2. A member of any of various Christian groups that affirm the necessity of baptism; usually of adults or older children, and by immersion, following a personal profession of Christ as their Savior.
3. A member of an evangelical church following the reformed tradition in worship, and believing in individual freedom, in the separation of church and state, and in baptism of voluntary, conscious believers.
During the 17th century two groups of Baptists emerged in England: General Baptists, who held that Christ's atonement applied to all people, and Particular Baptists, who believed it was only for the elect.
Baptist origins in the American colonies can be traced to Roger Williams, who established a Baptist church in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1639.
Baptist growth in the United States came about by the Great Awakening in the mid-18th century with a series of religious revivals that swept over the American colonies. The 1814 General Convention showed divisions among U.S. Baptists over slavery; a formal split occurred when the Southern Baptist Convention was organized in 1845 and was confirmed when the Northern (American) Baptist Convention was organized in 1907.
African-American Baptist churches provided leadership in the 1960's civil rights movement, notably through the work of Martin Luther King. Baptist belief emphasizes the authority of local congregations in matters of faith and practice; worship is characterized by extemporaneous prayer and hymn-singing as well as by the exposition of the scriptures in sermons.
2. Etymology: from Latin se-, "one's self" + baptista, "a baptizer".