Who are the Baptist? And how old are they? (Part 1)

When I first met my wife, she spoke very highly of the Baptist and shared their incredible testimony - defenders of the FAITH.

In 2005 I was saved. And I began my Christian walk and serving in various IFB churches. Over the years I came to learn more about Baptist and IFB churches.

This was a very niche group. And they were special because of it.

They had what they refer to as the BAPTIST DISTINCTIVE's:

B - Biblical Authority

A - Autonomy of the Local Church

P - Priesthood of All Believers

T - Two Ordinances

I - Individual Soul Liberty

S - Saved Church Membership

T - Two Offices

When you study the Baptist, of course you want to be part of this legacy.

So what makes a Baptist a Baptist? First of all, it is their position in Christ. A Baptist is a saved individual. The second is their doctrinal position - it is a sound one.

In a nutshell:

1. The Blood

2. The Book

3. And the Blessed Hope

These points are crucial, as they also help us to navigate back to when Baptist were first called Baptist.

Over the past 20 years I have carefully observed each of our Baptist Churches and in less than 10 Baptist churches alone, there is segregation. IFB Chart (the numbers are not accurate, unless the Briders give absolute confirmation that they are indeed Briders it will concrete the below chart)

Why are Briders important? First of all, they're dominating the scene—much like Catholism did in the 3rd Century. Both Briders and Catholics alike are trying to claim their lineage to the first Apostolic churches. What are the dangers?

The dangers in doing so are both inclusion and exclusion. Inclusion is anyone who has accepted the Brider way, and recognise that their segregation is the TRUE Church of Christ. The exclusion is that they dismiss all other New Testament Churches. They say all roads lead to Rome - and with rising apostasy (2 Thess. 2:3), it seems we're heading back to the days of early persecution.

What is happening to the other IFB churches? It seems they are compromising their faith through unwise fellowship—relationships not rooted in the true virtues of sound doctrine. This, inevitably, leads to apostasy.

At its core, it's the muddying of the waters.

And so how old are Baptist? Not as old as you think. Despite what Briders tell you, and what The Trail of Blood advocates for - Baptist are only 400 years old.

J.M. Carroll, a Southern Baptist, wrote a book on Baptist history that has now been popularized in Southeast Asia and other places. His book has radicalised how some Baptist view the past.

In the next article, we will review church history starting with the first 3 centuries.

What will we discover?