The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Baptists

BAPTISTS, the name of a religious body that sprang from the Separatist movement in England. Though there were groups of Anabaptists in England in the 16th century, they

were mostly of Dutch origin and made no permanent impression on the English people. One wing of the English Puritans at length despaired of reforming the Church of England in accordance with their ideas, and decided that it was their duty to come out of that institution and establish a &ldquo;pure church,&rdquo; i.e., consisting only of the regenerate. These early Separatists grew into the two modern denominations known as Congregationalists and Baptists.

From about 1593, groups of Separatists gathered in and about Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire. About 1606, persecution drove them to Holland. Part of them, who had met at Scrooby manor, went to Leyden, whence many afterward became the Pilgrims of the Mayflower, who established the colony of Plymouth in 1621. The Gainsborough group went to Amsterdam with their &ldquo;teacher,&rdquo; the Rev. John Smyth, who had been a clergyman of the Church of England and a lecturer in Lincoln in 1600. Here Smyth first became acquainted with the theology of Arminius, which he soon adopted, and with the Mennonites, whose rejection of infant baptism seemed to him to be according to Scripture. He gave utterance to his new views in a tract called &lsquo;The Character of the Beast&rsquo; (1609), and 36 adherents joined him in establishing a new church on the principle of baptizing believers only. Smyth baptized himself and then his followers, and on this account he is often called the &ldquo;Se-Baptist.&rdquo; In 1611 members of this sect returned to London and established a church there; similar churches were formed in other places, and these General Baptists (so called because they believed in a general or universal atonement) increased rapidly. In 1644 their opponents estimated their numbers at 47 churches.

In 1616 a congregation of Separatists was gathered in Southwark, London, by Henry Jacob, a former minister of the Church of England. A peaceable division of this church took place in 1633, a part going out to establish a new church and receiving &ldquo;a new baptism,&rdquo; which probably meant a baptism on profession of faith. In 1640 a further division occurred, and some of the new group became convinced that baptism should be immersion: so they sent one of their number, Richard Blunt, to Holland, where he was immersed by a Mennonite minister at Rhynsberg, and on his return the members of this church were all immersed. In a few years this became the established practice of all the Baptist churches. In 1644 seven churches issued a &ldquo;Confession of faith,&rdquo; in which baptism was for the first time defined as &ldquo;dipping or plunging the body under water.&rdquo; This group of churches became known as Particular Baptists, because they insisted on the Calvinistic doctrine of an atonement for the elect only. This distinction of General and Particular Baptists became less significant with the lapse of time, and ceased altogether with the formal union of the two bodies in 1891. Both groups were one in their advocacy of believers' baptism and soul liberty. The Confession of 1644 was the first public document to assert liberty of conscience for all men, as &ldquo;the tenderest thing unto all conscientious men, and most dear unto them, and without which all other liberties will not

be worth the naming, much less the enjoying.&rdquo; The Revolution, just then beginning, was their opportunity. Baptists were uniformly on the side of Parliament, and several of them rose to high rank in Cromwell's army, while their churches grew rapidly.

It was natural that they should experience their full share of persecution after the Restoration, &mdash; long imprisonment, heavy fines and even death rewarded their devotion to civil and religious liberty. One of their preachers, John Bunyan (q.v.), was confined 12 years in Bedford jail for the crime of preaching the gospel, and employed his time in writing the immortal allegory of &lsquo;../Pilgrim's Progress/&rsquo; (q.v.). The Revolution of 1688, and the adoption of the Toleration Act in the following year, removed from Baptists the worst of their disabilities, but their growth for a time was checked by the influence of Socinianism among the General Baptists and Hyper-Calvinism among the Particular Baptists. Not until the Wesleyan revival of the 18th century awakened all England to new spiritual life and vigor did Baptists rise to their opportunities. A new era in their history is marked by the life and labors of William Carey (q.v.), who led the way in organizing the English Baptist Missionary Society, in 1792, and he became its first missionary to India. This was the beginning of the great modern missionary movement among English-speaking Christians, with all that movement has accomplished for the progress of civilization, as well as of Christianity. One of the converts of the Wesleyan revival, Dan Taylor, established the &ldquo;New Connexion of General Baptists&rdquo; on an evangelical basis, and this body soon became strong and influential. English Baptists look a prominent part in the important modern Sunday-school movement. One of their number, William Fox (q.v.), began, in 1783, the first school for teaching the Bible to children, and secured in 1785 the formation of the first &ldquo;Society for Promoting Sunday-schools.&rdquo; The demand for the Bible promoted by such study caused the formation of the British and Foreign Bible Society (1802), in which a Baptist minister, Rev. Thomas Hughes, was a leader and the first secretary.

