Free Will Baptist

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Benjamin Randall (1749–1808) was the founder of the Free Will Baptist movement in New England the late 18th century.

Free Will Baptists or Free Baptists are a group of

King James I
.

In 1702

Calvinists became Free Will Baptists in the 19th century. With the establishment of Free Will Baptists in the South, Benjamin Randall developed the movement in the Northeastern United States, specifically Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire
.

From their beginning, Free Will Baptists, in common with many groups of

self-governance of local churches. The notion of free will was a systematic rejection of the Puritan movement
, due to its overall religious beliefs and lack of social mobility.

History

Return of Roger Williams, a later supporter of the movement, after denouncing the Puritan movement in 1644

Free Will Baptists can be traced to General Baptists from England who settled in the American colonies in the late 17th century. The first Baptists, who originated with the ministry of Thomas Helwys near London in 1611, were General Baptists. That is, they believed that the atonement of Jesus Christ was "general" (for all) rather than "particular" (only for the elect). It shares a common history, name, and an acceptance of the Arminian doctrine.

Benjamin Laker was an English Baptist who arrived in colonial Carolina as early as 1685. Laker had been associated with Thomas Grantham, a prominent General Baptist theologian and writer, and had signed the 1663 edition of the General Baptists' Standard Confession of Faith. The earliest Free Will Baptists in America developed from English General Baptists in Carolina, who were dubbed "Freewillers" by their enemies and later assumed the name.[2]

Two distinct branches of Free Will Baptists developed in America. The first and earliest was the General Baptist movement described above, known as the Palmer movement in North Carolina, from which the majority of modern-day Free Will Baptists have their origin. The later movement was the Randall movement, which arose in the late 18th century in New Hampshire. These two groups developed independently of each other.[3]

The Palmer line

In 1702, a disorganized group of General Baptists in Carolina wrote a request for help to the General Baptist Association in England. Though no help was forthcoming,

Chowan, North Carolina in 1727. Palmer organized at least three churches in North Carolina.[4] His labors, though important, were short. Leadership would descend to Joseph Parker, William Parker, Josiah Hart, William Sojourner and others. Joseph Parker was part of the organization of the Chowan church and ministered among the Carolina churches for over 60 years. From one church in 1727, they grew to over 20 churches by 1755. After 1755, missionary labors conducted by the Philadelphia Baptist Association converted most of these churches to the Particular Baptist positions of unconditional election and limited atonement. By 1770, only 4 churches and 4 ministers remained of the General Baptist persuasion. By the end of 18th century, these churches were commonly referred to as "Free Will Baptist", and this would later be referred to as the "Palmer line of Free Will Baptists". The churches in the Palmer line organized various associations and conferences, and finally organized a General Conference in 1921. Many Baptists from Calvinistic Baptist backgrounds, primarily Separate Baptists, became Free Will Baptists in the 19th century.[5]

The Randall line

While the movement in the South was struggling, a new movement rose in the North through the work of

Particular Baptists in 1776, but broke with them in 1779 due to their strict views on predestination. In 1780, Randall formed a "Free" or "Freewill" (Randall would combine the words "free" and "will" into a single word) Baptist church in New Durham, New Hampshire
. By 1782 twelve churches had been founded, and they organized a Quarterly Meeting. In 1792 a Yearly Meeting was organized.

The "Randall" line itself split into two groups in 1835:

  • The "Bullockites", after founder Jeremiah Bullock (sometimes spelled "Bulloch" and "Bullochites"), which branched out to a small number of congregations in Maine and New Hampshire.
  • The "Buzzelites", after founder John Buzzell.

The Bullockites, mostly under the name "Freewill Baptists", continued in Maine into the early 20th century, while the Buzzellites disappeared shortly after their founding.[6]

In 1841 Randall's Free Will Baptists merged with a similar group, the Free Communion Baptists, to form the Free Baptists.[7]

The "Randall" line of Freewill Baptists grew quickly. However, in 1911, the majority of the Randall Line churches (and all the denominational property) merged with the

Northern Baptist Convention. Those churches that did not merge and remained Freewill Baptist joined with other Free Will Baptists in the Southwest and Midwest to organize the Cooperative General Association of Free Will Baptists in 1916.[8]

The union of the lines

Fraternal relations had existed between the Northern and Southern Free Will Baptists, but the question of slavery, and later the Civil War, prevented any formal union until the 20th century. On November 5, 1935, representatives of the General Conference (Palmer) and the Cooperative General Association (a mixture of Randall and Palmer elements west of the Mississippi) met in Nashville, Tennessee, to unite and organize the National Association of Free Will Baptists. The majority of Free Will Baptist churches organized under this umbrella, which remains the largest of the Free Will Baptist groups to this day.[9]

Theology and practice

Free Will Baptist congregations believe the

once saved, always saved" is rejected by the denomination.[11]

On Perseverance of the Saints from the official Treatise:

"There are strong grounds to hope that the truly regenerate will persevere unto the end, and be saved, through the power of divine grace which is pledged for their support; but their future obedience and final salvation are neither determined nor certain, since through infirmity and manifold temptations they are in danger of falling; and they ought, therefore, to watch and pray lest they make shipwreck of their faith and be lost."[13]

Free Will Baptists observe at least three ordinances: baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the Washing of the Saints' Feet, a rite occurring among some other evangelical groups but not practiced by the majority of Baptist denominations.

