Featured The Church Universal and Local

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

I don't know of any evidence* of The Word of God teaching us that the Church* is one, as in the sense of the word 'basileia', or 'kingdom'.

*other than false evidence recently redefined and rewritten to accommodate the new teaching of the One World 'Church'.

**ekklésia: an assembly, a (religious) congregation.

They are ekklésias: assemblies. The only kind of church Jesus and the Apostles know anything about.

Each individual local church is a body of Christ. The Bible speaks of 'One Body' as being One 'Kind' of Body = a local body of believers.

All local ekklésias: assemblies are bodies of believers with members in particular.

They are ekklésias: assemblies. The only kind of churches Jesus and the Apostles know anything about.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

The sense of the word church is a 'called-out assembly' from the Bible days until now (except for the redefinition attempted due to the Reformation and a need for Protestants to call themselves an 'Invisible' (nonexistent) church, when nothing of the kind exists or ever did exist.)

The 'church' is defined by the underlying Greek term translated 'church', which is ekklésia = 'called-out assembly'

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

Jesus built His kind of church assembly upon Himself, a large foundation stone, the Rock of Ages, The Cheif Cornerstone.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

The word 'basileia', or 'kingdom' comprises all the saved.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

The word 'basileia', or 'kingdom' comprises all the saved, without reference to time or space, that is, all who in the purpose of God are redeemed by virtue of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus, and are born again by the operation of His Spirit.

This is The word 'basileia', or 'kingdom', The Kingdom of God, never confused with something called 'the Church universal', 'the Church of God', 'the Body of Christ', until the 1600s.

Nope, only one sense to the word 'church' = a local assembly of Christ's believers.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

The word 'basileia', or 'kingdom' comprises all the saved, without reference to time or space.

Every time there is a 'church' referenced in the Bible, it is always a local assembly, or referring to many, or all, the local assemblies.

Never.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

Obviously, ALL churches mentioned in the Bible are local.

No way.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

Crazy, actually, if you try and think about it.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

All are. Period.

Never.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

Yep.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

O.K.

NUN SUCH.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

Right.

Of course.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

Hands-on churches reproduce themselves and they are the only kind of churches there are.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

What about that?

And is the figment of Satan's imagination; not the Bible.

I don't know of any Bible verses 'teaching' this, Spiritually.

...issues on the intensely practical plane of our earthly life.

 

The issue is not whether you or I, or billions of others, understand it, or not.
The issue is whether it is 'taught' in the scriptures anywhere, as part of any Spiritual understanding of what the author intended to say. .

I'm thinking that generally speaking this is not a scripture verse, right?

Christ is one Bridegroom.

His Churches that He founded and organized as a Divine Oragnism/ Organization and the saved and faithful members therein, is one Bride, when they are gathered together as the church (assembled) of the First Born, in Heaven.

That scripture also mentions "the General Assembly", which will be those saved, un-faithful to assemble and worship God, in the Old Testament and the saved, but un-faithful to assemble and worship God that were un-churched, un-scripturally Baptised individuals that were members of His Kingdom on Earth, but not one of His scriptural churches.

The Family of God are all saved souls, Old and New Testament.

Among those who are part of the all-saved of all time (The Family of God) The Kingdom of God is all saved souls alive on the Earth, at any given time.

Among those who are saved souls in The overall Family of God, and alive in The Kingdom of God are those who are saved and scripturally baptized, and faithful to assemble and worship Him as members of one of His churches, structured according to the New Testament pattern that is His kind of called-out assembly, which was Divinely Founded as an Organism/ Organization of Jesus'.

Those saved in the Old Testament that were faithful to assemble and worship God according to His commands and patterns and those in the New Testament that were faithful to assemble and worship God according to His commands and patterns will make up Christ's Bride in Heaven.

Again, "The General Assembly", in Heaven, will be those saved, un-faithful to assemble and worship God, in the Old Testament and the saved, but un-faithful to assemble and worship God that were un-churched, un-scripturally Baptised individuals that were members of His Kingdom on Earth, but not one of His scriptural churches.

I see where you begin to philosophize and wander around doing a bunch of thinking in your head, without scripture.

The Church is existent, you say, and want to equate that with a born-again spirit and say they both are invisable.

