A Brief Survey
Of Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches...
What they are and what is their History
by Cooper P. Abrams, III
calvarybc@bible-truth.org
http://bible-truth.org
Please direct any questions regarding this article to the author.
Copyright 2002 Cooper P. Abrams, III. All Rights Reserved.
Contents:
WHAT IS
...AN INDEPENDENT FUNDAMENTAL BAPTIST CHURCH?
The name "Independent Fundamental Baptist Church"
is used traditionally by churches which pattern themselves strictly after
the example of the early church as found in the New Testament. The words
"Independent" and "Fundamental" have been added by Baptist churches after
the use of the name Baptist failed to fully identify what they believed.
The name Baptist is used by many churches who are not fundamental in their
beliefs. Some "Baptist" churches were in the past founded on the doctrinal
teachings of the New Testament, however, many of them have drifted away from
many of the teachings of the Scriptures. Some of these churches have gone
so far as to deny the fundamental teachings of the Bible, such as the deity
of Christ, the virgin birth and salvation by the Grace of God, through faith.
These churches still call themselves "Baptist, " but in fact they do not
believe or practice what true Baptists have historically believed. The true
Independent Fundamental Baptists have no association or fellowship with these
churches because they teach or practice things contrary to the New Testament.
The name Fundamental Independent Baptist is of recent origin and
came into being as a result of many modern day Baptist churches compromising
the Word of God and teaching and practicing false doctrines. There were however,
many Baptists who loved the Word of God and held true to it and refused
to abandon the teaching of the New Testament. In order to distinguish between
the doctrinally unsound Baptist churches and those that believed the Bible
many Baptist churches changed their name. These true Baptists added the
adjectives Fundamental and Independent to their name in order that they
not be identified with the false practices and teaching of the doctrinally
unsound churches using the Baptist name.
The word "Independent" means that the church is not a member of any
council, convention or is a part of any hierarchy outside the local congregation.
An Independent Baptist Church would not be apart of a national organization
that would exercise authority over the local church. Thus, the name "independent"
means that the church patterns itself after the New Testament example and
stands alone under the authority of the Bible.
Independent churches have no organized organization over them in authority.
They direct their own affairs under the authority of the New Testament Scriptures,
free from the outside interference.
[Editor's note: Since the New Testament is not a replacement of the Old Testament, "the authority of the Bible" refers to the authority of both the Old and the Testaments. Bethel Baptist uses both Testaments in our preaching and teaching, while it is in the New Testament that Christ founded His church.]
The New Testament teaches that Christ is the head of the church,
(Eph. 5:23)
and the Chief Shepherd
(1 Peter 5:4)
. The local pastor is the shepherd
(Heb. 13:17
,
Acts 20:28
,
Eph. 4:11)
or leader of the congregation. The Independent
Baptist church has a congregational form of government with each member having
the right of the vote and all the affairs of the churches are conducted by
the local congregation following the guidelines of the New Testament.
Independent Fundamental Baptist churches have fellowship one with
the other and often cooperate in such things as evangelism. They, however,
will only fellowship or cooperate in joint meetings with churches of like
belief. They will not participate, on a church basis, in any outside function
with churches which do not also strictly base their faith and practice on
the New Testament. They will not participate in joint meetings, or evangelistic
endeavors, with Protestants, Catholics, or other doctrinally unsound church
groups who do not hold to the fundamental teachings of the New Testament (Examples:
Billy Graham, Promise Keepers.) Fundamental Independent Baptist churches
will remain separate from these churches as well as other Baptists groups
who participate with the unscriptural churches. They practice the Biblical
teachings of separation as stated in
Ephesians 5:11
, which says, "Have no fellowship with
the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." The Independent
Baptist believes that to join with churches who teach and practice false
doctrine is to condone and even to show approval of Biblical error and that
all doctrinal error is sin.
The officers of the local church are pastors and deacons.
(I Tim. 3:1-16)
The pastor of the church is called by
majority vote of the congregation. Men meeting the Biblical qualification
of deacons
(I Tim. 3:8-13)
are appointed from the local congregation
and approved by the majority vote. Many Baptist churches have Trustees, but
their position was established in order to have legal "signatories" to sign
legal documents of the church. Neither Deacons nor Trustees are a governing
body nor a "board," but titles of special appointed servants who service
and are subject the will of the pastor and congregation.
