Primitive Baptists – also known as Hard Shell Baptists, Foot Washing Baptists or Old School Baptists – are conservative

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

adhering to a degree of

Calvinist 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 ...

beliefs who coalesced out of the controversy among Baptists in the early 19th century over the appropriateness of mission boards, tract societies, and temperance societies. The adjective "primitive" in the name is used in the sense of "original".

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''. The Kehukee Primitive Baptist Church released a proclamation that they rejected formal service institutions outside of the church. The declaration proposed that

"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 Missionary Societies,
Bible Societies A Bible society is a non-profit organization, usually nondenominational in makeup, devoted to translating, publishing, and distributing the Bible at affordable prices. In recent years they also are increasingly involved in advocating its credibi ...
and 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 Masons, or, being members, continue to visit the lodges and parades, we will not invite them to preach in our pulpits, believing them to be guilty of such practices; and we declare non-fellowship with them and such practices altogether."

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. Primitive Baptist churches arose in the mountainous regions of the American South, where they are found in their greatest numbers. 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. Approximately 64,000 people were affiliated (as of 1995) with Primitive Baptist churches in the various other emergences of Primitive Baptists. Since arising in the 19th century, the influence of Primitive Baptists has waned as "

Missionary Baptists Missionary Baptists are a group of Baptists that grew out of the missionary / anti-missionary controversy that divided Baptists in the United States in the early part of the 19th century, with Missionary Baptists following the pro-missions move ...

became the mainstream".

Theological views

Primitive Baptists reject some elements of Calvin's theology, such as

infant baptism Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions. Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism. Branches of Christianity that ...

, and avoid the term "Calvinist". They are still Calvinist in the sense of holding strongly to the

Five Points of Calvinism 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 Calv ...

and they explicitly reject Arminianism. They are also characterized by "intense conservatism". One branch, the

Primitive Baptist Universalist The Primitive Baptist Universalists are Christian Universalist congregations located primarily in the central Appalachian region of the United States. They are popularly known as "No-Hellers" due to their belief that there is no Hell ''per se'' ...

church of central

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...

, developed their own unique Trinitarian Universalist theology as an extension of the

irresistible grace Irresistible grace (also called effectual grace, effectual calling, or efficacious grace) is a doctrine in Christian theology particularly associated with Calvinism, which teaches that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those wh ...

doctrine of

theology. They were encouraged in this direction by 19th century itinerant

Christian universalist Christian universalism is a school of Christian theology focused around the doctrine of universal reconciliation – the view that all human beings will ultimately be saved and restored to a right relationship with God. "Christian universalism" ...

preachers of similar theological bent to

Hosea Ballou Hosea Ballou D.D. (April 30, 1771 – June 7, 1852) was an American Universalist clergyman and theological writer. Originally a Baptist, he converted to Universalism in 1789. He preached in a number of towns in Vermont, New Hampshire, and ...

and John Murray.

Distinct practices

Primitive Baptist practices that are distinguishable from those of other Baptists include

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

singing, family integrated worship, and foot washing. FEMA - 12138 - Photograph by Mark Wolfe taken on 12-04-2004 in Florida

A cappella singing

Primitive Baptists generally do not play musical instruments as part of their worship services. They believe that all church music should be

because there is no

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

command to play instruments, but only to sing. Further, they connect musical instruments in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

with "many forms and customs, many

types Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type In computer science and computer programming, a data type (or simply type) is a set of possible values and a set of allo ...

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". African-American Primitive Baptists may not share the general Primitive Baptist opposition to musical instruments, however.

Family integrated worship

Primitive Baptists reject the idea of Sunday School, viewing it as unscriptural and interfering with the right of parents to give religious instruction to their children. Instead, children sit with their parents and participate in the church service just like the rest of the congregation.

Informal training of preachers

Primitive Baptists consider theological

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

to have "no warrant or sanction from the New Testament, nor in the example of Christ and the apostles".

Foot washing

Most Primitive Baptists perform foot washing as a symbol of humility and service among the membership. The sexes are separated during the ritual where one person washes the feet of another. The practice is credited with increasing equality, as opposed to hierarchy, within Primitive Baptist churches.

Notable churches

Mount Zion Old School Baptist Church Mount Zion Old School Baptist Church, also known as Mount Zion Primitive Baptist Church and Mount Zion Old School Predestinarian Baptist Church, is a historic Primitive Baptist church located at Gilberts Corner, Loudoun County, Virginia. It is n ...

–

Aldie, Virginia Aldie is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located between Chantilly and Middleburg in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The historic village of Aldie is located on the John Mosby Highway ( U.S. Route 50) in a ...

Goshen Primitive Baptist Church The Goshen Primitive Baptist Church is a historic Primitive Baptist church in Winchester, Kentucky. The congregation was founded in 1792. Its brick church building was built in c.1850. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in ...

–

Winchester, Kentucky Winchester is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Clark County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 18,368 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winchester is located ro ...

* Primitive Baptist Church of Brookfield –

Slate Hill, New York Slate Hill is one of the eight hamlets found in the town of Wawayanda, New York. It is home to the Minisink Valley Central School District. Slate Hill is found in Orange County, New York, United States, one of the fastest-growing counties in the ...

* Spring Green Primitive Baptist Church –

Hamilton, North Carolina Hamilton is a town in Martin County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 408 at the 2010 census. Geography Hamilton is located at (35.944116, -77.207772). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of ...

* Smithwick's Creek Primitive Baptist Church –

Martin County, North Carolina Martin County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,031. Its county seat is Williamston. History The county was formed in 1774 from the southeastern part of Halifax County and t ...

* Garden City Primitive Baptist Church - Garden City, Georgia *

Westboro Baptist Church The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is a small American, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. Labeled a hate group, WBC is known for engaging in homophobic and anti-American pickets, ...

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its se ...

References

External links