Associationalism Among Baptists in America, 1707-1814 PDF Download

Author: Walter B. Shurden
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Author: Bill J. Leonard
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231127022
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Baptist churches and their members have encompassed a range of theological interpretations and a variety of social and political viewpoints. At first glance, Baptist theology seems classically Protestant in its emphasis on the Trinity, the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the authority of Scripture, salvation by faith alone, and baptism by immersion. Yet the interpretation and implementation of these beliefs have made Baptists one of the most fragmented denominations in the United States, often characterized as a people who "multiply by dividing." In Baptists in America, Bill J. Leonard traces the history of Baptists, beginning with their origins in seventeenth-century Holland and England. He examines the development of Baptist beliefs and practices, offering an overview of the various denominations and fellowships within Baptism, and considers the disputes surrounding the question of biblical authority, the ordinances (baptism and the Lord's Supper), congregational forms of church governance, and religious liberty. Leonard also examines the role of Baptists in the Fundamentalist and Social Gospel movements of the early twentieth century, the Civil Rights movement, and the growth of the Religious Right. Leonard explores the social and religious issues currently dividing Baptists, including race, the ordination of women, the separation of church and state, and sexuality. He concludes with a discussion of the future of Baptist identity in America.

Author: Scott Bryant
Publisher: Mercer University Press
ISBN: 0881462160
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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The last decades of the eighteenth century brought numerous changes to the citizens of colonial New England. As the colonists were joining together in their fight for independence from England, a collection of like-minded believers in southern New Hampshire forged an identity as a new religious tradition. Benjamin Randall (1749ndash;1808) was one of the principle founders of the Freewill Baptist movement in colonial New England. Randall was one of the many eighteenth-century colonists that enjoyed a conversion experience as a result of the revival ministry of George Whitefield. His newfound spiritual zeal prompted him to examine the scriptures on his own, and he began to question the practice of infant baptism. Randall completed his separation from the Congregational church of his youth when he contacted a Baptist congregation and submitted himself for baptism. When Randall was introduced to the Baptists in New England, he was made aware that his theology, including God's universal love and universal grace, was at odds with Calvin's doctrine of election that was affirmed by the other Baptists. Randall's spiritual journey continued as he began to preach revival services throughout the region. His ministry was well received and he established a new congregation in New Durham, New Hampshire, in 1780. The congregation in New Durham served as Randall's base of operation as he led revival services throughout New Hampshire and Southern Maine. Randall's travels introduced him to many colonists who accepted his message of universal love and universal grace and a movement was born as Randall formed many congregations throughout the region. Randall spent the remainder of his life organizing, guiding, and leading the Freewill Baptists as they developed into a religious tradition that included thousands of adherents spread throughout New England and into Canada.

Author: Paul Stripling
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 0805444580
Category : Baptist associations
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Author: Walter B. Shurden
Publisher: Mercer University Press
ISBN: 9780865547704
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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This collection of essays by different authors is presented as a tribute to Walter B. "Buddy" Shurden, (distinctively Baptist) church historian, teacher, preacher, author, Baptist apologist extraordinaire. The rationale of this celebration of the lifework and influence of Walter Shurden is well stated, for example, in editor Marc Jolley's preface: "[D]uring some of the initial forays of our most-recent and ongoing Fundamentalist-Moderate controversy, there were days when I thought about changing denominations. Shurden's works were instrumental in my remaining a Baptist, not because I could see how Baptists had always had controversies and survived--although that is true--but because he helped me understand that the reason I had been Baptist and would remain so was due to our Baptist distinctives, our freedoms. For so much more, but especially for that understanding, I am forever grateful." Many students, Baptists in the pews, some at the pulpit or lectern, even some who are not "distinctively Baptist" could testify in like terms regarding the ongoing work and influence of Walter B. Shurden. The essays in this collection of course address some of the primary concerns of Walter Shurden, augmenting that already significant lifework.

