Lessons

Church History: Chapter 23 – Baptist History – Part 1 and 2

Many associate the Baptist Church to the Anabaptist and Mennonite movement, which share the belief of “believer’s baptism”. The Free Church movement in England gave birth to a number of Christian expressions, and was to establish a faith and practice that was free form domination and “control” by “secular” or government forces. The printing press had a powerful influence on the Free Church movement in that Bibles were printed for all to read. As people sought to live out a direct and personal relationship to God instead of just affiliating with the local Church, the Free Church was begun. Roger Williams, John Clarke, and Henry Dunster were instrumental in helping the Baptist movement to grow in early America.

Key Words

Baptist, “Perpetuity”, Anabaptist, Mennonite, Puritan, “Separatist Movement”, “Free Church”, Reformation, Thomas Helwys, John Smythe, “General Baptist”, 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, “Pilgrim’s Progress”,  the Trinity, Creation, the Fall, Justification, Sanctification, Repentance, Baptism, The Lord’s Supper, Judgment and the Afterlife, “Catabaptists, “perverted baptism”, “rebaptized”, Albert Henry Newman, Nicene Creed, infant baptism, Roger Williams, Boston Church, Plymouth Colony, Rhode Island, Providence, regenerate believers, Ezekiel Holliman, John Clarke, Newport, RI, Henry Dunster, Harvard, Issac Backus, Virginians, Eugene Bucklin, Bowen, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Constitution, Baptist General Committee,