The word "Fundamental" means that the Baptist church uses the New
Testament strictly as its authority for faith (doctrine) and practice. In
recent years the news media has called doctrinally unsound church such as
the Charismatics and Pentecostals "fundamentalists." Even some TV evangelists
have referred to themselves as being "fundamentalist." But they should not
be confused with Fundamental Baptists. They are in fact worlds apart. Many
of the TV evangelists and all of the Charismatic and Pentecostal churches
promote teachings which are not Biblical. Fundamental Baptist use the name
in its strictest sense as meaning holding to the fundamentals of the New Testament
teachings without error. True Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches uphold
the purest teachings of the early church as revealed in the New Testament.
Baptist are not Protestants! The name Protestant
was given to those churches which came out of Roman Catholicism during the
Reformation which began in the 1500's. It originally applied through the
1700's to Lutherans, and Anglicans. Later Presbyterians, Episcopalians and
Methodist were added to the lists of Protestant denominations. Though many
people including Webster's Dictionary refers Baptists as being Protestants,
it is not correct to refer to them as such or to lump all non-Catholic denominations
in one group and label them Protestant. Historically, Baptists were never
a part of the Roman Catholic Church or the Protestant Reformation and therefore
can not be correctly called "protestors" or Protestants.
It is true that many Baptists left the ranks of Protestant churches
which were doctrinal unsound and apostate. They left these churches because
of their strong conviction that the Word of God should not be compromised.
Some formed new churches and called themselves Baptists to make it clear
that they believed and followed the New Testament. It is not historically
correct to identify Baptists as Catholic "protestors" who left the Roman church.
In the many books on church history which make up the bibliography for this
paper, there is not one recorded incident of a Baptist church beginning founded
out of Roman Catholicism. Protestants for centuries saw the Baptists as their
"enemies" and murdered them by the thousands in the name of Protestantism.
It is surely an affront to call a Baptist by the name of a group that has
so hated and persecuted them down throughout history.
There have always existed, from the time of Christ, New Testament
churches which were not a part of the Roman Church. In fact, the Roman Church
can only trace its history back to 313 AD when the Roman Emperor Constantine
made Christianity a legal religion. In 395 AD, Emperor Contantius "Christianized"
Rome and made the worship of idols punishable by death. By 400 AD, the Emperor
Theodosius had declared Christianity the only state religion of the Roman
Empire. Many churches by this time had come under the domination of the Rome
government and had ceased from being New Testament churches. When the Roman
Emperor declared Christianity the religion of Rome, he in mass "converted"
hordes of pagans which made up the Empire. Pagan temples became the meeting
houses for "Christians." Rome, then hired unregenerate pagan priests as "Christian"
ministers. The influx of these falsely converted pagans is one reason Roman
Catholicism came to have so many false and pagan beliefs.
However, in the midst of all this apostasy, that was the foundation
of the Roman Catholic church, there were groups of Christians who were never
a part of the "Christianization" of the Roman Empire. These New Testament
believers rejected every attempt to include them in with the other churches
who compromised and accepted the Roman government's money, rule and authority.
Over the years, the growth of so many false and idolatrous practices
caused some within the Catholic church, such as Martin Luther to rebel, and
to attempt to "reform" the Catholic church. This was the birth of Protestant
churches. Although many Protestants returned in part to a belief in the Bible
as their authority for their faith and practice, not one of them EVER completely
left all the doctrinal errors and false teachings of the apostate Roman
Catholic church.
Protestants have never accepted the principle of separation of church
and state. In Europe, Protestant churches are "state" churches and supported
to some degree by government imposed taxes. In Germany, the state church
is Lutheran and in England, the Anglican church, France, the Roman Catholic
Church, etc.
The idea that the bread and wine (grape juice) in the Lord's Supper
actually becoming the physical body of Christ when taken is a Roman Catholic
teaching that Protestants only modified slightly. Still today, many Protestants
see the Lord's Supper as a sacrament, having to some degree saving properties
or imparting some spiritual benefit. True New Testament Christians have always
rejected such unbiblical ideas.
Protestants still practice infant baptism which absolutely is not
taught in the Word of God. Many Protestant denominations still hold to the
writings of their church fathers as a source of church doctrine and have
never accepted the Bible as their sole source of teachings for their faith
and practice. They all hold on to a system of hierarchy in church government
and do not accept the autonomy the local church. Autonomy means each local
church governs itself free from outside authority and control.
Baptists, basing their beliefs solely on the Bible, have never held
to these teachings and see them as heresy. Thus, history and the doctrines
of Protestantism clearly show that Baptists are not Protestants.
WHO
...WERE THE FIRST BAPTISTS?
In determining who were the first Baptists, you
must first identify to whom you are referring. You could mean those persons
or churches which held to the Baptist beliefs although they may not have
called themselves Baptists. Or second, you could be referring to those who
held to Baptist beliefs and were called by the name Baptist.
