Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/563

BAPTISTS. in a similar way, churches sprang up along the shore of Lake Ontario, in Upper Canada. A considerable number of Scotch immigrants settled in the Ottawa region, and the churches there trace their origin to the labors of the Haldane brothers. The first association was formed in 1800 by the churches of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and a missionary society was formed as early as 1815 in the same region. Other societies followed, but in 1888 they were all consolidated in the "Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec." Five boards conduct the various branches of work that were formerly apportioned among as many different societies. In proportion to their number and means, Canadian Baptists have also been active in educational work. Acadia College was founded in 1838, Woodstock College in 1860, and McMaster University, at Toronto, in 1880. The latter institution was begun as a theological school, but soon afterwards an arts department was added, and later still Moulton College, for young women, was affiliated with it.

The Baptists in France owe their origin to a mission established in that country in 1832 by the Triennial Convention of American Baptists. Progress was slow for many years, owing to persecutions and other difficulties; but in later years growth has been steady and sure. The establishment of a theological school in 1879, by the aid of their American brethren, has done much to promote the welfare of French Baptists. For many years the work has been left wholly to native preachers.

The founder of the German Baptist churches, Johann Gerhard Oncken, had come by study of the Scriptures to such views of doctrine and practice as are everywhere held by Baptists, without any knowledge on his part that there were such people in existence. In 1834 he and six others were baptized at Hamburg by Rev. Barnas Sears, an American Baptist then pursuing studies in Germany, and so the first German Baptist church was established. In spite of severe persecutions, the progress of this work was rapid almost from the first, and has gone on with ever-accelerating momentum. A publishing house was started in 1828, and a theological school was opened in 1880; both have been and are flourishing institutions. In 1849 the associations previously existing were combined to form the 'German Baptist Union,' which, not content with fostering the work at home, has been an active missionary body. Germans have preached and gathered converts in Denmark, Finland, Poland, Holland, Switzerland, Russia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Africa, until the numbers in these missionary churches equal those in Germany itself.

The work of Baptists was begun in Sweden by two sailors, natives of that country — Gustaf W. Schroeder, who was baptized in New York in 1844, and Frederick O. Nilsson, baptized at Hamburg by Oncken in 1847. Andreas Wiberg was a worthy third in this field. Opposition by the State Church and repeated fines and imprisonments did not deter these preachers from carrying on their work, and the progress of the Baptist churches was rapid. The numerical results would be much larger but for the fact that a good proportion of the converts made have emigrated to the United States. A theological school established in 1866 has done much to further the work of the Swedish Baptists. From Sweden the work has extended into Norway also.

With one exception the Baptist churches of Africa are of missionary origin. The Baptists of the Cape colonies owe their beginnings to English Baptist immigrants, and their earliest church was formed in 1820. For another half-century their progress was very slow; but the last two decades have seen a great advance, 18 of their 25 churches having been constituted since 1880. A missionary society sustains 4 mission stations among the natives, and a Baptist Union, formed in 1877, promotes the interests of all the churches. In Central Africa, in the Congo region, American Baptists have a flourishing mission with 8 stations. The English Baptists maintain a similar work on a still larger scale, having 12 mission stations. The Southern Baptist Convention has a mission with 5 stations on the West Coast.

The Baptists in Asia are wholly of missionary origin. The oldest mission is that begun by Carey and the English Baptists in India proper, and since extended to Ceylon. The Australian Baptists have joined in this work, and have taken Eastern Bengal as their especial field. American and Canadian Baptists maintain missions in Southern India, among the Telugu people. The oldest American mission; however, is that in Burma, and gradually the work has been extended to Assam, Siam, China, and Japan. The Southern Baptists have a mission also in western China. The Asiatic missions of the various Baptist societies have been the most fruitful in the history of modern missions.

The last century has produced considerable change in the doctrines and practices of Baptists, but most of these are such as they have shared with all other bodies. They are no longer rigid Calvinists, though the general type of theology is distinctly Calvinistic. Strict communion is yet the prevalent theory among them, but there is little enforcement of it in practice, except in the Southern States, though there is also little direct encouragement of 'open' communion. Baptist churches have never had a heresy trial, and for more than 50 years a schism has been unknown among them. In polity they are Congregational.

Baptists began the Twentieth Century with the following membership, including only what are sometimes called the 'regular' Baptists: In the United States, 4,376,666; in Canada, 100,264; in the Spanish-American countries, 3877; in Great Britain, 365,300; in Europe, 123,569; in Asia, 119,795; in Africa, 6700; in Australasia, 19,261. Altogether they number over 5,000,000. Increase during the last decade throughout the world, 1,219,802.

. T. Armitage, History of the Baptists (New York, 1887); H. C. Vedder, Short History of the Baptists (Philadelphia, 1892; 2d ed., 1897); W. Cathcart, The Baptist Encyclopædia (Philadelphia, 1880); T. Crosby, History of the English Baptists, to reign of George III. (4 vols., London, 1738-40); J. Ivimey, History of English Baptists, to 1820 (4 vols., 1811-30); B. Evans, Early English Baptists (2 vols., 1862-64); A. Taylor, History of the General Baptists (2 vols., 1818); I. Backus, History of the Baptists in New England, to 1795 (3 vols., Boston, 1777-96); D. Benedict, History of the Baptists, (2 vols., 1813, 2d ed., 1845). A. H. Newman,