iJAPTISTS
660
BAR
time; and. whtn necessary, to read the Scriptures, pray, and exhort at the regular meetings. An an- nual meeting is held about Whitsuntide, and attended by bishops and teachers, as well as by such other mem- bers as may he delegated by the congregations. A committee of five of the oldest bishops hears those ( s a which may be referred to them by the teachers | and representatives from the congregations. Their de- cisions are published in English and German. In plainness of speech and dress they resemble the So- ciety of Friends. They will not go to law, nor engage in war. and seldom take interest for the money which they lend to their poorer brethren. The Baptist Al- manac for 1860 estimates the number of their preachers at 200, of congregations at 150, of members at 8200. ; The census of 1850 gives them only 52 church edifices, which indicates that a large number of their congrega- tions worship in school-houses. See Belcher, Religious Denominations; Baptist Almanac for 1860.
BAPTISTS, OLD-SCHOOL. A name assumed by those Baptists who, in the second half of the past cen- tury, opposed the formation of missionary societies, Sunday-schools, and similar institutions, which they considered as floodgates for letting in all those con- trivances in religion which make the salvation of men appear to depend on human effort. They are frequent- ly, also, called Anti-mission or Anti-effort Baptists. \ 1 hey have neither colleges nor theological institu- I tions, and are almost entirely confined to the Western and South-western States. Their number is at present I on the decrease. In 1844 they counted 01,000 mem- | hers; in 1854, 66,500; in 1859, 58,000. In 1859 thoy had 155 associations, 1720 churches, 825 ordained min- isters, and 15(10 had been baptized in 1858. Sec Bel- cher, Religious Denominations; Cox, The Baptists; A mi fir, m Baptist Almanac.
BAPTISTS, SEVENTH-DAY, a denomination of Baptists who keep the seventh day of the week instead of the first as the Sabbath. In England they assumed, soon after the Reformation, the name of Sabbatarians ; but in 1818 this term was rejected by the general con- fcrence in America, and the term Seventh-day Bap- tists adopted. They believe that the first day was not generally used in the Christian Church as Sabbath be- I fore the reign of Constantine. Traces of seventh-day 1.' ipers are found in the times of Gregory I, Gregory VII, and in the twelfth century in Lombardy. In j Germany they appeared late in the fifteenth, ;:nd in England in the sixteenth century. In 1595, a work advancing their views was published in England by on ! Nicholas Bound, D.D., and several of their mem- | bers suffered imprisonment. They assumed adenomi- ! n itional organization in 1650, and counted at the end | of the seventeenth century eleven churches, of which now only three remain. In America the first Seventh- ! ■ ' Baptists were connected with First-day Baptist churches. A separate organization was commenced in 1671. Yearly meetings commenced at the begin- ning of the eighteenth century, and a general confer- ence was organized at the beginning of the nineteenth century, which held its meetings at first annually, later (since 1846) triennially. In 1845 they divided them- into live associations (Eastern^ Western, Cen- tral. Virginia, and Ohio). They have repeatedly u tion against slavery, and in favor of temper- ance and other reforms. A foreign missionary society w:i~ e-t iblishcd iu 1842, and supports missionaries in China and Palestine. Besides, they have a Trad and Publishing Society. The latter issues a weekly, a monthly, and a quarterly periodical. Their literary institutions are De Ruyter institute and Alfred (ni- v rsity, both In the State of New York, besides several smaller academies. The Bap'ist llmanac for 18G0 givea the following statistics: 07 churches, 70 minis- ters, 17 licentiates, 7250 members. See Belcher, Re- ligious hi nominations.
BAPTISTS, SEVENTH-DAY (GERMAN), a de-
nomination of Baptists which arose by secession ficm the German Baptists (q. v.) or Dunkers. In 1725 Conrad Beissel published a tract against the celebra- tion of the first day, and, when this created some dis- turbance in the society at Mill Creek, of which he was a member, he retired to a cell on the banks of the Co- calico, and lived there for some time unknown to the people he had left. When discovered, some other members of the society at Mill Creek settled around him, and in 1728 introduced the seventh day into pub- lic worship. In 1732 the solitary life was changed into a conventual one, and a monastical societ}- was established in May, 1733. The establishment received the name Ephrata. The habit of Capuchins was adopt- ed by both the brethren and the sisters, and monastic names given to all who entered the cloister. No mo- nastic vows, however, were taken, neither had they any written covenant. The property which belonged to the society was common stock, yet none were obliged to give up any of their possessions. Celibacy they recommend as a virtue, but do not require it. Gov- ernor Penn, who visited them frequently, offered to them five thousand acres of land, but they refused it. At an earl}' period they established a literary institu- tion, a Sabbath-school, and a printing-office, and great- ly cultivated music. Branches of the society of Ephra- ta were established in 1756 in York count}-, and in 1763 in Bedford county. Their principal settlement at present is at Snowhill, near the Antidam Cretk, in Franklin county, Pa. Dr. Baird says, "They are not believed to exceed a few hundreds in numbers, and. their ministers may be as many as ten or twelve." See Belcher, Religious Denominations ; (Winebrenner) Hist, of Denom. in the U.S.