Abstract:
This essay aims to present a profile
of the characteristics of Baptist identity through an analysis of Baptist
literature. Although it should not be assumed that Baptists possessed a single,
consistent identity, we can see some general patterns: The believer’s baptism
and freedom of conscience, baptism by immersion, authority from the Scripture
and the Lordship of Christ, individual competency, priesthood of all believers,
a “covenanted community” of regenerate believers with a
strong emphasis the intentional formation of community in the discipleship
process, the autonomy of the local congregation, the
separation of church and state whilst standing up for
human rights, a distinct Baptist emphasis on missions since the Evangelical
Revival, and two
ordinances.
Introduction:
John Smyth is recognised as the first Baptist, who baptised himself
and his congregation in 1609.[1]
Yet, this congregation split in 1610.[2]
So comes a saying that this tendency to disagreeing and splitting among
Baptists is one consistent feature of Baptist identity.[3]
This essay aims to
present a profile of the characteristics of Baptist identity through an
analysis of Baptist literature.
Baptism and
freedom of conscience:
Believer's baptism
is a characteristic Baptist identity. From the outset, Baptists have been
strong advocates for religious liberty, insisting on freedom to worship God
without restraint and outside influence.[4]
The freedom of the conscience of the individual[5]
assumes the existence of choices and the competency to make choices. Salvation
is a free offer from God, free from coercion. Positive human response is
required to enact the covenant of salvation.[6]
Baptism by immersion is another defining characteristic Baptist identity. The
Baptists came to this conclusion because immersion is the only baptismal mode
in the New Testament (NT).[7]
The Second London Confession, which was a Baptist rewriting of the Westminster
Confession[8]
says “immersion… is necessary.”[9]
In the 1850s Baptists mandated the Greek term baptizo for “baptism” be translated “immersion.”[10]
However, Baptists do not see baptism as the most important Baptist distinctive
nor insist that baptism is necessary for salvation.[11]
When Smyth’s and
his congregation studied NT teachings on baptism, they concluded that Anglican
baptism was invalid because the Church of England was a false church[12],
and as there was no true church to receive true baptism from, he baptised first
himself and then the rest of the congregation.[13]
Infant baptism was also invalid because infants cannot exercise free
conscience.[14] Smyth
believed his congregation was an authentic expression in contrast to corrupt
and counterfeit versions[15]
and therefore “a true church of true believers”. Today Baptists are less
radical, because no Christian communion can claim they are free from defects.
Wright suggests that we can look at the rhetoric of “true church”
eschatologically, as being something that has yet to be but towards which we
are moving in our pilgrimage.[16]
Scripture,
authority and individual competency:
Smyth had such a
high regard for Scripture that he read and used them in the original language
only.[17]
Baptists are said to be “radically biblical”, but are often divided over
biblical interpretation and doctrine.[18]
Some Baptists are fundamentalists, identifying one for one the word of the
Scripture and the Word of God. Mainstream Baptists look to the Scripture
focused in the Word Incarnate.[19]
Manley summarises that “under the authority of God and Lordship of Christ,
Scripture as illuminated by the Holy Spirit is the determinative guide for
understanding the gospel…”[20]
However, commitment to the authority of Scripture does not set the Baptists
apart from other Christians because not every Christian theologian committed to
biblical authority are Baptists.[21]
Furthermore, diverse contexts generated diverse expressions. For instance, in
the seventeenth century, the main bodies are the Particular and General
Baptists. The Particular Baptists were strictly Calvinistic while the General
Baptists were Arminian.[22]
This leads on to
the topic of individual competency and believer priesthood. Baptists believe
that all regenerated persons[23]
came to faith by the freedom of conscience and are therefore competent to
interpret and understand Scripture for themselves.[24]
Olley reminds us that the issue is not what is believed about the Bible but how
the Bible is used in everyday situations, both individual and corporate[25],
to live the story of a life shaped by the Bible.[26]
Furthermore, “all Christians are called into ministry although there are some
called into a ministry of leadership.”[27]
In most Baptists understandings, ordination confers no special abilities on the
one ordained. In Baptism, the disciple is committed to serve Christ in the
church and society, so in a sense all Baptists are ‘ordained’[28];
the pulpit or celebration of the Eucharist and administration of baptism are
not restricted to the minister.[29]
Covenanted congregation of regenerate believers:
A Baptist church
is viewed as a covenanted congregation of visible saints, “walking together” in
the ways of the Lord and “watching over” one another[30],
so there is strong emphasis on discipleship. The call to make disciples goes
beyond evangelism to the nurture of Christians so that they are mature.[31]
Christian maturity has two main focuses: playing a full part in the work of the
local church, and growing in holiness. The concept of “watching over one
another” is not unique to the Baptist, but the radicalness of Baptist