Free Will Baptist congregations hold differing views on

Christian Sabbath
.

Free Will Baptist bodies

The National Association of Free Will Baptists is the largest of the Free Will Baptist groups. Other major Free Will Baptist groups include:

  • Original Free Will Baptist Convention – a North Carolina-based body of Free Will Baptists that was organized in 1913 and initially joined the National Association of Free Will Baptists, but split from the National Association in 1961 due to some inner differences. The Convention comprised the majority of North Carolina-based Free Will Baptist churches, though a minority would split from the North Carolina state convention and maintain affiliation with the National Association. The Convention also maintains mission activity in eight countries – Philippines, Mexico, Bulgaria, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Liberia, and Guinea.[14]
  • United American Free Will Baptist Church – the largest body of African-American Free Will Baptist churches, organized in 1901 and headquartered in Kinston, North Carolina.[15]
  • United American Free Will Baptist Conference – a body of African-American Free Will Baptist churches that withdrew from the United American Free Will Baptist Church in 1968; headquartered in Lakeland, Florida.[16]
  • Old Original Free Will Baptist Conference, an episcopal African-American association with six churches, centered in North Carolina.[17]
  • Evangelical Free Baptist Church – based in Illinois. In 1987 it had 22 churches and 2,500 members.[18]
  • Unaffiliated Free Will Baptist local associations – a number of local Free Will Baptist associations remain independent of the National Association, Original FWB Convention, and the two United American bodies. Researchers have identified 10 such associations, though there may be more. The unaffiliated associations of Free Will Baptists include over 300 churches with an estimated 22,000 members. They have no organization beyond the "local" level.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9780881461206
    . General Baptists in North Carolina (the Palmer/Parker heritage) were often called "free willers" by their Regular (Reformed) Baptist neighbors. The name was becoming popular by the beginning of the nineteenth century, and in 1828 the group there adopted the name "Free Will Baptists." The reference, of course, was to the doctrine of General Atonement taught by the General Baptists.
  2. ^ "Laker, Benjamin". NCpedia. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  3. ^ "Free Will Baptists: What's in a Name? – Free Will Baptist History". fwbhistory.com. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  4. ^ "Without a Monument: The Life of Elder Paul Palmer". FWB history. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  5. ^ "About Free Will Baptists". FWB history. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  6. ^ Separate denominations: History, description, and statistics. United States Census Bureau. 1901.
  7. ISBN 9780227177242
    .
  8. ^ "A Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the National Association of Free Will Baptists, Inc" (PDF).
  9. ^ "Cooperative General Association Minutes @ Free Will Baptist History". fwbhistory.com. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  10. ^ "Who Are Free Will Baptists?". National Association of Free Will Baptists. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  11. ^ a b "What Do Free Will Baptists Believe?". Timbers Drive Church: A Free Will Baptist Ministry. Retrieved 7 April 2022. We believe in a conditional security of the believer. We believe that faith in Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross is the condition that God has required for salvation, and that all humanity has the freedom of the will to accept or reject the call of God for salvation. We believe the freedom of the will continues through the whole life of the believer and therefore we believe in the possibility that a true believer could at some point, because of the temptations of the world, flesh, the devil, and our own sinful nature, choose to renounce Christ and thereby forfeit their salvation. Thus, we believe that a Christian must continue to believe in Christ for salvation until final salvation is achieved.
  12. ^ "What We Believe". National Association of Free Will Baptists.
  13. ^ Burgess, Gideon Albert; Ward, John T. (1889-01-01). Free Baptist Cyclopaedia: Historical and Biographical: the Rise of the Freewill Baptist Connection and of Those General and Open Communion Baptists Which, Merging Together, Form One People, Their Doctrines, Polity, Publications, Schools and Missions, with Brief Biographies of Ministers and Others Identified with the Growth and Strength of the Denomination. Free Baptist Cyclopaedia Company.
  14. ^ "ofwb". The Convention of Original Free Will Baptist Churches. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  15. ^ "United American Free Will Baptist General Conference". uafreewillbaptconf.org. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  16. ^ "United American Free Will Baptist General Conference". uafreewillbaptconf.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  17. ^ "Old Original Free Will Baptist Conference". oldoriginalfreewillbaptistconference.com. Archived from the original on 2018-10-28. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  18. ISBN 0805465693
    .

Further reading

External links

Wikisource has the text of a 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article about Free Will Baptist.
Part of a series on
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