Independent Baptist Churches Alone Find Their Beginning with Christ

Three things must be true concerning the beginning of the church in order for it to be a Scriptural church.  It must have begun with the right Founder - Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18); begun in the right place - Palestine (where Christ lived); and begun at the right time - during Christ's personal ministry.  Any church that does not meet these requirements cannot be the church that the Lord built.  When and where did all these other denominations begin?  The following table showing the origin and founders of the various major denominations is prepared from the statements of church historians and is listed in the book "Baptist Doctrine In One Year" on page 237:

Name of Denomination and Year (A.D.)

Roman Catholic (Present Universal Church) — 610 A.D.
Greek Orthodox — 1054 A.D.
Lutheran, Martin Luther — 1530 A.D.
Episcopal, Henry VIII — 1530 A.D.
Presbyterian, John Calvin — 1541 A.D.
Congregational, Robert Browne — 1581 A.D.
Friends —1624 A.D.
Church of the Brethren (Dunkards), Alex Mack — 1708 A.D.
Free Will Baptists, Paul Palmer — 1727 A.D.
Seventh-Day Baptists, John C. Beissel — 1728 A.D.
Methodists, John and Charles Wesley — 1729 A.D.
United Brethren in Christ, P.W.Otterbein
& M. Boehm — 1800 A.D.
Evangelical, Jacob Albright — 1800 A.D.
Cumberland Presbyterians, Ewing, King
& McAdow — 1810 A.D.
Unitarians, W.E. Channing — 1825 A.D.
Churches of God in North America - John Winebrenner — 1825 A.D.
Plymouth Brethren, J.N. Darby — 1829 A.D.
Mormons (Latter Day Saints), Joseph Smith — 1830 A.D.
Primitive Baptists, Daniel Parker — 1831 A.D.
Christian, Alexander Campbell — 1837 A.D.
Church of Christ, Alexander Campbell — 1837 A.D.
Christadelphians, John Thomas — 1844 A.D.
Seventh-Day Adventists, James White — 1845 A.D.
Spiritualism, Andrew Jackson Davis — 1845 A.D.
Church of God (New Dunkards), George Patton — 1848 A.D.
Advent Christian Church, Jonathan Cummings — 1852 A.D.
Salvation Army, William Booth — 1865 A.D.
Jehovah's Witnesses, Charles Taze Russell — 1872 A.D.
Church of Christ Scientist, Mary Eddy Baker — 1879 A.D.
Church of God - Daniel S. Warner — 1880 A.D.
Christian and Missionary Alliance, A.B. Simpson — 1881 A.D.
Brethren Church — 1882 A.D.
Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant — 1885 A.D.
Swedish Evangelical (Free Church) — 1888 A.D.
United Evangelical — 1894 A.D.
Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A., C.P. Jones — 1894 A.D.
Church of the Nazarene, W.H. Hoople
& P.F. Bressee — 1907 A.D.
Church of God, Holiness - K.H. Burruss — 1914 A.D.
Assemblies of God — 1914 A.D.

Baptists are not Protestants, because we did not exit out of the Catholic church.  Lutherans are Protestants, which is clearly evidenced by their fondness of Mary, their teaching of Baptismal Regeneration and their belief that a minister has the power to forgive sin.  Protestants came out of Catholicism; but Catholicism hasn't come out of the Protestants.  Every Protestant church today teaches sacraments, which are unbiblical.  Martin Luther is still a wolf in sheep's clothing today, deceiving many people into believing that he was a genuine believer, when in reality, Mr. Luther taught that water baptism was absolutely essential to being saved.

In his Large Catechism, Luther wrote:

[I] affirm that Baptism is no human trifle, but that it was established by God Himself. Moreover, He earnestly and solemnly commanded that we must be baptized or we shall not be saved. [emphasis added] No one is to think that it is an optional matter like putting on a red coat. It is of greatest importance that we hold Baptism in high esteem as something splendid and glorious. The reason why we are striving and battling so strenuously for this view of Baptism is that the world nowadays is full of sects that loudly proclaim that Baptism is merely an external form and that external forms are useless... Although Baptism is indeed performed by human hands, yet it is truly God’s own action (1978, pp. 98-99).

SOURCE: Luther, Martin (1978), Luther’s Large Catechism, (Saint Louis, MO: Concordia).

It is extremely dangerous to follow the teachings of men.  Independent Fundamental Baptists do not follow doctrinally flawed men such as: Luther, Calvin and Arminius.  Rather, we SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES as Jesus commanded in John 5:39. Would to God that more people today would stop following doctrinally corrupt men such as John F. MacArthur, Joel Osteen and Rick Warren; and instead follow the Word of God. 

Jesus promised divine perpetuity to the local New Testament Church... "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).  Jesus was speaking about Himself; not Peter as many people wrongly think.  "Peter" here in the Greek means "petros" (i.e., a rock or pebble); BUT Jesus referred to Himself as "Petra" (i.e., the Rock, or a Mountain).  Jesus is simply saying that each believer is a stone built upon the Foundation, and that Foundation is Jesus Christ (1st Corinthians 3:11 — "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ").  Any church that is built upon Jesus Christ and the Truth of God's Word is invincible to Satanic attack. 

Thus, only way Satan can corrupt the church is from within, by subtly introducing new and strange doctrines which redefine the meaning of the truth.  Many false teachers have infiltrated the church today, bringing in damnable doctrines, such as: Lordship Salvation and a denial of the redeeming power of the literal, physical blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The sure way to play-it-safe is to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES as Jesus commanded in John 5:39, and forget the latest New York Times Best-Seller.


 

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