Author: William H. Brackney
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 022717724X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Believers’ Churches have their origin in the Radical Reformation of the sixteenth century. Over the past 450 years the movement has included the Brethren, Mennonites, Hutterites, various types of Baptists, and the Restoration Movement. While never a unified denominational structure, the Believers’ Churches together have been characterized by a strong personal faith in Christ, a call to discipleship and Christian activism, a high view of the authority of Scripture, and profession of faith in believers’ baptism. The Believers’ Churches have represented their beliefs in various ecumenical settings, missionary gatherings, and theological conversations. In the late 1950s, representatives of the several Believers’ Churches began to meet in a series of conferences to explore their common views on doctrine, history, and ethics. Topics at the conferences have included baptism, Lord’s Supper, the nature of the church, and religious voluntarism. In 2016, the 17th Believers’ Church Conference was held at Acadia University and sponsored by Acadia Divinity College. The theme was 'The Tendency Toward Separationism Among the Believers’ Churches', a key recurring characteristic. This volume includes the papers presented at the conference and examines the theme from an immediate post-Reformation perspective, including Baptists, Black Baptists, Restorationists (including the Churches of Christ), the Hutterites, Pentecostals, the role of women, and significantly, the separationist tendency as it occurs in New Religious Movements. Typologies and analyses are provided by leading historians, theologians, and social science specialists.

Author: William H. Brackney
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538122529
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 723

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Baptists are a major group of Christians with a worldwide presence. Originating in the English Puritan-Separatist tradition of the 17th century, Baptists proliferated in North America, and through missionary work from England, Europe, and North America, they have established churches, associations, unions, missions, and alliances in virtually every country. They are among the most highly motivated evangelists of the Christian gospel, employing at present in excess of 7,000 domestic and overseas missionaries. Important characteristics of the Baptists across their history are: the authority of the Scriptures, individual accountability before God, the priority of religious experience, religious liberty, separation of church and state, congregational independence, and a concern for the social implications of the gospel. Baptists recognize a twofold ministry (deacons and pastors) or a threefold order (deacons, elders, pastors). Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Third Edition expands upon the second edition with an updated chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important events, doctrines, and the church founders, leaders, and other prominent figures who have made notable contributions.

Author: Walter B. Shurden
Publisher: Mercer University Press
ISBN: 9780865549333
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Shurden on Baptists: Assessments, Appreciations, Apologies contains articles, essays, and speeches given by Walter Shurden on Baptists. Walter Shurden is a longtime champion of the role of freedom in the Baptist tradition. Recognizing that freedom alone does not tell the whole story, Shurden also speaks to and from other cardinal Baptist convictions. Some of the materials in this volume appear for the first time and consist of speeches and addresses that Shurden has made at crucial points in recent Baptist life in America in the latter part of the twentieth century. Especially concerned with the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention and the resulting lack of emphasis on historic Baptist principles, Shurden addresses directly and indirectly the SBC controversy in several of the chapters of this book. More, Shurden emphasizes what makes Baptists distinctive in American religious life.

Author: Jacob E. Hicks
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
ISBN: 1621908291
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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In this new history of the New England Baptists, Jacob E. Hicks teases out the social and political contexts that transformed “rustic” young men like John Leland not only into volunteers for Christ—as wide-roving preachers in the mold of George Whitefield—but also into influential opinion leaders, media entrepreneurs, networkers, and lobbyists in the contentious First Party era of the Early Republic. Baptist leaders like Isaac Backus, Noah Alden, Samuel Stillman, John Leland, Jonathan Going, and Luther Rice exploited their church-based ministerial training in public speaking, conflict resolution, and intra-denominational networking to become political organizers. With significant gains in the formation of the Warren Association (1767), the Backus-led Grievance Committee (1769), and Leland’s formative experience in the campaign to disestablish Virginia (1780s), the Baptists allied themselves with the rising Democratic-Republican Party, touching off a coalition of anti-Federalist politics and evangelical religion that, while not directly disestablishing Massachusetts, would bear significant fruit in the Religious Freedom Act of 1811. To Contest with All the Powers of Darkness brings a unique movement into focus that had at its inception the communal values and ministry preparation practices of a loose network of New England Baptist churches. This movement drove a significant first wedge in the church-state fusion of the Early Republic and, simultaneously, left memorable lessons in successful collective action for a New England Baptist community on the verge of an institutional explosion on the western frontier.

Author: Gregory A. Wills
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195160991
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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No American denomination identified itself more closely with the nation's democratic ideal than the Baptists. Most antebellum southern Baptist churches allowed women and slaves to vote on membership matters and preferred populists preachers who addressed their appeals to the common person. Paradoxically no denomination could wield religious authority as zealously as the Baptists. Between 1785 and 1860 they ritually excommunicated forty to fifty thousand church members in Georgia alone. Wills demonstrates how a denomination of freedom-loving individualists came to embrace an exclusivist spirituality--a spirituality that continues to shape Southern Baptist churches in contemporary conflicts between moderates who urge tolerance and conservatives who require belief in scriptural inerrancy. Wills's analysis advances our understanding of the interaction between democracy and religious authority, and will appeal to scholars of American religion, culture, and history, as well as to Baptist observers.