Why I Am a Baptist
()
About this ebook
This work is not a personal history. For fifteen years I was a layman in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and having had my attention called to the subjects and mode of Baptism, after two years of careful study of the subject I deemed it my duty to unite with the Baptists. In my examination of the subject I found it necessary to read a great many tracts, pamphlets, and books, none of which covered completely the whole ground. Feeling the need of a comprehensive little work to place in the hands of young converts, and those desiring to know the distinctive principles of the Baptists, I prepared the following volume. I claim for it no originality. It is simply a compilation of facts, and the arguments of others, culled from numerous sources after careful and voluminous reading. But as he who would obtain credit for constructing a new edifice largely from old material, with the addition of a little new, must see to it that the old material is not too conspicuous, and as I remember that the class of persons for whom this is written care more to see the finished building than the method, manner, and material of its construction, I have arranged the facts and arguments culled, so that their source and authorship is not evident. At the same time I have acknowledged my indebtedness to all who may recognize their own offspring in the garb of a foreigner. About the Author: Rev. Clarence Larkin (1850–1924) was an American Baptist pastor, Bible teacher and author whose writings on Dispensationalism had a great impact on conservative Protestant visual culture in the 20th century. His intricate and influential charts provided readers with a visual strategy for mapping God's action in history and for interpreting complex biblical prophecies.
Read more from Clarence Larkin
The Book of Revelation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Revelation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Second Coming of Christ Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Spirit World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Medicine Chest for Christian Practicioners Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy I Am a Baptist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRightly Dividing the Word Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Why I Am a Baptist
Related ebooks
Rightly Dividing the Word Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Survey of Bible Doctrine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What is the Gospel? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Second Coming of Christ Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe King James Version Debate: A Plea for Realism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Two Religions and Other Gospel Papers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChoice Gleanings from the Book of Romans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWord Pictures in the New Testament: Concise Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy: Studies and Expositions of the Messiah in the Old Testament Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat the Bible Teaches Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5MacArthur 2-in-1: 2 Truth-Filled Books in 1 Volume to Strengthen Your Faith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThings to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Illustrated Bible Survey: An Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dispensationalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bible History, Old Testament, Volume 2: The Exodus and the Wanderings in the Wilderness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Two Babylons: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Augustine's Confessions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Visible Presence: Appearances of Christ in the Old Testament Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFinding Jesus in the Old Testament: A Zondervan Digital Short Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5W. E. Vine's New Testament Word Pictures: Romans to Revelation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bible History, Old Testament, Volume 3: Israel under Joshua and the Judges Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntentional Faith: Aligning Your Life with the Heart of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Essence of the Old Testament Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Harmony of the Gospels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words: With Topical Index Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Windows of the Soul: Hearing God in the Everyday Moments of Your Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Four Hundred Silent Years: From Malachi to Matthew Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Man of Sorrows Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLectures to My Students: Volume One: The Conduct and Aims of the Minister Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Christianity For You
The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Your Brain's Not Broken: Strategies for Navigating Your Emotions and Life with ADHD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NIV, Holy Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better (updated with two new chapters) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Lead When You're Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Reviews for Why I Am a Baptist
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Why I Am a Baptist - Clarence Larkin
Preface.
This work is not a personal history. For fifteen years I was a layman in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and having had my attention called to the subjects and mode of Baptism, after two years of careful study of the subject I deemed it my duty to unite with the Baptists.
In my examination of the subject I found it necessary to read a great many tracts, pamphlets, and books, none of which covered completely the whole ground. Feeling the need of a comprehensive little work to place in the hands of young converts, and those desiring to know the distinctive principles of the Baptists, I prepared the following volume. I claim for it no originality. It is simply a compilation of facts, and the arguments of others, culled from numerous sources after careful and voluminous reading. But as he who would obtain credit for constructing a new edifice largely from old material, with the addition of a little new, must see to it that the old material is not too conspicuous, and as I remember that the class of persons for whom this is written care more to see the finished building than the method, manner, and material of its construction, I have arranged the facts and arguments culled, so that their source and authorship is not evident.
At the same time I have acknowledged my indebtedness to all who may recognize their own offspring in the garb of a foreigner.
The Author.
September 1, 1887.
I. Origin of the Baptists.
Almost all the Anti-papist denominations date, either directly or indirectly, from the Reformation of the sixteenth century. The Protestant Episcopal, Lutheran, and Presbyterian Churches, came out from the Roman Catholic Church, and the Methodist Episcopal Church came from the Protestant Episcopal Church.
The Baptists, however, do not date from the Reformation. Though Anti-papists, they are not, in the technical and historical sense of the word, Protestants,
though they have ever protested, and do now protest, against the heresies and abominations of the Romish Church.
Just before his ascension, Jesus said to his disciples:
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matt 28: 18–20; and Mark adds, He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16: 15, 16.
The requirements of this Divine Commission, are —
1. To preach the gospel to all nations.
2. To baptize those who believe.
3. To teach those who believe to observe all things whatsoever Christ commanded.
This the apostles did. That the churches they founded were believed to be composed of regenerated persons, is evident from the fact that they addressed or referred to them as believers,
saints,
quickened,
the faithful,
the redeemed,
the sanctified,
the saved,
etc. The apostolic were also independent bodies; that is, separate from the State and from each other, and self governed. They are spoken of individually as, the church at Jerusalem,
the church at Antioch,
the church at Smyrna.
They are spoken of collectively as, the churches,
the churches of Macedonia,
the churches of Asia,
all the churches.
They are represented as electing their own officers, admitting, expelling, and restoring members, and acting as distinct, independent bodies.
There is a remarkable similarity between the apostolic churches and the Baptist churches of to-day, in their modes and forms of worship.
The apostolic churches were distinguished for the plainness and simplicity of their worship. They had no magnificent cathedrals, gorgeously arrayed priesthood, no prescribed ritual, no splendid religious shows, no pomp of music, no parade of images and paintings.
Quietly, and unostentatiously, they met in some upper room,
or other humble sanctuary, to sing, to pray, to read and expound the Scriptures, and to exhort one another to faithfulness in the Christian life.
II. History of the Baptists.
It is true that the line of descent cannot always be traced. Like a river, that now and then in its course is lost under the surface of the ground, and then makes its appearance again, the Baptists claim that, from the days of the apostles until the present time, there have not been wanting those persons, either separately or collected into churches, and known under different names, who, if now living, would be universally recognized as Baptists.
Since the origin of the Baptists,