WHAT IS A BAPTIST?

A Baptist is a person who takes the Bible as his only rule of faith and practice. That is, everything that we believe, and everything we do is based solely on the Bible. This is not true of other groups: The Roman Catholic church gives credence to the Bible, but also elevates tradition, papal pronouncements, and church rulings to an equal or (in practice) greater level of authority to that of the Bible. The Protestant churches look to their founder (Martin Luther, John Wesley, John Calvin, etc.) and base much of their theology on the writings of their founder. Other groups (such as the charismatics) base many of their beliefs on “experiences” and “new revelations” they claim to have received. But Baptists adhere solely to God’s blessed Book, the Bible.

Baptists are the only group that do not identify with the Roman Catholic Church. We are not protestants. We were already there, in existence, on the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis on the door of the church at Wittenberg in 1517. Churches of Baptist belief can be traced all the way back to the first century, and pre-date the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church in the 4th century. Jesus said “…Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18). We believe that Baptist churches represent the true churches started by Jesus Christ and that our adherence to the Word of God alone verifies that claim.

We are Fundamental. That is, we base our beliefs on the Bible alone. Unfortunately there are liberal Baptist churches in this day and age, which have departed from their roots. We are Independent. This means, we are not connected to any denomination, convention, or heirarchy. In the Bible, churches were autonomous (self-governing) and under the authority of only the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe churches today ought to be so. We are Baptists, and unashamed of the heritage that we have, standing on the Word of God. We are KJV only.