Back to Baptist Overview Divisions

General and Particular, Landmark and Convention.

Baptists have argued from the beginning: General Baptists versus Particular Baptists over the scope of the atonement; Seventh Day and Free Will Baptists as further alternatives; Landmarkists over the very nature of the church; and in 1845 American Baptists split into northern and southern conventions over slavery and the mission boards. This page maps the divisions and their continuing echoes.

Baptist ClaimBaptists share core convictions about believers' baptism, congregational polity, and religious liberty, but they divide over doctrine, church order, race, and politics.

Main ReceiptsFirst London (1644) and Orthodox (1678) for Particular; Standard (1660) for General; New Hampshire (1833) and the Abstract (1858) for the American convergence.

Live DisputeModern Baptists divide over Calvinism and Arminianism, subscription to confessions, the authority of associations and conventions, ordination, race, and politics.

Component Map

6 pieces that have to be kept distinct.

General vs. ParticularSeventeenth-century Baptists split over the atonement: General Baptists held general redemption; Particular Baptists held particular election and atonement.

Seventh Day and Free WillSeventh Day Baptists observed Saturday as the Sabbath; Free Will Baptists followed Arminian emphases on free will and general grace.

LandmarkismIn the nineteenth century, James R. Graves taught that only local churches are true churches and that Baptist succession runs from the New Testament apart from other denominations.

Southern Convention Split (1845)American Baptists divided when the Triennial Convention refused to seat slaveholding missionaries and the Southern Baptist Convention was formed.

Race and FellowshipBlack Baptists built their own conventions after emancipation, sustaining faith, freedom, and education against white Baptist exclusion.

Modern DivisionsConservative and moderate Baptists split over biblical criticism, cooperation, and culture in the twentieth century; the Southern Baptist Convention's conservative resurgence realigned the largest Baptist body.

Receipt Trail

Start here before drawing conclusions.

First London (1644)The Particular Baptist confession's Calvinist articles on election and the decrees.

Standard Confession (1660)The General Baptist confession's broader statement of atonement and grace.

Abstract of Principles (1858)A seminary standard testifying to the theological tensions of the mid-nineteenth century.