The growth of English Baptists went on with rapid acceleration through the 19th century. Some of the best-known preachers of England were of their number &mdash; Robert Hall, Charles H. Spurgeon, Alexander Maclaren (qq.v.). The organization of the Baptist Union in 1832 marked a great advance in solidarity, and gradually all the denominational societies have been either absorbed by it or affiliated with it. The Regents Park College (1817) and Spurgeon's Pastor's College (1856) have been followed by other institutions for the training of a ministry for the churches.

The first Baptist church in Wales was formed at Swansea, in 1649, by John Myles, and after the Restoration it emigrated in a body to Massachusetts. Vavasor Powell left the Church of England and became a Baptist about 1655, and aided in establishing some 20 churches in Wales. After the Act of Toleration, Welsh Baptists increased rapidly; an association was formed in 1799, and the Baptist Union of Wales in 1867. The churches are

now more numerous than those of any other denomination save the Wesleyans, and are mostly of the Calvinistic type. In Scotland the beginning of Baptists was still later, the first church having been formed in 1750. Though some preachers of potable power have risen among them, like Archibald McLean and the Haldane brothers, they have never made a considerable impression on the Scotch people.

From the beginning, the Baptist churches of Great Britain have been divided on the question of communion with other churches. Most of the early Calvinistic churches and part of the General Baptists insisted on &ldquo;close&rdquo; communion, the restriction of the ordinance to the baptized (immersed). Most of the General Baptists and part of the Calvinistic favored &ldquo;open&rdquo; communion, or invitation to the eucharist of all Christian people whether immersed or not. Many churches followed the &ldquo;open&rdquo; communion principle to its logical conclusion and admitted the unbaptized to membership also, thus forming what were known as &ldquo;mixed&rdquo; churches. The number of churches adopting the more &ldquo;liberal&rdquo; practices has been steadily increasing.

The number of Baptists in Great Britain in the last accessible report (1916) was: England, 1,997 churches, 264,923 members; Wales and Monmouthshire, 940 churches, 124,795 members; Scotland, 151 churches, 21,871 members; besides a few in Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, bringing the total to 3,135 churches and 414,925 members.

Baptists in European countries have no historic connection with the Anabaptists of the Reformation period, but began in the 19th century with a mission to France (1832), a church of six members being formed in Paris in 1835. After the Revolution of 1848 there was freedom from persecution and opportunity of growth, and there has been gradual progress, though slow. Before the European War, there were 41 churches, with 1,602 members reported. The lack of a school for the training of a native ministry has been a great bar to the advance of French Baptists.

In Germany, the Baptist churches were the result of the conversion and labors of John Gerhardt Oncken, a native of Oldenburg (1800), who spent some years in England and was a colporter in his native land of the British Continental Society. He came to Baptist views of the Church and its ordinances from independent study of the Scriptures, without knowing that a people existed anywhere who held and practised such principles. Professor Barnas Sears, of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Hamilton, N. Y. (now the theological department of Colgate University), was pursuing studies in Germany; Oncken became aquainted with him and was by him immersed, together with six others, and the first Baptist church of Hamburg was constituted. For some years Baptists were severely persecuted, but gradually were granted toleration, and have rapidly increased, until in 1916 they numbered 232 churches and 44,338 members. They have established missions in the surrounding countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Russia, Switzerland, which have been very successful. In Russia, especially, the Baptist missions have net with great success among the ../Stundists/ (q.v.), a large part of whom have adopted the

Baptist principles. Russian Baptists in 1916 numbered 839 churches and 60,295 members. With the granting of complete toleration in that country, there is every reason to expect that their development will prove remarkable. A Triennial Conference formed in 1849 unites the operations of the German churches and their missions (known since 1855 as the German Baptist Union). A theological school was established at Hamburg in 1880, which has given these churches a well-trained ministry, and this fact has had much to do with their progress.