Cute, but a called-out assembly of the kind Jesus Founded is always visable and a local congregation of scripturally baptized believers.

Here you philosophize and wander around doing a bunch of thinking in your head, without scripture again.

When God identifies a saved individual outside the membership of one of the kind of local churches He Founded, they are saved people in Jesus' Kingdom.

Here you are describing individuals who have been saved and are now in heaven, i.e., a part of The Family of God.

Here, again, you are describing individuals who have been saved and are now in heaven, i.e., a part of The Family of God.

Usually, people would say "The Church universal" is every saved person on earth and are descibing The Kingdom of God, thus an Organism

Here you philosophize and wander around doing a bunch of thinking in your head, without scripture again.

The pattern in the Bible for a New Testament church assembly involves believer's baptism, meaning the professing saved souls who wish to be baptized to become a member of one of His churches must bring forth fruit meet for repentance, right? to give an indication of being a truly saved soul.

You know as God identifies them, lost souls are not actual members.

This philosophy is irrelevant to whether a 'church' is a local, called-out assembly of baptized believers, which is the only kind of 'church' The New Testament or Jesus ever talk about.

There is no such Bible animal as 'THE' Body of Christ, other than when speaking of each individual body of believers and members in particular or several or all the individual local bodies of baptized believers.

There is no ONE BIG THING, called 'THE' Body of whatever, or 'THE' ONE BIG CHURCH that is INVISIBLE or VISIBLE,

any more than there is ONE BIG HUSBAND that is INVISIBLE or VISIBLE when the Bible says, 'THE' Husband of one wife, or 'THE' Husband is 'THE' head of the wife, along with dozens of other examples of the use of a word, generically speaking.

It's just the English language. And it is no different than the Greek.

'THE' "One Big INVISIBLE or VISIBLE Husband is the head of all wives" is not the English language. Or the Greek.

Here you philosophize and wander around doing a bunch of thinking in your head, without scripture again and this philosophy is irrelevant to some local churches and whether a 'church' is a local, called-out assembly of baptized believers, which is the only kind of 'church' The New Testament or Jesus ever talk about.

 

"The Universal, Invisible, spiritual theory of the church WAS INVENTED!

"Such a thing didn't exist for over fifteen hundred years
after Christ started His church!

"But this is now the working theory of all Protestantism -
and sad to say many Baptists have unwittingly been snared by this theory."

I. A Theory Without A Leg To Stand On
by Elder Roy Mason

"One of the most widespread theories of this day is the theory that the church that Jesus founded was not a local, visible assembly, but a Universal Invisible Church to which all believers belong, and of which they were made a part through a mysterious, mystical Holy Spirit baptism. It will be the purpose of the author to show the fallacy of this theory in this book..."

II. Why And When This Theory Started

"There is no mention of a Universal Church in the Bible.

"The warmest advocates of the theory will of necessity admit that nearly every instance in which ecclesia, translated church, is found, reference is to an actual, local, visible church.

"The other few times ecclesia is used, according to the laws of language, the term is used in a generic or abstract sense, and does not at all refer to an all-inclusive Universal, Invisible something. This will be dealt with later.

"Not only does the New Testament know nothing of a Universal, Invisible Church, Christians of the early centuries knew nothing of such. I have read rather widely in the writings of the early church fathers - the writings of the Christian leaders who lived in the early days of Christianity all the way from Polycarp who knew John the apostle, on down.

"In their writings, they don't speak of an all-embracing spiritual Universal, Invisible Church. Doubtlessly they would have been amazed at such a doctrine.

"They speak of church and churches - never of a vague Universal, Invisible monstrosity composed of all the saved everywhere.

"They knew the Greek language too well to try to use the term ecclesia in such a sense anyhow.

"As time passed, Satan managed to introduce heresies and perversions among the churches.

"These eventually produced the Roman Catholic Church.

"Bear in mind that Roman Catholicism did not spring full-grown into the world.

"It is the product of error and false doctrine accumulated over a period of several centuries. Dr. R. K. Maiden, former editor of the Word and Way, of Missouri, has the following to say about the rise of the Universal Church theory:

"The conception and adoption of the Universal Church Theory is the parent heresy in ecclesiology.

"How and when did this theory originate?

