View source for Primitive Baptists

{{Short description|Conservative Baptists adhering to a degree of Calvinist beliefs}}
{{Infobox Christian denomination
|name = Primitive Baptist churches
|main_classification = Primitive Baptists
|theology = [[Calvinism|Calvinistic]] [[Baptist]]<ref name="LarsenLedgerLomas2017"/>
|orientation = Conservative
|polity = [[Congregational]]
|separations = [[Missionary Baptists]]
|area = [[United States]], mainly in the southern states
|founded_date = 19th century
}}
{{Baptist}}

'''Primitive Baptists''' &ndash; also known as '''Regular Baptists''', '''Old School Baptists''', '''Foot Washing Baptists''', or, derisively, '''Hard Shell Baptists'''<ref>[[Bertram Wyatt-Brown|Wyatt-Brown, Bertram]] (2001) ''The Shaping of Southern Culture: Honor, Grace, and War, 1760s - 1880s''. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. {{isbn|978-0-8078-4912-5}} p.109</ref> &ndash; are conservative [[Baptists]] adhering to a degree of [[Calvinist]] beliefs who coalesced out of the controversy among Baptists in the early 19th century over the appropriateness of [[Christian mission|mission boards]], [[Tract (literature)#Religious tracts|tract societies]], and [[temperance societies]].{{Sfn | Crowley | 2006 | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=9cJjleldIVEC&pg=PA158  158]}}<ref name= "Mead1">{{cite book| last1 = Mead | first1 = Frank S | first2 = Samuel S | last2 = Hill | first3 = Craig D | last3 = Atwood | title= Handbook of Denominations in the United States | edition= twelfth |year= 2005 |publisher= [[Abingdon Press]]| location= Nashville | isbn= 0-687-05784-1 | pages= 207–8| title-link = Handbook of Denominations in the United States }}</ref> Primitive Baptists are a subset of the [[Reformed Baptists|Calvinistic Baptist]] tradition.<ref name="LarsenLedgerLomas2017">{{cite book |last1=Larsen |first1=Timothy |last2=Ledger-Lomas |first2=Michael |title=The Oxford History of Protestant Dissenting Traditions, Volume III: The Nineteenth Century |date=28 April 2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-150667-3 |page=239 |language=en}}</ref> The adjective "primitive" in the name is used in the sense of "original".{{Sfn | Crowley | 2006 | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=9cJjleldIVEC&pg=PA158  158]}}

==History==
The controversy over whether churches or their members should participate in mission boards, Bible tract societies, and temperance societies led the Primitive Baptists to separate from other general Baptist groups that supported such organizations, and to make declarations of opposition to such organizations in articles like the ''Kehukee Association Declaration of 1827''.<ref name = "Mead1" /><ref name = Garrett212>{{cite book| title= Baptist Theology: A Four-Century Study| last = Garrett | first = James Leo Jr. | author-link = James Leo Garrett Jr. | year = 2009 | publisher = [[Mercer University Press]]| isbn= 978-0-88146-129-9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=epEHq0mTsKgC&pg=PA212 |page=212|access-date=2011-01-08}}</ref> The [[Kehukee Primitive Baptist Church]] released a proclamation that they rejected formal service institutions outside of [[Christian Church|the church]]. The declaration proposed that 
<blockquote>Upon examination, it was found that most of the churches had given their opinions; and after an interchange of sentiments among the members of this body, it was agreed that we discard all [[missionaries|Missionary Societies]], [[Bible Societies]] and [[seminary|Theological Seminaries]], and the practices heretofore resorted to for their support, in begging money from the public; and if any persons should be among us, as agents of any of said societies, we hereafter discountenance them in those practices; and if under a character of a minister of the gospel, we will not invite them into our pulpits; believing these societies and institutions to be the inventions of men, and not warranted from the word of God. We further do unanimously agree that should any of the members of our churches join the fraternity of [[Mason (Freemasonry)|Masons]], or, being members, continue to visit the [[Masonic Lodge|lodges]] and parades, we will not invite them to preach in our pulpits, believing them to be [[Anti-Masonry#Christian anti-Masonry|guilty of such practices]]; and we declare non-fellowship with them and such practices altogether.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://baptiststudiesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/the-kehukee-declaration.pdf|title=The Kehukee Declaration of 1827}}</ref></blockquote>

