Protestantism

===Baptists===
{{Main|Baptists}}
[[Baptists]] subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers ([[believer's baptism]], as opposed to [[infant baptism]]), and that it must be done by complete [[Immersion baptism|immersion]] (as opposed to [[affusion]] or [[Aspersion|sprinkling]]). Other [[Dogma|tenets]] of Baptist churches include [[soul competency]] (liberty), [[salvation]] through [[Sola fide|faith alone]], [[Sola scriptura|Scripture alone]] as the rule of faith and practice, and the autonomy of the local [[Congregationalist polity|congregation]]. Baptists recognize two ministerial offices, [[pastor]]s and [[deacon]]s. Baptist churches are widely considered to be Protestant churches, though some Baptists disavow this identity.<ref name="Baptist Origins">Buescher, John. "[http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/22329 Baptist Origins] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920071007/http://www.teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/22329 |date=20 September 2015 }}." [http://www.teachinghistory.org/ Teaching History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926205612/https://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/24484 |date=26 September 2018 }}. Retrieved 23 September 2011.</ref>

Diverse from their beginning, those identifying as Baptists today differ widely from one another in what they believe, how they worship, their attitudes toward other Christians, and their understanding of what is important in Christian discipleship.<ref name="Shurden turning">{{cite web |last=Shurden |first=Walter |title=Turning Points in Baptist History |publisher=The Center for Baptist Studies, Mercer University |location=Macon, GA |year=2001 |access-date=16 January 2010 |url=http://www.centerforbaptiststudies.org/pamphlets/style/turningpoints.htm |archive-date=10 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710040901/http://www.centerforbaptiststudies.org/pamphlets/style/turningpoints.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Historians trace the earliest church labeled ''Baptist'' back to 1609 in [[Amsterdam]], with [[English Dissenters|English Separatist]] [[John Smyth (Baptist minister)|John Smyth]] as its pastor.<ref name="Gourley">Gourley, Bruce. "A Very Brief Introduction to Baptist History, Then and Now." ''The Baptist Observer.''</ref> In accordance with his reading of the [[New Testament]], he rejected baptism of infants and instituted baptism only of believing adults.<ref name="ODCC self" /> Baptist practice spread to England, where the General Baptists considered Christ's atonement to extend to all people, while the Particular Baptists believed that it extended only to [[Election (Christianity)|the elect]]. In 1638, [[Roger Williams (theologian)|Roger Williams]] established the [[first Baptist church in America|first Baptist congregation in the North American colonies]]. In the mid-18th century, the [[First Great Awakening]] increased Baptist growth in both New England and the South.<ref name="EBOself">{{cite web |url-status=live |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/52364/Baptist |title=Baptist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426193803/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/52364/Baptist |archive-date=26 April 2015 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |first=Winthrop S. |last=Hudson}}</ref> The [[Second Great Awakening]] in the South in the early 19th century increased church membership, as did the preachers' lessening of support for [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolition]] and [[manumission]] of [[slavery]], which had been part of the 18th-century teachings. Baptist missionaries have spread their church to every continent.<ref name="ODCC self" />

The [[Baptist World Alliance]] reports more than 41&nbsp;million members in more than 150,000 congregations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bwanet.org/bwa.php?site=Resources&id=19 |title=Member Body Statistics |date=30 May 2008|publisher=Baptist World Alliance |access-date= 6 May 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100401120508/http://www.bwanet.org/bwa.php?site=Resources&id=19| archive-date= 1 April 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2002, there were over 100&nbsp;million Baptists and Baptistic group members worldwide and over 33&nbsp;million in North America.<ref name="ODCC self">{{citation|contribution=Baptists|editor-last=Cross|editor-first=FL|title=The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church|place=New York|publisher= Oxford University Press|year=2005}}</ref> The largest Baptist association is the [[Southern Baptist Convention]], with the membership of associated churches totaling more than 14&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bpnews.net/52962/acp--giving-increases-baptisms-attendance-continue-decline|title=SBC: Giving increases while baptisms continue decline|date=23 May 2019 |publisher=Baptist Press|access-date=24 September 2019|archive-date=25 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525014132/http://www.bpnews.net/52962/acp--giving-increases-baptisms-attendance-continue-decline|url-status=live |first=Carol |last=Pipes}}</ref>
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File:Roger Williams statue by Franklin Simmons.jpg|[[Roger Williams]] was an early proponent of [[religious freedom]] and the [[separation of church and state]].
File:Baptism by immersion.jpg|Baptists subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed [[believer's baptism|only for professing believers]].
File:First Baptist Church in America from Angell St 2.jpg|The [[First Baptist Church in America]]. Baptists are roughly one-third of [[Protestantism in the United States|U.S. Protestants]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/appendix-b-classification-of-protestant-denominations/|title=Appendix B: Classification of Protestant Denominations|date=12 May 2015 |website=Pew Research Center |access-date=28 December 2015|archive-date=5 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205153232/https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/appendix-b-classification-of-protestant-denominations/|url-status=live}}</ref> 
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