Baptist beliefs

Baptist beliefs are not completely consistent from one church to another, as Baptists do not have a central governing authority. However, Baptists do hold some common beliefs among almost all Baptist churches.

Since the early days of the Baptist movement, various organizations have adopted common confessions of faith as the basis for cooperative interdependency among local churches. These would include beliefs about one God, the virgin birth, the impeccability, miracles, vicarious atoning death, burial and bodily resurrection of Christ, the need for salvation (although the understanding of means for achieving it may differ at times), divine grace, the Church, the Kingdom of God, last things (Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge everyone in righteousness), evangelism and missions.

In addition to the distinctive doctrines of Protestantism, many Baptists today believe in a Zwinglian interpretation of the Eucharist and the rejection of the theological validity and covenantal value of paedobaptism, even if the Baptist theology historically teaches the Reformed interpretation of the Eucharist. Baptist beliefs are seen as belonging to the two historical strands: General Baptists, who uphold an Arminian soteriology, and Particular Baptists, who uphold Calvinist soteriology. Some even add a third, recent strand called Independent Baptists, who might embrace a strict version of either Arminianism or Calvinism, but are most notable for their fundamentalist positions on Biblical hermeneutics, family and the social order, and advocacy of "King James Onlyism."