The first group those who held Baptist beliefs (which means the teachings
of the New Testament), yet were not called Baptists, are difficult to trace
in history. Some Baptist historians have made attempts at doing this, but
in many cases those groups they refer to as early Baptists did not in fact
hold to pure Baptist beliefs as held today. They try to establish that "according
to history, Baptist have an unbroken line of churches since Christ". (Quote
from Dr. J.M. Carroll's booklet "The Trail of Blood") These historians, in
an attempt to show an unbroken line of Baptists in history, have embraced
groups which were clearly not doctrinally sound. In the simplest of terms
a true Baptist is one which follows the New Testament as his sole authority
for his faith and practice. Whether these groups of believers called themselves
Baptists or not, if they were doctrinally pure following the New Testament
for their polity and doctrine they were New Testament churches and thus they
can be called Baptist.
In examining many so-called early "Baptist" churches you find many
doctrinal errors and false teaching. Surely, no church that practiced the
false doctrine as many of these groups did can in truth be called a Baptist
church. It is my conviction that it is not possible to "trace" an unbroken
line of Baptist churches from Christ until today. However, let me strongly
say there has always existed an unbroken line of churches who have not erred
from the faith, and been true to the Bible, God's Word. In fact, Jesus emphatically
stated in
Matt. 16:18
, concerning the church, that even "the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it." These churches have always existed
from the time of Christ and the Apostles until today. To call these people
Baptists, in the sense that they believed the Bible and followed it as their
sole authority for faith and practice, in the way same Baptist churches do
today, is acceptable, although it serves no purpose. To go so far as to
say there is a unbroken line or succession of Baptist churches from the time
of Christ until today cannot be shown from history.
The importance of these churches was not in their name, but in what
they believed and practiced. These churches patterned themselves strictly
after the New Testament example, and this made them valid churches approved
of God. This is the true heritage that the Fundamental Baptist holds dear,
that there have always been churches which submitted themselves only to the
sole authority of the Word of God.
There were always groups and sects which held to the truth. However,
as earlier stated, these groups were rarely in the spot light of history.
For an example there is Patrick of Ireland. Patrick was born in Scotland
in 360 AD and sold into slavery at age sixteen and carried to Ireland. Later,
he escaped and became a Christian missionary. Although the Roman Catholic
Church claims him as one of their "saints," there is no evidence he even
knew the Catholic church existed. In his writings he appears totally ignorant
of the practices of the Roman Church and never refers to church councils,
creeds, traditions or even to the existence of a pope. There was no hierarchy
in the churches he founded, which were patterned after the simple New Testament
example. These churches were very missions-minded and formed schools to train
preachers and missionaries. Later in history, under Roman Catholic influence
these missionary centers digressed into monasticism. However, history is
clear that in the beginning and also into the 9th Century these churches
were sound in doctrine and practicing the faith of the New Testament. These
churches are good examples of Bible believing churches that existed independent
of the Roman Catholic Church, and were for some time not corrupted by its
influences. They were in fact churches founded on the same New Testament principles
that modern day Baptists traditionally founded their churches.
Some have pointed to the Anabaptists as the examples of early Baptist
churches. This again can not be proven from history. The Anabaptists were
mostly a God fearing group of people. They loved the Lord and many of them
gave their lives and fortunes for the sake of Christ. However, history does
not record even one Anabaptist group or church becoming or founding a Baptist
church. Most of the Anabaptists
successors became the Mennonites, Amish and Quakers. Not one Baptist
church can show in its history a direct succession from the Anabaptists. Many
Anabaptists churches were strong New Testament churches believing and following
the Word of God. Other Anabaptists groups were in gross error and corrupted.
As with any true New Testament church, its validity as a true church approved
of God, does not now, nor ever did rest on its name or upon a succession
of churches, but on its adherence to the principles of God's Word.
Some Baptist churches believe in a succession of Baptist churches
who passed down the authority to baptize and give the Lord's Supper. It is
my conviction that this is contrary to the very foundation of what is a
true New Testament church. A true New Testament church bases its faith, practice
and authority solely in the Word of God. To hold to the "secessionist" position
takes the authority away from the New Testament and places it in the hands
of man. Secessionism is the gross error of Catholicism. God said He would
preserve His church and that task was not left in the hands of fallible
men or groups. God, I believe deliberately used isolated groups in many
different places during time to preserve His church and did not choose to
use a line or chain of churches to pass His Word and authority on to the
next generation. He preserved His word and the Word preserved a true Gospel
witness during every moment of history since Pentecost. What possible value
is there in appealing to a supposed unbroken line of Baptist churches as
a church's authority. There is every value in appealing only to present adherence
to the New Testament as one's sole authority for faith and practice.
