Baptist Origins

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Summary

Differing views how Baptists originated

There are several views about the origins of Baptists within the Baptist church.

Baptist successionism is the theory that there exists an unbroken chain of churches that have held the beliefs (though not always the name) of the current Baptist churches since the time of Christ. This theory is most commonly associated with Landmark Baptists, though not exclusively. Some Primitive Baptists, Regular Baptists and United Baptists hold a similar view. This view is rejected, though, by Catholics, Protestants, most ecclesiastical historians, and almost all secular historians. The theory is built more on a Protestant scriptural foundation rather than an historical one. Much of the historical evidence needed to support this theory does not exist although those who hold the theory claim it was lost or destroyed. It is also impossible to disprove because it only requires the existence of at least one single church (could be as small as two or three people) during any particular point in history to be true. Adding to the problem is the fact that many of the groups that held the beliefs that Baptists now hold suffered great persecution by governments, as well as Catholics and Protestants alike. If these churches existed, as Landmark Baptists claim, the historical records required to prove the theory may never have existed..

Dissident anti-paedobaptist groups, such as Anabaptists, Waldenses, Albigenses, Cathari, and Paulicians, are often considered to be within this chain of tradition. John T. Christian and his History of the Baptists are associated with this belief, but J. M. Carroll's Trail of Blood is the best known work promoting Baptist successionism (both linked below).

Classification of Baptist Historians

For a matter of faith, Baptists separate themselves from Protestants. Therefore, succession is discussed theoretically.

Historian, H. Leon Mc Beth, has categorized the Baptist historians into the follow four groups:

1. The outgrowth of English Separatism.
2. The influence of Anabaptists.
3. The continuation of teachings through the ages.
4. Succession of Baptist churches.

Robert G. Torbet, A History of the Baptists

1. The Successionist theory
2. The Anabaptist spiritual kinship theory
3. The English Separatist descent theory

William Wright Barnes, The Southern Baptist Convention: 1845-1953 gives four variations of historical succession:

1. Church succession
2. Apostolic succession
3. Baptismal succession
4. Spiritual succession

Carl J. Diemer, Jr. (Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, from his course syllabus, History of Baptists)

1. Anabaptist Spiritual Kinship Theory (Armitage, Benedict, Newman)
2. Successionist Theory (Christian, Cramp, Crosby, Ford)
3. Perpetual Witness Theory (Estep, Himbury, Underwood)
4. English Separatist Descent Theory (Patterson, Robinson, Torbet)

Stephen Prescott, (Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary)

1. Anabaptist Kinship
2. An Outgrowth of English Separatism
3. Perpetuity - Open Bible Theory
4. Successionism - John/Jersusalem/Jordan Theory

Landmarkist, Anabaptist, Separatists

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 succession grants Baptist churches the status of being unstained and separate from what they see as the corruptions of Catholicism and other denominations. It also allows for the view that Baptists predate the Catholic church and is therefore not part of the Reformation or the Protestant movement. Alexander Campbell of the Restoration Movement was a strong promoter of this idea.

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.

• A History of the Baptists - John T. Christian
• A Trail of Blood - J.M. Carroll

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 Anabaptist Story: An Introduction to Sixteenth-Century Anabaptism - William R. Estep

Separatist

This view suggests that Baptists were originally separatists in the Puritan reaction to perceived corruptions in the Church of England in the 1600s. In 1609, John Smyth led a group of separatists to the Netherlands to start the General Baptist church with an Arminian theology. In 1616, Henry Jacob led a group of Puritans in England with a Calvinist theology to form a congregational church that would eventually become the Particular Baptists in 1638 under John Spilsbury. Both groups had members who sailed to America as pilgrims to avoid religious persecution in England and Europe and who started Baptist churches in the early colonies. The Particular and General Baptists would disagree over Arminianism and Calvinism until the formation of the Baptist Union of Great Britain in the 1800s under 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 Mc Beth and many others.

• Baptist History & Heritage Society : Baptist Beginnings - Leon McBeth
• Reformed Reader : A Primer on Baptist History, The True Baptist Trail - by Chris Traffanstedt

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 they 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.

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.

See also: Baptist Christian Comparison, Baptist Beliefs