The development of the Primitivist impulse in American Baptist life, 1707--1842

This dissertation examined the development of the Primitivist impulse among American Baptists from 1707 to 1842. The dissertation first examined the roots of the primitivist impulse for American Baptists in the Regular and Separate Baptist traditions. Regular Baptists displayed their primitivist tendencies in their concern to imitate the authoritative and ordained patterns of Scripture for church life. They followed the rule of the word of God by making the Scripture a blueprint for establishing church order and by imitating the church rites of the primitive Christians appropriated the power and authentic spirituality of the New Testament church.;Separate Baptists renewed the biblicism and primitivism inherent in the Puritan tradition and created an atmosphere for renewed emphasis on following the patterns of the New Testament church. Their emphasis on creating the pure church led to reforms intended to repurify apostatized New England churches. Separate Baptists, like Isaac Backus, based their reforms on the fact that the primitive church served as the normative example for all church life. They desired to be agents for the revival of true religion. John Leland combined the primitivism of Separate Baptists with a strong individualism. Southern Separate Baptists recreated the New Testament by emphasizing church rites and following the Holy Spirit.;The dissertation next examined how the primitivist impulse empowered the "antimission movement" which arose in the early nineteenth century. The primitive impulse led antimission Baptists to oppose organizational and theological changes which arose in Baptist life. Primitivists focused more attention on the local church and believed that extracongregational organizations were unscriptural and were innovations in Baptist polity. Primitivists also emphasized a simple, charismatic leadership style which they believed the New Testament advocated.;The dissertation finally examined how the primitivist impulse shaped the Primitive Baptist denomination. Primitive Baptists found their identity by emphasizing their continuity with the primitive church. They understood that church to have existed outside of the mainstream of Christianity throughout the centuries. Christians who joined the majority were inevitably corrupted, but Primitive Baptists believed that their movement had escaped the corruptions of history. Primitive Baptists also claimed that their doctrinal characteristics were the purest interpretations of apostolic doctrine.