Religion Universe: BAPTISTS (Protestant)

Protestant, Religion Protestant, Protestant Religion. Christianity. BAPTISTS:

BAPTISTS

The modern Baptist movement began in 17th-century England. Separatists, unable to “purify” the Church of England, broke from the puritans and advocated separation from the state church (see church and state ). Among them were those who became convinced that infant baptism* was contrary to scripture. In 1607, to avoid persecution, a group led by John Smyth and Thomas Helwys left Gainsborough, England, for Holland, where freedom of religion was flourishing. There, after further study of
scripture, the whole congregation rejected their infant baptism and were baptized as believers in 1608. In 1611 Helwys and ten others returned to London to establish
the first Baptist church on English soil.

During their stay in Holland these early Baptist believers had contact with the Mennonites,* who had also become convinced of the scriptural basis for believers' baptism. The Mennonites and others were called Anabaptists, because they were accused of re-baptism – a charge they rejected because they did not consider infant baptism to be scriptural baptism. Thus, although not directly related to the Anabaptists, Baptists count this 17th-century movement as part of their spiritual history, and the rise of the Baptist movement must be seen in this context. With the rediscovery of the Bible through the Reformation, many former Catholic priests became even more radical than Luther in calling for reform. Seeing the danger of the union of church and state, they called for separation not only from the church but also from the state. Many, such as Balthasar Hubmaier, Felix Manz and Conrad Grebel of Switzerland, were persecuted, and some were killed for their convictions. Other representatives of this Nonconformist tradition of opposition to state control and infant baptism include the Waldensians of Italy, who trace their origins back to the 12th century.

Out of this small group of English Baptists, who were part of a spiritual movement for renewal, separation of church and state, believers' baptism, and a purified, conscious adult commitment to personal belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, a worldwide movement has developed. Today there are 42 million Baptist believers in 160 countries; if one includes children and the larger community of worshippers, they would number at least 65 million more, making the Baptists one of the largest Protestant groups in the world.