Baptists in America: A History

by Thomas S. Kidd

By the early seventeenth century, some radical Separatists concluded that complete purity in the church demanded a rejection of infant baptism. Infant baptism reflected an inclusive, geographic view of church membership that both Roman Catholics and Anglicans embraced, introducing the children of Christian families into the church as quasi-members. But what if those children never experienced conversion? The practice necessarily brought into the church people who, according to the Calvinist view of Puritans and Separatists, were not members of the elect, the chosen people of God. Baptists sought to clear up this confusion, and to foster a pure church membership, by baptizing only those who had actually experienced conversion. Many of the Separatists adopted views similar to those of the Mennonites on issues such as the strong separation of church and state, as both experienced harsh persecution, fines, and imprisonment at the hands of political and church authorities. The Separatists and Mennonites undoubtedly influenced each other, as English and Continental radicals routinely crossed the North Sea in these decades, looking for economic opportunity and religious freedom.