The Baptists of Sweden owe their origin to Gustaf W. Schroeder, a Swedish sailor, baptized at the Mariner's Baptist Church of New York in 1844, and Frederick O. Nilsson, also a converted sailor, baptized in 1847 by Oncken. The first church was so persecuted that most of them emigrated and settled in Minnesota. In 1861 Captain Schroeder built a meeting-house at Gothenburg, and Nilsson became its pastor; both were heavily fined for holding a religious service, but toleration was soon granted and several other churches were formed. In 1857, they organized a Conference, and in 1866 the Bethel Theological Seminary was established at Stockholm. American Baptists assisted in the erection of a new building for this school in 1883, as they also did for the German school at Hamburg. Swedish Baptists were the first Christians to establish Sunday schools, Christian Endeavor Societies and other modern activities in their native land. They have also sent out missions to Norway and Finland, which have been very successful. In Sweden there are now 643 churches with 54,584 members; in Norway 39 churches and 3,588 members; and in Finland 54 churches with 3,179 members.

Baptist missions have been established in other countries: Greece, Spain, Italy. That in Greece was long ago abandoned, and only a mission in Italy by Southern Baptists is conducted at present. That began in 1870 in Rome, where a theological school is maintained, and up to the beginning of the European War flourishing missionary work was maintained in many parts of the kingdom. A strong and intelligent native ministry is rapidly developing, and with the restoration of peace growth should be steady. There are now 46 churches and 1,362 members. Of all European Baptists it is true that their numbers have been constantly depleted by emigration, while membership of churches of the various races in America has been correspondingly increased. The total numeration of the continental Baptists is: 2,098 churches and 202,682 members.

The first Baptist churches in Canada were the result either of emigration thither from the American colonies, or of missionary labors by American missionaries. From 1798 the formation of churches proceeded in both upper and lower Canada. At an even earlier date, Baptists were found in Nova Scotia, and the church at Horton was organized in 1778. A group of churches in the Ottawa Association were composed mainly of Scotch immigrants and among them were converts of the Haldanes. Since 1846 the Baptist Convention of the Maritime Provinces has directed the activities of the churches of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward's Island; and

in 1888 various former societies were consolidated into the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec. They maintain home and foreign missions and support their educational institutions. Of these the most important are McMaster University, at Toronto, founded in 1880, and Acadia College, at Wolfville, N. S. In the great Western provinces of the Dominion, Canadian Baptists are discovering a fruitful field for their cultivation. They now number: churches, 1,325; members, 137,922.

A Baptist church was organized in Sydney. N. S. W., in 1834, and since that time the work has extended to the principal towns of Australia, and to the adjacent colonies of England, Tasmania and New Zealand. Besides the work among the white people, a mission is maintained among the Maoris. In the seven Australasian states there are now 344 Baptist churches, with 30,168 members. In other English colonies, the institutions of religion have uniformly followed the flag and sometimes preceded it. A church was formed in south Africa in 1820, which was the precursor of very fruitful labors, so that now there are 131 churches and 18,924 members. A Baptist church was established at Kingston in Jamaica, in 1816, and now in the West Indies there are 379 churches and 53,680 members.

Baptists in the United States. &mdash; 1. Before the formation of the General Convention. &mdash; Among the early settlers of the American colonies were some who were called &ldquo;Anabaptists,&rdquo; but the first attempt to organize a church was made in the colony of Rhode Island, soon after its foundation (1638). Roger Williams (q.v.), an English Puritan, educated at the University of Cambridge, came to Massachusetts Bay in 1631 and was soon called to be minister of the church at Salem. He taught several things that were regarded as heresies, and was condemned by the General Court, 8 Oct. 1635, to be deported to England, chiefly because he denied the authority of the civil magistrate to punish other than civil offenses. He fled from the jurisdiction of the court, purchased some land from the Narragansett Indians and established the colony of Rhode Island, those who settled with him making a compact to obey the laws duly enacted &ldquo;only in civil things.&rdquo; This was the first government in the world to be established on the basis of absolute religious liberty. Williams was joined by some of his Salem church, and from their study of the Scriptures they decided that baptism of infants is unwarranted. Williams was baptized by one of the number, Ezekiel Holliman, and then baptized the others, thus constituting a church of 12 members (March 1639). It is not quite certain how the baptism was administered, but there is no record of a later change from affusion to immersion.

