Reformed Baptists

Reformed Baptists, Particular Baptists and Calvinistic Baptists,[1] are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist
soteriology (salvation belief).[2] Depending on the denomination, Calvinistic Baptists adhere to varying
degrees of Reformed theology, ranging from simply embracing the Five Points of Calvinism, to accepting a
modified form of federalism; all Calvinistic Baptists reject the classical Reformed teaching on infant
baptism as a sign and seal of the covenant of grace. The first Calvinistic Baptist church was formed in the
1630s.[1] The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith is a significant summary of the beliefs of Reformed
Baptists.[1] The name "Reformed Baptist" dates from the latter part of the 20th century to denote Baptists
who retained Baptist ecclesiology, but adopted elements of Reformed doctrine, such as covenant theology.

Reformed Baptist Denominations

Strict Baptists

Groups calling themselves Strict Baptists are often differentiated from those calling themselves "Reformed
Baptists", sharing the same Calvinist doctrine, but differing on ecclesiastical polity;[3] "Strict Baptists"
generally prefer a congregationalist polity.[3]

The group of Strict Baptists called Strict and Particular Baptists are Baptists who believe in a Calvinist
interpretation of Christian salvation.[4] The Particular Baptists arose in England in the 17th century and
took their name from the doctrine of particular redemption,[4] while the term "strict" refers to the practice of
closed communion.

Primitive Baptists

Primitive Baptists adhere to a Reformed soteriology.[5] Primitive Baptists emphasize the teaching that "God
alone is the author of salvation and therefore any effort by human beings to make salvation happen or
compel others to conversion is simply a form of 'works righteousness' that implies that sinners can affect
their own salvation."[6] As such, they have rejected the concept of missions.[6]

Regular Baptists

Regular Baptists adhere to a Reformed soteriology.[5] Those who are Old Regular Baptists largely hold to
the tenets of Calvinism, "but maintain that God never predestined anyone to hell and that only those who
do not heed the Word of God will be lost."[7]

United Baptists
Certain denominations of United Baptists teach a Reformed soteriology.[5]

Sovereign Grace Baptists

Sovereign Grace Baptists in the broadest sense are any "Calvinistic" Baptists that accept God's sovereign
grace[8] in salvation and predestination. In the narrower sense, certain churches and groups have preferred
"Sovereign Grace" in their name, rather than using the terms "Calvinism", "Calvinist", or "Reformed
Baptist". This includes some who prefer the 1644 Baptist Confession of Faith to the 1689 Confession, and
who are critical of covenant theology.[9]

All of these groups generally agree with the Five Points of Calvinism – Total Depravity, Unconditional
Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. Groups calling themselves
"Sovereign Grace Baptists" have been particularly influenced by the writings of John Gill in the 18th
century.[10] Among American Baptists who have revived such Calvinist ideas were Rolfe P. Barnard and
Henry T. Mahan, who organised the first Sovereign Grace Bible Conference in Ashland, Kentucky, in
1954,[11][12] though groups designated as Sovereign Grace are not necessarily connected to them.

Current status

Calvinistic baptist groups presently using the term Sovereign Grace include the Sovereign Grace Baptist
Association,[13] the Sovereign Grace Fellowship of Canada, and some among the growing Calvinist strand
of Independent Baptists,[14] including several hundred Landmark Independent Baptist churches.[15]

By region

United Kingdom

Reformed Baptist churches in the UK go back to the 1630s.[1] Notable early pastors include the author
John Bunyan (1628–88),[1] Benjamin Keach (1640–1704), the theologian John Gill (1697–1771),[1] John
Brine (1703–64), Andrew Fuller, and the missionary William Carey (1761–1834).[1] Charles Spurgeon
(1834–92), pastor to the New Park Street Chapel (later the Metropolitan Tabernacle) in London, has been
called "by far the most famous and influential preacher the Baptists had."[16] The Metropolitan Tabernacle
itself has been particularly influential in the Reformed Baptist movement in the UK. Benjamin Keach, John
Gill, John Rippon (1751–1836), Charles Spurgeon, and Peter Masters (mentioned below) have all pastored
this same congregation. Their characteristic traits may be the founder (Keach, signer of the 1689),
theologian (Gill), hymnist (Rippon), preacher (Spurgeon), and restorer (Masters).

