The question of what “Baptist identity” means is bound-up in a whole series of issues that began right at the first of our history, and I want to go back to England and the fact that England had a state church. And, as a consequence of that, people who did not believe that religion should be coerced—that religion was a matter of personal freedom, and no one had the right to tell you what you had to believe or where you had to attend church—felt restricted within the Anglican church in the 17th century.
Listen to Part 2 of our Thursday evening series on A History of Auburn First Baptist Church:
You may also listen to Part 1, “Why We Call Ourselves a Baptist Church, and What That Means in 2013” and Part 3, “Baptist Identity: The Rise of Baptists in America”.