Dimensions of Baptism Biblical and Theological Studies

ELLIS The Baptism of Disciples 339

This claim is that the doctrine of the Church is a more fundamental dis-

tinctive of Baptist communities than their commitment to the baptism of

believers only. Arguably, this ecclesiological priority is both historical, in

terms of the sequence of events which can be identified as forming the

early stages of denominational formation, and theological, in terms of the

sacramental theology which is being developed here. Both E. A. Payne and

Henry Cook refer to the doyen of Baptist historians, W.T. Whitley, in

making such a claim:

It is commonly suggested that the distinctive emphasis among Baptists lies

on the act of Baptism. But this is a misconception. Baptism is not, in fact,

primary; it is always derivative and depends for its meaning on the

conception of the church that lies behind it. It is this idea that gives justifi-

cation to Dr. Whitley's remark that 'the distinctive feature of the Baptists is

their doctrine of the church'.^19

Yet Cook goes on to observe that this ecclesiology itself flows from a

belief that all faith and practice are to be based on Scripture. We need to

see these early Baptists as the radical edge of that movement which sought

to purify the Church by means of obedience to what were perceived to be

scriptural principles. Thus both General and Particular Baptists may be

seen as a logical development of the concern for reformation which was

evident in the late Elizabethan and early seventeenth-century Separatists.

While Puritans and Separatists shared a common theological under-

standing of God and salvation, they differed over the question of eccle-

siology. Whereas the Puritans sought a purifying of the Church of England

according to their understanding of Scripture, the Separatists believed the

established church to be unredeemable and that faithfulness to Scripture

required withdrawal. Their intention was to establish new churches mod-

elled on their reading of Scripture. They could not recognize the marks of

the New Testament Church in the church of the Elizabethan settlement for

it claimed to encompass the entire population of the nation. It was evident

to them that such a national church could not be comprised only of

believers—when belief was interpreted in terms of personal faith and

holiness of life as well as orthodoxy of doctrine.

19. H. Cook, What Baptists Stand For (London: Carey Kingsgate Press, 5th edn,
    1964), p. 17, quoting W.T. Whitley, A History of British Baptists (London: Kingsgate
    Press, 2nd edn, 1932), p. 4. See also Ernest A. Payne, The Fellowship of Believers:
    Baptist Thought and Practice Yesterday and Today (London: Carey Kingsgate Press,
    enlarged edn, 1952), p. 12.