Baptist origins

This year will mark the 400th anniversary of Baptists. Nathan Finn offers four main theories of Baptist origins [the full post summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of each].

.... One view, which we might call the spontaneous origins view, claims that at least two groups of English dissenters in 17th century England and Amsterdam were reading their Bibles and came to the conviction that the Bible teaches the baptism of professing believers either by pouring or immersion (eventually just by immersion). We now call those dissenters Baptists. ....

The second view argues for Baptists’ apostolic origins. This view has often been called “Landmarkism” since the mid-19th century, though belief in the apostolic origin of Baptists predates the formal Landmark movement. Proponents of this view argue that there have always been Baptist (or baptistic) churches. ....

A third option, which is currently enjoying something of a revival in many circles, is often called the Anabaptist kinship view. This view argues for historical continuity between certain Continental Anabaptists and the English Baptists. ....

The fourth option, which is presently the dominant understanding among historians, argues for English Separatist origins. This view claims that Baptists are not radical reformers like Anabaptists, but are actually one type of dissenter among many in 17th century England; specifically, the non-sprinkling kind. Baptists are seen as third generation Protestants that happen to share some ecclesiological convictions with some Anabaptists.

In his next post Finn argues for what he calls a "convergent view" of Baptist origins.

The earliest Baptists were first and foremost English Separatists who came to baptistic convictions. As good Protestants, they came to these convictions through their reading of Scripture. We should rightly emphasize the English Separatist roots of the Baptist movement and not downplay the role that the Bible played in shaping Baptist convictions.

But the earliest Baptists were aware that they were not the first baptistic Christians since the New Testament era. .... Baptists knew that they were not taking a historically novel step in arguing for religious liberty, believer’s churches, and credobaptism.

Even more importantly, Baptists recognized that the Continental Anabaptists had recently rejected infant baptism, mixed membership, and state churches. .... It seems very unlikely that the Anabaptists had no influence on the earliest Baptists.

Add to the mix the milieu in which the earliest Baptists found themselves: a century in which England was filled with various forms of political radicalism, ecclesiastical reform movements, theological innovation, and a multiplicity of sects. These movements interacted with each other and at times even cross-pollinated each other, resulting in what historian Christopher Hill calls “a world turned upside down.” This was certainly true of the Baptists, where even the line between Calvinists and Arminians were not neatly drawn until after the English Civil War, though that is another discussion for another day.

Toward a Convergent View of Baptist Origins, Part 1 « Between The Times, Toward a Convergent View of Baptist Origins, Part 2 « Between The Times