Independent Baptist
 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (December 2018) |
Independent Baptist churches (some also called Independent Fundamental Baptist, Independent Fundamentalist Baptist or IFB) are Christian congregations, generally holding to conservative (primarily fundamentalist) Baptist beliefs. The term independent refers to the doctrinal position of church autonomy and a refusal to join any affiliated Baptist denomination, convention or hierarchical structure.
History
The modern Independent Baptist tradition began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among local denominational Baptist congregations whose members were concerned about the advancement of modernism and liberalism into national Baptist denominations and conventions in the United States and the United Kingdom.[1]
In response to the concerns, some local Baptist churches separated en masse from their former denominations and conventions and reestablished the congregations as Independent Baptist churches. In other cases, the more conservative members of existing churches withdrew from their local congregations and set about establishing new Independent Baptist churches.[2]
Controversy
In late 2018, an investigation by Fort Worth Star-Telegram uncovered widespread cases of sexual abuse sometimes covered-up and mishandled.[3][4]
Demographics
Members of Independent Baptist churches comprised two and a half percent of the United States adult population according to a 2014 survey by the Pew Research Center.[5]
See also
- Association of Independent Methodists
- New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist
- List of Independent Baptist higher education institutions
References
- ^ Marsden (1980), pp. 55-62, 118-23.
- ^ Beale, David O. (1986). In Pursuit of Purity: American Fundamentalism Since 1850. BJU Press. ISBN 9780890843505.[page needed]
- ^ https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/december/independent-fundamentalist-baptist-church-abuse-scandal.html
- ^ https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/independent-fundamental-baptist-churches-sexual-abuse_n_5c117f67e4b0835fe326602e?ri18n=true
- ^ "Religious Composition of the U.S.". U.S. Religious Landscape Study. Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
External links
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