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 Gods own action (1978, pp. 98-99).
SOURCE: Luther, Martin (1978), Luthers 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.