The best illustration of this point can be made this way. Suppose
an airplane flew over some completely isolated country that had no past or
present contact with anyone else in the world. Further, suppose that a Bible
somehow was to fall from the plane and the inhabitants of this isolated land
were to be able to pick up that Bible and read the text for themselves. Suppose
too that some of them upon reading that Bible were to believe and repent
of their sins and place their trust in God's Son and His redemption for personal
sin. These new believers would then, following the New Testament example,
submit to believer's baptism and organize a local church. That local body
of baptized believers would be as valid a true New Testament church as any
church Christ ever founded. Why, because it was founded on God's Word.
WHEN AND WHERE
...WAS THE FIRST RECORDED BAPTIST CHURCH IN HISTORY
The line of churches, which called themselves Baptist,
began in 1610 in Holland. It began with a man named John Smyth who was a
bishop in the Church of England. In 1606, after nine months of soul searching
and study of the New Testament he was convinced that the doctrines and practices
of the Church of England were not Biblical, and thus he resigned his position
as priest and left the church.
Because of persecution by the Anglican church of all who disagreed
with it and who refused to submit to its authority, John Smyth had to flee
England. In Amsterdam, he along with Thomas Helwys and thirty six others
formed the first Baptist church of Englishmen known to have stood for baptism
of believers only.
Smyth, believed that the only real apostolic succession is a succession
of Biblical New Testament truth, and not of outward ordinances and visible
organization such as the Church of England or the Roman Church. He believed
the only way to recover was to form a new church based on the Bible. He then
baptized himself (which is not biblical) and then the others of his congregation.
In only a few years however, the church had lost all but ten members to
the Mennonites and other groups in Holland. Smyth died in 1612, and the
church ended in Holland shortly thereafter with Helwy, Thomas and John Murton
returning to England as persecution there had lessened. History records
that the members of this Baptist church went back to England or remained
in Holland and joined Mennonites. It did not produce a succession of other
churches, but those who founded it went on to establish other Baptist churches
in England.
Back in England these men formed the first Baptist church on English
soil. By 1626, the church had grown from one, to five churches and by 1644
there were forty congregations. Through the preaching of the New Testament
the Gospel went forth in power and the Baptist movement grew rapidly.
These first Baptist churches formed in England were Armenian in theology,
which taught that all men could be saved. The Calvinistic or Particular Baptists
were a different group and believed in limited atonement in which only the
elect could be saved. Particular Baptist had their beginnings around 1616,
when some "dissenters" left the Church of England and were lead by the Rev.
Henry Jacob. By 1644, these congregations grew to seven churches.
About this time the Puritans were also becoming strong in England.
The Puritans were dissenters from the Church of England. They wanted to
bring reform to the Church of England. Although they were a great deal more
piteous than the Church of England they still practiced most of its beliefs
including infant baptism. Anyone who differed from the practices of the
State church were subject to great persecution. Puritans and Baptists alike,
in order to escape persecution, migrated to the New World.
One man Hanserd Knolleys, is an example of dissenter of the Church
of England who had to flee to America. He was a presbyter and former deacon
in the Anglican church. Under deep conviction of the need to preach the New
Testament and follow its example as one's rule of faith, he refused to wear
the robes of his church office, and refused to let unsaved persons take
the Lord's Supper. Further, he ignored the reading of the "order of service"
and simply preached the Scriptures. The preaching of the Bible without the
rituals of the Church of England was against the law. In 1638, he landed in
Boston and settled for a short time in Piscataway (now Dover) in New Hampshire.
There he became the pastor of the Puritan church. The Puritans were in control
of the colonies and in fact had set up a theocracy in which the Puritan church
governed both secular and religious affairs. Because Knolleys refused to
baptize infants and preached against it, he was banned from the colony by
the famous Puritan governor Cotton Mather. Knolleys after two years returned
to England at the request of his father. He became an out spoken "Separatist"
or dissenter of the State church. In 1645, he formed a Baptist church in London.
Shortly thereafter the Church of England fell from grace when the English
monarch was overthrow and the Presbyterians became the favored church of
the state. The Presbyterians took over the job of persecution and forbade
Knolleys from preaching in parish churches. He, however, continued to preach
by holding services in his own home. One of the last acts of the Presbyterians,
before the Long Parliament in England fell, was to pass a law enacting the
death penalty on anyone who was caught holding to what they called "Eight
Errors in Doctrine." These quot;doctrines" included infant baptism.
