I've been enjoying this. When I was in school, History was always my favorite subject. Studying the battles and dates were my least favorite, but I enjoyed learning what led up to the battles and what happened after them. LOL This has been great for me and I'm enjoying reading and learning more about my Baptist heritage.
OK, now that you know what set Baptists apart from the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, let's move on to something else about us.
I posted that we did not come from the Roman Catholic church, nor did were we protest, making us Protestant. So what are we? WE'RE BAPTIST! lol
I believe it was David Benedict, a Baptist historian, who claimed that in the early 1800's a man name Cornell established a former Protestant church on Baptist principles. Apparently he did this after returning from an extended trip away from his church. When he came back, they had found them a new Pastor teaching the more Protestant doctrine. So he and some of the people there in that church that did not agree with infant baptism left that church and he started a Baptist church there in Rhode Island. I don't know if the original was in Rhode Island or not. Does anyone else know? Well, anyway!
The Roman Catholic churches, and the Protestant churches, were baptising people into the church, without them ever having been saved or becoming true believers. But this wasn't the only difference and need for separation from these churches. As a matter of fact, a lot of people were leaving their Protestant churches and finding or establishing Baptist churches to make it perfectly clear that they were following the New Testament in faith and worship.
There have always been Christians not associated with the Roman Catholic church and were never part of the Christianizing of the Roman Empire. The Roman Catholic church has so many pagan and idolatrous beliefs because the "church" hired pagan priests as their "ministers" during the time of the Christianization.
It was some years later that Martin Luther rebelled against the church, which as you know, led to the Protestant Reformation. Even though the Reformation was a good idea, pulling away from the Catholic church, there is still no Protestant church today that fully accepts the teachings of the New Testament in their doctrinal belief and are holding on to some of the pagan practices and beliefs of the Roman Catholic church.
The Roman Catholic church teaches that the bread and wine used for their sacrament, literally turns into the actual body and blood of Christ. This is what they call transubstantiation (the transformation of the substance.) Protestants only slightly changed this false teaching. Although some Protestants disagree with transubstantiation, they still believe that the sacrament has some kind of saving power and/or spiritual benefit.
The taking of bread and wine (fruit juice) Of New Testament believers, is simply a memorial to the local church. A time to ponder and reflect on what Christ suffered for us at Calvary, until His return.
Both the Roman Catholic church and Protestant churches persecuted people that believed the Baptist principles. Baptists never persecuted anyone, but they were fair game to unscriptual churches.
