The Baptists stands out as an interesting denomination. What attracts me to this particular denomination are their practice and their religious views. Unlike many Christian denominations, Baptists practice adult baptism; they believe that baptism should be for those who have made a conscience decision of accepting Jesus as Lord. As for their religious views, Baptists have an ever-changing view on various issues. In many ways the Baptists denomination is very traditional in their old ways but also they also evolve with the new times.
There are three theories concerning the historic origin of the Baptist church. The first is a belief that the Baptist principles had their start in the works of John the Baptist. The second is that modern Baptists owe their beginnings to the Swiss and German Anabaptists movements. Thirdly, that the origin of Baptists does not have a connection with the Mennonites but is associated with the Separatist movement in England during the 16th century.
The Baptist denomination started in the 17th century during the Stuart monarchy, in Britain. An assembly of Puritan Separatists that were exiled in Amsterdam began the first distinguishable Baptist group in 1608. This group of radicals lead by John Smyth and Thomas Helwys, arose in England along side the Puritans. They believed that the Church of England had been corrupted by the Roman Catholic tenents. The radicals believed that Anglicanism could not be transformed and that true believers should separate from it. While in Amsterdam, they developed an idea that baptism should be directed to those who could testify that they were a true believer and that their infant baptism had no standing in the New Testament. To this John Smyth led a small clan into denyin...
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... being able to be saved. To be saved, one must believe that Jesus was the Son of God, born of a virgin, died for our sins, and that God raised Him from the dead and He will come again.
I find most interesting that the Baptist denomination tends to be very traditional, but slowly they are becoming less strict in their ways. They are not part of a large organization; each church is free to choose their own type of worship and who is allowed to be part of the staff. Their views on the Bible are straight forward, believing that the Bible is the word of God, by God and it should be treated as such. Baptists use the Bible as a guide of how to live ones life and what their stance should be on controversial issues. In their beginnings, the Baptists were a small denomination, but through evangelism they have grown into one of the largest denominations in the United States.
Christ/God, the love and kindness, or the good, that the Christian religion conveys, or the inner happiness and the peace of mind, or the reward, that the person would inevetably achieve by following the word of Christ.
Prior to Enlightenment the colonists, like the Europeans, were guided by their fear of God and rulers. They followed their church’s teachings blindly, as many of them could not read the scripture themselves. As the colonists began to educate themselves, they found that their interpretation of the readings did not always match what was preached to them in Sunday’s sermon. Even with the vamped up services and revivals during the Awakening many continued to question organized religion and separate from the Catholic Church. Many smaller denominations resulted from these breaks caused by the Awakening, leading to the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther even wrote entire doctrines based on his differences of opinion which would eventually form the basis for the Lutheran Church. The colonists also questioned the authority of their European rulers. Many believed that God himself had put their rulers in charge, but with all the political disasters and condemnation they were seeing they began to question their...
Religious institutions have always been a fundamental piece of American culture, and their influence is evident in many aspects of American life. Especially during the 20th century, the spread of Christianity became more competitive as churches vied against one another to draw in new members. This was particularly evident in the development and growth of conservative Protestant groups. Protestant leaders responded to this competition for followers by developing radically new methods for the worship experience. They used their charisma and entrepreneurial spirit to send their messages to the masses. Protestant leader’s manipulation of these methods of outreach was able to attract many new members to the conservative protestant cause, and encouraged Americans to join these large groups of worship.
This concept boils down to the idea that even though they are a church, they are all still individuals. This is based upon the idea that every single person is created in the image of God. Due to this idea, Baptists are known as some of their individualism (p. 24). This idea of individualism is present even from the beginning of ones walk with a Christian. Saving faith is something that is personal to Baptist, not impersonal. This was an idea that was borrowed from the early reformers, most notably Martin Luther. The Baptist would agree with him in saying that salvation is between the individual and God (p. 25). Some would understand this to mean that this idea of individualism is one of human self-sufficiency, or man being able to save himself. This is far from the truth, we are saved by God’s grace; however, we are saved individual by individual and person by person. We are personally save. We are personally called to ministry or to join a church. And, we are personally called to the baptism and the Lord’s Supper along with being personally called to many other things (p. 26). The Christian walk, to Baptists, is one that is between God and an individual first and
On May 8, 1845 in Augusta, Georgia, the Southern Baptist Convention separated from the Triennial Convention. However, this separation involved only the home and foreign mission societies. Many churches in the South continued to buy Sunday school materials from the American Baptist Publication Society in Philadelphia.
The Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Church is a very small homophobic, anti- Semitic hate group that regularly stages protest around the country. The group first started as a non-profit organization in 1967. The Westboro Baptist Church is made up of its pastor, and some of his children and grandchildren. The Westboro Baptist church is well known for picketing places and or events they see as supporting homosexuals or Jews.
