History:[[Baptists]]=Historical Origins=Baptists, unlike us Orthodox or other Protestant groups (such as Methodism) cannot trace their general group denomination's beginnings to any one finder (some founder. Most reputable historians teach that John Smyth and Thomas Helwys, two Englishmen connected to the Separtist separatist movement from the [[Anglican Communion|Church of England]], gave this group it's its general ideas, though). They Smyth and Helwys disagreed with the Church of England on doctrines such as infant baptism(hence the name Baptist), ecclesiastical authority, and church-state relations, among other things. Since the Sepratist separatist movement was persecuted by the English government, Smyth exiled himself to the Netherlands and established the first Baptist church there in 1609. Helwys, however , stayed in England and started the first English Baptist church two years later. They both shared an Arminian theology, believing Christ died for all humans. Today, this schismatic group is refered referred to as the General Baptists. Years later, though, the Particular Baptists emerged, who shared a more Calvinist theology, arose. They offically emerged in 1644 with their London Confession of Faith.

Some also believe the Baptists got their start from the Anabaptists. However, this is unlikely, due to the fact that Baptists and Anabaptists disagree on lots of many issues (such as practices and doctrines relating to church discipline and pacifism).

Another view is known as Landmarkism, which teaches that the first Baptists were the discples of St. John the Baptist. This,however, is extremely unlikelyas Baptism espouses many doctrines that developed either in post-schism Catholicism or in other Protestant sects, more than a millennium after Christ. The most notable denomination that holds this view is the American Baptists.

=Beliefs:=Since there are at least sixty-five Baptist bodieswith no structured ecclesiology, it's hard to say exactly what they believeprecisely define their doctrines.Most put Nevertheless, there are some points common to all Baptists. For example, most adherents place strong emphasis on the indepedence of the indiviual individual person and ("individual soul liberty"), independence of the each church and , affirmation of the believer's baptism (along with , and distinctively American concepts such as freedom of religion)and separation of church and state.

authority==Church Authority== Baptists are part of the "congregationalist" heresy, meaning that they don't have bishops or any traditional ecclesiological structures. Instead, Congregationalist church governance gives autonomy to individual local churches in areas of policy, polity and doctrine. Baptist churches are not under the direct administrative control of any other body, such as a national council, or a leader such as a bishop or pope. Administration, leadership and doctrine are usually decided democratically by the lay members of each individual church, which accounts for the variation of beliefs from one Baptist church to another. Such a system allows for each person to decide independently to believe whatever they wish, making it effectively impossible for a single Tradition or the [[One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church]] to be preserved.Also, Baptists ascribe to a doctrine called the "priesthood of all believers." This notion states that every Christian has direct access to God and the truths found in the Bible, without the help of an aristocracy or hierarchy of priests. Thus priests are made into mere church leaders or financial managers, not the center of Christian life as the celebrants of the [[Divine Liturgy]].==Scripture== infant Baptists firmly believe in sola Scriptura (Scripture alone). Orthodoxy, however, uses [[Holy Tradition]] to interpret the [[Holy Scripture|Bible]]. Like all Protestants, Baptists reject the [[deuterocanonical]] book of the [[Old Testament]], considering them to be less than divinely inspired. Biblical inerrancy is yet another common heresy among fundamentalist Baptists. Furthermore, the individual Baptist is free to interpret the Bible for himself, usually using "historical Biblical scholarship," which was pioneered in the late 19th century, while rejecting the previous two millennia of commentaries by the [[Holy Fathers]].==Holy [[Baptism]]==Baptism, commonly referred to as believer's baptism among Baptists, is an ordinance that according to Baptist doctrine plays no role in salvation. That is, the nature act of sin theosisbaptism does not actually save a person or cleanse him from all his sins. Instead, it is merely an outward observance, properly performed only after salvation, which occurs when a person professes Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This completely opposes Orthodoxy, which regards baptism as a real supernatural transformation, through which the believer dies and rises again with [[Jesus Christ|Christ]] in a very real manner.

''Authority:''Through Anabaptist influence, Baptists firmly reject the practice of pedobaptism, or infant baptism, because they believe parents cannot make a decision of salvation for an infant. Related to this doctrine is the disputed concept of an "age of accountability" when God determines that a mentally capable person is accountable for their sins and eligible for baptism. In contrast, reason and mental capacity are not essential factors in sola Scriptura (Scripture alone)either Orthodox baptism or [[Eucharist|Holy Communion]]. OrthodoxyThis "tradition" arose from the legalistic, however uses Holy Tradition to interpet overly rationalistic theology of the Bible[[Roman Catholic Church]], which puts pure intellect above all else. ==[[Soteriology]]==Baptists, like nearly all Protestants, hold a ''Scripturesola fide''Baptists don't recongnize soteriology. This misinterpretation of Ephesians 2:8 states that a person must only willfully repent of sin, accept the Greek Old Testament Books as Scripture (Isubstitutionary payment of his own sin by faith in Christ'm not sure why this s death, and declares that Jesus is so)Lord in order to attain salvation. Orthodoxy (Any mention of the necessity of "works" such as far as I know) doesfasting, prayer, or charity being necessary or even helpful for the soul are thus anathema to Protestants. (Consequently, [[theosis]] is an alien concept to be continued)Baptists. Their theology leaves little or no room for improvement after conversion, much less an individual's struggle to free themselves from the passions and live an increasingly godly life. In Baptism, a healthy spiritual life is nothing but a nice postscript.

           Note[[Category: This is my first article on this website. So don't be too criticalNon-Orthodox]]