An Editorial
By J. T. Parish
During the month of July we have been studying "How The Other Baptists Came To Be." These have been informative and interesting Training Union Lessons. We could wish, however, that the writer had been more careful and more accurate in both his statements and his inferences. There are statements that are debatable, and some that are simply incorrect.
Who Are the Other Baptists?
In the July 4 lesson we find statements that are to be questioned. The writer says, "The first Baptist Church in America was organized in 1639 in Providence, Rhode Island. Roger Williams and twelve others established this church." It is a well known fact that Roger Williams was a Congregational preacher who never was Scripturally baptized nor ordained. The church he established "fell apart at the seams" within four months. A. A. Davis says, "But the year before (1638), John Clark who was a regularly ordained Baptist preacher, instituted a congregation at Newport, Rhode Island, and that church still stands."In this same lesson the writer says, "The first General Baptist Churches were established in 1652 and 1656, coming out of the original churches at Providence and Newport, Rhode Island." In the first place, the Providence Church was not in existence at that date. Secondly, if there were churches that called themselves General Baptist Churches organized at that date they failed to perpetuate themselves as such. There is a General Association of General Baptist Churches today, but they did not originate in 1652 or 1656. They began with Benoni Stimson in 1823. Stimson was a member of a Regular Baptist Church in Kentucky. He moved to Indiana and preached the general atonement as opposed to the particular atonement. He organized the first General Baptist Church in Evansville, Indiana. The Church is still in existence and is called Liberty General Baptist Church. The General Baptist denomination that exists in America today has something over 58,000 members in over 700 churches and they date back to Benoni Stimson and 1823. This is from their own history.
Who Are The Landmark Baptists?
In the July 11 lesson the writer discusses the Landmark movement. He says, "The distinguishing feature of the Landmark movement is its emphasis upon the primacy of the local church in every area of religious life and work." Earlier the writer said, "The churches which began the Landmark movement were originally Southern Baptist." The implication is that churches that now hold to that position are not Southern Baptist Churches.Quoting from the quarterly, "Dr. Graves and his followers reasoned: A vald Church is a congregaton of baptized believers; and the New Testament baptism is by immersion only. Therefore, persons baptized in other ways do not qualify as "baptized believers"; and the (non-Baptist) churches of which they are members are not churches but mere religious societies." He further states that the Landmark Baptists believe "Immersion administered by these societies lacks proper authority." The idea presented in the quarterly is that these beliefs originated with J. R. Graves. The truth is that J. R. Graves, J. M. Pendle-ton and others were simply preaching what Baptists have preached down through the centuries. Pendleton's tract, "An Old Landmark Reset" was simply an attempt to pull some of the erring brethren back into the right doctrine. For centuries there were groups caled "Ana-Baptists" who would not recognize the baptism of other religious societies. These were our Baptist forefathers. The word "Ana-Baptist" means re-baptizer. Graves and Pendleton were not introducing a new doctrine when they presented these beliefs. They were simply stand-ing by the historic Baptist pOSition.
Our writer continues, "The Lord's Supper, according to the Landmarks, is strictly a local church ordinance; and only members of a local church should partake of it." Again the inference that only those who left the Southern Baptist Convention and formed the American Baptist Association hold this view. That is simply not true. I personally know many Southern Baptist preachers and churches who hold exactly this view. J. R. Graves did not institute this view either. Jesus did! Jesus didn't invite the Sanhedrin Council to partake of His Supper. He must have considered them just a religious society. He didn't invite Martha and Mary or Simon the Pharisee. Evidently He didn't think of it as a fellowship supper. Jesus instituted the Supper with the eleven. They were the charter members of the early Church in Jerusalem. Jesus practiced the Lord's Supper as a local Church ordinance.
The writer goes on to tell of the two national associations of the Landmark Baptists. But he does not say anything about there being multitudes of Southern Baptists with these same views. In fact, the implication is that Southern Baptists do not have these views, but that they should be very tolerant toward those who do have those views. The truth is there are more Southern Baptists with these views than there are who reject these views. Ask your members.
What Shall We Say?
What shall we say to these things? First, it is true that the American Baptist Association Churches believe the doctrine that have been called "Landmark." But it is also true that many Southern Baptists believe in the primacy of the local Church.Secondly, it is not true that J. R. Graves, and J. M. Pendleton originated these views. These views are Scriptural and date back to Christ. The name "Landmark" was given in derision because of the tract written by Pendleton. But we must remember that the name Christian was
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given in derision. The name "Ana-Baptist" was also given in derision. We shouldn't be afraid of the name "Landmark." Our forefathers have been burned at the stake, drowned, beheaded, and suffered all kinds of persecution for the very beliefs that are today called "Landmark Baptist."Thirdly, the entire approach this month in Training Union is that we are all brethren. It seems to be a set of lessons contrived to get across the idea that all Baptists are not so very different. It tries to get across the idea of working closely with other Baptist bodies. This is the idea of the North American Baptist Fellowship and the Baptist World Alliance. This is simply a Baptist ecumenical movement. It is just one step away from the National Council of Churches. The American Baptist Convention holds membership in the National Council of Churches along with its membership in these Baptist ecumenical organizations. Southern Baptists ought to be careful how they flirt with these organizations. The Church is the primary organization. Jesus didn't say, "Upon this rock I will build my Council, or Alliance, or Fellowship." He said, "Upon this rock I will build my church " If the church doesn't have the authority to baptize, and observe the Lord's Supper, then who does? Does our convention have the right to join some other Fellowship or Alliance? Are we moving toward the day when our convention will begin speaking for the churches? Careful, Southern Baptists!
(Amen! O. C. Markham. — )=========== [From The Baptist Herald, 1960s. The document was provided by Ben Stratton, Farmington, KY. — Jim Duvall]
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