Free Will Baptists are a group of
General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach
free grace
Free grace is a Christian soteriological view that rejects the necessity of good works in salvation, Free Grace advocates believe that good works are not the condition to merit (as with Catholics), maintain (as with Arminians), or to prove (as wit ...
,
free salvation and
free will.
The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in
England. Its formal establishment is widely linked to the English
theologian,
Thomas Helwys who led the Baptist movement to believe in
general atonement. He was an advocate of
religious liberty at a time when to hold to such views could be dangerous and punishable by death. He died in prison as a consequence of the
religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within soc ...
of
Protestant dissenters under
King James I.
In 1702
Paul Palmer Paul Palmer may refer to:
* Paul Palmer (American football) (born 1964), American football player
* Paul Palmer (cricketer) (born 1992), Jamaican cricketer
* Paul Palmer (minister) (died 1747), American religious leader
* Paul Palmer (physicist) (1 ...
would go on to establish the movement in North Carolina and in 1727 formed the Free Will Baptist Church of
Chowan. Many
Calvinists
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
became Free Will Baptists in the 19th century. With the establishment of Free Will Baptists in the South,
Benjamin Randall developed the movement in the
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...
, specifically
Maine,
Massachusetts, and
New Hampshire.
From their beginning, Free Will Baptists, in common with many groups of
English Dissenters
English Dissenters or English Separatists were Protestant Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 17th and 18th centuries.
A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who disagrees in opinion, belief and ...
and
Separatists
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
from the
Church of England, followed
Brownist notions of
self-governance of local churches. The notion of free will was a systematic rejection of the
Puritan movement
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. P ...
, due to its overall religious beliefs and lack of social mobility.
History

Free Will Baptists can be traced to
General Baptists from
England who settled in the American colonies in the late 17th century. The first Baptists, who originated with the ministry of
Thomas Helwys near London in 1611, were General Baptists. That is, they believed that the atonement of Jesus Christ was "general" (for all) rather than "particular" (only for the elect). It shares a common history, name, and an acceptance of the
Arminian doctrine.
Benjamin Laker was an English Baptist who arrived in colonial Carolina as early as 1685. Laker had been associated with
Thomas Grantham, a prominent General Baptist theologian and writer, and had signed the 1663 edition of the General Baptists' Standard Confession of Faith. The earliest Free Will Baptists in America developed from English General Baptists in Carolina, who were dubbed "Freewillers" by their enemies and later assumed the name.
Two distinct branches of Free Will Baptists developed in America. The first and earliest was the General Baptist movement described above, known as the Palmer movement in North Carolina, from which the majority of modern-day Free Will Baptists have their origin. The later movement was the Randall movement, which arose in the late 18th century in New Hampshire. These two groups developed independently of each other.
The Palmer line
In 1702, a disorganized group of General Baptists in Carolina wrote a request for help to the General Baptist Association in England. Though no help was forthcoming,
Paul Palmer Paul Palmer may refer to:
* Paul Palmer (American football) (born 1964), American football player
* Paul Palmer (cricketer) (born 1992), Jamaican cricketer
* Paul Palmer (minister) (died 1747), American religious leader
* Paul Palmer (physicist) (1 ...
, whose wife Johanna was the stepdaughter of Benjamin Laker, would labor among these people 25 years later, founding the first "Free Will" Baptist church in
Chowan, North Carolina in 1727. Palmer organized at least three churches in North Carolina.
His labors, though important, were short. Leadership would descend to Joseph Parker, William Parker, Josiah Hart, William Sojourner and others. Joseph Parker was part of the organization of the Chowan church and ministered among the Carolina churches for over 60 years. From one church in 1727, they grew to over 20 churches by 1755. After 1755, missionary labors conducted by the Philadelphia Baptist Association converted most of these churches to the Particular Baptist positions of unconditional election and limited atonement. By 1770, only 4 churches and 4 ministers remained of the General Baptist persuasion. By the end of 18th century, these churches were commonly referred to as "Free Will Baptist", and this would later be referred to as the "Palmer line of Free Will Baptists". The churches in the Palmer line organized various associations and conferences, and finally organized a General Conference in 1921. Many Baptists from Calvinistic Baptist backgrounds, primarily Separate Baptists, became Free Will Baptists in the 19th century.
The Randall line
While the movement in the South was struggling, a new movement rose in the North through the work of
Benjamin Randall (1749–1808). Randall initially united with the
Particular Baptists in 1776, but broke with them in 1779 due to their strict views on predestination. In 1780, Randall formed a "Free" or "Freewill" (Randall would combine the words "free" and "will" into a single word) Baptist church in
New Durham, New Hampshire
New Durham is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,693 at the 2020 census. It is drained by the Merrymeeting, Cocheco and Ela rivers, and is known for Merrymeeting Lake. New Durham is home to the Powde ...
. By 1782 twelve churches had been founded, and they organized a ''Quarterly Meeting''. In 1792 a ''Yearly Meeting'' was organized.
The "Randall" line itself split into two groups in 1835:
* The "Bullockites", after founder Jeremiah Bullock (sometimes spelled "Bulloch" and "Bullochites"), which branched out to a small number of congregations in Maine and New Hampshire.
* The "Buzzelites", after founder John Buzzell.
The Bullockites, mostly under the name "Freewill Baptists", continued in Maine into the early 20th century, while the Buzzellites disappeared shortly after their founding.
The "Randall" line of Freewill Baptists grew quickly. However, in 1911, the majority of the Randall Line churches (and all the denominational property) merged with the
Northern Baptist Convention. Those churches that did not merge and remained Freewill Baptist joined with other Free Will Baptists in the Southwest and Midwest to organize the Cooperative General Association of Free Will Baptists in 1916.
