Baptists

==Origins==
Baptist historian Bruce Gourley outlines four main views of Baptist origins:

# the modern scholarly consensus that the movement traces its origin to the 17th century via the [[English Dissenters|English Separatists]],
# the view that it was an outgrowth of the [[Anabaptism|Anabaptist]] movement of [[believer's baptism]] begun in 1525 on the European continent,
# the perpetuity view which assumes that the Baptist ''faith and practice'' has existed since the time of Christ, and
# the successionist view, or "[[Baptist successionism]]", which argues that Baptist ''churches'' actually existed in an unbroken chain since the time of Christ.<ref name="Gourley">Gourley, Bruce. "A Very Brief Introduction to Baptist History, Then and Now." ''The Baptist Observer.''</ref>

===English separatist view===
[[File:John-Smyth.png|thumb|left|upright|[[John Smyth (English theologian)|John Smyth]] led the first Baptist church in [[Amsterdam]] in 1609.]]

Modern Baptist churches trace their history to the English Separatist movement in the 17th century, after the rise of the Protestant [[Reformation]].<ref name="Brackney" /> This view of Baptist origins has the most historical support and is the most widely accepted.<ref name="ETS">{{cite news|title=Anabaptist kinship or English dissent? Papers at ETS examine Baptist origins |newspaper=[[Baptist Press]] |first=Jeff |last=Robinson |date=14 December 2009 |url=http://www.bpnews.net/printerfriendly.asp?ID=31878 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619030031/http://www.bpnews.net/printerfriendly.asp?ID=31878 |archive-date=19 June 2013 }}</ref> Adherents to this position consider the influence of Anabaptists upon early Baptists to be minimal.<ref name = "Gourley" /> It was a time of considerable political and religious turmoil. Both individuals and churches were willing to give up their theological roots if they became convinced that a more biblical "truth" had been discovered.<ref name = leonard24>{{harvnb|Leonard|2003|pages=24}}</ref>

During the Reformation, the [[Church of England]] ([[Anglicanism|Anglicans]]) separated from the Roman [[Catholic Church]]. There were some Christians who were not content with the achievements of the mainstream Protestant Reformation.<ref name= "Shurden turning" /><ref name="Briggs">{{Cite web | last = Briggs | first = John | title = Baptist Origins | publisher = Baptist History and Heritage Society | access-date = 10 January 2010 | url = http://www.baptisthistory.org/contissues/briggs.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100105221040/http://www.baptisthistory.org/contissues/briggs.htm | archive-date = 5 January 2010 |url-status = dead }}</ref> There also were Christians who were disappointed that the Church of England had not made corrections of what some considered to be errors and abuses. Of those most critical of the church's direction, some chose to stay and try to make constructive changes from within the Anglican Church. They became known as "[[Puritans]]" and are described by Gourley as cousins of the English Separatists. Others decided they must leave the church because of their dissatisfaction and became known as the Separatists.<ref name="Gourley" />

In 1579, [[Fausto Sozzini|Faustus Socinus]] founded the [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]] in Poland, which was a tolerant country. The Unitarians taught [[Immersion baptism|baptism by immersion]]. When Poland ceased to be tolerant, they fled to Holland. In Holland, the Unitarians introduced immersion baptism to the [[Mennonites in the Netherlands|Dutch Mennonites]].<ref>{{Cite book|title= Heresies: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church|author-link1=Harold O.J. Brown|last=Brown|first=Harold O.J.|publisher=Hendrickson Publishers|year=1988|isbn= 1-56563-365-2|location=Grand Rapids, MI|pages=337}}</ref>