spirituality insists that visible saints “walk together”[32]
with an intention to form a “covenanted community” of regenerate believers,
where, in obedience to Christ’s call, they invest their lives mutually caring for
one another.[33],[34]
Modern technology allows us to access a wealth of resources through the
internet, but Sutherland[35]
reminds us that face-to-face-ness of the congregation cannot be escaped. Furthermore,
while God speaks to each person in an individual way, God also speaks
collectively through the church, so believers are encouraged to interact with
other believers when interpreting the Scripture.[36]
The freedom of conscience means there is a rich diversity of ideas within the
gathered community. Therefore, we need to live out “unity in diversity” by
being open towards the rights of others to describe God in their own language.[37]
Autonomy of the
local congregation:
The priesthood of
all believers means Baptists have generally adhered to the principle of “democratic
congregationalism”, which declares that the final authority in the church
resides in the entire membership. Leaders are selected to teach and guide, but
they do not become a governing body over the members.[38]
There is autonomy of the local congregation within the associational framework,
with freedom from state control, freedom from a priestly succession, freedom
from fixed liturgical forms, and freedom of conscience.[39]
Baptists follow a disjunctive logic: If God holds absolute power then no power
on earth can be absolute.[40]
Then comes the
question of denominational control. Ralph sees nothing comparable to a
denomination in the New Testament.[41]
A denomination is not a church. The closest thing would be an authoritative
assembly such as the “Council of Jerusalem” in Acts 15.[42]
Therefore, attachment to a denomination should not be the same as the
attachment to the church of Jesus Christ.[43]
When a choice had to made, Baptists opted for the independent congregation
rather than the corporate.[44]
After all, denominational super-structures may change, but local churches
remain the centres of evangelism, discipleship and service.[45]
Ralph suggest that a healthy approach might be to see denominations as
parachurch organisations standing alongside and serving their congregations for
the sake of the gospel.[46]
Separation of
church and state:
The term “Puritanism”
was first heard in 1565. Their aim was to purify the church of the remains of “Catholic
superstition”.[47]
Under the rule of Charles I, there was a movement towards Catholicism, which
fostered a renewal of the separatist tendency, and it was at this juncture that
several of the early churches adopted a Baptist identity.[48]
Helwys, one of the co-founders of the first Baptist congregation, proposes that
“the King is a mortal man and not God, therefore he has no power over the
immortal souls of his subjects… For men’s religion… is between God and
themselves. The king will not answer for it. Neither may the king be judge
between God and man.”[49]
The first Baptists
were pioneering a new way of conceiving the temporal power.[50]
This does not imply the separation of church from society. The government is
not society itself, but the hard edge of society, given to maintain order in
society. So separation of the church and state does not imply a withdrawal into
the private mystical realm and taking no place in the public realm.[51]
It cannot imply the independence of the church from the state as institutions
shape each other. Furthermore, it is not the separation of the church from politics
because all of life is political in that our daily lives involve the processes
of negotiating, agreeing, and managing. Politics is intrinsic to corporate
life, be it in schools, trades or congregations. It is not the systematic
exclusion of religion from public life.[52]
Rather, it is a
desire to distinguish between the order of preservation served by government
and the order of redemption served by the church. The order of preservation
requires the use of coercion and force. The kingdom of God should not use
coercion and force, as Christ gave himself up and love those who persecute him.
The external preservation of human societies is essential but cannot achieve
human redemption[53], so
there is a need for Christian churches to maintain a critical distance from
power in order to fulfil their mandate faithfully.[54]
Meanwhile, the “prophetic Baptist voice” still needs to be spoken out in
society[55]
against oppression and moral perversions. Three great Baptists in American
history, Walter Rauschenbusch, Billy Graham and Martin Luther King Jr. each had
an enormous influence on their nation and beyond.[56]
If the church does not stand up for human rights, the result is devastating. In
WWII, German Baptists were brought up in a pietist tradition and inexperienced
in opposing the Hitler regime. They held a Lutheran interpretation of Roman 13
that inhibited the resistance to duly appointed rulers.[57]
Wright suggests that if there comes a day where no tension exists between
Church and State: “either the Church would have become the compliant tool of a
totalitarian regime, or Christ’s kingdom would have arrived on earth without
our noticing it.”[58]
Missions:
In the seventeenth
century, the Particular Baptist ministers argued on the basis of numerous
passages in the NT that the nature of the church was a fellowship of the
redeemed, but other Baptist ministers, such as Andrew Fuller, Dan Taylor, and
William Carey read it differently and see an obligation to enlarge the Kingdom
of God[59]
