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Glite Dictionary
General Baptist

General Baptist

7.3
A person in a Baptist church who believes people have free will and Jesus died for everyone
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɛnərəl ˈbæptɪst/
translation icon : Bautista General
  • They went on to pastor in Decatur, Ill., before being called in October 1977 to serve at First General Baptist Church of Bloomfield, where their son, Tim, was born.

Examples

  • Kevin served as pastor of the First General Baptist Church of Bloomfield, Mo., for 35 years.

  • The Baptist Union started as a society of Particular Baptists in 1813 and began accepting General Baptist churches in 1832.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Kevin also served on the Ministerial Alliance for over three decades and was the first president of the General Baptist Council.

    Blog text (12)

  • Kevin served as pastor of the First General Baptist Church of Bloomfield, Mo., for 35 years.

    Blog text (12)

  • He published several Sunday school lessons for the General Baptist denominational literature, and his final lessons will be featured this December in all the lesson books distributed to the denomination.

    Blog text (12)

  • In 1891, the New Connexion (the largest General Baptist society in Britain) and the Baptist Union merged to represent nearly all Baptists in Britain.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Marilynn's church family at Pleasant View General Baptist Church in Risco also helped to encourage her.

  • He published several Sunday school lessons for the General Baptist denominational literature.

Synonyms

Baptist
vsGeneral Baptist
12 4.0

A Christian who fully puts believers under water to show their faith

focuses on a specific Arminius doctrine rejecting strict predestination
Arminian Baptist
vsGeneral Baptist
9.3

A member of a Baptist church that teaches people can choose to be saved

is the same theology but uses a broader congregational label
Baptists
vsGeneral Baptist
3.9

Christians who put adult believers fully into water to show their faith

is a specific subgroup holding Arminius teaching rather than general baptism practice

Surface Forms

General Baptist singular
General Baptists plural

Morphology

general + Baptists

Structurally this is a modifier+noun combination, so a B1 learner who knows 'general' and 'Baptists' will likely infer it denotes a type or group of Baptists (partial, predictable meaning). However, the specialized doctrinal content (Arminian stance and rejection of strict predestination) is not derivable from the words themselves and requires specific background knowledge, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

General Baptist: The name comes from a simple idea: the word general here means 'for all'. They called themselves that because they believed Jesus died for 'all people', not only for 'some', so a General Baptist is a member of a church that taught people could be saved and had 'free will'.