Baptist churches have their origins in a movement started by [[John Smyth (English theologian)|John Smyth]] and [[Thomas Helwys]] in [[Amsterdam]].<ref>J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, ''Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices'', ABC-CLIO, US, 2010, p. 298</ref><ref>William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of the Baptists'', Scarecrow Press, US, 2009, p. 530</ref><ref>Olivier Favre, ''Les églises évangéliques de Suisse: origines et identités'', Labor et Fides, Genève, 2006, p. 328</ref> Because they  shared beliefs with the Puritans and [[Congregationalist polity|Congregationalists]], they went into exile in 1607 with other believers who held the same biblical positions.<ref>W. Glenn Jonas Jr., ''The Baptist River'', Mercer University Press, US, 2008, p. 6</ref> They believe that the [[Bible]] is to be the only guide and that the believer's baptism is what the scriptures require.<ref name="Baker & Landers p258">Robert Andrew Baker, John M. Landers, ''A Summary of Christian History'', B&H Publishing Group, US, 2005, p. 258</ref> In 1609, the year considered to be the foundation of the movement, they baptized believers and founded the first Baptist church.<ref>Robert E. Johnson, ''A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches'', Cambridge University Press, UK, 2010, p. 33</ref><ref>Michael Edward Williams, Walter B. Shurden, ''Turning Points in Baptist History'', Mercer University Press, US, 2008, p. 36</ref>

In 1609, while still there, Smyth wrote a tract titled "The Character of the Beast," or "The False Constitution of the Church." In it he expressed two propositions: first, [[Infant baptism|infants are not to be baptized]]; and second, "Antichristians converted are to be admitted into the true Church by baptism."<ref name =leonard24/> Hence, his conviction was that a scriptural church should consist only of regenerate believers who have been baptized on a personal confession of faith. He rejected the Separatist movement's doctrine of infant baptism.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nettles|first=Tom J. |date=Spring 2009|title=Once Upon a Time, Four Hundred Years Ago... |journal=Founders Journal|volume= 76|pages = 2–8 |url = http://www.founders.org/journal/fj76/article1.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.reformedreader.org/history/vedder/ch14.htm |title=A Short History of the Baptists|last=Vedder|first=HC|publisher= The Reformed Reader|access-date= 23 December 2009}}</ref> 

Shortly thereafter, Smyth left the group.<ref name="Gourley" /> Ultimately, Smyth became committed to believers' baptism as the only biblical baptism. He was convinced on the basis of his interpretation of Scripture that infants would not be damned should they die in infancy.{{Sfn|Leonard|2003|p=25}} Smyth, convinced that his self-baptism was invalid, applied with the Mennonites for membership. He died while waiting for membership, and some of his followers became Mennonites. Helwys and others kept their baptism and their Baptist commitments.{{Sfn|Leonard|2003|p=25}} The modern Baptist denomination is an outgrowth of Smyth's movement.<ref name="Briggs" /> Baptists rejected the name Anabaptist when they were called that by opponents in derision. McBeth writes that as late as the 18th century, many Baptists referred to themselves as "the Christians commonly—though ''falsely''—called Anabaptists."<ref name="McBeth Bapt Beg">{{Cite web|url=http://www.baptisthistory.org/baptistbeginnings.htm|title= Baptist Beginnings | last = McBeth| first= H Leon |publisher= Baptist History and Heritage Society |access-date= 19 October 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071021083427/http://baptisthistory.org/baptistbeginnings.htm| archive-date = 21 October 2007 |url-status = live}}</ref>

Helwys took over the leadership, leading the church back to England in 1611,  and he published the [[List of Baptist confessions of faith|first Baptist confession of faith]] "A Declaration of Faith of English People" in 1611.<ref>John H. Y. Briggs, ''A Dictionary of European Baptist Life and Thought'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, US, 2009, p. 467</ref> He founded the first [[General Baptists|General Baptist]] Church in [[Spitalfields]], east London, in 1612.<ref>Sébastien Fath, ''Une autre manière d'être chrétien en France: socio-histoire de l'implantation baptiste, 1810–1950'', Editions Labor et Fides, Genève, 2001, p. 81</ref>