"The change from the idea of the individual, self-governing church, to the Universal Church had its origin in one of the most colossal blunders of all Christian history - that of making 'ecclesia' and 'basileia' identical.

"So far from being identical, the difference between 'church' and 'kingdom' is so great as to require that they be contrasted rather than compared. Jesus and the writers of the New Testament never confused the two terms. The taproot of the Universal Church theory is the identification of the church and kingdom, making the two coincident, coextensive, and coterminous.

"The theory of the identity of church and kingdom and of the universality of the church were twin born. New Testament writers knew nothing of a world church.

"As nearly as can be determined, the first formal, official identification of church and kingdom was projected when the Roman Empire became nominally Christianized, about the time of the consummation of the great ecclesiastical apostasy.

"It was the Ecumenical Council of Nice, called by Emperor Constantine, that affirmed and projected as its creed the idea of a 'Catholic' World Church.

"From then down to the Lutheran Reformation of the sixteenth century, the universal VISIBLE theory of the church (as being all local, plus including every 'church' everywhere that you could touch and feel) held the field (Roman Catholicism), except for the scattered, comparatively obscure, hunted and persecuted little churches known by various names at different times - churches of the New Testament type in doctrine and polity.

"Following the Reformation period and born of the Reformation movement, there emerged a new theory of the church - the UNIVERSAL, INVISIBLE SPIRITUAL THEORY." (to be different than Roman Catholicism and their UNIVERSAL VISIBLE 'CHURCH', above.)


"The Universal Visible Church theory is an utter necessity of the Roman Catholic Church.

"There is not the slightest resemblance between the simply organized, self-governing churches of New Testament times, and the great, complex hierarchical pope-dominated institution that we know as the Roman Catholic Church today.

"Conditions in that church became so intolerable that they produced the Protestant Reformation.

"Let it be remembered, and never forgotten that Baptists are NOT Protestants.

"They existed long before the rise of Protestantism.

"When the Protestant reformers split the Catholic world, they did not make the radical changes they would have made had they gone back to the Bible as their standard of life, and doctrine, and conduct.

"They of necessity rejected the Roman Church as the Universal Visible Church, but they did not go back to the New Testament Church type.

"What would they do?

"With what would they replace the doctrine of the Universal Visible Church?

"They solved the problem by coining the doctrine of the Universal INVISIBLE Church.

"So the Universal, Invisible, spiritual theory of the church WAS INVENTED!

"Such a thing didn't exist for over fifteen hundred years
after Christ started His church!

"But this is now the working theory of all Protestantism -
and sad to say many Baptists have unwittingly been snared by this theory."





THE MOTHER OF HERESIES

from:
EternalSalvation.Org --- dedicated to the study of eternal life.

 

Wouldn't it be nice if Bible teachings just 'flew off the page' and were

So, bring it.

Bring your Bible.

The entire OP is based on misdirected imagination, not Hermeneutics, or even elementary Bible reading.

Have you ever 'read' Romans? or Romans 12, or Romans 12:5? that you cited?

Romans 1 speaks starting in vs 12; "That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

13 "Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

14 "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

15 "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also".

These are real church members at Rome.

12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,"

These are brethren at Rome with human bodies.

12:2b has, " be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God".

12:3a? "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think;

but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

By the time we get to the verse before your proof-text(?)

Paul talks about these brethren and "every man" that make up the local body of Christ at Rome and says that they have many members.

Paul says all the members don't have the same office.

4 "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:"

And your proof-text for every saved person being in a Universal 'Body' is not stated or implied, but just the opposite.

Have you ever read it?

5 "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another."

The "many members" don't have the same office, but they do all each have gifts that they exercise and all those members with their gifts make up one local body of believers at Rome.

Paul goes on to discuss the various gifts given to different members, after saying that "every one members one of another."

Each of those members of that local church body at Rome are "every one members one of another" and are what makes the local church body at Rome "one body in Christ."

Was Paul supposed to say that they are not brethren and not members one of another and not one body, but a disjointedness of body parts skattered here, there, and yawn, of people all around the world and in heaven?

That's not a 'body'. Not according to I Corinthians you cited.

The Bible teaches that this body has members one of another "having gifts" and this isn't the only place the Lord explains His local church bodies as having gifts which every joint (an Architectural metaphor) supplies.

