Reformed Baptists
Reformed Baptists, Particular Baptists and Calvinistic Baptists,[1] are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation belief).[2] Depending on the denomination, Calvinistic Baptists adhere to varying degrees of Reformed theology, ranging from simply embracing the Five Points of Calvinism, to accepting a modified form of federalism; all Calvinistic Baptists reject the classical Reformed teaching on infant baptism. While the Reformed Baptist confessions affirm views of the nature of baptism similar to those of the classical Reformed, they reject infants as the proper subjects of baptism.[3] The first Calvinistic Baptist church was formed in the 1630s.[1] The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith is a significant summary of the beliefs of Reformed Baptists.[1] The name "Reformed Baptist" dates from the latter part of the 20th century to denote Baptists who retained Baptist ecclesiology, and reaffirmed Reformed biblical theology, such as Covenant theology.
By region[edit]
United Kingdom[edit]
Reformed Baptist churches in the UK go back to the 1630s.[1] Notable early pastors include the author John Bunyan (1628–88),[1] Benjamin Keach (1640–1704), the theologian John Gill (1697–1771),[1] John Brine (1703–64), Andrew Fuller, and the missionary William Carey (1761–1834).[1] Charles Spurgeon (1834–92), pastor to the New Park Street Chapel (later the Metropolitan Tabernacle) in London, has been called "by far the most famous and influential preacher the Baptists had."[18] The Metropolitan Tabernacle itself has been particularly influential in the Reformed Baptist movement in the UK. Benjamin Keach, John Gill, John Rippon (1751–1836), Charles Spurgeon, and Peter Masters (mentioned below) have all pastored this same congregation. Their characteristic traits may be the founder (Keach, signer of the 1689), theologian (Gill), hymnist (Rippon), preacher (Spurgeon), and restorer (Masters).
The 1950s saw a renewed interest in Reformed theology among Baptists in the UK.[4]
Peter Masters, pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, created the London Reformed Baptist Seminary in 1975.[4]
United States[edit]
Baptist churches in the United States continued to operate under the confessional statement, the 1689 London Baptist, but they renamed it according to the local associations in which it was adopted, first the Philadelphia Confession (1742, which includes two new chapters),[19] then the Charleston Confession (1761, adopted from the London without changes). When the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was founded, its governing confession, the abstract of principles, was summarized form of the 1689 London Baptist Confession, and its founding president, James P. Boyce wrote his "Abstract of Systematic Theology" from an evident Calvinist position. The first major shift at the seminary away from Calvinism came at the leadership of E. Y. Mullins, president from 1899 to 1928.[20] Many of the developments in the U.K. mentioned above during the 1950s and following also made an impact on Baptists in America, seen especially in the Founders Movement (which was connected to the so-called "Conservative Resurgence" in the SBC) and in the works of men such as Walter Chantry,[21] Roger Nicole, and Ernest Reisinger.
In March 2009, noting the resurgence of Calvinism in the United States, Time listed several Baptists among current Calvinist leaders.[22] Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, is a strong advocate of Calvinism, although his stand has received opposition from inside the Southern Baptist Convention.[23] John Piper, who was pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis for 33 years, is one of several Baptists who have written in support of Calvinism.[23]
While the Southern Baptist Convention remains split on Calvinism,[24] there are a number of explicitly Reformed Baptist groups in the United States, including the Confessional Baptist Association,[15] the Continental Baptist Churches,[15] the Sovereign Grace Baptist Association of Churches,[15] and other Sovereign Grace Baptists.[12] Such groups have had some theological influence from other Reformed denominations, such as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.[25] An example of this is the 1995 adaptation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church's Trinity Hymnal which was published for Reformed Baptist churches in America as the Trinity Hymnal (Baptist Edition).[26]
By 2000, Reformed Baptist groups in the United States totaled about 16,000 people in 400 congregations.[27]
Several Reformed Baptist Seminaries currently operate in the US; International Reformed Baptist Seminary (IRBS), Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary, Grace Bible Theological Seminary, & Reformed Baptist Seminary are four that each subscribe to the 1689 London Baptist Confession in some form.[28][29][30][31]