Baptist History Overview

Lesson from Elder Kent Welch, originally taught 11/1/2001

Slightly edited by D. Skinner for purposes of this study, 2/13/08

Basic Baptist Doctrine, Lesson 6

I.)        The Beginning

A.) Matthew 16:13-18

"13.  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

14.       And they said. Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias;
and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15.       He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16.       And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of
the living God.

17.       And Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father
which is in heaven.

18.       And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

1.) The history of "Baptists" begins with Jesus while He was here in His earthly ministry. In fact, the history of all "Christian" denominations begins here.

2.)       The church was not called a "Baptist" church in the beginning. Jesus

simply called it "my church". Given that the word "church" comes from the Greek word "ekklasia", we can interpret this title given by our Lord as "my called out assembly", or "my followers".

a.   Some have claimed that the Baptist denomination has its beginnings with John the Baptist. Such is not the case however. John was called "the Baptist", because he baptized; not because he was considered to be part of a group of people called "Baptists".

3.)       Interpretation of the 18^th verse.

a.)       Fundamental difference between "Baptists" and "Catholics".

i.)        Baptists believe that Jesus was speaking of Himself, or Experimental knowledge of Christ (or Salvation).

Catholics believe that Jesus was speaking of Peter, thus making him (Peter) the first Pope.

II.)      Two Methodologies - (1) Chain-link Ecclesiology and (2) Landmarkism A.) Chain-Link Ecclesiology

1.)       Chain-link ecclesiology is the position held by some that a Church is only a true Church if they are able to "link" their history back to the church in Jerusalem through documented histories of the churches from which it came. To help clarify this principle, it is often called "Arm-to-Arm Ecclesiology"; each church documents what church granted it an "Arm" to organize, all the way back to Jerusalem.

B.) Landmarkism

1.)       The belief that God has preserved the church, separate and holy, since the time His Son established it on this earth.

C.) The Difference and Debate Between the Two

1.)       The fundamental debate between Chain-link Ecclesiology and Landmarkism concerns whether or not a Church must be able to document it's history all the way back to the church in Jerusalem in order to truly be a church. Chain-link advocates say yes to the question, Landmarkists say no.

III.)     Names through the years

A.) Originally, as we have already established, the church had no name. What we find in this study is that the church was "given" names by others, particularly their enemies through most of its history.

1.)       Called "Christians" first at Antioch

•           They were called "Christians" as
an insult, yet the name is most
appropriate.

B.) Naming Conventions

1.)       Names given to describe beliefs that identified the Church

a.)       Ana-Baptist (Re-Baptizes) 2.)       Names given after the perceived leaders of the groups

b.)       Montanists - after a preacher in Phrygia named Montanus.

c.)       Novatians - after a distinguished pagan philosopher named

Novatian. Novatian would be converted (saved) and become a leader in the Church.

d.)       Names given based upon the geographic regions the Church existed in

1.)       Albigenses - Paulicians were scattered by persecution and some ended up in the city of Albi and were therefore called, Albigenses.

2.)       Waldenses - The Church was found among the valleys in the Alps near the present border of France and Italy, and the people were called Waldenses, which literally means, "Valley Dwellers".

C.) Inability to depend on names to trace church history

1.)       We cannot simply look for common names to establish the

history of the church. We should not, and often cannot, imply anything simply from a name.

IV.)     Historical overview of Baptist History A.) Beginning

1.)       Matthew 16:13-18

"13.  When Jesus came into the coasts ofCaesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

14.          And they said. Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias;
and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15.          He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16.          And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of
the living God.

17.          And Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father
which is in heaven.

18.          And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
•will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. "

B.) Prophecy

1.)       Revelation 12:1-6,13-17

1.            And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a
crown of twelve stars:

2.            And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be
delivered,

3.            And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great
red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns
upon his heads.

4.            And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast
them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was
born.

5.            And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with
a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his
throne.

6.            And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place
prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two
hundred and threescore days.

13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

14.        And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she
might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished
for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

15.        And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the
woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

16.          And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth,
and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

17.          And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war
with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of
God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Possible interpretations of these scriptures:

a.)       The "1260 days" and the "time, and times, and half a time" could be speaking of the same amount of time. They both are telling of the amount of time that the "Woman" (Church) is in the "Wilderness". The word "time" is translated "year". "Times" always meant two years. Half a time is half a year. There were 360 days in the standard year. Therefore you have the foiling:

Time                =         360 days (One standard year)

Times               =         720 days (Two standard years)

Half a time     =         180 days (half a standard year)

1260 days, the same as in verse six.

•         The "Dark Ages" lasted right around 1260 years.

b.)       The "... time, and times, and half a time", could be 3 '/₂.

Understanding that the number 7 is the symbolical representation of perfection, or completeness, 3 % may represent that the time in the "wilderness" would constitute only half of the history of the Woman.

C.) Timeline

1.)       From Jesus to 300 A.D.

a.)       Slow process of error getting mixed in with truth inside the church.

b.)       First "Protestant" movements

1.  Montanists

2.              Novatians

3.              Others

2.)       300A.Dto l500A.D.

a.)       Union of Church and State in the early 300's A.D. under Emperor Constantine the Great.

i.)       The "final blow" that would forever separate "Christians".

b.)       Often referred to as "The Dark Ages".

c.)       God's people suffered indescribable

persecution at the hands of Catholicism.

d.)       God's church is identified in the Waldensen people, among others, so called because they inhabited the valleys of the Alps.