6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us",

Who? The saints in the body of Christ at Rome.

"whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

7 "Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

8 "Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness."

These members of the local body of believers at Rome were each given gifts and each were members one of another.

When reading the Bible, if the plain sense makes sense, there is no reason to go hog wild crazy saying that people who read are "navel-gazing private groups".

You're talking about the apple of God's Eye, the pillar and ground of the truth, a habitation of God through the Spirit that Jesus Divinely founded and promised to be with until He Comes Again and that is His ekklesia, His called-out together assemblies He called, "My church".

Your position never has had any Bible to go with it.

The passage in I Corinthians 12:13 was dealt with handily at What kind of 'body' was it, when the saints at Corinth were "baptized into one body"?
and received only a "yeah, well my dad's bigger than your dad" response, like here.

Let God be true.

That's right. Give it up. Ask, seek, and knock about something, sometimes!

Really good thought that is not a thing to do with all saved people of all times being in the Family of God.

Good capital letter try, but there is no teaching on this, whatsoever, in the Word of God, provided one thing; you have to stay within the covers of the Bible.

From cover to cover.

If you source and ask Protestants, they have their own writings on it, as do Protestant who think they are Baptists.

The Universal Invisible theory of an ekklesia(?) came from the ones who claim to be a Universal Visible ekklesia(?), which came from The Synagogue of Satan.

Baptists are Biblical and have always existed as innumerable local church ekklesias(!!!) throughout history, since the time of The Baptist.

Those are the ones Jesus promised to be with and are the churches, bodies, temples, etc., mentioned in the Bible.

Jesus does not know of any other kind.

 

There was One Body of Christ in Rome.

And there was One Body of Christ in Corinth.

That's what it says. Yes, sir.

I don't have any clue as to what you think it actually says.

I've never seen a Universal Invisible church called One Body in the Bible.

'Bodies' are net together and joined, just like the Bible speaks of the human body compared to The Lord's local church bodies.

I really can't imagine that you have brought any of what I have said under any real consideration, at all. How is it missable?

Because you state with a presupposition and bury your head in the sand to any other possibility?

"The Baptist Bride!! What an awesome truth.

"The Bride of Christ is a Baptist Bride, chosen, prepared, arrayed, and made ready for this role, and fitted to this prescribed end and the consequent glory that shall be experienced.

"Surely, those who are Baptists should be aware of this great future, and they should be properly and submissively conducting themselves as befits the Bride that is soon to be wedded to God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Imagine the consummation of this stupendous event, when Christ shall take unto Himself His Bride, whom He has chosen, purchased, ransomed, and prepared.

"Could any other be found to be suitable to be married to Him, Who is the Perfection of all that is called God?"

Amen, brother, Oscar Mink couldn't be more On Point.

Thank you, I needed that article for someone who was asking about The Bride of Christ.

Read anything by Oscar Mink, even if it is his grocery list!

In the introduction Br. Thomas says quite astutely;

"Clearly, those who may disagree with the position that Elder Mink holds on this subject do so because they are, generally speaking, not Baptists themselves.

"Many claim to be Baptists who, in reality, are simply Protestants in disguise.

"Thus, the exclusivity that God exercises in the choice of a Bride for His Son is not well received by non-Baptists. And this, humanly speaking, is understandable.

"To such, the idea of a Baptist Bride is not pleasant, for it excludes them from participation in the“Brideship”. It leaves them out.

"A careful, prayerful, yearning for truth attitude should be exhibited by all who claim to be Christian.

"If this be the case, then one must either submit to the Bible and all that it teaches on this subject or be found to be in rebellion against God.

"Again, a careful, prayerful yearning for truth will produce an attitude of acquiescence, and the truth will prevail.

"May God, in His abundant grace, be pleased to lead every reader of this work to study it carefully and prayerfully..."

 

Not Biblical.

 

Oh, I figured it out. You have to add in all that extra stuff by pulling the words 'one' & 'body' completely out of context and just using Invisible ink to fill in the rest on your own.

One big Universal called-out together assembly that is not assembled together in any fashion, but that's O.K., because, shhhh... it's invisible and that IS Biblical(???)