Knolleys was imprisoned many times and suffered greatly at the hands
of the "State Church". He is only one of many such godly men who would not
compromise the truth. The "crime" of these men was that they believed the
Bible was God's Truth, and not the dictates of men.
THE BEGINNINGS
...OF THE BAPTISTS IN AMERICA.
It is well to note that the Pilgrims were also
Puritans, and Puritans were Protestants who had left the Church of England.
They should not be confused true Bible believing churches, because their
beliefs and practices were much like the Church of England. Although, they
were not as corrupt as the Church of England, they still practiced a strict
ritual of church service and among other things, infant baptism. They were
intolerant to anyone who did not submit to the Puritan church, which was
supported by a governmental church tax of all the people. You may admire
their piety, but a true believer in the New Testament would have a great
problem with many of their doctrines and especially why they persecuted the
Baptists and drove them from their colonies. Everyone in the colony was automatically
a member of the State church and were taxed to support it. Failure to pay
the tax brought the wrath of the church leaders and people were publicly
beaten, fined, imprisoned, and banished from the colony by the civil authorities
under the direction of the Puritan church. Puritan churches which were called
Congregational churches and they greatly persecuted the Baptists in America
until the U.S. Constitution was made the law of the land in 1787. The first
Baptist church on American soil was a direct result of the Puritan persecution
of true New Testament believers.
Roger Williams is credited with founding the first Baptist church
on American soil. Williams graduated from Cambridge University in 1627, and
was apparently ordained in the Church of England. He soon embraced quot;Separatists"
ideas and decided to leave England. In 1631, he arrived in Boston. He was
much displeased with the Puritan theocracy. He strongly believed in separation
of church and state and upheld the principles of soul liberty. "Soul liberty"
is a belief that every man is responsible to God individually. It bases its
belief in the New Testament teaching that every believer is a priest unto
himself, having full excess to God without the need of a church, church leader
or priest. (
Hebrews 4:15-16
and
10:19-22
) In spite of his views he was made the pastor
of the church in Salem. Shortly thereafter, because of his doctrinal preaching,
he was forced to leave Salem and went for a short time to Plymouth. He again
returned to Salem where he was summoned before the court in Boston because
of his out spoken beliefs and was banished from the colony. The charge recorded
against him was that "he broached and divulged new and dangerous opinions
against the authority of the magistrates." Clearly, he was banished because
he believed in religious freedom and believed and taught that the New Testament
was a believer's sole source for his faith and practice. The Puritans did
not believe in such things and they drove him from their colony.
In 1638, Williams made his way to what is now Providence, Rhode Island,
and there purchased some land from the Indians. Some of his former congregation
in Salem joined him and they established a colony. Its beginning charter
reads as follows:
"We whose names are hereunder written, being desirous to inhabit ourselves in active and passive obedience to all such orders or agencies as shall be made for the public good of the body in an orderly way, by the major consent of the present inhabitants, masters of families, incorporated together into the same, only in civil things."
In 1663, Charles II, gave the colony a royal charter and it read:
"Our royal will and pleasure is, that no person within the said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be in any wise molested, punished disquieted, or called in question, for any differences of opinion in matters of religion, and do not actually disturb the civil peace of the said colony"
This was the first time in the history of the world that a government
was established which granted religious freedom! This charter was the very
corner stone of American religious freedom! Up to this time Williams was
not a Baptist. He continued to read the New Testament, and became fully aware
that infant baptism, sprinkling for baptism, and allowing unsaved persons
to be members of the church was not Scriptural. Thus, resolving to follow
the Lord's commands in Truth, in March, 1639 he formed the first Baptist
church on American soil. He began by baptizing himself and then baptizing
ten other members.
Shortly thereafter, Williams withdrew from the church and became
what he called a "seeker." History does not record why he would not identify
himself as a Baptist. It should be noted that this presented no problem for
this first Baptist church in America. This church was not founded on a man,
but on the Bible. It was not founded as a result of a line of Baptist churches
down through history. It was founded because some saved men believed the
Bible and wanted to follow the New Testament example of what a true church
should be. Even after Williams left it continued to follow the New Testament
and was not adversely effected. It was not the man who founded the church
that was important, but the New Testament principles on which he founded this
church. They called themselves Baptists because that was the best name they
could choose to describe what they believed and the name identified them
a Bible believing people. This church had no ties to anyone or any other church,
yet this was a Baptist church as much as any Baptist church ever was. They
were a New Testament church, not because of a succession of churches or men,
but because they formed their church on the principles of the New Testament.