The 1950s saw a renewed interest in Reformed theology among Baptists in the UK.[3]

Peter Masters, pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, created the London Reformed Baptist
Seminary in 1975.[3]

United States

Baptist churches in the United States continued to operate under the confessional statement, the 1689
London Baptist, but they renamed it according to the local associations in which it was adopted, first the
Philadelphia Confession (1742, which includes two new chapters),[17] then the Charleston Confession
(1761, adopted from the London without changes). When the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was
founded, its governing confession, the abstract of principles, was summarized form of the 1689 London
Baptist Confession, and its founding president, James P. Boyce wrote his "Abstract of Systematic
Theology" from an evident Calvinist position. The first major shift at the seminary away from Calvinism
came at the leadership of E. Y. Mullins, president from 1899 to 1928.[18] Many of the developments in the
U.K. mentioned above during the 1950s and following also made an impact on Baptists in America, seen
especially in the Founders Movement (which was connected to the so-called "Conservative Resurgence" in
the SBC) and in the works of men such as Walter Chantry,[19] Roger Nicole, and Ernest Reisinger.

In March 2009, noting the resurgence of Calvinism in the United States, Time listed several Baptists among
current Calvinist leaders.[20] Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, is a
strong advocate of Calvinism, although his stand has received opposition from inside the Southern Baptist
Convention.[21] John Piper, who was pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis for 33 years, is
one of several Baptists who have written in support of Calvinism.[21]

While the Southern Baptist Convention remains split on Calvinism,[22] there are a number of explicitly
Reformed Baptist groups in the United States, including the Confessional Baptist Association,[13] the
Continental Baptist Churches,[13] the Sovereign Grace Baptist Association of Churches,[13] and other
Sovereign Grace Baptists.[10] Such groups have had some theological influence from other Reformed
denominations, such as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.[23] An example of this is the 1995 adaptation of
the Orthodox Presbyterian Church's Trinity Hymnal which was published for Reformed Baptist churches in
America as the Trinity Hymnal (Baptist Edition).[24]

By 2000, Reformed Baptist groups in the United States totaled about 16,000 people in 400
congregations.[25]

Several Reformed Baptist Seminaries currently operate in the US; International Reformed Baptist Seminary
(IRBS), Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary, Grace Bible Theological Seminary, & Reformed Baptist
Seminary are four that each subscribe to the 1689 London Baptist Confession in some form.[26][27][28][29]

Sovereign Grace Baptist Association of Churches

The Sovereign Grace Baptist Association of Churches (SGBA), which was organized in 1984,[13]
sponsors an annual national conference and churches cooperate in missions, publications, retreats, camps
and other activities. The Missionary Committee serves under the Executive Committee to screen candidates
and recommend them to the churches for support. They currently (2009) are supporting one missionary
endeavour. The Publication Committee reviews and approves submissions, and supplies literature to the
churches. Grace News is published quarterly. A Confession of Faith was adopted in 1991. Membership in
the SGBA is open to any Baptist church subscribing to the Constitution and Articles of Faith. There are 12
member churches, half of which are located in Michigan.[30] The association is recognised as an endorsing
agent for United States military chaplains.[31]

Africa

Notable Reformed Baptist figures in Africa include Conrad Mbewe in Zambia, who has been compared to
Spurgeon; Kenneth Mbugua and John Musyimi of Emmanuel Baptist Church Nairobi, Kenya.[32]
In South Africa, the Afrikaanse Baptiste Kerke's 34 churches follow reformed doctrine, as opposed to the
mainly English speaking Baptist Union of Southern Africa, which does not.

Europe

There is a small but growing network of Reformed Baptist churches in Europe. The Italian churches are
organized in the Evangelical Reformed Baptist Churches in Italy association; several French speaking
churches sprung from the work of English missionary Stuart Olyott at the Église réformée baptiste de
Lausanne, VD, CH, started in the 1960s.[33] There is a growing network of Reformed Baptist Churches in
Ukraine. There are few small communities churches in Germany, where the largest is in Frankfurt am
Main.[34] In March 2023, a new national association of churches formed in the United Kingdom, organized
as the "Association of Confessional Baptist Churches in the United Kingdom".[35]

Brazil

In Brazil there is a modest association, the Comunhão Reformada Batista do Brasil, sprung mostly from the
work of US missionary Richard Denham at São José dos Campos, SP.[36] As it did not correspond to
expectations of dynamism and effectiveness, it is being supplanted by a newer Convention, the Convenção
Batista Reformada do Brasil.

Canada

Sovereign Grace Fellowship of Canada

The Sovereign Grace Fellowship of Canada (SGF) is a fellowship for Baptist churches in Canada[37]
holding to either the Baptist Confession of 1644 or 1689.[38] SGF had 10 member churches when it was
formally inaugurated, located in New Brunswick and Ontario.[39] As of 2012, there were 14 churches,
including the Jarvis Street Baptist Church in Toronto.[40] SGF is one of the Baptist groups associated with
the Toronto Baptist Seminary and Bible College.[41]

See also
Baptist successionism
Grace Baptist
List of Reformed Baptist groups
List of Reformed Baptists
New Covenant theology

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