Most Baptists live in the United States, where they represent the largest group after Catholics. Baptists are the radical wing of the Reformation.
They arose in England at the beginning of the seventeenth century, not only in opposition to the Catholic Church but also to other Protestant confessions. Because of these controversies, the first Baptists were led into exile in Holland by John Smyth (1570-1612). Today they number more than forty million.
When Smyth discovered the Dutch Mennonites and decided that they were an authentic church, he recommended joining them, for which he had to face Thomas Helwys (1560-1616). Helwys’s followers returned to England and came to be known as General Baptists (or Arminians), in opposition to others known as Particular Baptists (or Calvinists).
In 1905, the Baptist World Alliance was born in England and, since the 1940s, has had its headquarters in the United States. A year ago, the Alliance held its 18th World Congress in Melbourne (Australia). The gathering had special value because they were celebrating the change of millennium. The central theme of the meeting was “Jesus Christ forever, yes”.
In the United States, the support Baptists gave to autonomy was important in the development of religious liberty through the separation of Church and State in the Constitution and in the First Amendment. The largest sub-confession is that of the Southern Baptists. Former President Clinton is a Baptist.
They maintain that no structure should stand between the believer and God, and their children do not receive baptism before adolescence, always by immersion.
“With the phrase ‘Jesus Christ forever, yes’,” Denton Lotz, secretary general of the Alliance, comments to the newspaper “Avvenire”, “the meaning of our faith is concentrated. Jesus Christ represents the hope that God wished to give to men, and we want to respond with an eternal yes to this gift.” Delegates from many confessions attended the Melbourne gathering, including Catholics, represented by Monsignor John Rodano of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. “We very much liked confirming our closeness with other believers, in Jesus,” Lotz emphasizes.
Regarding Baptist-Catholic dialogue, he assures that “it is very good. We have continuous contacts and have also met on several occasions with Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The exchange of ideas is truly open.”
The secretary general of the federated Baptists especially values the sign of the opening of the Holy Door: “We are pleased with all these celebrations that have underlined our unity in Christ. The secularist world has forgotten the meaning of the year 2000; many do not even realize that it marks the anniversary of the birth of Jesus. I could not go to the ceremony at the Basilica of Saint Paul because I was still in Australia. Although, in truth, we Baptists have problems with the idea of indulgences. But we are grateful for all the celebrations that seek to restore to the millennium its true meaning.”
What are the principal challenges for faith according to this Protestant confession?
“After the Cold War,” Lotz indicates, “we expected the beginning of a period of greater religious freedom, but we are realizing that we were mistaken. The most serious tensions have arisen in Eastern Europe, where some national Churches have appeared that claim to have a monopoly on the faith. At the same time, the ethnic conflicts in Bosnia, Serbia and Chechnya, but also in Rwanda, have shown that the danger of a new clash between civilizations is real. These are threats that all men of faith must try to avert.”
Would Baptists be willing to take the first step to relaunch dialogue? “As you know, we represent the radical Reformation. Baptist congregations have complete local autonomy, and I do not think they are willing to renounce this characteristic. Consequently, we are not very interested in structural unity. On the spiritual plane, however, the unity of Christians is a very important goal that must be reflected in common commitment in favor of justice, respect for human rights, and efforts in the moral field, such as mobilization against abortion. Christ represents our spiritual unity, and no believer can withdraw from this truth.”
Author: Jesús Colina