and preach the gospel across the whole world.[60]
The Evangelical Revival in Britain and the Great Awakening in America were
branches of the same vast revival movement.[61]
The overriding result of the Baptist transformation by the revival was the
increase in the priority of mission.[62]
Other matters, such as church order, faded into insignificance.[63]
Baptist numbers exploded, and they launched new missionary ventures at home and
abroad. In the nineteenth century, they remained fervent Evangelicals. More new
divisions occurred but the old contrast between Calvinists and Arminians faded.[64]
William Carey,
“father of modern missions”[65],
learned the languages of Asia sufficiently to translate the Bible into several different
languages.[66] Although
missions is not a uniquely Baptist theme, there is a distinct Baptist emphasis
on this theme.[67]
Baptists seemed to have produced a disproportionately large number of
world-leading missiologists, but have yet developed a distinctively Baptist
missiology. In hearing the call to make disciples, Baptists have been committed
to the work of mission.[68]
Furthermore, the Baptist church’s refusal to baptise children of church members
mean it is always one generation from extinction.[69]
The current pattern of world mission is now summed up by the word
“partnership”. Missions are no longer sent from the West to the rest of the
world, but the cooperative venture between equals across the world.[70]
Two ordinances:
Another
distinctive characteristic of Baptist identity is the use of the term “ordinances”
rather than “sacraments” for baptism and the Lord’s Supper. “Ordinance” is
derived from “ordain”[71]
and refers to those acts ordained by Jesus for his disciples to practice.[72]
The Catholic tradition uses the term “sacrament” because they believe these
rites to be a means of imparting grace, which is a mystery.[73]
The Baptists view these rites as universal experiences for the church which
serves as reminders of Christ’s presence and work in redemption, and there is
no need to be overly mysterious, and hence preferred the term “ordinance”.[74]
Conclusion:
Although it should
not be assumed that Baptists possessed a single, consistent identity[75],
we can see some general patterns. The freedom of conscience means baptism can
only be valid for believers and not infants. Baptism is by immersion because
this is the only mode of baptism in the NT. The earliest Baptists saw
themselves as the only “true church.” Today Baptists are less radical, because
no Christian communion can claim to be free from defects, so it is recommended
that the term “true church” be used eschatologically. Baptists are under the
authority of God, Lordship of Christ, and the Scripture, which, when combined
with freedom of conscience means that individuals are competent to interpret the
Scripture for themselves, and priesthood is for all believers. There is a
strong emphasis on community in the discipleship process, because a covenanted
congregation of visible saints need to “walk together” in the ways of the Lord.
Although the Baptist denomination is large, when a choice had to made, Baptists
opted for the independent congregation rather than the corporate. The
separation of church and state represents a desire to distinguish between the
order of preservation served by government and the order of redemption served
by the church. Therefore, it is still necessary to stand up for human rights. There
is a distinct Baptist emphasis on missions since the Evangelical Revival. Finally,
the term “ordinances” rather than “sacraments” is used for baptism and the
Lord’s Supper.
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[1] David W. Bebbington, Baptists
Through the Centuries: A History of a Global People (Waco: Baylor
University Press, 2010), 32.
[2] Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries, 35.
[3] Brian Haymes, “One church, one faith, one Lord: Questions of
Baptist identity,” in Baptist identity
into the 21st century: Essays in honour of Ken Manley, ed. Frank
Rees (Melbourne: Whitley College, 2016), 27.
[4] Tony Cupit, “Baptist identity in the 21st century,” in Baptist identity into the 21st
century: Essays in honour of Ken Manley, ed. Frank Rees (Melbourne: Whitley
College, 2016), 169.
[5] John Briggs, “Memory, vision and mission: What our yesterdays have
to say to our todays and tomorrows,” in Baptist
identity into the 21st century: Essays in honour of Ken Manley,
ed. Frank Rees (Melbourne: Whitley College, 2016), 46.
[6] William H. Brackney, A
Capsule History of Baptist Principles (Atlanta: Baptist History and
Heritage Society, 2009), 24.
[7] Brackney, A Capsule History,
47.
[8] Stephen R. Holmes, Baptist Theology
(London: T&T Clark, 2012), 69.
[9] W. L. Lumpkin, Baptist
Confessions of Faith (Valley Forge: The Judson Press, 1959), 291.
[10] Brackney, A Capsule History,
28.
[11] Richard K. Moore, “Baptist Witness to New Testament Baptism beyond
2009,” in Beyond 400: Exploring Baptist
Futures, ed. David J. Cohen and Michael Parsons (Eugene: Pickwick
Publications, 2011), 172.
[12] John Smyth, “The Character of the Beast (1609),” in The Works of John Smyth, ed. W. T.
Whitley (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1915), 564-574.
[13] B. R. White, The English Baptists
of the 17th Century (London: Baptist Historical Society, 1983),
24.
[14] Smyth, “The Character of the Beast (1609),” 564-574.
[15] Nigel G. Wright, “Baptist Christians: Repentant and Unrepentant,” in
Beyond 400: Exploring Baptist Futures,
ed. David J. Cohen and Michael Parsons (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2011), 9.