At about the same time a colony was begun at Newport, the leader of which was John Clarke, an English physician of Puritan tendencies. The church formed by them soon became, if it was not from the first, a Baptist church (the traditional date is 1644, but the early records have perished). A Welsh Baptist church emigrated in a body in 1663, and settled first at Rehoboth, then at Swansea. The Puritans looked with little favor on any others who came into their colony, and persecutions of the Baptists were frequent and

severe. John Clarke and Obadiah Holmes came from the Newport church and held a religious service in a private house at Lynn, for which they were sentenced to pay a heavy fine or be &ldquo;well whipped.&rdquo; A friend paid Clarke's fine, but Holmes was whipped in the streets of Boston, 6 Sept. 1651. A Baptist church was formed in Boston in 1665, and its first minister, Thomas Goold, was several times imprisoned and treated with such severity that his health was undermined and he died in 1675. Other members of this church were likewise treated, and when, in 1678, a small meeting-house was built, by order of the General Court the doors were nailed up. A church formed in Kittery, Me., then part of the Massachusetts colony, was so harassed that they removed in a body (17 members) to Charleston, S. C. where they established the first Baptist church in the South. Persecution continued until the charter of 1691, which granted &ldquo;liberty of conscience to all Christians except Papists.&rdquo; Churches were gradually formed in the other New England colonies, but at the beginning of the Great Awakening (1740) there were but eight churches in Massachusetts, and hardly as many more in the rest of New England.

Another group of Baptist churches gathered about Philadelphia, the first being formed in 1688 at Pennepek (now within the city limits), while at the same time another church was organized at Middletown, N. I. Within the next decade a number of churches were established in New Jersey and about Philadelphia, which soon came into fraternal relations and held &ldquo;general meetings&rdquo; with each church in turn. Out of this custom grew the first Association (1707), a delegated body having no legislative or judicial authority over churches or ministers, but having in its care their common interests and conducting their missionary and benevolent work. As Baptist churches became more numerous other associations were formed, but the Philadelphia was long the leading body and is still one of the most influential. The issue of a Confession of Faith in 1742, in the main a readoption of the English Confession of 1688 (which was essentially the Westminster), determined the theological trend of American Baptists toward Calvinism, rather than Arminianism.

The Baptist churches fully participated in the spiritual results of the ../Great Awakening/ (q.v.), and in all the colonies they made rapid advance. In Massachusetts, for example, the number of churches grew in 40 years from 8 to 73, and of members from 200 to over 3,000. In the whole of New England, the increase was tenfold, and even more rapid growth was made in the South Atlantic States. Severe persecutions in Virginia did little to retard this advance, and after the Revolution progress was greatly accelerated. From this time punitive laws were repealed in all the States, and gradually all forms of religious belief were placed on an equal legal footing. The principle of entire religious liberty, first embodied in law in the colony of Rhode Island, became the accepted principle of the Federal Constitution and was adopted soon in the various State Constitutions. This principle had been advocated consistently by English Baptists from their beginning, and its incorporation into the fundamental law of the United States has been

followed by practically every American country and is to-day recognized by European jurists and statesmen as the most important contribution of modern times to political philosophy and the science of government. In 1906 France became the first European nation to adopt the same principle.

The settlement of the West after the Revolution offered a great opportunity to the Baptists. The churches and associations of the older communities sent traveling preachers as missionaries among the new settlements. Baptist churches were in many cases the first to be formed in the new States, and in all cases among the first. There are no trustworthy statistics, but an estimate generally accepted is that in 1800 there were 4S associations and 1,200 Baptist churches in all the States, with 100,000 members. The growth of Baptists during this early period far outstripped that of the population.

2. From the Foundation of the General Convention to the Division of the Denomination. &mdash; Up to this time the Baptist churches had little cohesion and no common enterprises. They were now led to unite in the work of foreign missions. In 1810 the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions had been formed, mainly by the Congregational churches of Massachusetts, and had sent several missionaries to India, among them Adoniram Judson (q.v.) and his wife and Luther Rice. From study of the Scriptures they became convinced that only believers should be baptized, and that the apostolic baptism was immersion. So on their arrival at Calcutta they sought out English Baptist missionaries and were immersed. This involved severance of their relations with the Board that had sent them out; so the English Baptists assumed temporary support of the Judsons, and Luther Rice returned to interest American Baptists in this missionary enterprise. He quickly found churches in and about Boston to undertake the support of the Judsons; and then undertook a tour of the country and the enlistment in foreign missions of all Baptist churches. His labors were so extensive and successful that a convention of delegates representing Baptists of all States met at Philadelphia in May 1814 and formed the General Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States for Foreign Missions. For a time the convention carried on home missions also, but in 1832 a separate American ../Baptist Home Mission Society/ (q.v.) was formed. A Tract Society begun at Washington in 1824 was later removed to Philadelphia and grew into the American Baptist Publication Society. These three national societies became the great bond of unity between the churches &mdash; the only bond of unity possible under the congregational polity of Baptists, which insists on the independence of each church in its own affairs &mdash; by promoting co-operation in a common work. More than any other assignable cause, this explains the remarkable growth of Baptists during the next three or four decades.

Next to this, the activity of Baptists in Sunday-school work is the key to their progress. The Sunday schools of Robert Raikes (q.v.) were secular schools; the first real Sunday school, with the Bible as the textbook, was that of William Fox. In 1797 the Second

Baptist Church of Baltimore began such a school and after 1800 Sunday schools increased rapidly. The progress of missions and Sunday schools caused a great demand for the Bible, both in the English version and in translations made by missionaries. This led to local societies for the circulation of the Scriptures, and at length to a national organization, the American Bible Society, formed in 1816 by representatives of evangelical denominations. The refusal by the Society to print versions made by Baptist missionaries caused the holding of a convention in Philadelphia in 1837 and the forming of the American and Foreign Bible Society. A controversy in this body about the translation of the Bible into English was the origin of the American Bible Union, in 1850.

The unanimity of Baptists in these new enterprises was soon impaired. Violent opposition was made to the Sunday schools, missionary and Bible societies, and even to the Convention, as unscriptural. Deeper still, as a cause of disunion, was the drift of the majority of the churches away from the older extreme Calvinism, to which the minority remained attached. The result of agitation of these questions was division of the churches, a comparatively small minority withdrawing from co-operation with the others and forming the body since known by the various names of Old School, Primitive or &ldquo;Hard Shell&rdquo; Baptists. The churches of this order have shown little capacity of growth in the North, and many of them have become extinct; but they are numerous and even flourishing in some Southern States, especially in the mountainous parts of Tennessee and Georgia. There was another large secession of Baptists in the South and Southwest as a result of the movement led by Alexander Clampbell and others, from 1815 to 1835, resulting in the establishment of the ../Disciples of Christ/ (q.v.). This did not seriously affect the Baptists of the Middle and New England States, but they suffered almost equally from the agitation known as the Millerite movement, which was the origin of the ../Adventists/ (q.v.).

In spite of all hindrances Baptists increased notably in numbers in the period we are considering. They participated in the great revivals that characterized these years. At the beginning of the century, being one in 14 of the population, they came by 1845 to be one in six, having increased in members from 100,000 to 686,807, and in churches from 1,200 to 8,406.

3. From the Division in 1845 to the Formation of the Northern Baptist Convention, 1907. &mdash; The controversy regarding slavery effected schisms in nearly every religious body of the United Stales. From 1825 onward this became a subject of bitter debate everywhere, and could not he kept out of the meetings of religious societies, inasmuch as it was at bottom an ethical and religious question. Compromises proved unworkable, and in May 1845 a convention representing the Baptist churches of the South met at Augusta, Ga., and formed the Southern Baptist Convention. The common missionary enterprises were thenceforward carried on by various boards elected by the Convention and responsible to it and

thence to the churches. This has proved to be a very compact, flexible and effective organization, much superior to that of the North. There the old Convention was transformed after the division into the American Baptist Missionary Union, and made an exclusively foreign missionary society, and the Home Mission and Publication Society remained entirely independent. Three organizations instead of one proved to be a complicated and expensive method of doing the business of the churches, besides introducing rivalry and confusion, which became worse rather than better as time went on. The two Bible societies further complicated matters, and at one time threatened another disruption, but a convention held at Saratoga in 1883 effected a settlement of the Bible question by recommending that the work abroad be done through the Missionary Union and that at home through the Publication Society.

During this third period Baptists have prospered in all their enterprises, but their most notable advance has been in educational work. They began before the Revolution to establish schools. Brown University having been opened in 1764, and a number of colleges and theological schools were founded before 1850. Their combined endowments were small, probably less than $500,000, and their students few. There are now (1917) 15 theological schools, with 1,449 students, property valued at over $3,000,000 and endowments of more than $6,000,000; 12 institutions of collegiate grade, with 41,030 students, property valued at nearly $39,000,000 and endowments of over $42,000,000; besides academies to the number of 118, with 18,019 students, nearly $7,000,000 in property, but with endowments less than $2,000,000 &mdash; most of them having none whatever. These statistics do not include institutions like George Washington (formerly Columbian) University and the University of Chicago, founded by Baptists and largely endowed by them, which are not distinctively Baptist. The inclusion of such would about double the figures given above for property and endowment.

