Baptists

• Motto: Serving as the hands and feet of Christ (American Baptist Churches in the USA); Reaching the world for Christ (Southern Baptist Convention)
• Formation: 1600s CE
• Founder: Unknown in England, possibly John Smyth and/or John Spilsbury; Roger Smith in the United States

The Baptists are generally considered to be the largest Protestant Christian denomination in North America, but the individual churches and separate conventions have so much autonomy that it is hard to settle on the exact number of people who call themselves Baptist. Many Baptists reject the idea that they belong to a distinct, named denomination. They maintain that the Baptists are unified instead by core beliefs rather than by a church organization, one with an established hierarchy. Some Baptists even reject the idea that they are Protestants.

In essence, a Baptist is a Christian who belongs to a church that adheres to certain doctrines. The most fundamental of those doctrines is the insistence that baptism be performed only on professed believers, not on infants—in other words, on people who can declare their belief in Christ. To this doctrine about baptizing only noninfant believers, Baptists add the requirement of full immersion instead of affusion, or sprinkling. Other groups of Christians also embrace this doctrine, but the Baptists were dubbed Baptists in the first place largely because of their focus on the sacrament.

Baptists are a very diverse group of churches, and it has been that way from the very beginning. Baptists believe that fundamental authority belongs to individual churches, and they recognize only two offices—deacons and pastors. Most churches have a congregational organization, but not all of them do. Baptist congregations may be interconnected through state or national conventions or other associations, but the individual churches maintain that the umbrella organizations have no authority over the local churches. Individual congregations may differ greatly from one another in terms of their beliefs, worship practices, and so on.

However, large conventions exist throughout the country, linking the congregations together without controlling them. The best known in the United States is the Southern Baptist Convention. In 2006, the Southern Baptist Convention's membership was about 16 million members. By 2025, though, the Convention had just under 13 million members, which is the lowest membership since 1976. Another large organization is the American Baptist Churches in the USA, whose membership peaked in the 1980s at over 1.6 million members. By 2025, they had just over 1.1 million members. Although these conventions may not explicitly direct the practices of individual churches, they do have a bureaucracy and a political presence, and they operate seminaries. Their influence at the local level is far from insignificant.

History

Some Baptists insist that their church originates with John the Baptist and the apostles, but there is no historical evidence to support the claim. Scholars believe the denomination is a seventeenth-century variation of Congregationalism, which emerged from the Puritan-Separatist movement within the Church of England. Individuals read the Bible in English and tried to adhere to what it taught. They formed their own congregations, which were composed only of people who professed their faith, and they baptized newcomers who did likewise. Because of this practice, detractors nicknamed them Baptists, and the name remained in use.

In the early days of the movement, there were two groups. Known as Particular Baptists and General Baptists, they differed on who could be saved. The Particular Baptists, who were strict followers of Calvinism, believed in the doctrine of particular atonement. This term meant that Christ died only for a select few. General Baptists believed in general atonement—namely, that Christ died for all humanity, not just for an elect group. The General Baptists were also Calvinist, but they tended toward a milder version of that faith. Both General and Particular Baptists believed that the church should be organized according to their reading of the Bible’s New Testament, which they interpreted to mean the individual churches should be self-governing and composed of self-professed believers and no one else.

The two schools originated in different Congregationalist movements that were called Separatist and Non-Separatist. General Baptists believed in total separation from the Church of England, whereas the Particular Baptists felt that a bond with other Christians should be maintained.

The General Baptists appeared in 1608 when a group of Separatists fled English persecution to Holland. Their minister, John Smyth, concluded that baptism was for believers only. There was no scriptural support, he maintained, for baptizing infants. The first Particular Baptist church was formed in 1638 by members of a 1616 non-Separatist church.

Also in 1638, Roger Williams created the First Baptist Church in the North American colonies. He was banished by the Puritans in Massachusetts because he spoke out against both civil authorities who punished religious dissent and also the confiscation of Native American lands. Williams established a new church in what is now Rhode Island. Because of Williams and his message, the Baptists became the first champions of the separation of church and state.

Over the next century, the church developed in a variety of directions, but the Particular Baptist point of view came to dominate. It was an established creed with widening appeal, but it was not until the First Great Awakening of 1720–40 that Baptist churches grew strongly in the South and New England. Church membership also greatly increased in the South as a result of the Second Great Awakening in the early 1800s.

Baptists were influential in the development of the United States following the American Revolution. True to their roots as advocates of religious freedom in Rhode Island, they were instrumental in making sure that the no-religious-test clause was included in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

In 1845, American Baptists split over the issue of slavery. Baptists in the South found biblical justification for slavery, which naturally made the churches attractive to southern enslavers. The rift in the ranks of the Baptists led to the creation of the Southern Baptist Convention. Northern congregations formed their own organization, now called the American Baptist Churches in the USA.

In 1995, during a meeting in Atlanta, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted its resolution titled "On Racial Reconciliation On The 150th Anniversary Of The Southern Baptist Convention." In it, the twenty thousand Baptist messengers, as delegates are called, declared that they "unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its forms, as deplorable sin." They also apologized to African Americans for "condoning and/or perpetuating individual and systemic racism in our lifetime."