That made them in the eyes of God as legitimate a church as any Paul founded.
The sole authority for any true church is God's Word and not its founder,
or its heritage. Not once in the New Testament do you find even a hint that
a church was legitimate because it was founded by Paul or called itself by
a particular name.
However, let no one think little of the name of Baptist for it is
the name that most has identified those individuals and churches who have
uncompromisingly stood on the Word of God. They are the only group into modern
times whose churches were founded on the Scriptures alone and not on the
traditions or works of some man. Baptists have always been the champions
of the Word of God and preaching of the Gospel. History is quite clear that
there is no other denomination that has so loved and been faithful to God's
Word as has the Baptists. Even the enemies of the Baptists openly recognize
their zeal for the Word of God.
After Roger Williams stepped down, Thomas Olney took over as the
pastor of the church in Rhode Island. Although, this was the first Baptist
church to be founded on American soil, there is no recorded offspring from
this church and modern American Baptist churches can not trace their history
directly to it. Other churches founded in New England and in the Middle
colonies were the actual mother churches of modern Baptist churches as these
churches were responsible for starting other churches.
On May 28, 1665, a Baptist church was founded in Boston, by Thomas
Gould, who refused to accept infant baptism. There were nine original members
of the church which included two women. A storm of persecution broke out
because these Baptist preached what the Puritans called "damnable errors."
Most of the members of the church were fined or imprisoned or both, at one
time or another. Thomas Gould, died in 1675 an untimely death, partly due
to his having his health broken by several long imprisonments.
In 1678, shortly after the church had constructed a new building,
the government nailed its doors shut and forbade anyone under penalty of
the law to enter or worship there. This lasted only one Sunday however, and
the following Sunday the doors were opened and services held in defiance of
the order. The magistrates found their order was becoming unpopular and impossible
to enforce so the church in the future was unmolested. In 1684, a Baptist
church in Maine seeking greater religious liberty was relocated to Charleston,
South Carolina.
The Dutch colony of New York for a time persecuted Baptists within
its territories. The first Baptist church in New York was started by William
Wichendon, in 1656. He was heavily fined and then imprisoned. Too poor to
pay the fines, he was banished from the colony. Later, the Dutch issued new
orders and allowed religious liberty.
In 1700, a Baptist minister, William Rhodes began to hold meetings
on Long Island and in 1724 organized the first Baptist church there. The
most important center of early Baptist churches was in the area of Philadelphia,
"the city of brotherly love." In 1684, Thomas Dungan started a church at
Cold Springs which lasted until 1702. In 1688 a Baptist church was organized
at Pennepeck, Pa., with twelve members. It helped start the first Baptist
church in the city of Philadelphia the following year. It became an independent
church in 1746.
Offers of religious liberty drew many Baptists to settle in New Jersey.
The first church was in 1688, in Middletown and made up of many who had fled
persecution in the other colonies. Many churches were organized in the following
years.
In other areas Baptist churches were being formed about this same
time. In North Carolina the first Baptist church was started at Perquimans,
in Chowan County in 1727.
In Virginia, Baptists were not welcome. Before America won its independence
and the Constitution became law, the Episcopal church, which was the American
brance of the Church of England, was the only lawful church in Virginia.
There was a fine of 2000 pounds of tobacco for failure to have one's infant
children baptized. One Baptist church, however, did begin after 1714, in Surry
Country, and another at Burleigh, Virginia. Virginia was especially harsh
in religious persecutions. Anyone not holding Episcopal ordination was forbade
to hold services. Baptists along with other citizens were taxed to support
the Episcopal church. It is well to note that not all Virginians felt this
way. Two champions of religious liberty were the Virginians Thomas Jefferson
and Patrick Henry. Thomas Jefferson is believed to have been deeply influenced
to press for religious freedom in American, by the plight of several Baptist
preachers he knew. In Isle of Wight county, for example, Baptist preachers
were taken to Nansamond River, nearly drowned by Episcopalians to show their
contempt for Baptist's beliefs in immersion and their rejection of infant
Baptism. They were then tarred and feathered and ran out of the county.
The center of Baptist activity was in the Philadelphia area, and
Baptists held regular "general meetings" of the churches for devotional
and evangelistic purposes.
It can be historically determined that forty seven Baptist churches
were in existence before the Great Awakening. All but seven were above the
Mason-Dixon line. Baptists continued to grow in numbers through the period
of the Great Awakening and up to the time of the Revolutionary War. Baptists
as a whole were patriots and many Baptist pastors served as chaplains in
the Revolutionary Army. The Great Awakening stirred religious interests in
the colonies and a reported great revival took place. The Revolutionary War
for some time slowed the growth of Baptist churches, however, after independence
was won and the Constitution written giving all Americans religious freedom,
the Baptists again began to grow until today they are the largest denomination
in the United States.