•         "They occupy a mountain district... and yet from this
secluded spot, have they disseminated doctrines, whose
influence is felt over the most refined and civilized part of
Europe. They speak the same language, which was known
to exist there more than a thousand years ago.  They
profess to constitute the remains of the pure and primitive
Christian Church, and those who would question their
claims cannot show either by history or tradition that they
were subscribed to the popish rituals, or bowed down
before any of the Roman Church. In short, there is no
other way of explaining the political, moral, or religious
phenomenon which the Vaudois have continued to display
for so many centuries, than by ascribing it to the manifest
interposition of Providence, which has chosen in them the
weak things of this world to confound the things of the
mighty. " - Gilly's Excursions to Piedmont

3.)       1500 AD.

a.)       The Reformation period

•           By the 1500's, for various political and social reasons, the
Catholic church lost some of its absolute power to force
others to be Catholic

•         People were simply getting tired of the killing.

b.)       The Waldensen's join with the Protestant Reformation

•          The Waldensens were persuaded by Gillam Parrel to unite
with the Protestants, and they would forever lose their
identity. Gillam Ferral was the man who brought Calvin to
Geneva and was influential in setting him up as a leader in
the Reformation. This occurred in 1532 at a convention in
Switzerland.

4.)       1500A.D. to now

a.)       Anabaptists

•          "Before Italian Waldensens made the error of uniting with
the "Reformed" Protestant churches, their scattered
influence had begotten a more evangelistic and zealous
denomination nicknamed "Anabaptists. These had quickly
spread over most of western Europe carrying the saving
message of the primitive church. "

J.A. Reynolds

•          In 1478, Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Spain,
petitioned for and received authority from the Pope to
"cleanse" Spain of anyone who did not conform to
Catholicism. This "cleansing" is known as the Spanish
Inquisition.

•         Three choices for non-Catholics in Spain... recant, leave, or die.

•          This "cleansing" reached all the way to the Netherlands.
Dutch Anabaptist (many with Italian names, connecting
them back to the Waldensens) were forced to choose
between recanting, leaving, or dyeing.

Many died, but many more fled across the English Channel into Europe. Lumpkin's "Baptist Confessions of Faith" states that between 50,000 and 100,0000 Dutch refugees came into England. It can certainly be concluded that many of these refugees were Anabaptists. This migration of Anabaptist into England occurred from 1560 to 1580.

b.)       English Baptists

i.)       Connection between the Anabaptists and the English Baptists

•           By the early 1600's, a denomination of "Baptist" with
General Atonement principles sprang up in England. These
people would later be called "General Baptists". These
General Baptist were most numerous in those areas in
which the Dutch Anabaptists had settled some 50 years
earlier.

This was during a time when it was said that"... all of England was Calvanistic".

c.)       American Baptists

i.)        Connection between the English Baptists and the American Baptists.

•           H.C. Vanderpool - "20^th Century Baptists"

"On March 28*, 1665, the first Baptist Church was established in Boston with 5 charter members who had been baptized in England"

•                     Rhode Island was called "the little Baptist community", by
none other than George Washington.

•                     In 1707 The Philadelphia Baptist Association was
established.

•                     From the Philadelphia Baptist Association came four
associations called "Daughter Associations" from the
Philadelphia Assoc.

1.)       Charleston (1751)

2.)       Sandy Creek (1758)

3.)       Kehukee(1765)

4.)       Ketokton(1766)

•         New Bethel MBC( 1794

V.)      Concluding thoughts

A.) Baptists have been a separate group all through history, known by several different names. We have never been a part of the Catholic church and should therefore never consider ourselves Protestants.

B.) Many consider being a part of the Lord's true church a matter of pride. Be careful not to fall into this category of people. If we are "proud" to be Baptists, then we have missed what it means to be Baptists entirely. To be "Baptists" or "Christian", or "Waldensen", or "Ana-Baptist", or any other name given to the church, is to be humble, thankful, and burdened for a lost world. Having the correct attitude toward being a member of the church leaves no room for pride, as pride is listed as one of the things that God HATES.

Further Reading and Study Resources Books

1.)       Landmarkism - J.M. Pendleton

2.)       Handbook of Denominations in the United States

3.)       Baptist Church Perpetuity - W. A. Jarrel

4.)       History of New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church - H.C. Vanderpool

5.)       20^th Century Baptists - H. C. Vanderpool

6.)       History of the Polk County Missionary Baptist Association

7.)       Martyrs Mirror - Thielman J. van Braght

8.)       Old Landmarkism - J.R. Graves

9.)       Jones Hi story

10.)     Excursions to Piedmont - Gilly

11.)     Moshiems History

12.)     Baptist Confessions of Faith - W.L. Lumpkin

13.)     The Trail of Blood - J.M. Carrol

14.)     Southern Baptist Convention 1845 to 1953 - W.W. Barnes

15.)     Our Baptist Story - Pope A. Duncan

1.)       Religious Liberalism - Judson Taylor

2.)       Chain-Link Ecclesiology: Is it Scriptural? - Wayne Camp

3.)       Trai 1 of Truth - Hawkins and Ramsey

Other

1.)       Divine Providence in Church History - J.A. Reynolds (Outline and Audio Tapes)