At the same time, African American churches are an important component of Baptist life in the United States. Many enslaved people had been converted during the First Great Awakening, and they formed Baptist churches of their own prior to the Civil War. The number of African American believers increased greatly following the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. The National Baptist Convention, formed in 1880, included African American churches. By 1900, African American Baptists could lay claim to the title of largest Baptist denomination.

Baptist beliefs spread throughout the world, and in 1925, the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) was created. In the early twenty-first century, it included more than two hundred Baptist unions and conventions globally, with around thirty-five to forty million members. America’s Southern Baptist Convention helped create the BWA, but it ended its affiliation with the group in 2004. By 2025, almost all American Baptist churches, with the exception of the Southern Baptist Convention, included themselves in the World Council of Churches and other interdenominational and ecumenical associations.

Beliefs and Practices

Although some Baptists reject the label Protestant, worship in a Baptist church is almost identical to worship in the other, older Puritan denominations—namely, the Congregationalists and Presbyterians. In contrast to the Eastern Orthodox liturgy, for example, the Baptist worship service does not have set prayers. The extemporaneous prayers of Baptist worship are accompanied by readings and interpretations of scripture and the singing of hymns. Communion is typically observed once a month. In the case of Baptists, it is received in the pews, a practice that varies slightly from the procedure in other denominations.

But generally speaking, Baptists share doctrinal beliefs with all other Christians, such as the belief in one God; the Trinity; and the atonement for sins through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. They also believe that Jesus will return to Earth in glory, that the dead will be raised, and that Christ will judge all in righteousness.

As was true in the 1600s, Baptists believe that fundamental authority comes from scripture, through Christ, and rests with the local congregations. Traditionally, individual congregations are made up of believers, and it is up to them to decide who to include in or exclude from their number. They ordain their own pastors and arrange their religious life according to their view of what Christ wishes them to do.

The organization has changed somewhat, however, since the mid-twentieth century. Previously, a pastor was the leader and the moderator of a congregation, but by the early years of the twenty-first century, this role had changed. A pastor was now more often seen as a paid employee of the congregation, and an elected lay member of the congregation served as moderator. Deacons were once the pastor’s principal assistants, playing important roles in both the spiritual and temporal life of the church. Now most Baptist churches have a larger number of church officers, such as separate boards of trustees, as well as officers in charge of education and missions, among others. These boards have taken over the decision-making role that was formerly executed by church meetings of the congregation.

These modern changes notwithstanding, Baptists are unified by six beliefs they all hold in common. These beliefs are true for all Baptists worldwide.

1. They believe that the supreme authority in all matters of faith and religious practice is the Bible. Baptists do not have a specific creed or a published manifesto of beliefs. So they always turn to scripture for spiritual guidance.
2. All Baptists adhere to what they call believer’s baptism. They consider baptism the mark of a Christian, and a Christian is a believer "in whom faith has been awakened." Thus, true baptism is a baptism of believers only. An infant cannot profess belief, so an infant baptism is not a true baptism. Baptists require full immersion as well, because baptism needs to reflect death (of the person’s old life) and rebirth (in a new Christian life). The baptized Christian shares in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
3. A Baptist church can be made up of believers only. Baptists reject the concept of a territorial church, such as a Roman Catholic parish. Only those who have given clear evidence of their Christian faith and experience may be members of a Baptist church.
4. All Christians are equal in the life of the church. Baptists hold to a doctrine that says that all believers are members of the priesthood. Any Christian may be a minister to other members, and every member of the church has equal rights and privileges in terms of deciding on the affairs and operations of the church. Pastors have responsibilities that are given to them by the consent of the members, but otherwise they have no unique status.
5. All local churches are independent. Every properly constituted congregation is able to minister Christ in its own life, deriving its authority from no other source but Christ. However, this belief does not mean that Baptist churches should operate in isolation. Baptists believe that all Christians are bound together, and they demonstrate their unity through associations and conventions.
6. Church and state are separate. The church must be free to obey Christ without interference from any political entity or other outside influence.

However, because there is no central authority in matters of faith or secular administration, there is considerable variation in Baptist theological beliefs. Each church is autonomous, so there are differences not only between associations but also between individual churches within those associations. For example, whereas members of the Southern Baptist Convention generally agree on most theological matters, individual churches may differ widely.

Some Baptist churches endorse what is captured by the phrase speaking in tongues (glossolalia), whereas others do not. There are considerably widespread differences regarding how the Bible should be interpreted, and individual congregations disagree about which translation of the Bible should be used. A growing movement at the end of the twentieth century advocated exclusive use of the King James version of the Bible, but many congregations strenuously opposed it. Some churches advocate separation from the world, a phrase that means "withdrawal from worldly people and events." The ordination of women as pastors and deacons provokes fierce arguments, and there are widespread disagreements about the roles of men and women in marriage. Some congregations believe strongly that the so-called end of days is near; some believe in dispensationalism and the literal interpretation of the Bible. In addition, debates between individual churches revolve around the differences between strict Calvinism and the more-moderate Arminialism.

The long list of disagreements among individual Baptist churches underscores two elements of the denomination’s wide appeal. One is its flexibility. Within specific parameters, individual congregations have considerable latitude in how they worship and even in what they believe. Another is tremendous dynamism. With so much freedom of expression and interpretation, Baptists are able, again within specific parameters, to adapt quickly to the needs of their individual congregations and members.

Bibliography

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