2 - Seeds for Diversity amid an Early Anglo Prevalence

Summary

The preceding chapter mapped the complex and variegated theological and cultural backgrounds out of which the numerous traditions that collectively constituted the early Baptist movement developed. In the process, the requisite components were assembled from which to identify and evaluate the distinctive features characteristic of the Baptist movement during the first phase of its evolution. This foundation enhances our possibilities for exploring the ways Baptist denominations have woven specific theological and cultural elements together in pursuit of the dreams that have motivated them. This chapter identifies some of the dreams that guided the development of major early Baptist traditions and explores the shaping influences originating from their cultural and theological environments.

ANGLO, ANGLO-AMERICAN, AND ANGLO-CANADIAN BAPTIST TRADITIONS

Attempts to define accurately Baptists under a single denominational rubric tend to generate confusion and frustration because this aggregation of churches lacks the centralizing authority often associated with an officially recognized denominational bishop, episcopacy, creed, or unifying structure. For that reason, the ensuing pages illustrate how, within its first two centuries of existence, the Baptist movement came to incorporate several independently generated traditions that had no connections to prior Baptist bodies. Other independently spawned Baptist traditions came later in time. Therefore, the movement cannot be conceived as originating out of a single core from which subsequent schisms produced division (although schismatic separations certainly did occur). This means that efforts to characterize Baptist churches predominantly according to the characteristics they tended to share in the early phases of their history can easily brand them with an Anglo identity that obscures the contributions derived independently from other cultural sources, which make the varied traditions within the Baptist movement distinctive. So, how might the world of Baptist churches best be understood? To answer that question, the major Baptist traditions that emerged during the first phase of Baptist development must be introduced and their distinguishing characteristics isolated. Subsequently, their meaning as parts of the larger Baptist movement can be explored.