A Brief Exploration of General Baptist Origins
by Jesse Owens Where did Baptists come from? Some have speculated they have always existed in some place or another since the time of John the Baptist. Others have contended that Baptists’ origins lay in the European Anabaptist movement of the sixteenth century. Still others have maintained that the Baptists sprung from the English Puritan and Separatist movements in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Baptists have at...
Arminian and Baptist: Explorations of a Theological Tradition: A Book Review
by Tim Campbell For many years, Arminianism has struggled to assume an accepted place at the theological table. The primary reason is not that Arminianism has simply been trumped by the popularity of Calvinism, but that many scholars hold a very limited and biased view of Jacobus Arminius and his theological progenies. In addition, only a few Arminians have attempted to articulate a full-orbed examination of Arminianism, particularly...
Responding to Intolerance: Life Transformation
Increasingly we find ourselves in an America that doesn’t share our Christian beliefs.[1] In fact, it doesn’t simply not share them; it refuses even to tolerate them. The Obergefell decision has recently held that the Fourteenth Amendment protects so-called same-sex marriage rights, further pitting sexual freedom against religious freedom. And now courts jail those who refuse to issue marriage licenses, while also finding Christian...
Is Grandpa Turning in His Grave? Exhortations for Free Will Baptists from Our Own Heritage
by Derek Cominskie Over the last several weeks, the HSF’s articles have focused on major moments or times of impact in Free Will Baptist history. In this article, I’d like to look to the future and contemplate what might lie ahead. In fact, someone suggested that I write on this topic; because, in his words, I have “seen the denomination from a couple different angles,” having transferred from Gateway Christian College to Welch...
Confessions: What They Are and Why We Need Them
Free Will Baptist can sound a bit odd to those who have never heard the name before. When I announce that I’m a Free Will Baptist to Calvinist Baptists at Southern Seminary, I often receive questions such as, “What exactly is a Free Will Baptist?” or, “Do you all believe in Perfectionism like Wesleyans, or that Man’s will is totally free like Semi-Pelagians?” I do my best to quickly calm my classmates’ fears that a heretic, having...
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