A Baptist is a member of a Baptist church. Baptist churches are part of a Christian movement often regarded as an Evangelical Protestant denomination. Baptists emphasize a believer's baptism by full immersion, which is performed after a profession of faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. A congregational governance system gives autonomy to individual local Baptist churches, which are sometimes associated in organizations such as the Southern Baptist Convention. In the late 1990s, there were about 43 million Baptists worldwide with about 33 million in the United States.

Beliefs

Baptist churches do not have a central governing authority, resulting in the wide range of beliefs from one Baptist church to another. Baptist distinctives are beliefs that are common among Baptist churches, some of which are also shared with many other post-reformational denominations. Some historically significant Baptist doctrinal documents include the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, the 1833 New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, and the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message, which are often used as the "official" doctrinal statements of individual local Baptist churches or the starting point for an official statement.

See also : List of Baptist Confessions or Doctrinal Statements

The following backronym (which spells out Baptist) is used by some Baptist churches as a summary of the distinctives or distinguishing beliefs of Baptists.

• Biblical authority
• Autonomy of the local church
• Priesthood of all believers
• Two ordinances (baptism and communion)
• Individual soul liberty
• Separation of Church and State
• Two offices of the church (pastor and deacon)

Biblical authority

Authority of the Scriptures or sola scriptura states that the Bible is the only authoritative source of God's truth (in contrast to the role of Apostolic tradition in the Roman Catholic Church, or "revelations from God" as espoused in charismatic circles). Any view that cannot be directly tied to a scriptural reference is generally

Each person is responsible before God for his or her own understanding of the Bible and is encouraged to work out their own salvation (Philipians 2:12). Baptists generally consider historic Christian creeds to be on lower footing in comparison to Scripture even though they may in essence agree with them. However, a group or local church may have a general "Statement of Faith" (such as the Baptist Faith and Message of the Southern Baptist Convention).

Biblical inerrancy is also a common position held by fundamentalist Baptists in addition to contextually literal interpretations of the Bible and other fundamentalist theologies. However, because of the variety allowed under congregational governance, many Baptist churches are neither literalist nor fundamentalist, although most do believe in biblical authority. Most moderate or non-fundamentalist Baptists prefer the term inspired or God-breathed rather than inerrant to describe scripture, referring to the term Paul uses in 2 Timothy 3:16.

With regard to the inerrancy of the Scriptures, some Baptists consider that the original autographs (presumed lost) are inerrant and that the original words have been preserved by God on copies made throughout the years since they were written. Most Baptists consider the translations of these manuscripts into other languages (such as English) to be necessary, but not necessarily inerrant. Some Baptists believe that the King James Version of the Bible is an inspired translation and reject the need to know or use the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts.

Even though it is only the Bible that is considered authoritative, Baptists also cite other works as illustrative of doctrine. One work which is commonly read by Baptists is the allegory Pilgrim's Progress by nephpscripte/admin/php//index.php/Andrew_Fuller" title="Andrew Fuller">Andrew Fuller and William Carey for the purpose of missions. American Baptists soon followed suit.

This is the most common view held by modern Baptists, which is found represented in the works of H. Leon McBeth and many others.

Landmarkist

Landmarkism is the belief that Baptist churches and traditions have preceded the Catholic Church and have been around since the time of John the Baptist and Christ. Proponents believe that Baptist traditions have been passed down through a succession of visible congregations of Christians that were Baptist in doctrine and practice, but not necessarily in name. This view is theologically based on Matthew 16:18 , "..and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." and a rejection of Catholicism as part of the historical origins of Baptists.

This lineage grants

J. M. Carroll's The Trail of Blood, written in 1931, is commonly presented to defend this origin's view. Several groups considered to be part of this Baptist succession were groups persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church throughout history including Montanists, Novatianists, Donatists, Paulicians, Albigensians, Catharists, Waldenses, and Anabaptists. While some of these groups shared a few theological positions with current Baptists, many held positions that would now be considered heretical by current Baptists. It is also difficult to show historical connections between those groups which were often separated by large gaps in geography and time.

The works of John T. Christian offer the best presentation of this viewpoint.

Anabaptist

Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites) were a group in the 1500s that rejected infant baptism and "rebaptized" members as adults. They share many teachings of the early Baptists, such as the believer's baptism and religious freedom and were probably influential in the development of many Baptist characteristics. While their names suggest some connection, some Anabaptists differed from the Baptists on many other issues such as pacifism and the communal sharing of material goods.

It is difficult to say how much influence the Anabaptists had on the actual formation of Baptist churches. One of the strongest relationships between the two groups happened when John Smyth's General Baptists attempted but failed to merge with the Mennonites.

The works of William Roscoe Estep offer the best presentation of this viewpoint.

The name "Baptist"

Baptist comes from the Greek word 'βαπτιστής' (Baptist, used to describe John the Baptist), which is related to the verb 'βαπτίζω' (to baptize, wash, dip, immerse), and the Latin 'baptista', and is in direct connection to 'the baptiser', 'John the Baptist'.

As a first name it is used in Europe from the 12th century also as Baptiste, Jan-Baptiste, Jean-Baptiste, John-Baptist. In the Netherlands as of the 17th century, but mainly as of the 18th century as a combination like Jan Baptist or Johannes Baptist. As last name it is used as of the 13th century . Also commonly used as Baptiste, Baptista, Batiste, Battista.

Questions of labeling

Some Baptists object to the application of the labels Protestant, denomination, Evangelical and even Baptist to themselves or their churches, while others accept those labels.

Those who reject the label Baptist prefer to be labeled as Christians who attend Baptist churches. Also, a recent trend is to eliminate the name "Baptist" from the church name, as it is perceived to be a "barrier" to reaching persons of no church background who have negative views of Baptists. Conversely, others accept the label Baptist because they identify with the distinctives they consider to be uniquely Baptist, and believe those who are removing the name "Baptist" from their churches are "compromising with the world" in order to attract more members.

The name Protestant is rejected by some Baptists because some Baptists believe they do not have a direct connection to Luther, Calvin or the Roman Catholic Church. They do not feel that they are "protesting" anything; Landmark Baptists believe they actually pre-date the Roman Catholic Church. Other Baptists accept the Protestant label as a demographic concept that describes churches who share similar theologies of sola scriptura, sola fide, the priesthood of all believers and other positions that Luther, Calvin and traditional reformers held in contrast to the Roman Catholic Church in the 1500s.

The label denomination is rejected by some because of the local autonomous governance system used by Baptist churches. Being a denomination is viewed as having a hierarchy that substitutes for the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. Another reason for the rejection of the label is the influence of the Restoration period on Baptist churches, which emphasized a tearing down of denominational barriers. Other Baptists accept the label, feeling that it does not carry a negative connotation but rather is merely a synonym for a Christian or religious group with common beliefs, organized in a cooperative manner to spread its beliefs worldwide.

The label Evangelical is rejected by some fundamentalist Baptists who consider the term to describe a theological position that is not fundamentalist enough. It is rejected by some liberal Baptists who consider the term to describe a theological position that is too conservative. It is accepted by moderate Baptists who identify with the revival in the United States in the 1700s known as the First Great Awakening. Conversely, Evangelicals reject the label "fundamentalist", believing it to describe a theological position that they consider too extreme and "legalistic".

See also

• Bible Belt
• Christian Right
• Fundamentalism
• Protestant
• List of Baptist Associations, Conventions and sub-groupings
• List of Baptists

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