I wondered what the blank pages in the back of the Bible was talking about.

Dunno why they talk about members one of another in Romans and members in particular in I Corinthians(?)

They must just really be stupid.

And to think God has apparently hid those Invisible things, like people and the pastor's paycheck, etc., from the wise and prudent and just revealed the Invisible ekklesia to babes!

Wow!

Fantastic!

 

One Lord, one faith once delivered to the saints, one kind of baptism = water baptism (the Holy Spirit has never baptized anything/ Jesus baptized His church He founded in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost with His Shekinah Glory, The Holy Spirit). Which means there is one baptism = water baptism, not two, water baptism and Spirit baptism. There is no such thing as Spirit baptizing anything.

One kind of body like Jesus founded as His local church body ekklesia called-out together assembly, 'building', 'temple', 'house', etc.

Not two kinds of bodies, a local body and a Universal Invisible Imaginary church body ekklesia called-out together assembly, 'building', 'temple', 'house'(?), etc., nothingness body that does nothing at anytime for anyone and is not a product gained from Bible reading.

There is one kind of body, just like there is one kind of baptism.

One Lord and the Head of the local church assembly at Rome, the same as He is the Head of the 7 churches of Asia, etc., and every other local church body that is organized according to the New Testament pattern and has a candlestick.

Without the correct New Testament pattern as a local assembly of Scripturally baptized believers and Christ as their Head and not saying He is the Head over every saved person as if that is 'the true church' forget about having a candlestick with the special teaching and guiding Presence of the Holy Spirit, because all bets are off.

The faith once and for all delivered to the saints in the New Testament, to the Lord's churches that preach the Gospel, baptism converts, and TEACH THEM ALL THINGS that Jesus Commanded and continued with one faith throughout history, until Jesus Comes Again.

Unto God be Glory in His church(es) throughout all ages, world without end.

One kind of baptism and that is baptism immersion in water.

Same One Lord as the Head of that local church body at Corinth, as the Holy Spirit led and guided those saints there to be water baptized into that one, in unity, body of believers that were members one of another and members in particular.

For by one Spirit are we who are saved at Corinth Commanded and Guided to be water baptized into one united body together and it doesn't matter that Jews and Gentiles were all Led by the Spirit to be baptized into membership together at Corinth, because you certainly were both saved by and made to drink of the same Spirit.

What do you think I Corinthians 12:13 actually teaches, as a Bible verse?

"13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

One kind of baptism in water in all the Lord's churches, which are all organized as the same kind of one body in unity of it's members together as Jesus' first church ekklesia was. Each individual true church ekklesia has Jesus as her Head and just like with a human body, when the head turns or moves the body follows.

One kind of local called-out together church ekklesia assembling and congregating regularly to wash her with the Word, to be presented to Jesus as His Bride.

He has always had His local assemblies as His Bride with His Presence in them to teach and guide and ADD MEMBERS HE CHOOSES and gives them each gifts to work together as an Holy Temple, Building, church, body of Jesus Christ.

You don't think His Bride was dead do you? until the Reformation came along?(?)

con't

 

The Lord Jesus is the Head of each individual, properly structured, ekklesia of His, as the kind He Divinely Originated.

Baptist churches that have a candlestick, today, are that way because like begets like, as Jesus Promised to be with His kind of church, which btw had a Divine Origin.

True Baptist churches had a Divine Origin, in Jesus Christ. Did you see what gotquestions.org said about that? I'll try to find it.

Got questions.org What is the Baptist Church, and what do Baptists believe? | GotQuestions.org

"Tracking down the origins of the Baptist Church in general is an exercise in ancient church history. From the days of the apostles, there was one Church of Jesus Christ, with a single body of doctrine taught by the apostles. The various local churches preached repentance and confession of sins, along with baptism by immersion as an outward sign of the new life in Christ (Romans 6:3-4). Under the authority of the apostles themselves as to doctrine, each church was independently governed by the leaders God placed in them. There was neither denominational hierarchy, nor distinction of “us/them” within the various churches. In fact, Paul soundly rebuked the Corinthians for such divisions (1 Corinthians 3:1-9). When disputes over sound doctrine arose, the apostles declared God’s teaching based on the words of the Lord and the Old Testament Scriptures. For at least 100 years, this model remained the standard for all churches. Thus, the characteristics that defined the earliest churches are the same that most Baptist churches identify with today.

