Our Baptist Heritage
The Origin of the Name “Baptist”
The word Baptist originally arose to describe churches who include the practice of believer’s baptism by immersion among their doctrines (teachings). Baptists do not view baptism as something required in order to receive salvation, but as a step of obedience taken by someone who has already trusted Christ as his or her Savior (hence, believer’s baptism).
We view this practice as something an individual believer does in order to publicly identify him- or herself with Christ. Churches came to be identified as “Baptist” as a way to distinguish them from other churches which practice infant baptism, which baptize in ways other than by immersion, or which believe in baptismal regeneration (i.e., seeing baptism as a necessary step in order to receive eternal life).
While the name “Baptist” highlights this one identifying practice, Baptists historically have been characterized by a number of other distinctives in addition to believer’s baptism. We have arrived at this set of beliefs through the careful study of the Bible, and so we would suggest that these teachings are more precisely called the Biblical distinctives of Baptists rather than just Baptist distinctives.
Many church groups other than Baptists may hold to some of these same beliefs, and you may even find churches that hold to all of them, yet have chosen not to identify themselves using the word “Baptist” in their name. Such groups are clearly “baptistic,” but for whatever reason have chosen not to be identified as such. At MMBC, we appreciate our rich heritage as a Baptist church, and we feel the name is helpful for people as they sort through the many churches that exist in our culture. It gives at least some indication of what we believe and where we stand.
We would also point out that there are some churches who still identify themselves as “Baptist” while no longer holding to the historic Baptist beliefs or, some cases, even the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith.
For those looking for a church home, we would suggest that, while our church’s name is certainly an indicator of who we are, it is wise to examine our doctrinal position and visit our services in order to more fully understand our beliefs about salvation and about life as a Christian.
The Common Baptist Distinctives
For many, the key identifying beliefs that are common among most Baptist churches have been arranged in a memorable way as an acrostic using the word BAPTISTS.
Below is a very brief description of these eight Baptist characteristics:
