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'''Baptists''' are a variety of Evangelical [[Protestantism]]. Baptists claim 90 million members worldwide, approximately seventy percent of which reside in the United States. It should be noted that Baptist members are those who have reached the "age of reason" and been baptized. Baptists do not count infants and young children as members. The primary theological differences between Baptists and Orthodox Christianity are the autonomy of each individual church, with no supervisory episcopal authority, a rejection of the sacramental nature of all seven Orthodox sacraments ([[Baptism]], [[Chrismation]], [[Confession]], the [[Eucharist]], [[Marriage]], [[Holy Orders]] and [[Unction]] (and indeed, neither Chrismation nor Confession nor Unction are practiced by the Baptists even symbolically), and furthermore by their adherence to the heresy of "Believers Baptism", in which only adults (and children who have reached the "age of reason) are baptized, as a symbol, but in most Baptist conventions, also a prerequisite to partaking of the "Lord's Supper" (the also purely symbolic and non-Sacramental imitation of the Eucharist). These views will be expounded upon in the article.

Another view known as [[Wikipedia:Landmarkism |Landmarkism]] teaches that the first Baptists were the discples of St. John the Baptist. This, however, is extremely unlikely as 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.

Since there are at least sixty-five Baptist bodies with no structured ecclesiology, it's hard to precisely define their doctrines. Nevertheless, there are some points common to all Baptists. For example, most adherents place strong emphasis on the indepedence independence of the individual person ("individual soul liberty"), independence of the each church, affirmation of the believer's baptism, and distinctively American concepts such as freedom of religion and separation of church and state. ==Worship Services==Baptist services are substantially less formal than the Orthodox Divine Liturgy; at traditional Baptist churches, one may sing hymns, accompanied by an organ, there may be a traditional choir, and this might be followed by The Lord's Supper, as they refer to the [[Eucharist]], Bible readings, and as the main event, a long sermon. At less traditional Baptist churches, the traditional hymns, choir and organ are disposed of and replaced by a "Praise Band", which performs blasphemous "Christian Rock" music and other acts of impiety. Another feature of less traditional Baptist churches is the [[Wikipedia:Altar Call|Altar Call]], a blasphemy in which worshippers are called to the front of the church to confess their sins and proclaim their faith. Churches where this occurs usually lack a traditional "Lord's Table" as it is referred to in Baptist parlance. ==Incompatibility with Orthodox Christianity==

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 The various Baptist conferences set guidelines for membership, which include systems of belief, and other requirements, that member churches must maintain, however, since each individual congregation is independent, Baptists ascribe the only penalty the conference can impose on a congregation that drifts from its official doctrine is to expel it, which is not a doctrine called very compelling ecclesiastic penalty given that no one owns the rights to the word "Baptist"priesthood , and thus, a Baptist church that is separated from its former conference can continue operating as before, without any substantially visible changes. One interesting fact that one might observe, would be that if Baptists were in fact, the true form of the ancient Church, as is claimed, the [[Council of Nicea]] would never have occurred, and Arius would have been completely unrestrained in spreading his heresy, as there would have been no Pope [[Alexander of all believersAlexandria]] to take action against him. The Baptists also have an anti-sacerdotal interpretation of " This notion states that every Christian has direct access The Priesthood of All Believers", and in theory grant each individual the right to God read and the truths found in interpret the Biblefor themselves, without reference to Church tradition. In fact, the help majority of Baptists in a given congregation typically accept without criticism the Biblical interpretation posited by "the Preacher", essentially admitting an inability to interpret the scriptures on their own. The danger, from an aristocracy or hierarchy Orthodox perspective, of priests. Thus priests are made into mere church leaders or financial managersBaptism, compared to Orthodoxy, is that, not especially in light of the fact that Baptist services center around the Sermon, which can be up to an hour in length, as the main event, it is easy and possible for the congregation to be led radically astray by a rogue pastor, who is not kept in check by any form of Christian life as episcopal supervision. In contrast to an Orthodox [[Priest]], whose primary responsibility is to lead the congregation in the celebrants celebration of the [[Divine Liturgy]], of which the [[Eucharist]] is the main event, while at the same time, guiding the Orthodox life of the congregation through the hearing of confessions, and other forms of pastoral care, the role of a Baptist Pastor or Preacher, as they are usually called, is primarily to preach an interesting or elucididating Sermon; these tend to be substantially longer than the Orthodox homilies, and are generally unregulated by any fixed lectionary; some Baptist preachers engage in "expositional preaching", where they offer their own hermeneutical interpretation of each book of the Bible, whereas others take a different approach, condemning what they perceive to be the moral failings of modern society, or indeed their own congregants.

Baptists firmly believe in sola Scriptura (Scripture alone). Properly understood, this is the concept of Scripture as a unified whole, utilizing literary criticism called "historical Biblical scholarship," which was pioneered in the late 19th century, while rejecting the previous two millennia of commentaries by the [[Holy Fathers]].Orthodoxy, however, uses knows [[Holy Tradition]] to hold and interpret the [[Holy Scripture|Bible]]within itself. Like all Protestants, Baptists reject the [[Deuterocanon|deuterocanonical]] book books of the [[Old Testament]], considering them to be less than divinely inspired. Biblical inerrancy is yet another common heresy among fundamentalist Baptists. FurthermoreThis has lead, the individual in various Baptist is free communities, to interpret the Bible for himselfproliferation of unpleasant heresies that stem from a literal and uneducated interpretation of selective bible passages, most prominently, usually using "historical Biblical scholarshipPre-Millenial Dispensationalism," which was pioneered is popular in the late 19th centuryBaptist community. Because each Baptist church is independent, however, while rejecting the previous two millennia of commentaries by the [[Holy Fathers]]particular heretical interpretations vary from church to church.

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 act of baptism 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.

Through Anabaptist influence, Baptists 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 either Orthodox baptism or [[Eucharist|Holy Communion]]. This "tradition" arose from the legalistic, overly rationalistic theology of the [[Roman Catholic Church]], which puts pure the rational intellect above all else, whereas Orthodoxy places the noetic faculty above all. ===[[Holy Communion]]===While denying the sacramental nature of the [[Eucharist]], the Baptists do consider it to be one of two quasi-sacraments, referred to as Ordinances in Baptist terminology (the other being Baptism itself). Referring to it as the Lord's Supper (and likewise, the Altar or Holy Table becomes the Lord's Table, in the more formal congregations), Baptists deny the transubstantiation of the elements into the very body and blood of [[Christ]], instead interpreting it as a purely symbolic act, one which is nonetheless reserved for believers.

Baptists, like nearly all Protestants, hold a ''sola fide'' soteriology. This misinterpretation is an interpretation contrary to the Fathers, placing central emphasis of a Calvinist reading of Ephesians 2:8 ("For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God"). Their interpretation states that a person must only willfully repent of sin, accept the substitutionary payment of his own sin by faith in Christ's death, and declares that Jesus is Lord in order to attain salvation. Any Like most Western Christians, there is a dichotomy placed between "faith" and "works." Thus, any mention of the necessity of "works" such as fasting, prayer, or charity being necessary or even helpful for the soul are thus anathema . However, it should be noted that most Baptists, like other evangelical Christians, believe that a reformed life and continued spiritual growth following conversion are important proofs that one's conversion was genuine. When an individual claims to Protestantshave placed faith in Christ but does not show spiritual and moral growth, the sincerity of that individual's conversion is doubted.ConsequentlyBaptists, like other Western Christians, do not speak of [[theosis]] like the Orthodox. Like other evangelical Christians, most Baptists do speak of sanctification, a process whereby the saved individual is gradually reformed by the interior action of the Holy Spirit to become more and more like Christ. ==The Risk and Benefit of Ecumenical Relations== Having occupied an alien concept to extreme theological position largely driven by anti-Catholicism, the Baptistshave made themselves, from a theological and ecclesiological perspective, the denomination most removed from Orthodox Christianity. Their church polity, their views on the nature of the Sacraments, and their views on the interpretation of Scripture, are completely incompatible with Orthodox theology leaves little ; the Baptist churches do not recognize the validity of baptisms other than the "believer's baptism", and thus while a Baptist baptized using the trinitarian formula might be accepted into some Orthodox churches via chrismation, a cradle Orthodox could not be accepted into membership or no room for improvement after conversioncommunion at a Baptist church without rebaptism. This fundamental incompatibility is difficult to resolve, and ecumenical discussions of any theological nature are thus most likely fruitless, however, much less an individual's struggle Baptist church could in theory vote to free themselves disassociate itself from its membership, ascribe to all Orthodox doctrines, submit itself to the jurisdiction of an Orthodox Bishop, and be received into Orthodoxy in that manner; stranger things have happened, such as the epic Journey to Orthodoxy of the New Covenant Apostolic Order, see [[Evangelical Orthodox Church]].  That being said, there is possible ground for cooperation between some Baptist groups and the Orthodox on social issues. The Southern Baptist Convention in the United States is the largest non-Catholic denomination to forbid the ordination of women, oppose homosexual marriage, abortion, and other practices that are anathema to Orthodox Christians. Thus, political cooperation between that convention and the Orthodox churches could be highly fruitful. However, it is important that such cooperation be coordinated purely between the Orthodox episcopacy and the Baptist leadership, and that co-mingling of any sort between the congregations be avoided.  It should be noted that some aggressive, modern, Evangelical Baptist or ex-Baptist churches (of the "praise band and altar call" variety) are known for actively proselytizing against traditional "ethnic Churches", including all of the passions various Eastern and live Oriental Orthodox jurisdictions, and the Assyrian Church of the East, as well as various ethnic Catholic congregations. Their strategy typically involves sending congregants who have a particular ethnicity, who grew up in an increasingly godly life"ethnic church", back to that church, to attempt to recruit away from that church its parishioners. In Baptismthe use of this strategy, a healthy spiritual life is nothing but a nice postscriptthey are following similarly aggressive and reprehensible tactics also used by the [[Mormons]], the [[Seventh Day Adventists]], and other [[Heretics]].