Welcome to a brief story about Baptists. This is a true story. The people are real and really did the things described here. History is a long story from the creation of the world all the way to the present. No human can know all of history; only God knows that. None can know all the reasons that make things happen. Only God knows that. Ephesians 1:11 teaches, among other things, that God “works all things according to the counsel of His will.” The Bible, though, is the Word of God and has a lot of history in it. The history it gives us is to show how things got to be the way they are. It doesn’t say everything but enough to give us needed perspective.
So it is with this story about the Baptists. It is history and will give briefly some of the stories about how the people called “Baptists” came to be. It will have names. These are real people, not fictional characters that this writer invented. This history will give a short discussion of how Baptists began in the modern world and came to be a large Christian denomination. It will explain some beliefs. These are some of the “doctrines” that define Baptists. It will describe how what Baptists believe determines what they do. Sometimes difficulties have developed in Baptist life. These have often caused controversies. This history will try to explain some of those. Hundreds — no, thousands and millions — of people have made Baptists what they are today. This history will mention several names that have been influential in particular areas of Baptist ministry.
As in all histories, this does not tell everything. I have tried to make it accurate in what it does tell. I hope it will inspire you to do more reading in Baptist history, Baptist doctrine, and Baptist biography.
— Tom Nettles
