A General Description

"A third-generation Reformation development that appeared in England about 1610, this devout group wanted to take Protestantism "to its logical conclusion." Convinced that Puritanism needed still further reform, Baptists began to teach that only self-professed believers were eligible for membership in the church and thus that the church is properly made up of only regenerated people. Intensely biblical, Baptist have been evangelistic, helping found the modern missionary movement, and have held high standards for membership, often requiring notable conversion experience and usually emphasizing purity in personal life and habits. In the U.S., they have been especially strong among Southern whites and in the black population, but are represented through a variety of Baptist groups, ranging from large to quite small. This is now the largest Protestant family in the U.S."

Handbook of Denominations, p. 49

Among the Baptist's many refreshing qualities is their love for the Bible, to them the only authoritative, inspired source of religious truth and knowledge. To that source they look in all matters relating to doctrine, to policy, to ordinances, to worship, and to Christian living.

They hold that the Bible is for all, and that the right of private and individual interpretation is an inalienable right. They have no doctrinal formulas to supplement the Bible. In keeping with their "Bible only" stand, they reject the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and all others. For them the Bible is final. Hence, they seek to produce the best scholarship and the greatest possible intelligence among their people in order that they may understand God's Book. They seek its real message by careful, wise, sympathetic, and patient toil under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Baptists think of their churches as spiritual democracies whose only head is Christ. (Historians say that Thomas Jefferson was influenced in his ideas on government by the Baptist church near his home.)
Baptists adhere to the Biblical method of baptism--immersion. Men, they claim, have no authority to change the manner in which this ordinance was celebrated. To do so is to disobey the Lord and to forsake the truths which are symbolized. Their reluctance to accept into full fellowship those who have not been immersed grows out of the fact that the very genius of their people is found in their emphasis upon the regenerate church membership. From the beginning they have felt that such membership can best be preserved by adhering rigidly to baptism by the New Testament form of immersion. Baptism, they feel, should be only for those who are able and willing to make a personal confession of faith; this infants are excluded.

The supreme gift of the New World to the Old is religious liberty. This is the foremost boon that American has this far made to civilization. It was pre-eminently a Baptist contribution. George Bancroft, a famous American historian, says: "Freedom of conscience, unlimited freedom of mind, was from the first the trophy of the Baptists." It was John Locke who said, "The Baptists were the first propounders of absolute liberty, just and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty." Ringing testimonies like these might be multiplied indefinitely.

Baptists have a unique history. They do not trace their beginning to a modern founder as do other denominations . . . . The Baptists recognize themselves as descendants of a number of churchmen of Reformation days who were "Baptist in spirit." These early Christian protesters included Peter Waldo (Waldensians), Balthasar Hubmaier (Anabaptists), Menno Simons (Mennonites), and Robert Browne (Separatists).

Great Churches of America, Kenneth J. Holland

"A Baptist is a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, who sincerely endeavors to establish His way of life among mankind, is a stanch believer in the historic Baptist principle of religious liberty, has been baptized by immersion, and is a member of a parish church which is identified by the name Baptist.

Baptists believe that religion is a personal relationship between the human soul and God. In this realm, nothing may intrude--no ecclesiastical system, no government regulation, no ordinance, no sacrament, no preacher, no priest. The saving grace of Christ and the infinite mercy of God are available to every individual, without the mediation of any priest or minister or church or system. Baptists believe in the "priesthood of all believers."

Religions in America, p.15