The official split between "Old School" and "New School" Baptists occurred during a meeting at the Black Rock Church on September 28, 1832 in Butler, MD. This became known as the Black Rock Address.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morfe |first=Don |date=July 5, 2021 |title=Black Rock Particular Primitive Baptist Church - Butler MD |url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm14GPT_Black_Rock_Particular_Primitive_Baptist_Church_Butler_MD |access-date=June 28, 2022 |website=waymarking.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 28, 2022 |title=Black Rock Particular Primitive Baptist Church |url=https://primitivebaptistsermons.org/church-details.php?id=26 |access-date=June 28, 2022 |website=Primitive Baptist Sermons}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=September 28, 1832 |title=BLACK ROCK ADDRESS: MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND RESOLUTIONS DRAFTED BY THE PARTICULAR BAPTISTS, CONVENED AT BLACK ROCK, MARYLAND, SEPTEMBER 28, 1832 |url=http://baptiststudiesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/black-rock-address.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819090517/http://baptiststudiesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/black-rock-address.pdf |archive-date=August 19, 2007 |access-date=June 28, 2022 |website=Baptist Studies Online}}</ref>

Primitive Baptist churches arose in the mountainous regions of the [[Southern United States|American South]], where they are found in their greatest numbers.<ref name="Columbia" />{{Sfn | Crowley | 1998 | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=6TTtLEXwYCUC&pg=PP17  xi]}}

African-American Primitive Baptist groups have been considered a unique category of Primitive Baptist. Approximately 50,000 African Americans are affiliated with African-American Primitive Baptist churches as of 2005.<ref name=Brackney457>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Noz7WtnOV-kC&pg=PA457 | pages=457–58| title=Historical Dictionary of the Baptists | last = Brackney | first = William H |author-link=William H. Brackney | year=2009 | publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-5622-6}}</ref> Approximately 64,000 people were affiliated (as of 1995) with Primitive Baptist churches in the various other emergences of Primitive Baptists.<ref name=Brackney457/>

Since arising in the 19th century, the influence of Primitive Baptists has waned as "[[Missionary Baptists]] became the mainstream".<ref name = Garrett212 />

==Theological views==
Primitive Baptists reject some elements of classical [[Reformed Christianity|Reformed theology]], such as [[infant baptism]], and avoid the term "Calvinist".{{Sfn| Crowley | 2006 |p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=9cJjleldIVEC&pg=PA158  158]}}  They are still Calvinist in the sense of holding strongly to the [[Five Points of Calvinism]] and they explicitly reject [[Arminianism]].{{Sfn| Crowley | 2006 |p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=9cJjleldIVEC&pg=PA158  158]}}<ref name=Garrett212 /> They are also characterized by "intense conservatism".<ref name="Columbia">{{Cite book |contribution-url = http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Baptists.aspx#1 | contribution = Baptists |title= The Columbia Encyclopedia |edition= sixth |year = 2008 | access-date =2012-01-25| publisher = Encyclopedia.com | title-link = The Columbia Encyclopedia }}</ref>{{Sfn | Crowley | 1998 | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=6TTtLEXwYCUC&pg=PP17 xi]}}

One branch, the [[Primitive Baptist Universalist]] church of central [[Appalachia]], developed their own unique [[Trinitarian Universalism|Trinitarian Universalist]] theology as an extension of the [[irresistible grace]] doctrine of [[Calvinist]] theology.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2011-03/baptist-scholar-says-remember-appalachia-it-disappears|title=Baptist scholar says remember Appalachia before it disappears|website=The Christian Century}}</ref> They were encouraged in this direction by 19th century itinerant [[Christian universalist]] preachers of similar theological bent to [[Hosea Ballou]] and [[John Murray (minister)|John Murray]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Mr-zilSKdgC|title = In the Hands of a Happy God: The "no-hellers" of Central Appalachia|isbn = 9780870499623|last1 = Dorgan|first1 = Howard|year = 1997| publisher=Univ. of Tennessee Press }}{{page needed|date=April 2014}}</ref>

==Distinct practices==
Primitive Baptist practices that are distinguishable from those of other Baptists include [[a cappella]] singing, [[Family Integrated Church|family integrated worship]],  and [[Maundy (foot washing)|foot washing]].

