General Six-Principle Baptists

The Six-Principle Baptists were the first Baptist association in the Americas. The "six-principles" adhered to are those listed in Hebrews 6:1–2:

Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

The history of General Six-Principle Baptists in America begins in Rhode Island in 1652 when the historic Providence Baptist Church split, which was once associated with Roger Williams. The occasion was the development within the congregation of an Arminian majority who held to the six principles of Hebrew 6:1–2: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, the laying-on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Of these, the laying-on of hands was the only doctrine really distinctive to this body, and that only because it was advocated as mandatory. This rite was used at the baptism and reception of new members symbolizing the reception of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Some Calvinistic Baptist churches were also "Six-Principle," but they did not survive as a separate body. Even the influential Philadelphia Baptist Association (org. 1707) added an article concerning laying-on of hands to their 1742 reprint of the 1689 London Baptist Confession. A distinguishing feature of these "General" Six-Principle Baptists was that they would not commune with other Baptists who did not observe the laying-on of hands. In 1656, members left the First Baptist Church in Newport, the church of John Clarke and Obadiah Holmes, and formed a second Six-Principle Baptist Church.

Churches were planted and conferences rose up in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. The Rhode Island Yearly Meeting was formed in 1670, becoming the first Baptist association in America. It was incorporated in 1895 as the General Six-Principle Baptist Conference of Rhode Island. The word "Hope" and the emblem of the anchor (both taken from Hebrews 6) on the flag and Seal of Rhode Island attest to the historical influence of Six-Principle Baptists in that state. The New York Yearly Conference was organized around 1824. After 1865, it became known as the General Six-Principle Baptist Association of Pennsylvania. The Six-Principle Baptists of New England were called "General," distinguishing that they held the general view of Christ's atonement (making salvation possible for all men) rather than the particular view (that He atoned for the elect only).

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