During this third period Baptists increased numerically much faster than the population, the latter increasing about three and one-third-fold, while Baptists increased sixfold. The statistics for 1917 report 1,986 associations, 51,248 churches and 6,197,686 members, or one to every 16 of the population, exclusive of the Territories. Of these 2,593,249 are Southern whites and 2,150,929 are negroes. The separate organizations of the latter were formed after the close of the Civil War, their first State convention being in North Carolina, in 1866, and their national convention having been organized in 1880.

The formation of the Northern Baptist Convention in 1907 was the result of agitation for the unifying of the work of Northern Baptists. It is a strictly delegated body from the churches, which elects the officers of the three missionary societies, supervises their work and controls their expenditures. In view of the legal obstacles to actual consolidation, this seems to be the most practicable method of securing unity. An annual budget is voted by the Convention and apportioned to the State conventions, thence to the associations

and finally to each church, which is expected to raise or surpass the sum suggested. The practical efficiency of this scheme has not yet been fully demonstrated. In 1910 the Free Baptists decided to merge their missionary work with that of the Northern Baptists, which is as near an official union of the two bodies as the Baptist polity admits. The theological and other differences between the two bodies long since virtually disappeared.

The advance of home and foreign missions has also been a marked feature of recent years. Until 1859 Baptist foreign missions were practically confined to India and China. Since that time missions have been established in every Asiatic country, notably in Japan, and the scope of previous labors has been greatly widened. Since the United States acquired the Philippines a mission has been begun there. An already established African mission was taken over in 1884 and has been vigorously prosecuted. Southern Baptists, besides maintaining Asiatic missions, have evangelized some of the countries of South America. In Asia there are now 1,897 Baptist churches, with 213,647 members; in Africa, 131 churches and 18,924 members; and in South America 150 churches and 16,928 members. The contributions for missions have doubled thrice, and now amount for Northern Baptists to $1,300,000, and for the Southern to nearly $700,000. In home missions, besides the usual evangelizing agencies, a very important educational work among the Southern negroes has been conducted since the Civil War; 13 higher schools and 10 secondary schools are now maintained, at a cost of $130,000 a year. The work among foreign populations is also of much significance; 356 missionaries and four teachers are engaged in it. The annual income for this work amounts to more than $1,000,000. A similar work is conducted by the Southern Baptists through a Home Mission Board, with an expenditure of $387,000. There has been similar expansion in the work of the American Baptist Publication Society, which publishes 58,982,000 copies of Sunday school periodicals annually, and does a general publishing and book-selling business amounting to $321,000 additional. Besides this, it conducts Bible, colportage and missionary work, with an expenditure of over $600,000. The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptists carries on similar work, with annual income of $474,000.

In all comparisons of Baptists with other religious bodies, only communicant members should be reckoned. Every Baptist member is necessarily a communicant, since a cardinal principle of all Baptists is that none should be baptized and become members of the Church except on their personal, intelligent profession of faith. However Baptists may differ on other points, they are a unit on this. They are also one in maintaining that baptism, as commanded by Christ and practised by the apostles was the immersion of such a professed believer. A third point in which they are united is that the Christian Church is a democracy, in which &ldquo;there is neither male nor female,&rdquo; and that each church is independent of any external authority in its own affairs. From this they draw a corollary, which may

church and state should be absolutely separate. With regard to other matters they have differed so widely, that there are still in the United States at least 13 different varieties of Baptists that maintain separate organizations. All but one of these, often called by way of distinction the &ldquo;regular&rdquo; Baptists, are comparatively small in numbers, the whole not numbering more than 400,000 members.

The number of Baptists in the world, as reported for 1916, is: 61,335 churches, with 7,200,324 members.

Bibliography. &mdash; Vedder, H. C., &lsquo;A Short History of the Baptists&rsquo; (Philadelphia 1892; enlarged illustrated ed. 1907); Merriam, E. F., &lsquo;History of American Baptist Missions&rsquo; (ib. 1900); Newman, A. H., &lsquo;History of the Baptist Churches in the United States&rsquo; (New York 1898); id., &lsquo;A Century of Baptist Achievement&rsquo; {Philadelphia 1901); Wright, M. E., &lsquo;Missionary Work of the Southern Baptist Convention&rsquo; (ib. 1902).