Baptist History

The Church That Jesus Built: A Brief Baptist History

Because of the incredible power, tyranny, and persecution wielded by the Roman Catholic Church for over a thousand years, the true history of genuine Christianity from the time of Jesus Christ has largely been buried under a heap of lies and deliberate suppression.

Many people assume that the only options in church history are “Catholic or Protestant.” This is a false dichotomy. For starters, Catholicism is not Christianity. It is rebranded paganism—a mixture of Babylonian mystery religion, Roman imperial cult, and pagan philosophy dressed in Christian terminology. It is no more the church of the New Testament than Monopoly money is legal tender.

Furthermore, to imply that the only legitimate option outside Rome is the camp that “protested” out of the Catholic Church in the 1500s is to say that genuine Christianity did not exist from 313 AD until Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses. That is utter hogwash.

The Promise of Perpetuity

“Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
— Matthew 16:18 (KJV)

Jesus Christ made a promise: “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). If the gates of hell have not prevailed, then the church Christ built has existed continuously from the first century to this very hour. There has never been a time when faithful, local assemblies of baptized believers were absent from the earth.

The church, local visible congregations of believers practicing the same faith, the same baptism, and the same preaching of the Word delivered by Scripture, have existed since the first century.

Baptist: Not a Denomination

Baptists are not a denomination. The very concept of a denomination is man-made and unscriptural. There is no mention anywhere in the Bible of a denomination. Denominations are organizations created by men that bind local churches together under external authority. A New Testament church is led by a biblically-qualified Pastor and autonomous under Jesus Christ, its only Head. The moment a church yields a portion of its authority to any external source—a convention, a council, or a state—it ceases to be a legitimate New Testament church.

“Denominations have done more to destroy the work of God than taverns have. In fact, it is tragic how denominations destroy churches.”
— Dr. Jack Hyles

Baptist churches, under various names, have existed since the time of Christ. The core doctrines have remained unchanged: baptism by immersion after a personal profession of faith in Jesus Christ, the absolute authority of Scripture, the autonomy of the local church, and the separation of church and state. These are not “Protestant” distinctives. They are New Testament distinctives.

The Trail of Blood

Dr. J. M. Carroll documented this unbroken line of faithful churches in his classic work, The Trail of Blood. He traced the “churches of Christ” from the first century through the Dark Ages, showing how they were hunted, persecuted, and martyred by the Roman Catholic system wherever they were found. They were called by many names: Novatians, Donatists, Paulicians, Waldenses, Albigenses, Anabaptists. But they were the same people: baptized believers gathering in independent local assemblies, holding to the same faith once delivered to the saints.

When the state church of Rome gained power under Constantine, the true churches refused to bow. They refused to baptize infants. They refused to submit to pagan state-appointed bishops and popes and other manmade hierarchy. They refused to mix the gospel with pagan rituals. For this, they were hunted and killed.

The Reformation Did Not “Restore” the Gospel

A common myth is that Martin Luther “rediscovered” the gospel. The truth is that faithful Baptist churches were preaching the gospel before, during, and after Luther’s protest. The reason most people do not know this is that the Protestant Reformers themselves persecuted Baptists. Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and the other magisterial reformers all supported the execution of Anabaptists—men and women who held to believer’s baptism and the separation of church and state.

“Martin Luther did not ‘rediscover’ the gospel. Baptists were preaching the gospel before, during, and after Luther’s ‘protest.’ The reason you don’t know that is because men like Luther persecuted Baptists.”
— Spencer Smith

The Reformation was a protest within the Catholic system by men who remained committed to a state church. It did not restore the New Testament pattern of a regenerate church membership, believer’s baptism, and local church autonomy. That pattern never died. It was preserved in the hillsides, catacombs, and remote valleys of Europe by the people who refused to compromise.

Our Heritage

We stand in a lineage that stretches back two thousand years to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We are not a protest movement. We are not a denomination. We are the same kind of church that met in the upper room, that gathered at Philippi, that assembled at Corinth, and that endured the persecutions of Rome.

Every local Baptist church that holds to the faith once delivered to the saints, practices baptism by immersion after salvation, preaches the Word without compromise, and acknowledges no head but Christ is a direct continuation of that original New Testament church in Jerusalem. The gates of hell have not prevailed. They never will.

“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.”
— Jeremiah 6:16 (KJV)

For Further Reading

Here are just a few works that document the unbroken history of Baptist churches from the time of Christ to the present day:

The Trail of Blood by J. M. Carroll — A classic survey tracing Baptist churches through the centuries, showing their persecution under Rome and their faithfulness to New Testament doctrine.
The Baptist History Notebook by Berlin Hisel — A detailed look at Baptists through the centuries and the many horrors they suffered standing for the faith.
History of the Baptists by Thomas Armitage — A comprehensive historical account, demonstrating the continuity of Baptist faith and practice from the apostolic age.
The Baptists: History of a Great People by John T. Christian — A thorough examination of Baptist history, documenting their distinctives and their unbroken lineage.
A History of the Baptists by John T. Christian — An expanded treatment tracing Baptist origins to Christ and the apostles, refuting the notion that Baptists began with the Reformation.
The Baptist Heritage by H. Leon McBeth — A well-documented history showing the continuity of Baptist churches from the New Testament era through the modern age.
Pillars of Orthodoxy: The History of the Baptist People by David Benedict — A classic work tracing Baptist distinctives from the first century, emphasizing their role as the original New Testament church.
The Anabaptist Story by William R. Estep — While focused on the Anabaptist movement, this book demonstrates their connection to earlier Baptist-like groups and their persecution by both Catholics and Protestants.

Tip: Many of these historic works are available for free in the public domain through online archives, or may be found in print through independent Baptist distributors.