The Baptist Church - Baptist Church

The Baptist church is a Protestant Christian church which, while sharing its core beliefs with other Protestant churches, has added others of its own. The single most distinctive practice of this church is that believers are baptized by total immersion and only when they are old enough to decide for themselves that they want to be a part of the church.

Basic Tenets of the Faith

This practice is based on Baptist interpretation of the Bible. John the Baptist baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River rather than by simply sprinkling some water over his head. Baptists also point out that nowhere in the Bible is an infant baptized, and thus Baptists reject the notion of infant baptism as practiced in other Christian faiths. It should also be noted that Baptists reject the idea of baptism or communion as sacraments; baptism is simply making a public declaration of oneâs faith and communion is given as a memorial of the Last Supper rather than interpreted as actually receiving the body and blood of Christ.

In the Baptist faith, the Bible is the ultimate religious authority, and is to be interpreted by the individual. This allows for a great deal of religious liberty with each Baptist church able to make its own decisions rather than having a central authority dictate how services must be presented or what must be taught each week. Individual churches do tend to become part of major Baptist organizations and alliances to promote unity, mutual assistance, and to aid in the achievement of missionary goals. Ultimately, however, each individual Baptist church runs itself as it sees fit, with lay people taking as active a role as the clergy in the decision making process of the church.

The other distinctive belief of Baptists is that there should be a separation of church and state and the importance of religious freedom. Essentially, the religious experience should be the relationship between each human soul and God and should not be tampered with by government authority. It is perhaps because of heavy persecution of Baptists in both England (whose Anglican church had direct ties to the government) and America (where they were initially looked down upon by other Christian denominations) that this belief became so strong among Baptists, who wanted to be able to practice their own faith without interference from other groups, least of all the state. Indeed, the first civil government in the world based on the separation of church and state was founded by Baptists in Rhode Island.

Baptists and Baptism

While Baptists have a great deal in common with other Christian denominations, their distinct beliefs and practices are what separate them from others and unite them as a common faith. Voluntary baptism by immersion, individual interpretation of Scripture, and the belief in separation of church and state all help define what it means to be Baptist.