Today there are at least a hundred different groups
which all themselves "Baptist." Many of these churches have conflicting
beliefs and practices. The natural question then to ask is, "What makes
a person a Baptist?" In examining the history of Baptists and determining
what constitutes a genuine and true Baptist, five distinctives should be
noted. These five distinctive beliefs separate the true Baptists from other
groups who have mistakenly taken the name Baptist and all non New Testament
churches such as the Protestants. Examine any church in light of these five
distinctive it will be shown if they are in fact true historical Baptist
congregation.
It is well also to note that these five distinctives are traits also
of the true New Testament church! These distinctives are the distinctives
taught in Bible which constitute a true New Testament church. The one thing
that makes one a Baptist is that historically they have followed the New
Testament alone as its sole rule for faith and practice. Baptists strongly
insist that God's Word is not up for arbitration or subject to the individual's,
group's, denomination's or church's "private interpretation".
(II Peter 1:20)
Baptists believe you do not have to be
a Baptist in order to be saved and have eternal life, but a person must believe
the Gospel as revealed in the New Testament.
(I Corinthians 15:1-4)
Further, if a person is truly
saved and uncompromisingly follows the principles of the New Testament he
will in a true sense be a Baptist whether he uses the name or not. Baptists
also believe the Bible interprets itself, and that Christ is the one and
only head of the church.
Fundamental Baptists are strict in interpreting the Bible in a "literal"
sense. In other words, when the Bible speaks, the words have a literal meaning
and that is the meaning God intended. They reject the efforts of the many
who "spiritually" interpret the Scriptures, placing hidden or specially revealed
meanings to the words of the Bible. Further, they reject so-called "scriptures"
of modern day so called prophets. They believe that when the Book of Revelation
was completed by the Apostle John about 90-95 AD, the Word of God was complete.
It is believed that God meant what he said in
Revelation 22:18, that the Scriptures were not to be
added to or taken from. (See also
Gal. 1:6-10,
1 Tim. 6:30,
Titus 1:9-11,
II Tim. 4:1-5,
I Cor. 13:8-10)
Ask these five questions of any church, and if they can answer all
five in truth with a yes, then you will have a true Baptist church. All
others miss-use the name.
THE FIVE
...BAPTIST DISTINCTIVES
1. WE ACCEPT ONLY THE NEW TESTAMENT AS OUR AUTHORITY IN ALL MATTERS OF FAITH AND PRACTICE.
This means that we do not accept any authority except the New Testament
Scriptures. Christ is head of the Church, and it is His bride. We believe
the Word of God, the Bible is complete and it solely, "...is given of by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God many be perfect, thoroughly
furnished (equipped) unto all good works."
(II Timothy 3:16-17)
We reject that God is giving supposed "new" Revelation, believing
that God forbids any adding to or taking away of the canon of Scriptures.
(Rev. 22:18-19)
We do not accept any authority over the
New Testament Church, but Christ Himself, including any hierarchy to include
popes, modern day prophets, or councils of churches.
2. WE BELIEVE THE CHURCH IS TO BE MADE UP OF SAVED BAPTIZED BELIEVERS.
Baptists reject the baptism of infants flatly! The church is made up of Baptized believers only. (Acts 2:41-42) An infant is not capable of believing, and is protected by the Grace of God until the age of accountability. Further, only those who have made a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ and trusted in Him as their Savior is a member of the body of Christ, and thus can be a member of the body of Christ on earth, the local New Testament church.
3. WE BELIEVE IN STRICT SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.
Jesus said to ""render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's." Further the Scripture says "what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion that light with darkness?" No power on earth is higher than God's Word, and the church should not be in any way yoked with the state, or controlled by it. We support the rightly appointed authority of government over us and pray for them that we live our lives in peace.
4. WE BELIEVE IN THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER.
The Scripture teaches that every believer can without the aid of priests or churchmen go, "boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in the time of need". (Hebrews 4:16) The Scripture states further in Hebrews 10:19 ," Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." The believer does not needed a priest or a church to intercede on their behalf to God. The believer can boldly, by the fact of being washed in the blood of Christ, instantly be in contact with God by simple prayer, and further can bring his petitions or requests for forgiveness of sins directly to God himself. (I John 1:19) No church has the authority to forgive sins or grant intercession to God.
