Thursday, July 2, 2015

CHRISTENDOM Series: Baptists

BAPTIST
(Evangelical Protestant)

But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Acts 8:12

Baptists are about baptism by immersion & age of consent. Most are very congregational in church polity. Many today, but not all, buy into once-saved-always-saved. They also were imbibed with Calvinism for awhile, some more than others. In their early years they were subdivided into particular & general Baptists. Basically "particular" Baptists believed in Calvinism--predestination of particular people.
The "general" Baptists believed in free will and that Christ's death was for anyone who believed--in others for the general public who chose to follow God. This free will Arminianism & Calvinistic predestination blended over time into once-saved-always-saved thinking.
There was also a split between "missionary" Baptists who believed, because of free will, that missionary work was required by the church. Whereas "primitive" Baptists were those who, because of hard core Calvinistic predestination beliefs, opposed missionary work. Many Baptists are dispensational pre-millennial ("Secret Rapture").



Independent Baptist - Baptist churches which withdraw from larger churches, and claim not to be denominational, while running their own congregation as they see fit. Nearly 15% of Baptists belong to these Baptist independent congregations. Many are Calvinistic (but not all) and most are very theologically conservative.
United Baptist - a union of Baptist congregations with 3 subgroups- General (Arminian), Landmark (Moderate Calvinistic-once-saved-always-saved) & Regular (Strict Calvinist-predestination). About 54,000 members.

Seventh Day Baptists - 1650's, Seventh day Sabbath keeping Baptists. About 50,000 members.
Six-Principle Baptists - 1652, split from larger Calvinistic churches in America to follow Arminian theology. They follow the 6 principles of Hebrews 6:1,2.
Free Will Baptist - 1727, very Arminian in soteriology. Opposed to Calvinism. About 200,000 members.
 Separate Baptists in Christ - 1776, started by a group of Baptists in opposition to the rise of Arminian theology in their area. About 9,000 members.
General Association of General Baptists - 1824, group of Baptist ministers, mostly in the Midwest, who drifted towards Arminian views. About 73,000 members.
Old Regular Baptists - 1825, primitive Baptist churches in Appalachia, that still sing in Scotch-Gaelic structure. About 10,000 members.
General Association of The Baptists - 1826, Arminian in theology and use in some southern churches a type of bluegrass sounding music. About 10,000 members.

Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists - 1826, an extreme form of hyper-Calvinism, where predestination precludes missionary activity (primitive Baptist) except this group examined people who came to the church to see if they were really of the "elect" or not. Only 5 congregations remain. (The two seeds are the good seeds of God and the bad seeds of Satan).
North American Baptists - 1843, Baptist movement among German-Canadians who came to the U.S. About 47,000 members.
Southern Baptist - 1845, split in the south over support for slavery. They later apologized for slavery. The church grew in the early 1900's as a fundamentalist church against the growing rise of modernism. It became the default church in American Protestantism for theological conservatism. Although NOT charismatic, they have been rocked in the last decade by the rise of "baptistcostals" who speak in tongues-up to 10% of the church now including their own Pat Robertson). The church opposes gay marriage, women ordination & evolution. They are also divided over Calvinism vs. Arminian theology. About 16,000,0000 members. (Evangelists of history include Billy Sunday & Billy Graham).
Baptist General Conference  - 1852, made up of mostly Scandinavian settlers. Theologically "moderate". About 180,000 members.
United American Free Will Baptist Church - 1867, a black free will church. About 50,000 members.
National Baptist Convention, USA - 1880, black Baptist Church, rejected
political activism of the 1960's. More theologically conservative of the black Baptist Churches. About 7,500,000 members.
 American Baptist Churches USA - 1907, merger of several northern Baptists groups. Considers themselves theologically "moderate" & have women ordination. About 1,300,000 members.
National Primitive Baptist Convention, USA - 1907, group of black primitive Baptists who engage in foot washing.
National Baptist Convention of America - 1915, Black Baptist church that is considered theologically moderate and was willing to participate in the civil rights movement.
Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International - 1920, loose alliance of independent, conservative congregations. pooled together to build their own university, Martha Baptist University.
National Baptist Evangelical Life and Soul Saving Assembly of the United States of America - 1920, Black Baptists who organized to focus on charity work.
American Baptist Association - 1924, started for the purpose of strong emphasis on worldwide missionary work. About 100,000 members.

Primitive Baptist Universalists - 1924, Appalachian Baptists who broke away form primitive Baptists. These Baptists do not believe in any kind of "hell", rather, "hell" is in this life. All will be universally saved. About 1,000 members.
General Association of Regular Baptist Churches -1932, split from the growing theological liberalism of the American Baptists in the north. Also, a heavier emphasis on Calvinism. Over 130,000 members.
General Conference of the Evangelical Baptist Church, Inc - 1935, small group of free will Baptists.
National Association of Free Will Baptists - 1935, a loose coalition of independent congregations that are theological conservative and Arminian. About 135,000 members.
Conservative Baptist Association of America - 1943, a loose knit alliance of independent congregations. About 200,000 members.
Baptist Bible Fellowship International - 1950, very fundamentalist Baptist denomination. Jerry Falwell was a member. About 115,000 members.
Baptist Missionary Association - 1950, split from the American Baptist Association. About 225,000 members.
Central Baptist Association - 1956, a more liberal branch of primitive Baptists. About 4,000 members.
Progressive National Baptist Convention - 1961, Black Baptists who formed a group for civil rights activism. Over the years has become more theologically liberal than other black Baptist churches. About 2,500,000 members.
 Original Free Will Baptist Convention - 1961, a free will movement among Baptists. About 30,000 members.
Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association - 1962, loose knit alliance of independent, black churches who are fundamentally conservative.
United American Free Will Baptist Conference - 1968, a black free will Baptist church.
Continental Baptist Churches - 1983, New Calvinism, including a type of hyper-dispensationalism, which includes emphasis on not being under the 10 commandment law.
Independent Baptist Fellowship International - 1984, split by ministers over a college teaching Calvinism.
Southwide Baptist Fellowship - alliance of more than a thousand independent congregations who focus on the secret rapture and lifestyle purity.
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America - 1988, group of black Baptists who joined to form a missionary movement for black Baptists to evangelize the world. About 1,000,000 members.
Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America - 1990, group a loose knit congregations following strict Calvinism. More than a hundred congregations.

 Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America - 1997, group of Baptists Churches that formed for hard core Calvinism and full rejection of the seeker friendly church mentality (like espoused by Baptist Rick Warren).
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship - 1991, split from the Southern Baptist by a small group of "moderate" Baptists.
Liberty Baptist Fellowship - 1994, group of a coalition of independent, conservative congregations. About 100,000 members.
Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, International - 1994, founded by black Baptists who want to engage in speaking in tongues.



CHRISTENDOM Series Outline Link:
http://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2015/06/christendom-series-outline.html