The union of the lines
Fraternal relations had existed between the Northern and Southern Free Will Baptists, but the question of
slavery, and later the
Civil War, prevented any formal union until the 20th century. On November 5, 1935, representatives of the General Conference (Palmer) and the Cooperative General Association (a mixture of Randall and Palmer elements west of the Mississippi) met in
Nashville, Tennessee, to unite and organize the
National Association of Free Will Baptists. The majority of Free Will Baptist churches organized under this umbrella, which remains the largest of the Free Will Baptist groups to this day.
Theology and practice
Free Will Baptist congregations believe the
Bible is the very word of God and
without error in all that it affirms. Free Will Baptist doctrine teaches that God desires salvation for all and sent Jesus to die for everyone. Still, Free Will Baptists believe God has given man the freedom of choice to accept or reject Christ’s sacrifice. Faith is the condition for salvation; hence, Free Will Baptists hold to
conditional security.
An individual is "
saved by faith and kept by faith." In support of this concept, some Free Will Baptists refer to the Greek word translated "believeth" found in John 3:16 in the
King James translation. This is a
continuous action verb and can thus be read, "that whosoever ''believes and continues to believe'' shall not perish, but have everlasting life." The concept is not of someone sinning occasionally and thus accidentally ending up "not saved," but instead of someone "repudiating" his or her faith in Christ.
Thus "
once saved, always saved
Perseverance of the saints (also called preservation of the saints) is a Christian teaching that asserts that once a person is truly "born of God" or "regenerated" by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they will continue doing good works and beli ...
" is rejected by the denomination.
On Perseverance of the Saints from the official Treatise:
"There are strong grounds to hope that the truly regenerate will persevere unto the end, and be saved, through the power of divine grace which is pledged for their support; but their future obedience and final salvation are neither determined nor certain, since through infirmity and manifold temptations they are in danger of falling; and they ought, therefore, to watch and pray lest they make shipwreck of their faith and be lost."
Free Will Baptists observe at least three ordinances:
baptism, the
Lord's Supper, and the
Washing of the Saints' Feet, a rite occurring among some other evangelical groups but not practiced by the majority of Baptist denominations.
Free Will Baptist congregations hold differing views on
eschatology, with some holding
premillennial and others
amillennial
Amillennialism or amillenarism is a chillegoristic eschatological position in Christianity which holds that there will be no millennial reign of the righteous on Earth. This view contrasts with both postmillennial and, especially, with premill ...
views. Churches advocate (voluntary)
tithing,
totally abstaining from alcoholic beverages, and not working on Sunday, the
Christian Sabbath.
Free Will Baptist bodies
The
National Association of Free Will Baptists is the largest of the Free Will Baptist groups. Other major Free Will Baptist groups include:
*
Original Free Will Baptist Convention – a North Carolina-based body of Free Will Baptists that was organized in 1913 and initially joined the National Association of Free Will Baptists, but split from the National Association in 1961 due to some inner differences. The Convention comprised the majority of North Carolina-based Free Will Baptist churches, though a minority would split from the North Carolina state convention and maintain affiliation with the National Association. The Convention also maintains mission activity in eight countries – Philippines, Mexico, Bulgaria, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Liberia, and Guinea.
*
United American Free Will Baptist Church – the largest body of African-American Free Will Baptist churches, organized in 1901 and headquartered in
Kinston, North Carolina.
*
United American Free Will Baptist Conference – a body of African-American Free Will Baptist churches that withdrew from the ''United American Free Will Baptist Church'' in 1968; headquartered in
Lakeland, Florida.
* Old Original Free Will Baptist Conference, an
episcopal
Episcopal may refer to:
*Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church
*Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese
*Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name
** Episcopal Church (United State ...
African-American association with six churches, centered in North Carolina.
* Evangelical Free Baptist Church – based in
Illinois. In 1987 it had 22 churches and 2,500 members.
* Unaffiliated Free Will Baptist local associations – a number of local Free Will Baptist associations remain independent of the National Association, Original FWB Convention, and the two United American bodies. Researchers have identified 10 such associations, though there may be more. The unaffiliated associations of Free Will Baptists include over 300 churches with an estimated 22,000 members. They have no organization beyond the "local" level.
See also
*
Storer College
*
Welch College
Welch College, formerly the Free Will Baptist Bible College, is a private Free Will Baptist college in Gallatin, Tennessee. Founded in 1942, it is one of several higher learning institutions associated with the National Association of Free Wil ...
References
Further reading
* Bryant, Scott. ''The Awakening of the Freewill Baptists: Benjamin Randall and the Founding of an American Religious Tradition'' (Mercer University Press, 2011) 228 pp.
*
* Davidson, William F. ''The Free Will Baptists in History''
* Hill, Samuel S., ed. ''Encyclopedia of Religion in the South''
* Leonard, Bill, ed. ''Dictionary of Baptists in America''
* Pelt, Michael. ''A History of Original Free Will Baptists''
* Pinson, J. Matthew. ''A Free Will Baptist Handbook: Heritage, Beliefs, and Ministries''
External links
Benjamin Randall– Christian History Institute's Biographical Sketch
Arkansas State Association of Free Will BaptistsCalifornia State Association of Free Will BaptistsInternational Fellowship of Free Will Baptist ChurchesNational Association of Free Will Baptists(US)
United American Free Will Baptist Conference, Inc.The Convention of Original Free Will Baptist ChurchesThe Original Free Will Baptist InternationalThe Original Free Will Baptist Mission Church of LiberiaMissouri State Association of Free Will BaptistsTennessee State Association of Free Will BaptistsWest Virginia State Association of Free Will Baptists
{{US baptist denominations
Arminian denominations
Evangelical denominations in North America
1727 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies
Baptist movements