5. WE BELIEVE IN THE AUTONOMY OF THE LOCAL CHURCH.
Simply stated the Scriptures gives no higher authority than the local
congregation of born again, baptized believers. We believe that the local
church is to be governed by the Word of God, and the local church does not
need, or does the Scripture teach that the local body rests under the authority
of any earthy group. It is a group unto itself, under the authority of God,
and solely responsible unto Him for its conduct, direction and affairs. Jesus
in
Rev. 2:6,
Rev. 2:15
, that he "hated" the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes.
The group of heretics in the early church along with other doctrinal errors
promoted a clerical hierarchy in the church.
A church which cannot answer yes to all of these questions can not
historically call itself a Baptist church. These are the distinctives which
separate Baptists from Protestants, or any organized church or "Christian"
cult.
A person can rightly take pride in truthfully bearing the name Baptist.
Many men have suffered greatly and given their fortunes and their lives to
hold the name in truth. It stands for devotion and an uncompromising obedience
to God and his commandments. It holds high the saving Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, as revealed in the New Testament and an unwavering commitment
to carrying out the Great Commission, that is, to teach everywhere the truth
of God's Word.
The validity of a church as being a true Biblical New Testament church
does not rest in it ability to show an unbroken line of succession from the
time of Christ. In fact, no church on earth can make that claim. Even the
Roman Catholic Church which boasts of his unbroken history cannot prove an
unbroken line of churches earlier than the Third Century, and what Catholicism
teaches today in no way resembles what the early New Testament church
believed.
We must agree with John Smyth, that the true New Testament church
is founded on its belief and practice of the Scriptures, and not on any outward
succession of a visible or invisible organization. In this sense, any church
which founds itself strictly on the New Testament teachings, is a true and
Biblical church, even if it existed in time, only yesterday. It is not the
name or the organization that makes a Biblical church, but its practice
of the faith as revealed in the New Testament.
As stated earlier, if a Bible were to be dropped from a plane over
a remote area, and the natives were to take the Scriptures and believe them,
then they would be saved and made a part of the Body of Christ. If they then
took the New Testament as their guide, and organized a local congregation
of believers it would be a church fully acceptable to God and as valid as
church as even the early church of Bible times!
It is the Word of God, the Bible, that constitutes what is a real
and true church! The Bible and only the Bible reveals to men how to have
their sins forgiven and have eternal life and heaven. That is what truly
saved believers have always believed, because that is what the New Testament
which is God's very Word to man says.
The Baptist bases his authority solely on the Bible itself. They
do not accept that authority was given to any particular man, group or church
on earth to be the means of the salvation of men. God has not entrusted that
authority to impart salvation to any man or church. God alone has that authority
and He in the person of the Holy Spirit brings conviction and salvation
to those who in simple faith believe.
A church that is a truly Biblical one, patterns its self after the
example in the New Testament. It is one made up of baptized believers organized
in a local congregation for fellowship, teaching and evangelism. All systems
of hierarchy established by man over the authority of the local church has
lead to doctrinal errors and corruption without exception.
A History
of the Baptists, John T. Christian, Sunday School Board of the Southern
Baptist Convention.
A History of the Baptists, by Robert G. Torbet, Valley Forge Press,
1987.
The Baptist Heritage, Four Centuries of Baptist Witness, H. Loen
McBeth, Broadman Press, 1987.
A Source Book for Baptist Heritage,H. Loen McBeth, Broadman Press,
1990.
The Baptist Heritage, by J.M. Holliday, Bogard Press.
The Baptist March in History, by Robert A. Baker, Convention Press
Christianity Through the Centuries, Earle E. Cairns, Zondervan Press
Documents of the Christian Church, Henry Bettenson, Oxford University
Press
Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Marie Gentert King, Editor, Spire Books
A Manual of Church History, by Albert Newman, Vol. I and II., The
American Baptist Publication Society.
Miller's Church History, by Andrew Miller, Zondervan Publishing House
A Short History of the Baptists, by Henry Vedder, Judson Press
A Short History of Western Civilization, by John B. Harrison and
Richard E. Sullivan, Michigan State University.
The Trail of Blood, J.M. Carroll, Ashland Avenue Baptist Church
by Cooper P. Abrams, III
calvarybc@bible-truth.org
http://bible-truth.org
Please direct any questions regarding this article to the author.
©Cooper P. Abrams, III ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This publication may be copied and used freely, but must not be sold in whole or in part. It is requested that if you make multiple copies of the material and distribute it that you contact the author as an encouragement to him. January, 1989/Revised June, 1994/June, 1996.
