“A strange view held by many Baptists: Only immersion counts as real/valid baptism, but grape juice instead of wine will suffice in communion.”
-Derek Radney, Pastor at Trinity Church (PCA) in Winston-Salem, NC
In preparation for a Mantua Creek baptismal service on Sunday, September 15th hosted by our parent church, Ashland Church, I’m adding some updates to the constructive conversation booklet Baptism and Its Significance.
In sync with this, I’ll share some fuller research and practical guidance related to those updates over the next few weeks. This week will be dedicated to historical research about Baptists as a denomination—their relation to Mennonites, their origins in England and America, whether they were more Calvinistic or Arminian, and—most importantly for my current purposes—how focused they were (or weren’t) on baptism by immersion only. Then, over the next 2-3 weeks, I’ll focus more on practical questions like “How can parents maximize their child’s baptism?” and “How can churches make baptism more central to their culture?” I’ll also share some of Derek Radney’s (quoted above) insights on how the Baptist perspective on baptism offered an important corrective to the Church at a key moment in history. But, again, for this week, here’s some of that fuller research:
The Origin of Baptists as a Denomination
In 1603 Elizabeth, the Queen of England, died; James I was her successor. During his reign, great conflicts arose among Protestants who thought the Reformation had not progressed sufficiently in England. These individuals sought to “purify” the Church, returning to biblical religion, and were thus given the name Puritans. Among this group (which did not all agree among themselves), was a subgroup called “Independents” that believed that each congregation should be “independent of all others.”[1] Out of this group came some who believed that baptism ought to be administered only to believing adults. These Independent Puritans were called Baptists.
Q: Did the first Baptists come from the Anabaptists (the forerunners of the Mennonites)?
A: “Although some of their teachings coincided with those of the Anabaptists on the continent, most Baptists did not derive such ideas from the Anabaptists, but rather from their own study of the New Testament.”[2]
- Here’s how that played out in England…: “A third group of Separatist [opposed to the state church] Congregationalists appeared in Gainsborough in and Scrooby in 1606… Because of persecution, the Gainsborough group migrated to Amsterdam in 1606 or 1607 under the leadership of John Smyth. There they came under the influence of Mennonites. In 1608 or 1609 Smyth baptized himself, Thomas Helwys, and other members of his flock by pouring. Thomas Helwys, John Murton, and their followers returned to England about 1612 and organized the first English Baptist church. This group practiced baptism by effusion [puring] and held to Arminian doctrines… Thus the first English Baptist church emerged from the Separatist Congregationalist group.”[3]
- … and in America: “The beginning of Baptist churches in America was also associated with the swarming of the Puritans… In 1639, a church was founded in Providence, and all of the members were re-baptized, including Roger Williams [pictured above]. There is some question whether or not this was by immersion, but at any rate, the twelve members organized the church along Baptist lines. It was probably the first Baptist church in America.”[4] Another scholarly resource puts it this way: “The American Baptists trace their ancestry to a congregation at Providence, Rhode Island. They were first gathered in 1639 by [Roger] Williams, a Separatist from London, who had been ejected from the Puritan colony in Massachusetts Bay. Most of those making up the first congregation were English or Welsh Baptists who already shared Williams’ beliefs. The Baptists grew slowly until after the Great Awakening.”[5]
Q: Were the first Baptists Calvinists or Arminians?
A: “While in exile in the Netherlands, a number of those Baptists were influenced by Arminianism, which they took with them on their return to England. Others remained in England, and continued sharing in the strict Calvinism that was the backbone of the Puritan movement.”[6]
“The stronger group of Calvinistic or Particular Baptists originated in a schism from Henry Jacobs congregation in London in 1633 and 1638. They held to the baptism of believers by immersion and a Calvinistic theology that emphasized a limited atonement. It was this congregation, first led by John Spilsbury, that in 1638 became the main influence in the English Baptist movement. The antecedents of the American Baptist movement are [also] to be found in this group.” [7] Later, in 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) splintered off from this group and formed their own denomination. Sadly, this was because they opposed the strong anti-slavery sentiment in the North.
Conclusions and Takeaways:
- The earliest Baptists were Arminian in doctrine.
- The stronger group, emerging from a schism in 1633 and 1638, were Calvinistic in theology.
- Southern Baptists, part of the American Baptist movement, share roots with this stronger group above. For example, the first president of Southern Seminary, the SBC’s first seminary and current flagship institution, Dr. James P. Boyce, was a five-point Calvinist. Consistent with this, Southern’s current president, Dr. Albert Mohler, is also a five-point Calvinist.
- Although influenced by the Anabaptists (Mennonites), Baptists drew their beliefs about baptism primarily from their own study of Scripture.
- In the area of baptism, the issue that first distinguished Baptists as “Baptists” was their opposition to infant baptism NOT their insistence on a particular mode (sprinkling, pouring, or immersion). The mode of immersion, however, does seem to be a distinctive of those who came to be known as Particular Baptists.
[1] Justo L. Gonzales, The Story of Christianity, Volume 2 (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1985), 150-151.
[2] Ibid., 225.
[3] Earle E. Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries, 337-338.
[4] Ibid., 363.
[5] Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity, 434,435.
[6] J Justo L. Gonzales, The Story of Christianity, Volume 2 (San Francisco: HaperCollins, 1985), 225.
[7] Earle E. Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries, 338.