The Protestant Reformation started with Martin Luther he believed that the Catholic church’s bible did not apply to everyone, he did not want anyone to be left out. So he rejected Churches and began gaining followers,these followers believed in the same things as martin. So they all started a new branch of the Christian religion. Eventually even more branches began to spring up so everyone was happy and believed in
Some characteristics may be presbyterians identify themselves from other denominations and religions by teaching, governmental organization and worship; they use what is called the "Book of Order" as another source of religion. Their origins trace back to Calvinism. Many of the different branches are remains of past splits from larger groups. Some of the splits have been due to controversy based on doctrine, while some have been caused by not agreeing with the confession of faith, which historically serves as an important document giving standards of their religion. Presbyterian history is almost the same as Christianity, but the beginning of Presbyterianism is a movement that occurred during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. As the Catholic Church resisted the reformers, the Church split and different movements became different denominations. The Presbyterian church traces its ancestry ba...
Looking at his most recent mug shot, no one would guess that Warren Jeffs was once a prophet and leader to a church with nearly ten thousand members; without Warren’s dark brown hair and the suits he commonly wore, Warren could be passed off as any other hardened criminal. Despite the dramatic change in his appearance, it is speculated that the convicted sexual predator still manages to maintain control over his people. While the FLDS Church followers believe that Warren is the one and only mouthpiece of God today; the Jehovah’s Witnesses, on the other hand, have a governing body of seven men that lead their denomination. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is “the oldest and most important of the corporations of the Jehovah's Witnesses”, and the President of the Society used to be part of the governing body. However in October 2000, the current president Don Alden Adams, resigned from the governing body to take on a purely administrative role which has no influence on the doctrine. (WatchTower.org) Adams is considered to be a 50-year veteran of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and like Warren, Adams grew up with his current religion. (Ostling) Don and Warren slightly resemble each other with their long faces, prominent noses and thin framed glasses, however without their shared belief in a god, their appearance is the extent of their likeness. Just as the FLDS Church and the Jehovah’s Witnesses both share a belief in a higher power, they differ greatly in their origin, doctrine, and practices. By comparing these denominations, it will become clear why one is more popular than the other.
At the start of the sixteenth century, the Reformation had put an ungracious end to the dependent unification that had prevailed under the Roman Catholic Church. In response to the growing sense of corruption in the church, the reformation began. Many people began opposing views of how Christian practices were expressed, which led to the formation and spread of Protestantism. While the Pope is head of the Catholic Church, Protestantism is a general term that refers to Christianity that is not subject to papal authority. (1.)
The Baptists don’t have a set version of the bible, but usually they use the King James or the New King James version. Sometimes they do use the Catholic bible.
The Doctrine of Salvation (Soteriology). God provides us with everything we need; we see this in Genesis where he provided Adam with everything he needed. Jesus became a man by reincarnation; a verse to support this is John 1:14 “
... is faith, which is to “return to what took place at salvation.” Faith and obedience are keys to spiritual victory as we are called to pursue holiness and be sanctified (Col. 2:11-12).
There are not many religious movements capable of claiming the social impact like the Methodist. Methodism was an evangelical regeneration movement within the Church of England in the early eighteenth century that extended to the American colonies in the 1760s. In both Britain and America, the original members came mostly from the poorest and most marginal social classes. By 1830 the Methodist Episcopal Church had become the largest religious denomination in the United States despite Methodism split into various denominational forms over the years, the Methodist Episcopal Church's most direct successor, the United Methodist Church, is currently the second largest of the Protestant churches in the United States. Taken together, the Methodist family of denominations remains a powerful influence on the nation's religious culture. The success and popularity of Methodism stems from two mutually reinforcing factors. First, Methodists learned to foster a range of powerful religious experiences that they put at the center of their worship. Second, they learned to channel the religious enthusiasm that came from these experiences into a tightly structured organization. This combination proved peculiarly well suited to reaching out to the newly rising class of British industrial workers, who had been largely ignored by the established church. It also proved effective in evangelizing America's expanding frontier population as well as attracting many people from the established churches in the colonies of the Atlantic seaboard.
It became a distinct church in 1536, when Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church. The spread of the British Empire took the teachings of the Church of England around the world. These churches eventually became independent, but still keep links to the Church of England. These churches include, the Methodists, the Episcopalians, the Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Congregationalists, and the Quakers. The Methodists was developed in eighteenth century England, by Charles and Jon Wesley. The name derives from the methodical way they studied the Bible. The Episcopalians were established by the early English settlers. The word Episcopalian means the church is ruled by bishops. The Baptists are one of the largest Protestant denominations. Baptists Churches are self governing, but collaborate on some issues through conferences or unions. The Presbyterians are governed by local elected elders, made up of ministers and lay people. The Congregationalists split with the Church of England and established the Plymouth Colony in North America. The Quakers originated in the seventeenth century England, based on the belief that formal church structures and ministers were unnecessary. They were persecuted in England in the seventeenth century and spread to America as pilgrims in the same period.