Reformed Baptists, Particular Baptists and Calvinistic Baptists,[1] are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation belief).[2] Depending on the denomination, Calvinistic Baptists adhere to varying degrees of Reformed theology, ranging from simply embracing the Five Points of Calvinism, to accepting a modified form of federalism; all Calvinistic Baptists reject the classical Reformed teaching on infant baptism. While the Reformed Baptist confessions affirm views of the nature of baptism similar to those of the classical Reformed, they reject infants as the proper subjects of baptism.[3] The first Calvinistic Baptist church was formed in the 1630s.[1] The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith is a significant summary of the beliefs of Reformed Baptists.[1] The name "Reformed Baptist" dates from the latter part of the 20th century to denote Baptists who retained Baptist ecclesiology, and reaffirmed Reformed biblical theology, such as Covenant theology.
Groups calling themselves Strict Baptists are often differentiated from other denominations calling themselves "Reformed Baptists", sharing the same Calvinist doctrine, but differing on ecclesiastical polity;[4] "Strict Baptists" generally prefer a congregationalist polity.[4]
Primitive Baptists adhere to a Reformed soteriology.[7] Primitive Baptists emphasize the teaching that "God alone is the author of salvation and therefore any effort by human beings to make salvation happen or compel others to conversion is simply a form of 'works righteousness' that implies that sinners can affect their own salvation."[8] As such, they have rejected the concept of missions.[8]
Regular Baptists adhere to a Reformed soteriology.[7] Those who are Old Regular Baptists largely hold to the tenets of Calvinism, "but maintain that God never predestined anyone to hell and that only those who do not heed the Word of God will be lost."[9]
United Baptists
Certain denominations of United Baptists teach a Reformed soteriology.[7]
Sovereign Grace Baptists
Sovereign Grace Baptists in the broadest sense are any "Calvinistic" Baptists that accept God's sovereign grace[10] in salvation and predestination. In the narrower sense, certain churches and groups have preferred "Sovereign Grace" in their name, rather than using the terms "Calvinism", "Calvinist", or "Reformed Baptist". This includes some who prefer the 1644 Baptist Confession of Faith to the 1689 Confession, and who are critical of covenant theology.[11]
Calvinistic Baptist groups presently using the term Sovereign Grace include the Sovereign Grace Baptist Association,[15] the Sovereign Grace Fellowship of Canada, and some among the growing Calvinist strand of Independent Baptists,[16] including several hundred Landmark Independent Baptist churches.[17]
By region
United Kingdom
Reformed Baptist churches in the UK go back to the 1630s.[1] Notable early pastors include the author John Bunyan (1628–88),[1]Benjamin Keach (1640–1704), the theologian John Gill (1697–1771),[1]John Brine (1703–64), Andrew Fuller, and the missionary William Carey (1761–1834).[1]Charles Spurgeon (1834–92), pastor to the New Park Street Chapel (later the Metropolitan Tabernacle) in London, has been called "by far the most famous and influential preacher the Baptists had."[18] The Metropolitan Tabernacle itself has been particularly influential in the Reformed Baptist movement in the UK. Benjamin Keach, John Gill, John Rippon (1751–1836), Charles Spurgeon, and Peter Masters (mentioned below) have all pastored this same congregation. Their characteristic traits may be the founder (Keach, signer of the 1689), theologian (Gill), hymnist (Rippon), preacher (Spurgeon), and restorer (Masters).
The 1950s saw a renewed interest in Reformed theology among Baptists in the UK.[4]
Baptist churches in the United States continued to operate under the confessional statement, the 1689 London Baptist, but they renamed it according to the local associations in which it was adopted, first the Philadelphia Confession (1742, which includes two new chapters),[19] then the Charleston Confession (1761, adopted from the London without changes). When the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was founded, its governing confession, the abstract of principles, was summarized form of the 1689 London Baptist Confession, and its founding president, James P. Boyce wrote his "Abstract of Systematic Theology" from an evident Calvinist position. The first major shift at the seminary away from Calvinism came at the leadership of E. Y. Mullins, president from 1899 to 1928.[20] Many of the developments in the U.K. mentioned above during the 1950s and following also made an impact on Baptists in America, seen especially in the Founders Movement (which was connected to the so-called "Conservative Resurgence" in the SBC) and in the works of men such as Walter Chantry,[21]Roger Nicole, and Ernest Reisinger.
The Sovereign Grace Baptist Association of Churches (SGBA), which was organized in 1984,[15] sponsors an annual national conference and churches cooperate in missions, publications, retreats, camps and other activities. The Missionary Committee serves under the Executive Committee to screen candidates and recommend them to the churches for support. They currently (2009) are supporting one missionary endeavour. The Publication Committee reviews and approves submissions, and supplies literature to the churches. Grace News is published quarterly. A Confession of Faith was adopted in 1991. Membership in the SGBA is open to any Baptist church subscribing to the Constitution and Articles of Faith. There are 12 member churches, half of which are located in Michigan.[32] The association is recognised as an endorsing agent for United States military chaplains.[33]
Africa
Notable Reformed Baptist figures in Africa include Conrad Mbewe in Zambia, who has been compared to Spurgeon; Kenneth Mbugua and John Musyimi of Emmanuel Baptist Church Nairobi, Kenya.[34]
In South Africa, the Afrikaanse Baptiste Kerke's 34 churches follow reformed doctrine, as opposed to the mainly English speaking Baptist Union of Southern Africa, which does not.
Europe
There is a small but growing network of Reformed Baptist churches in Europe. The Italian churches are organized in the Evangelical Reformed Baptist Churches in Italy association; several French speaking churches sprung from the work of Englishmissionary Stuart Olyott at the Église réformée baptiste de Lausanne, VD, CH, started in the 1960s.[35] There is a growing network of Reformed Baptist Churches in Ukraine. There are few small communities churches in Germany, where the largest is in Frankfurt am Main.[36] In March 2023, a new national association of churches formed in the United Kingdom, organized as the "Association of Confessional Baptist Churches in the United Kingdom".[37]
Brazil
In Brazil there is a modest association, the Comunhão Reformada Batista do Brasil (Baptist Reformed Communion of Brazil) sprung mostly from the work of US missionary Richard Denham at São José dos Campos, SP.[38] As it did not correspond to expectations of dynamism and effectiveness, it is being supplanted by a newer Convention, the Convenção Batista Reformada do Brasil [pt] (Baptist Reformed Convention of Brazil).[39]
^ abcdefgWard, Rowland; Humphreys, Robert (1995). Religious Bodies in Australia: A comprehensive Guide (3rd ed.). New Melbourne Press. p. 119. ISBN978-0-646-24552-2.
^ abcScott, Morgan (1901). History of the Separate Baptist Church: With a Narrative of Other Denominations. Hollenbeck Press. p. 103.
^ abLeonard, Bill J. (1 April 2005). Baptists in America. Columbia University Press. p. 104. ISBN978-0-231-50171-2.
^Hill, Samuel S.; Lippy, Charles H.; Wilson, Charles Reagan (2005). Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. Mercer University Press. p. 66. ISBN978-0-86554-758-2.