Expert: John of AllFaith - 8/28/2008

Question
where the baptist came from, why they are called baptist, is it because of john the baptist? and why they dont beleived in  speaking in tonges?

Answer
Hi Rita,

First the last question. A few Baptists are "charismatic" and practice glossolalia (speaking in tongues) but most don't.

The main reason is that from the 2nd to 20th century the phenomenon seldom existed. The reawakening of this "gift" occurred during the Azusa Street Revival (April 14, 1906) and Baptists generally speaking did not receive the "gift" in their churches. Also, the way the "gift" is manifested in the churches is often contrary to the way the scriptures directed, according to Baptist understanding. Also, Paul says that speaking in unknown tongues are among the least of the gifts but Pentecostals usually make it one of the major ones, some go so far as to say that if one does not practice glossolalia one is not saved. From traditional Baptist doctrine this is adding to the requirements of salvation and hence considered to be heresy. Also, there is an important verse that says:

I Cor 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

"That which is perfect" is usually understood as the Bible by Baptists. Baptists tend to base their doctrines strictly on their interpretations of the Bible. As such, they feel they have no need of such gifts and see no reason why God would grant them. All the more why only certain people would receive these gifts while others would not. Now that we have the Bible glossolalia is no longer needed and is therefore one of the things the Church "put away" when it become spiritually adult.

How Baptists view glossolalia varies a lot. Some consider it a major heresy, some regard it as a superstition, some as merely emotionalism and some few regard it as a symptom of demon possession. The belief that it is a required evidence of salvation is rejected by all Baptists.

Now for the difficult question: The origin of the Baptist Faith.

There is no certain answer to this question accepted by all Baptists. Some believe the Baptists are the remnant of John's followers who embraced Jesus as the Messiah. They believe Baptists have maintained an unbroken lineage from John the Baptist and managed to avoid absorption into Roman Catholicism with the rest of the Church, and that within the core of Baptist belief the original teachings of Jesus and his disciples survives intact. For this reason many Baptists do not consider themselves "Protestant."

BUT this view, in my opinion, is a groundless belief.

Essentially the Baptist faith arose in protest to the Roman Catholic practice of infant baptism and sprinkling. Baptists are those Christians who believe in the biblical practice of full-immersion water baptism as a post salvation evidence of repentant Believers in Jesus. The other distinctive Baptist dogma is the Priesthood of all Believers, which is to say, that each Baptist stands or falls before God on his/her own and that only Jesus is the moderator between God and man.

The name Baptist is directly associated with and descended from the earlier group known as the Anabaptists. These 16th century Believers became the Amish, Hutterites, Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, Brethren in Christ, and, in Germany, the Baptists.

Under the persecutions of the 16th and 17th centuries many of these post-Anabaptists eventually found their way to England and came to be known as the English Dissenters. They opposed the Church of England, stressing the importance of the Church remaining unfettered from all government. They rallied around the cry: "No bishop, no king!" In time they came to be known simply as Baptists.

In 1639, Roger Williams planted a Baptist church in Providence, Rhode Island, and John Clarke began one in Newport, Rhode Island. These are the first known Baptist churches in the US.

In time the Baptist Faith spread like wildfire throughout the New World where the church gradually divided into various sects (Southern Baptists, Freewill Baptist, Independent Baptists, Missionary Baptists and so on.

As has been written:
"The Baptists number over 110 million worldwide in more than 220,000 congregations, and are considered the largest world communion of evangelical Protestants, with an estimated 38 million members in North America. Large populations of Baptists also exist in Asia, Africa and Latin America, notably in India (2.4 million), Nigeria (2.5 million), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (1.9 million), and Brazil (1.7 million).

"According to a poll in the 1990s, about one in five Christians in the United States claims to be a Baptist. U.S. Baptists are represented in more than fifty separate groups. Ninety-two percent of Baptists are found in five of those bodies — the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC); National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. (NBC); National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.; (NBCA); American Baptist Churches in the USA (ABC); and Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI).

Hope this helps,

~ John of AllFaith