Another milestone in the early development of Baptist doctrine was in 1638 with [[John Spilsbury (Baptist minister)|John Spilsbury]], a [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] minister who helped to promote the strict practice of believer's baptism by immersion (as opposed to [[affusion]] or [[aspersion]]).<ref name="ETS" /> According to Tom Nettles, professor of historical theology at [[Southern Baptist Theological Seminary]], "Spilsbury's cogent arguments for a gathered, disciplined congregation of believers baptized by immersion as constituting the New Testament church gave expression to and built on insights that had emerged within separatism, advanced in the life of John Smyth and the suffering congregation of Thomas Helwys, and matured in [[Reformed Baptists|Particular Baptists]]."<ref name="ETS" />

===Anabaptist influence view===
A minority view is that early 17th century Baptists were influenced by (but not directly connected to) continental Anabaptists.<ref name="Priest">{{citation|last=Priest|first=Gerald L|title=Are Baptists Protestants?|publisher=Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary|date=14 October 2010|url=http://www.dbts.edu/pdf/macp/2007/Priest,%20Are%20Baptists%20Protestants.pdf|url-status = bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620124136/http://www.dbts.edu/pdf/macp/2007/Priest,%20Are%20Baptists%20Protestants.pdf|archive-date=20 June 2017}}.</ref> According to this view, the General Baptists shared similarities with Dutch Waterlander Mennonites (one of many Anabaptist groups) including believer's baptism only, [[Freedom of religion|religious liberty]], [[separation of church and state]], and [[Arminianism|Arminian]] views of salvation, predestination and original sin. 

It is certain that the early Baptist church led by Smyth had contacts with the Anabaptists; however it is debated if these influences found their way into the English General Baptists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Origins of the Particular Baptists |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/origins-of-the-particular-baptists/ |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=The Gospel Coalition |language=en-US |quote=}}</ref> Representatives of this theory include A.C. Underwood and William R. Estep. Gourley writes that among some contemporary Baptist scholars who emphasize the faith of the community over soul liberty, the Anabaptist influence theory is making a comeback.<ref name="Gourley" /> This view was also taught by the Reformed historian [[Philip Schaff]]. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Philip Schaff: Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical notes. Volume I. The History of Creeds. - Christian Classics Ethereal Library |url=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds1.x.vi.html |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=www.ccel.org |quote=The English and American Baptists have inherited some of the principles without the eccentricities and excesses of the Continental Anabaptists and Mennonites.}}</ref>

However, the relations between Baptists and Anabaptists were early strained. In 1624, the five existing Baptist churches of London issued a condemnation of the Anabaptists.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Early English Dissenters in the Light of Recent Research|last=Burrage|first=Champlin|publisher=Cambridge|year=1912|volume=2|location=University Press|pages=222}}</ref> Furthermore, the original group associated with Smyth (popularly believed to be the first Baptists) broke with the Waterlander Mennonite Anabaptists after a brief period of association in the Netherlands.<ref>{{citation|last=Melton|first=JG|contribution=Baptists|title=Encyclopedia of American Religions|year= 1994}}.</ref>

===Perpetuity and succession view===
{{Main|Baptist successionism}}

Traditional Baptist historians write from the perspective that Baptists had existed since the time of Christ.{{Sfn | Torbet | 1975 | pp = 18–9}} Proponents of the Baptist successionist or perpetuity view consider the Baptist movement to have existed independently from Roman Catholicism and prior to the Protestant Reformation.<ref name="H. Leon McBeth pages 59-60">{{citation|first=H Leon|last=McBeth|title=The Baptist Heritage|pages=59–60| place = Nashville | publisher = Broadman Press|year= 1987}}.</ref>

