Baptist Church Through the Years
Among the many Protestant denominations that exist across the world, the Baptist Church ranks as the third largest. At the time that the European Reformation started in the 1500s, this is also the time that it started. The first ones to start the Baptist Church were referred to as Anabaptists. Ana- denotes the term re-, and these Christians had the belief that you can only be baptized into the denomination if you are old enough to choose baptism as your faith. That is why the Baptist Church was not a popular denomination during the early times even among fellow Protestant religions. Choosing this religion has even caused people to be persecuted and killed during those times.
In the United States in 1637, Roger Williams created the first Baptist Church in Rhode Island. The religious awakening then took place in the following 200 years or more. This was the time that the Church had a good following as people felt the freedom to join. Gone were the days where people had to belong to the same church that they were born into because they can now choose which religion they must go for.
There were two divisions made when the Baptist Church was first created. These two were the General Baptists and the Particular Baptists. For General Baptists, any person could have a claim on the Atonement of Jesus Christ as long as they followed his ways and were baptized accordingly. On the other hand, Particular Baptists, only choose a select group of chosen few followers to get benefit from the Atonement. The latter was the stricter group among the two.
Currently, there are various main divisions of the Baptist Church. Divisions are done because of the belief that Baptists to choose and believe in something that they feel right. Basically, if the person is presented with a doctrine or idea, it is up them if they will follow it or not. So, for each congregation of the Baptist Church, they get to decide what must be taught and preached there. Unlike other Protestant religions and the Catholic Church, you cannot find any hierarchy in the Baptist Church.
In the present, there are five main divisions in the Baptist Church. The Southern Baptist Conference based in the southern part of US is the first and was built with the belief to give justification to human slavery as a way of life. You have the American Baptist Convention that is much smaller and more liberal. The biggest denomination for African Americans, on the other hand, in the use is the National Baptist Convention. You also have the Independent Baptists for those who have not selected a group to belong to while the International Baptists are for small congregation groups scattered throughout the globe. For more information on churches in Burbank CA, view here.
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