[[File:FEMA - 12138 - Photograph by Mark Wolfe taken on 12-04-2004 in Florida.jpg|thumb|210px|This [[African-American]] Primitive Baptist church in [[Florida]] is an exception to the usual practice<ref name="Dove"/> of excluding musical instruments: a piano and organ are visible.]]

===A cappella singing===
Primitive Baptists generally do not play musical instruments as part of their worship services.{{Sfn | Crowley | 1998 | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=6TTtLEXwYCUC&pg=PA10 10]}}  They believe that all church music should be [[a cappella]] because there is no [[New Testament]] command to play instruments, but only to sing.<ref name="Dove">{{cite book|title=The Sound of the Dove: Singing in Appalachian Primitive Baptist Churches |pages=11–14|year=2001|first=Beverly Bush |last=Patterson|isbn=0-252-07003-8|publisher= University of Illinois Press | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MTfLKPG6i3AC&pg=PA11}}</ref> They are noted for their [[Singing school|singing schools]] and [[Shape note|shape note singing]]. Further, they connect musical instruments in the [[Old Testament]] with "many forms and customs, many [[Typology (theology)|types]] and shadows, many priests with priestly robes, many sacrifices, festivals, tithings" that they see as having been abolished; "had they been needed in the church Christ would have brought them over".<ref name = "Dove" />

African-American Primitive Baptists may not share the general Primitive Baptist opposition to musical instruments, however.<ref name = "McGregory">{{cite book | title = Downhome Gospel: African American Spiritual Activism in Wiregrass Country | page = 55 | year = 2010 | first = Jerrilyn  |last=McGregory|isbn=978-1-60473-782-0|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBdvHxhdVhoC&pg=PA55}}</ref>

===Family integrated worship===
Primitive Baptists  reject the idea of [[Sunday School]],<ref name= "McMillen">{{cite book|title= To raise up the South: Sunday schools in Black and White churches, 1865–1915 |page= 39| year = 2001| first = Sally Gregory| last = McMillen| isbn = 0-8071-2749-3 | publisher = LSU Press | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=n77uY3-tQ04C&pg=PA39}}</ref> viewing it as unscriptural and interfering with the right of parents to give religious instruction to their children.{{Sfn | Crowley | 1998 | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=6TTtLEXwYCUC&pg=PA60  60]}}  Instead, children sit with their parents and participate in the church service just like the rest of the congregation.{{Sfn | Crowley | 1998 | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=6TTtLEXwYCUC&pg=PA167  167]}}

===Informal training of preachers===
Primitive Baptists consider theological [[seminary|seminaries]] to have "no warrant or sanction from the New Testament, nor in the example of Christ and the apostles".{{Sfn | Crowley | 1998 | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=6TTtLEXwYCUC&pg=PA60  60]}}

===Foot washing===
Most Primitive Baptists perform [[Maundy (foot washing)|foot washing]] as a symbol of humility and service among the membership.<ref name=FLS>{{cite news|title='Primitive' rituals are few, simple|author=Cassada, Mary Eva | newspaper=[[The Free Lance-Star]] | date=June 8, 1991 | agency=[[Associated Press]] |  page=12 | url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=z-MPAAAAIBAJ&pg=7014%2C1417730 |access-date=2012-05-24}}</ref><ref name=CT>{{cite news | title=Baptist Group Looks To The Old, New | newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] | author= Eisenstadt, Todd | date=August 21, 1987 | url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/08/21/baptist-group-looks-to-the-old-new/ | access-date=2012-05-24}}</ref>  The sexes are separated during the ritual where one person washes the feet of another.<ref name=FLS /><ref name=CT /><ref name=HDB>{{cite book| author=Brackney, William H.| title=Historical Dictionary of the Baptists | chapter=Foot Washing |pages=219–220 | year= 2009 | publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810856226 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Noz7WtnOV-kC&pg=PA219 | access-date=2012-05-24}}</ref>  The practice is credited with increasing equality, as opposed to hierarchy, within Primitive Baptist churches.<ref name=MPB>{{cite book|title=The Making of the Primitive Baptists: A Cultural and Intellectual History of the Antimission Movement, 1800–1840 |author=Mathis, James R. |page=106 |year=2004|publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |isbn=9780415948715| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=W9_bpHRpA_MC&pg=PA106 | access-date=2012-05-24}}</ref>