The perpetuity view is often identified with ''[[The Trail of Blood]]'', a booklet of five lectures by [[James Milton Carroll]] published in 1931.<ref name= "H. Leon McBeth pages 59-60" /> Other Baptist writers who advocate the successionist theory of Baptist origins are [[John T. Christian]] and [[Thomas Crosby (Baptist)|Thomas Crosby]].<ref name="H. Leon McBeth pages 59-60" />{{Sfn | Torbet | 1975 | p = 18}} This view was held by English Baptist preacher [[Charles Spurgeon]]<ref>{{citation |title= The New park Street Pulpit|volume=VII|page= 225}}.</ref> as well as [[Jesse Mercer]], the namesake of [[Mercer University]].<ref>{{cite web| first =Jesse | last = Mercer|title= A History of the Georgia Baptist Association|pages = 196–201 | year =1838|url= http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com/1811cl_mercer.html}}</ref> In 1898 William Whitsitt was pressured to resign his presidency of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for denying Baptist successionism.<ref name="James H. Slatton pages 278-293">{{citation|first=James H.|last=Slatton|title=W.H. Whitsitt – The Man and the Controversy|pages=278–279| place = Macon | publisher = Mercer University Press|year= 2009}}.</ref>

===Baptist origins in the United Kingdom===
{{see also|Baptist Union of Great Britain}}
[[File:Title Page A Short Declaration of the Mistery of Iniquity.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''A Short Declaration of the Mistery of Iniquity'' (1612) by Thomas Helwys. For Helwys, religious liberty was a right for everyone, even for those he disagreed with.]]

In 1612 Helwys established a Baptist congregation in London, consisting of congregants from Smyth's church. A number of other Baptist churches sprang up, and they became known as the General Baptists. The Particular Baptists were established when a group of Calvinist Separatists adopted believers' Baptism.{{Sfn | Wright | 2004}}{{Page needed |date=June 2014}} The Particular Baptists consisted of seven churches by 1644 and had created a confession of faith called the First London Confession of Faith.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Southern Baptist Convention: A Sesquicentennial History|last=Fletcher|first=Jesse C.|publisher=Broadman & Holman|year=1994|isbn=978-0805411676|location=Nashville, TN|pages=25}}</ref>

===Baptist origins in North America===
{{See also|Baptists in the United States|Baptists in Canada}}
[[File:First_Baptist_Church_in_America_from_Angell_St_2.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[First Baptist Church in America]] located in [[Providence, Rhode Island]]]]

Both [[Roger Williams]] and [[John Clarke (Baptist minister)|John Clarke]] are variously credited as founding the earliest Baptist church in North America.<ref name="Newport">{{citation|url=http://www.redwoodlibrary.org/notables/clarke.htm |title=Newport Notables |publisher=Redwood Library |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927062252/http://www.redwoodlibrary.org/notables/clarke.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}.</ref> In 1639 Williams established a Baptist church in [[Providence, Rhode Island]], and Clarke began a Baptist church in [[Newport, Rhode Island]]. According to a Baptist historian who has researched the matter extensively, "There is much debate over the centuries as to whether the Providence or Newport church deserved the place of 'first' Baptist congregation in America. Exact records for both congregations are lacking."<ref name= "Brackney">{{Cite book| author-link = William H. Brackney| last = Brackney | first = William H |title= Baptists in North America: an historical perspective| publisher= Blackwell Publishing | year = 2006 | page = 22 | isbn = 978-1-4051-1865-1}}</ref><ref>Thomas S. Kidd and Barry Hankins, ''Baptists in America: A History'' (2015)</ref>

The [[First Great Awakening]] energized the Baptist movement, and the Baptist community experienced spectacular growth. Baptists became the largest Christian community in many southern states, including among the enslaved Black population.<ref name="ODCC self" />

