A History of the Baptists by John T. Christian

Baptists are usually classified as Protestants as opposed to the Catholics, but true Baptists from this line and heritage are neither. If you want to find the first group with the Baptist tag in history, look to the Anabaptists of the 16th century in Switzerland. Virtually none of the groups mentioned carry the title of Baptist in their church or association names. It is basically a list of those in history who believed baptism was not part of salvation and only for professing believers. I have a book in my library titled A Concise History of Baptists which was published in 1838. Paul separated baptism from the gospel ( 1Co 1:17), so if you wanted to technically find the first Baptist in history, he would be a good place to begin. People with that belief and practice can be found at any point in history over the last 2,000 years. Baptists essentially believe and practice baptism after salvation as a picture of the identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. At its core, the Baptist denomination is, ironically, the one which places the least emphasis on baptism as it relates to salvation.

But as we rightly divide the word of truth, he is assigned to a different dispensational age and cannot be the “first Baptist preacher”.Īs church history unfolds, we see that there have always been “Baptists” starting at the inception of the church age after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. He was the last of the Jewish prophets and is not even a Christian in the New Testament sense of the word. He died before the Lord ever went to the cross.

But John was the forerunner of the Jewish Messiah. That’s the first man in the Bible and in history with the “Baptist” tag around his neck. Some people believe that the Baptists began with John the Baptist. This often makes it a little more challenging to share the gospel, because now you have to first break down the walls of their ideas before you can get to the truth of God’s word. So when the subject of God and the Bible comes up in a conversation, many will ask, “What religion are you?” If they can get the label in their mind, a broad brush lets them pigeon-hole you into their own preconceived ideas. People love to hang tags on others it helps them identify in their minds how to relate to them. The subject of Christian denominations is often a sticking point in the minds of people when we as believers try to share the gospel.

A History of the Baptists by John T. Christian