General Baptists

Part of a series on
Baptists
Baptism at Northolt Park Baptist Church, in Greater London, Baptist Union of Great Britain, 2015.
Background
Doctrine
Key figures
Organizations
icon Christianity portal

General Baptists are Baptists who hold the general or unlimited atonement view, the belief that Jesus Christ died for the entire world and not just for the chosen elect. General Baptists are theologically Arminian, which distinguishes them from Reformed Baptists (also known as "Particular Baptists" for their belief in particular redemption).[citation needed]

Free Will Baptists are General Baptists; opponents of the English General Baptists in North Carolina dubbed them "Freewillers" and they later assumed the name.[1][2][3]

General Baptist denominations have explicated their faith in two major confessions of faith, "The Standard Confession" (1660), and "The Orthodox Creed" (1678).[4]

  1. ^ Brackney, William H. (13 April 2009). Historical Dictionary of the Baptists. Scarecrow Press. p. 245. ISBN 9780810862821.
  2. ^ Garrett, James Leo (2009). Baptist Theology: A Four-century Study. Mercer University Press. p. 119. ISBN 9780881461299.
  3. ^ Jonas, W. Glenn (2008). The Baptist River: Essays on Many Tributaries of a Diverse Tradition. Mercer University Press. p. 151. ISBN 9780881461206. General Baptists in North Carolina (the Palmer/Parker heritage) were often called "free willers" by their Regular (Reformed) Baptist neighbors. The name was becoming popular by the beginning of the nineteenth century, and in 1828 the group there adopted the name "Free Will Baptists." The reference, of course, was to the doctrine of General Atonement taught by the General Baptists.
  4. ^ Chute, Anthony L.; Finn, Nathan A.; Haykin, Michael A. G. (2015). The Baptist Story: From English Sect to Global Movement. B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4336-8316-9.