[16] Wright, “Baptist Christians: Repentant and Unrepentant,” 11.
[17] Brackney, A Capsule History,
54.
[18] Keith Dyer, “Suitably Abrahamic Australia? The Bible and Baptists
in the twenty-first century,” in Baptist
identity into the 21st century: Essays in honour of Ken Manley,
ed. Frank Rees (Melbourne: Whitley College, 2016), 73.
[19] Haymes, “One church, one faith, one Lord,” 35.
[20] “A Survey of Baptist World Alliance Conversations with other Churches
and some implications for Baptist Identity,” Baptist World Alliance, accessed
August 18, 2017,
http://bwa-baptist-heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Survey-of-Conversations-with-Other-Churches.pdf
[21] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
83.
[22] Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries, 52.
[23] Parsons, Michael. “Church as (Covenant) Community – Then and Now,” in
Beyond 400: Exploring Baptist Futures,
ed. David J. Cohen and Michael Parsons (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2011),
208.
[24] Brackney, A Capsule History
of Baptist Principles, 34.
[25] John Olley, “Shaped by the Bible: Acting together in the continuing
drama,” in Baptist identity into the 21st
century: Essays in honour of Ken Manley, ed. Frank Rees (Melbourne: Whitley
College, 2016), 83.
[26] Olley, “Shaped by the Bible,” 85.
[27] “A Survey of Baptist World Alliance Conversations”
[28] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
111.
[29] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
113.
[30] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
151.
[31] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
151.
[32] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
156.
[33] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
157.
[34] Michael D. O’Neil, “Beyond Identity Crises?,” in Beyond 400: Exploring Baptist Futures,
ed. David J. Cohen and Michael Parsons (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2011), 61.
[35] Martin Sutherland, “Meeting for Minutes? Baptist Congregational
Life in the Age of Twitter,” in Beyond
400: Exploring Baptist Futures, ed. David J. Cohen and Michael Parsons (Eugene:
Pickwick Publications, 2011), 54.
[36] Brackney, A Capsule History
of Baptist Principles, 34.
[37] Dyer, “Suitably Abrahamic Australia?,” 78.
[38] Stanley J Grenz, The Baptist
Congregation (Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 1985), 56.
[39] Wright, “Baptist Christians: Repentant and Unrepentant,” 3.
[40] Wright, “Baptist Christians: Repentant and Unrepentant,” 6. This contrasts with the conjunctive logic of Roman Catholics and
monarchies, which tells us that because there is one God, so there should be
correspondingly one pope, and one emperor.
[41] Peter Ralphs, “Is a Denomination a Church?,” in Beyond 400: Exploring Baptist Futures,
ed. David J. Cohen and Michael Parsons (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2011),
74.
[42] Ralphs, “Is a Denomination a Church?,” 77.
[43] Ralphs, “Is a Denomination a Church?,” 85.
[44] Haymes, “One church, one faith, one Lord,” 30.
[45] Brackney, A Capsule History
of Baptist Principles, 98.
[46] Ralphs, “Is a Denomination a Church?,” 85.
[47] Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries, 16.
[48] Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries, 21.
[49] Thomas Helwys, A Short
Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity. Amsterdam: N.P., 1612.
[50] Nigel G. Wright, “Human Religion: Evangelical Faith, Baptist
Identity, and Liberal Secularism,” in Beyond
400: Exploring Baptist Futures, ed. David J. Cohen and Michael Parsons (Eugene:
Pickwick Publications, 2011), 17.
[51] Wright, “Human Religion,” 18-19.
[52] Wright, “Human Religion,” 19.
[53] Wright, “Human Religion,” 20.
[54] Wright, “Human Religion,” 21.
[55] Tim Costello, “World mission: Seeking the prophetic Baptist voice,”
in Baptist identity into the 21st
century: Essays in honour of Ken Manley, ed. Frank Rees (Melbourne: Whitley
College, 2016), 156.
[56] Costello, “World mission,” 155. Walter Rauschenbusch was the father
of the social Gospel, Billy Graham is a well-known evangelist and Martin Luther
King Jr. was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement.
[57] Briggs, “Memory, vision and mission,” 48.
[58] Wright, “Human Religion,” 30.
[59] Brackney, A Capsule History,
25.
[60] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
162.
[61] Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries, 71.
[62] Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries, 81.
[63] Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries, 187.
[64] Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries, 277.
[65] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
142.
[66] Brackney, A Capsule History,
25.
[67] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
142.
[68] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
151.
[69] Holmes, Baptist Theology,
143.
[70] Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries, 230.
[71] Grenz, The Baptist
Congregation, 30.
[72] Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries, 179.
[73] Brackney, A Capsule History
of Baptist Principles, 46.
[74] Brackney, A Capsule History
of Baptist Principles, 46.
[75] Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries, 2.
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