Baptist
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
Baptist is a word describing a tradition within Christianity and may also refer to individuals belonging to a Baptist church or a Baptist denomination. The tradition takes its name from the belief that followers of Jesus Christ should be placed in water to show their faith. Baptists do not practice infant baptism.
In 1639, Roger Williams began a Baptist church in Providence, Rhode Island and John Clarke began a Baptist church in Newport, Rhode Island. It is not clear which church opened first. Records for both churches are missing information.[1]
[change] Baptist beliefs and principles
Baptist churches do not have a central principal authority. Therefore, beliefs are not the same from one Baptist church to another, mainly beliefs that may be considered minor. However, on major issues, most are held in common among almost all Baptist churches.
Baptists share so-called "orthodox" Christian beliefs with most other moderate or conservative Christian denominations. Some of them are beliefs about one God; Jesus' death, burial, and bodily resurrection; the Trinity (the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, together with God the Father); the need for salvation; grace; and evangelism and missions.
[change] Membership
There are over 90 million Baptists in the world in nearly 300,000 churches. There are about 47 million members in the United States.[2] Other large populations of Baptists also exist in Asia, Africa and Latin America. There are 2.4 million Baptists in India, 2.3 million in Nigeria, 1.9 million in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and 1.5 million in Brazil.[3]
In a poll in the 1990s, about 20% of Americans said they are Baptist.
[change] References
- ↑ Brackney, William H. (Baylor University, Texas). Baptists in North America: an historical perspective. Blackwell Publishing, 2006, p. 23. ISBN 1405118652
- ↑ http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html
- ↑ Baptist World Alliance statistics