Baptist missionary work in Canada began in the British colony of [[Nova Scotia]] (present day Nova Scotia and [[New Brunswick]]) in the 1760s.{{Sfn | Bumstead | 1984 | p = 40}} The first official record of a Baptist church in Canada was Horton Baptist Church (now Wolfville) in [[Wolfville]], Nova Scotia on 29 October 1778.{{Sfn | Bumstead | 1984 | p = 62}} The church was established with the assistance of the [[Old and New Lights|New Light]] evangelist [[Henry Alline]]. Many of Alline's followers, after his death, converted and strengthened the Baptist presence in the Atlantic region.<ref name = "Rawlyk">{{Cite book | editor-last = Rawlyk | editor-first = George A |title= The Sermons of Henry Alline | publisher = Lancelot Press for Acadia Divinity College and the Baptist Historical Committee of the United Baptist Convention of the Atlantic Provinces | place = Hantsport |year= 1986|page=32}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Bell | first = DG | title = Henry Alline and Maritime Religion | publisher = Canadian Historical Association | place = Ottawa | year = 1993}}.</ref> Two major groups of Baptists formed the basis of the churches in [[the Maritimes]]. These were referred to as Regular Baptist (Calvinistic in their doctrine) and [[Free Will Baptist|Free Will Baptists]] (Arminian in their doctrine).<ref name="Rawlyk" />

In May 1845, the Baptist congregations in the United States split over slavery and missions. The [[American Baptist Home Mission Society|Home Mission Society]] prevented slaveholders from being appointed as missionaries.<ref name="Early">{{Citation |title=Readings in Baptist History: Four Centuries of Selected Documents |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ieENRXoO1YC&pg=PA100 |pages=100–101 |year=2008 | publisher=B&H Publishing |editor-last=Early |editor-first=Joe |access-date=25 August 2010 |isbn=9780805446746}}.</ref> The split created the [[Southern Baptist Convention]], while the northern congregations formed their own umbrella organization now called the [[American Baptist Churches USA]] (ABC-USA).<ref name="Southern Baptist Beginnings">{{cite web|url=http://www.baptisthistory.org/sbaptistbeginnings.htm |title=Southern Baptist Beginnings |first=Robert A. |last=Baker |publisher=Baptist History & Heritage Society |year=1979 |access-date=28 October 2012 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018074627/http://www.baptisthistory.org/sbaptistbeginnings.htm |archive-date=18 October 2012 }}</ref> In 2015, [[Baptists in the United States|Baptists in the U.S.]] number 50 million people and constitute roughly one-third of [[Protestantism in the United States|American Protestants]].<ref>{{cite web|date=12 May 2015|title=Appendix B: Classification of Protestant Denominations|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/appendix-b-classification-of-protestant-denominations/|work=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project}}</ref>

===Baptist origins in Ukraine===
{{See also|Baptists in Ukraine}}

The Baptist churches in Ukraine were preceded by the German Anabaptist and [[Mennonites|Mennonite]] communities, who had been living in southern Ukraine since the 16th century, and who practiced adult believer's baptism.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/major.religions/baptists |title= RISU / English / Major Religions / Baptists |access-date= 20 April 2005 |archive-url= http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050420001102/http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/major.religions/baptists/ |archive-date=20 April 2005 |url-status = dead }}</ref> The first Baptist baptism (adult baptism by full immersion) in Ukraine took place in 1864 on the river [[Inhul]] in the Yelizavetgrad region (now [[Kropyvnytskyi]] region), in a [[History of Germans in Russia, Ukraine, and the Soviet Union|German settlement]]. In 1867, the first Baptist communities were organized in that area. From there, the Baptist movement spread across the south of Ukraine and then to other regions as well. 

One of the first Baptist communities was registered in [[Kyiv]] in 1907, and in 1908 the First All-[[Russian Empire|Russian]] Convention of Baptists was held there, as Ukraine was still controlled by the Russian Empire. The All-Russian Union of Baptists was established in Yekaterinoslav (now [[Dnipro]]) in southern Ukraine. At the end of the 19th century, there were between 100,000 and 300,000 Baptists in Ukraine.<ref>[http://ecbua.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=29 History of the AUC ECB] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805104147/http://ecbua.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=29 |date=5 August 2016 }} Всеукраїнський Союз Церков Євангельських Християн-Баптистів web site {{in lang|uk}}</ref> An independent All-Ukrainian Baptist Union of Ukraine was established during the [[Ukrainian People's Republic|brief period of Ukraine's independence]] in early 20th-century and once again after the fall of the Soviet Union, the largest of which is currently known as the [[Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine]].