== Notable churches ==
{{Main|List of Primitive Baptist churches}}
* [[Mount Zion Old School Baptist Church]] – [[Aldie, Virginia]]
* [[Goshen Primitive Baptist Church]] – [[Winchester, Kentucky]]
* [[Primitive Baptist Church of Brookfield]] – [[Slate Hill, New York]]
* [[Spring Green Primitive Baptist Church]] – [[Hamilton, North Carolina]]
* [[Smithwick's Creek Primitive Baptist Church]] – [[Martin County, North Carolina]]
* Garden City Primitive Baptist Church – [[Garden City, Georgia]]
* [[Welsh Tract Baptist Church]] – [[Newark, Delaware]]
* Upperville Primitive Baptist Church – [[Upperville Historic District]], [[Upperville, Virginia]]
* Love's Chapel Primitive Baptist – [[Glennville, Georgia]]

==See also==
*  [[Primitive Baptist Universalism]]
*  [[Progressive Primitive Baptists]]
*  [[Reformed Baptists]]
* [[Regular Baptists]]
* [[Strict Baptists]]
*  [[Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists]]

== References ==
'''Notes'''
{{reflist}}

'''Further reading'''
*  Crowley, John G. "'Written that Ye May Believe': Primitive Baptist Historiography" in Keith Harper and James P. Byrd, eds. ''Through a Glass Darkly: Contested Notions of Baptist Identity'' (2012) pp 205–27, [https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/812172 excerpt]
* {{Cite book |title=Primitive Baptists of the Wiregrass South: 1815 to the Present | last = Crowley | first = John G |year=1998|isbn = 978-0-8130-1640-5 |publisher=University of Florida Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6TTtLEXwYCUC }}
* {{Cite book | title= The Baptist River: Essays on Many Tributaries of a Diverse Tradition | year= 2006| editor-first= William Glenn | editor-last = Jonas | last=Crowley|first= John G.| chapter= The Primitive or Old School Baptists| isbn = 0-88146-030-3 | publisher = Mercer University Press | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9cJjleldIVEC }}
* Guthman, Joshua. ''Strangers Below: Primitive Baptists and American Culture'' (U of North Carolina Press, 2015).
* Mathis, James R. ''The Making of the Primitive Baptists: A Cultural and Intellectual History of the Antimission Movement, 1800–1840'' (Psychology Press, 2004). 
* Wyatt-Brown, Bertram. "The Antimission Movement in the Jacksonian South: A Study in Regional Folk Culture". ''Journal of Southern History'' Vol. 36, No. 4 (Nov., 1970), pp.&nbsp;501–529. {{JSTOR|2206302}}.

==External links==
{{Americana Poster|Baptists, Old School|Primitive Baptists}}
{{Commons category|Primitive Baptists}}
* [http://marchtozion.com/church-directory/ Primitive Baptist church directory] 
* [http://atlantaprimitivebaptistchurch.org/ Atlanta Primitive Baptist Church]
* [http://www.pb.org/ Grace Primitive Baptist Church]
* [http://grace-ebooks.com/library/John%20Gill/JG_Cause%20of%20God%20and%20Truth%20The.pdf The Cause of God and Truth] by [[John Gill (theologian)|John Gill]] (1738)
* [http://quintapress.macmate.me/PDF_Books/Hypercalvinism.pdf The Emergence of Hyper-Calvinism in English Nonconformity, 1689-1765] by [[Peter Toon]].

{{US baptist denominations}}
{{Presbyterian and Reformed denominations in the United States}}

[[Category:Primitive Baptists| ]]
[[Category:1832 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:19th-century controversies]]
[[Category:19th-century Protestantism]]
[[Category:19th-century Reformed Christianity]]
[[Category:Baptist denominations established in the 19th century]]
[[Category:Bible-related controversies]]
[[Category:Calvinist denominations established in the 19th century]]
[[Category:Christian denominations founded in the United States]]
[[Category:Protestantism-related controversies]]
[[Category:Reformed Baptist denominations]]
[[Category:Schisms in Christianity]]