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Baptist Baptist is a term describing a tradition within Protestant Christianity and may also refer to individuals belonging to a Baptist church or a Baptist denomination. The tradition takes its name from the conviction that followers of Jesus Christ should be immersed in water as a visible and public display of their faith. Baptists do not practice infant baptism. Organizationally, Baptist churches operate on the Congregational governance system, which gives autonomy to individual local Baptist churches. Baptists traditionally have avoided the "top-down" hierarchy of episcopalianism which is found in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and many other churches. However, Baptist churches will often associate in denominational groups such as the Southern Baptist Convention, National Baptist Convention USA, Conservative Baptist Association of America, American Baptist Churches USA, American Baptist Association (Landmark Baptists), among others. Both Roger Williams and his compatriot in working for religious freedom, Dr. John Clarke, are variously credited as being the ounder of the Baptist faith in America.In 1639, |
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The 1814 General Convention showed divisions among U.S. Baptists
over slavery; a formal split occurred when the Southern Baptist
Convention was organized in 1845 and was confirmed when the Northern
(American) Baptist Convention was organized in 1907. African-American
Baptist churches provided leadership in the 1960s civil rights movement,
notably through the work of Martin Luther King. Baptist belief emphasizes
the authority of local congregations in matters of faith and practice;
worship is characterized by extemporaneous prayer and hymn-singing
as well as by the exposition of scripture in sermons. Baptists, denomination of Protestant Christians holding a distinctive belief with regard to the ordinance of baptism. Since 1644 the name has been applied to those who maintain that baptism should be administered to none but believers and that immersion is the only mode of administering baptism indicated in the New Testament. The doctrine and practices of some earlier bodies, such as the Anabaptists and Mennonites, were similar. |
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