to be schismatic and heretical, only "defective" for not accepting the universal jurisdiction of the See of Rome. At the same time, Rome's document Dominus Iesus calls Orthodox Churches "true particular churches": "an unusual use of 'true' referring to any but the Catholic Church." [7] Needless to say, Rome recognizes that Orthodoxy has valid sacraments and full apostolic succession. Recent declarations between the two churches have also brought the two churches even closer together. For example, a joint commission of Orthodox and Catholic theologians agreed that the Pope is "protos among the patriarchs,"[8] though disagreements about the extent of his authority still continue, see also Papal primacy. The Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue reached the agreement in a meeting in Ravenna, Italy in October 2006.[9] The Orthodox believe that among the five Patriarchs and ancient Patriarchates (i.e., Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem), a special place belongs to Rome, a "primacy of honor," not of supremacy.[10] However, to disassociate the "See of Rome" from this "equalisation," Benedict XVI recently dropped the title "Patriarch of the West," seeing the designation as an attempt to Orientalize Western ecclesiology.[11] However, Benedict still considers the five Sees, dating back to the first millennium, to be "Sister Churches within a certain ecumenical context.[12]
In Ukraine, Romania, Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere there are Greek Catholics who utilize Byzantine rite, but accept the primacy of the Pope. Many of these Eastern Catholic Churches broke away from the Eastern Orthodox communion during the 17th and 18th centuries in order to establish communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Most of them follow liturgical practices identical to those of the Orthodox Church.
Confusingly, the term "Western Orthodox" is sometimes used to refer to Uniate Catholic churches in communion with the Roman See, also known as Eastern Catholic Churches. Today the term "Western Orthodox" refers to groups of apostolic Orthodox Christians in the United Kingdom, United States and perhaps smaller numbers in Denmark, Serbia, Finland, France, Germany and the Netherlands, who wish to be Orthodox and yet want a western and Latin Rite. It can also refer to the Orthodox churches that have implemented a Western rite such as the Antiochian Orthodox church.
The term Oriental Orthodoxy is used to refer to non-Chalcedonian eastern Christians, as opposed to Christians of Eastern Orthodox Churches, who accept the Council of Chalcedon (See Ecumenical Councils) and generally worship according to the Byzantine Rite. They have been traditionally referred to as Monophysite. They are found in Egypt, Ethiopia, some parts of Syria, Iraq and Iran, Armenia, and southern India in Kerala State. They accept only the first three of the ecumenical councils. In the last century there has been some rapproachment between these and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, particularly in Syria. There have been claims after dialogue, that really the differences have been of phraseology all along, and a simple misunderstanding of what each church holds. This is not entirely satisfactory to many in Eastern Orthodoxy, and it is not considered in each church's competence to use a General Holy Synod to bring about communion. These Eastern Orthodox Christians hold that it would take another Great and Holy Council of every Eastern Orthodox Bishop together to reverse the Anathema, and this raises problems of its own.
Some religious groups are considered by all of the aforementioned to be unorthodox (or even arbitrarily cults, as they are less commonly called in Protestant circles), including members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarians, and some of the more radical forms of liberal theology.
Inside each of these ecclesiastical communities there are issues that correspond to estrangement or refinements of perceived orthodoxy. For example, the Roman See often issues recommendations as to what practices it considers orthodox so as to curb excesses or deficiencies by its prelates. Some evangelicals are pursuing innovations that other, more conservative evangelicals consider unorthodox and term "neo-evangelical," "neo-pentecostal," or "fringe Charismatic."
[edit] Saints
The true Orthodox church uses Saints as protectors, guides and intercessors to the King (or Lord). Each Saint has their own different ability and talent. For instance, the Mother of God is for general help; Saint Antipas helps individuals with teeth problems; Saint Phanurios finds lost belongings, having them miraculously appear at a spot where an individual has already vigorously looked; and Saint George for accidents and returning abducted children to their families. These are only four names out of an infinite number of saints.
[edit] Critical uses
In certain intellectual contexts, the terms "orthodox" and "orthodoxy" are used in an unfavorable sense, similar to that associated with "dogma" and "dogmatic". The implication is that orthodox beliefs are not rationally justified but are imposed by some overseeing body, such as the dominant group in an academic discipline. For example, the term orthodox economics is commonly used by critics to refer to the dominant approach to economics, which its supporters would more commonly call mainstream economics. In this sense, orthodox economics is commonly counterposed to radical[13] or heterodox economics.[14]
[edit] See also
* Fundamentalism
* Heresy
* Theology
* Neo-orthodoxy
* Paleo-orthodoxy
* Proto-orthodox Christianity
[edit] References
1. ^ orthodox. Dictionary.com. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/orthodox (accessed: March 03, 2008).
2. ^ orthodox. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/orthodox (accessed: March 03, 2008).
3. ^ Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (London: Penguin, 1993), 314,15.
4. ^ Ronald Roberson, "Russian Steps to unity," The Tablet, 13 December 2008, 15.
5. ^ Ware, 279.
6. ^ Ware, 316.
7. ^ Francis Sullivan, "The Impact of Dominus Iesus on Ecumenism," America, 28 October 2000, 8.
8. ^ Ravenna Document, no. 41
9. ^ Catholics and Orthodox agree on primacy of pope
10. ^ Timothy Wise, Orthodoxy (London: Peguin Books, 1993), 27.
11. ^ John Allen, "The 'Patriarch of the West' Retires," The National Catholic Reporter April 7, 2006, 21.
12. ^ Joseph Ratzinger, "Sister Churches," The Tablet 9 September 2000, 1205.
13. ^ The Canadian Encyclopedia - Economics, Radical
14. ^ UNSW School of Economics - The Society of Heterodox Economists
[edit] External links
* [1]
* OrthodoxWiki - Eastern Orthodox Wiki Site
* Apostasy in the Christian church
* The "Changing" God of the New Theologies
* The Dangers of the Emerging Church
* God's Country—the differences among American Fundamentalist, Evangelical and Liberal Christians
* Orthodox Buddhism
* Orthodox Judaism
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