Rev. David Holwick
Ledgewood Baptist Church
September 13, 1999
A BRIEF HISTORY OF BAPTISTS IN AMERICA
I. Origin of the Baptists
a. "Trail of blood" theory.
Extremely conservative Baptists believe there has been an unbroken
chain of faithful Christians down through the ages who should be
identified with Baptists. (Therefore we are not Protestants because
we were never part of the Roman Catholic church and did not have to
break away from it.) Most of these groups were small and persecuted
severely, thus they can be identified by the "trail of blood" they
left. While most of these groups held to some of our beliefs (Bible
as final authority, churches should be composed only of true
believers) none of them held to all of our beliefs.
b. Independent Puritans.
The most likely view is that Baptists grew out of the Puritan
movement in England. The Puritans were conservatives in the Church
of England who thought their church was too lax; they were persecuted
for this and many came to America where they established the
Congregational and Presbyterian churches. A small number of the
English Puritans thought the reforms did not go far enough especially
when it came to establishing a pure church. One of them was named
John Smyth.
John Smyth began in 1600 as a Church of England preacher in Lincoln
where he was elected their pastor on a vote of 8 to 7. They fired
him because he preached against too many important people. He
became the preacher of a Separatist church in 1602; their sister
church became the actual Pilgrim group that migrated to Plymouth.
Because of persecution by the government both groups fled to
Holland where Smyth set up an English church of eighty people.
They did not yet reject infant baptism. Smyth opposed using notes
or even Scripture while preaching so he wouldn't hinder the Spirit.
In 1609 Smyth became convinced infant baptism was wrong and
baptized himself by affusion (pouring water on his head); about 40
others in the church were then baptized by him. A short time
later, Smyth joined the Mennonites and most of his group followed
them.
The remaining group of 8 or 10, led by Thomas Helwys, returned to
England in 1611, the same year the King James Bible was produced.
They formed the General Baptists ("general" meaning they did not
accept the Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement where Jesus dies
only for the Elect). Pastor Helwys wrote a pamphlet promoting
religious freedom and liberty of conscience, and was promptly
jailed in Newgate Prison; John Bunyan wrote "A Pilgrim's Progress"
there.
A second early group was called the Particular Baptists. They were
Calvinist and arose independently around 1638 in England. Some of
them were so committed to predestination they later became known as
Anti-missionary Baptists. Not surprisingly they have all but died
out.
II. Beginning of Baptists in America
In the 1630's Roger Williams and other Baptists escaped persecution
in England by moving to America. They discovered just as much
persecution here and several were jailed for preaching without a
license. In 1638 Williams was banished from Boston, wandered for
14 weeks in the wilderness and came to Providence, Rhode Island,
where he established America's first Baptist church in 1639. He
also promoted religious liberty for all citizens - even for Jews and
Catholics. Williams remained a Baptist for a few months, then became
a "Seeker."
John Clarke also established a church nearby and spread the faith in
Rhode Island and Massachusetts. In 1651 Obadiah Holmes visited
Massachusetts to console an elderly Baptist and to speak of his
faith, was arrested, tried in Boston, and whipped in public for
promoting "Anabaptism."
Baptists spread rapidly, especially in Pennsylvania and Appalachia.
The first "Association" was in 1707 in Philadelphia. Around 1739
the tremendous revival called the Great Awakening split Baptists
into two groups, Regular (Arminian) and Separate (Calvinist) but
also resulted in huge gains. Most of the growth was among the
lower classes. By 1800 Baptists were the largest denomination in
America.
In 1803 Adoniram Judson sailed for Burma as the first missionary
from America. He became a Baptist on the voyage and worked
diligently among the Burmese although results were slow - his first
convert took eight years. The evangelization of tribal groups was
far more successful. Today Baptists support thousands of
missionaries around the world. American Baptists (ABC-USA) have
more members in affiliated overseas churches than they do in
America.
III. The Great Splits
Baptists split into Northern and Southern denominations in the
1840's over the issue of slavery. The Southerners developed a
centralized organization that proved very effective. Following
World War II the Southerners expanded into northern areas and built
a large missionary outreach overseas. In the 1980's the perception
of theological drift led conservative Southern Baptists to take over
the leadership of the convention and remold it, the first time this
has happened in a major American Protestant denomination. They now
number 14 million, by far the largest Baptist group.
Other splits were to follow. Black Baptists at first attended white
congregations but soon began leaving to form their own churches and
associations. They are one of the dominant influences in African-
American culture. At the turn of the century black Baptists formed
their own denomination, the National Baptists. In the 1960's Martin
Luther King, Jr., and other activists formed the Progressive
Baptists. Many are also aligned with the American (Northern)
Baptists. The majority of black Christians are Baptist.
In the 1920's and 1930's the debate over liberalism in Baptist
seminaries led to the break-off of the General Association of
Regular Baptists (G.A.R.B.) and others from the Northern
convention. Many of the most conservative churches became totally
independent.
In 1940 much turmoil in the Northern Baptists over the issue of
liberalism in missions leads to the establishment of the
Conservative Baptists. The Association of Regular Baptists is
another split, and other churches simply became independent. The
Northern Baptists became American Baptists after World War II and
are the most racially and theologically diverse Baptist group and
have one and a half million members.
In the 1990's turmoil over homosexuality and diminished attention
to the authority of the Bible led to the formation of a conservative
renewal movement, the American Baptist Evangelicals, a renewal
movement among American Baptists. Theological turmoil continues to
be a major factor in Baptist life.
IV. Baptists in other nations
After their beginnings in England, Baptists have spread around the
world. The bulk of them are in the English-speaking countries but
there are also large populations in Burma, India, Congo and Russia.
The Baptist World Alliance is composed of most Baptist groups and
offers inspiration, coordination and assistance for all Baptists,
especially those in hostile countries.