"Starting around A.D. 250, with the intense persecutions under Emperor Decius, a gradual change began to take place as the bishops (pastors) of certain notable churches assumed a hierarchical authority over the churches in their regions (e.g., the church of Rome). While many churches surrendered themselves to this new structure, there was a substantial number of dissenting churches who refused to come under the growing authority of the bishops. These dissenting churches were first called “Puritans” and are known to have had an influence as far as France in the 3rd century. As the organized church gradually adopted new practices and doctrines, the dissenting churches maintained their historical positions. The consistent testimony of the church for its first 400 years was to administer baptism to only those who first made a profession of faith in Christ. Starting in A.D. 401, with the fifth Council of Carthage, the churches under the rule of Rome began teaching and practicing infant baptism. As a result, the separatist churches began re-baptizing those who made professions of faith after having been baptized in the official church. At this time, the Roman Empire encouraged their bishops to actively oppose the dissenting churches, and even passed laws condemning them to death. The re-baptizers became known as Anabaptists, though the churches in various regions of the empire were also known by other names, such as Novatianists, Donatists, Albigenses, and Waldenses.

"These Anabaptist congregations grew and prospered throughout the Holy Roman Empire, even though they were almost universally persecuted by the Catholic Church. By the Reformation, Martin Luther’s assistants complained that the Baptists in Bohemia and Moravia were so prevalent, they were like weeds. When John Calvin’s teachings became commonly known, many of the Waldenses united with the reformed church. Menno Simons, the founder of the Mennonites, organized the scattered community of Dutch Baptist churches in 1536. From this point on, the various Anabaptist churches gradually lost their ancient names and assumed the name “Baptist,” though they retained their historic independence and self-rule. The first English Baptist church was founded in 1612 by Thomas Helwys and John Murton, who had come under the influence of the Dutch Puritans in Amsterdam. This group became known as General Baptists, for their Arminian belief in general atonement. Another English Baptist church was formed after a schism from Henry Jacob’s congregation in London in 1633. This group held a Calvinistic theology of particular atonement and became the main influence in the English Particular Baptist movement.

"The first Baptist church in America was founded by Roger Williams in 1638. During the colonial and federal periods, the Baptist churches prospered and spread, while being only loosely organized as a fellowship. The first clear national organization was the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in 1814. This was called by Luther Rice to address the need of raising funds and workers to carry out the missionary mandate in foreign countries. Some Baptist churches resisted this missionary emphasis and became known as Primitive Baptists. When the Civil War broke out, the Baptists in the North and the South broke their fellowship and formed separate denominations. Today, there are at least 65 different Baptist associations or denominations in the United States. Some retain a strict autonomy for the local church, while others have more of a denominational structure. Some have very conservative views of doctrine and practice, while others are quite progressive and liberal. Even within some groups there is a wide divergence of practice, so it is hard to pin down exactly what they believe."

Can you believe what a startlingly accurate depiction of the Divine Origin of Baptists comes to us here from an internet answer site?

Baptists have a Divine Origin.

Although the sentence in bold blue above is common among 'regular history buffs', as Historic Baptists we would tell that a baptized Baptist, John Clark, continued the Baptist heritage here in America, so it wasn't Roger Williams, who never was a real Baptist.

So, there you have it. You have been influenced by a man Commissioned by the Creator God of the Universe to introduce you to the Bible truth of Jesus' churches/ ekklesias being local only, through to exposure to the Baptist Bride and The Divine Origin, historically, of true Baptist church Organizations/ Organisms.

Take the shoes off of your feet, because this ground is Holy.

Have you prayed to know the 'true church' out there,
among thousands of different kinds, or something?

Maybe, you should?

Yes, Jesus was the Head of His church at Jerusalem, He was the Head of the church of Christ at Rome, He was the Head of that one body of Christ and members in particular, at Corinth, and Jesus is the Head of each of the 10s of thousands of His churches He has perpetuated, since He was here on Earth.

 

Oscar Mink sure has a lot of Bible for what he professes and he knows how to handle it.

After all, studying in the Bible gives Baptists a 'Homecourt Advantage'.