Without question, Baptists ARE protestants. What has been stated here is untruthful, and cannot be supported by history. The baptists were started, as a denomination, in early 1600’s by John Smyth. Therefore, baptists are protestants, as they are, in fact, arriving on the scene 1600 years AFTER Our Lord’s Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension, as a part of the protest of and revolt away from the Roman Catholic Church. History IS.
From http://www.reformedreader.org/smyth.htm
John Smyth, 1570-1612
The earliest General Baptist Church was thought to be founded about 1608 or 1609. Its chief founder was John Smyth and it was located in Holland. Smyth’s history begins in England where he was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1594. Soon after his ordination, his zeal landed him in prison for refusal to conform to the teachings and practices of the Church of England. He was an outspoken man who was quick to challenge others about their beliefs but was just as quick to change his own positions as his own personal theology changed. Smyth continually battled the Church of England until it became obvious that he could no longer stay in fellowship with this church. Thus, he finally broke totally from them and became a “Separatist”.
In 1609, Smyth, along with a group in Holland, came to believe in believer’s baptism (as opposed to infant baptism which was the norm at that time) and they came together to form the first “Baptist” church. In the beginning, Smyth was on track with the typical orthodox church position; but as time passed, as was so typical, he began changing his positions. First, Smyth insisted that true worship was from the heart and that any form of reading from a book in worship was an invention of sinful man. Prayer, singing and preaching had to be completely spontaneous. He went so far with this mentality that he would not allow the reading of the Bible during worship “since he regarded English translations of Scripture as something less than the direct word of God.”5 Second, Smyth introduced a twofold church leadership, that of Pastor and Deacon. This was in contrast to the Reformational trifold leadership of Pastor-Elder, Lay-Elders, and Deacons.
Third, with his newfound position on baptism, a whole new concern arose for these “Baptists”. Having been baptized as infants, they all realized that they would have to be re-baptized. Since there was no other minister to administer baptism, Smyth baptized himself and then proceeded to baptize his flock. An interesting note at this point that should be brought to bear is that the mode of baptism used was that of pouring, for immersion would not become the standard for another generation. Before his death, as seems characteristic of Smyth, he abandoned his Baptist views and began trying to bring his flock into the Mennonite church. Although he died before this happened, most of his congregation did join themselves with the Mennonite church after his death.
Taken from:
A Primer on Baptist History
The True Baptist Trail
by Chris
Traffanstedt
http://www.reformedreader.org/history/ford/
Your account is only one of the re-emergence of baptists/immersionists as a separate line throughout church history, whose distinctives were borne of Christ and His trained Apostles, keeping to the ordinances given in Matthew 28:19-20 and elsewhere in the NT. Baptists are not Protestants. They were not ever of those attempting to reform Romanism, or seeded from it.
You and I are not going to agree, as our forebears did not.
"We believe that the Baptists are the original Christians. We did not commence our existence at thereformation, we were reformers before Luther or Calvin were born; we never came from the Church of Rome, for we were never in it, but we have an unbroken line up to the apostles themselves. We have always existed from the very days of Christ, and our principles, sometimes veiled and forgotten, like a river which may travel underground for a little season, have always had honest and holy adherents. Persecuted alike by Romanists and Protestants of almost every sect, yet there has never existed a Government holding Baptist principles which persecuted others; nor I believe any body of Baptists ever held it to be right to put the consciences of others under the control of man. We have ever been ready to suffer, as our martyrologies will prove, but we are not ready to accept any help from the State, to prostitute the purity of the Bride of Christ to any alliance with the government, and we will never make the Church, although the Queen, the despot over the consciences of men. — Charles Spurgeon (From The New Park Street Pulpit, Vol.VII, Page 225)."
(emphassis mine)
I have not read the entyire article Chris wrote from which you excerpted, but It makes no sense for the web site of a "religion" that makes claim to being erxistant since the Apostles, host a writer that denies that claim.
I am an independent, Fundamental Baptist, BTW