The Particular Baptist Church – What is it? What do Particular Baptists believe?
Particular Baptists are so-called because they believe in "particular" or limited atonement. Since they hold a Reformed theological, or Calvinistic, view of the atonement, Particular Baptists are also sometimes called "Reformed Baptists."Prior to the Protestant Reformation, there were groups that rejected infant baptism in favor of credobaptism for adults; they came to be known as "Baptists." In England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries there were Separatists Baptists, who thought the Church of England was apostate and wanted to fully separate, and non-Separatists, who wanted to form their own congregations yet maintain friendly relations with the Church of England. The Particular Baptists were non-Separatists and included figures such as John Gill, William Carey, John Bunyan, and Charles Spurgeon.
In Colonial America the Particular Baptist church grew, especially after the First Great Awakening (1735—1743). They began to be called Regular Baptists, but disagreements on the specifics of atonement created division. Today the Particular Baptists hold to five-point Calvinism whereas the Regular Baptists hold to Amyraldism. There are also those who discouraged worship with musical instruments and disagreed with any organizational entities not listed in the Bible, now known as Primitive Baptists.
Particular Baptists, like all Baptists, practice believer's baptism by immersion and have a congregational church government structure. Baptists also support freedom of religion and adhere to a strong separation between church and state, not wanting any civil authority over the church.
Particular, or Reformed, Baptists hold to a Bible-based theology and follow the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. Still, as with any church, it is best to compare the doctrines and practices of the specific congregation with what the Bible actually says.
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