Baptist Family - Religious Group Timeline Association
Associated with All Entries - Religious Groups
Events
| Event | Introduction | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 9/11 | On September 11, 2001 ("9/11"), al-Qaeda terrorists crashed two planes into the Twin Towers and one into the Pentagon. More than 3,000 people died. | Historical Content |
| Adrian Rogers Elected as President of the Southern Baptist Convention | In 1979, Baptist conservatives elected Adrian Rogers as president of the Southern Baptist Convention as the first part of a takeover strategy. | |
| American Revolution | When the first shots were fired in 1775, the Colonies didn’t even have a military. Eight years later, the United States had defeated England. | Historical Content |
| Baptist Bible Union | The Baptist Bible Union was a fundamentalist association of churches which had separated from the Northern Baptist Convention in 1923. | |
| Baptist Missionary Association of America | The Baptist Missionary Association of America, which split from the American Baptist Association in 1950, is the largest Landmark Baptist denomination in the United States. | |
| Benjamin Randall Organizes the Free Will Baptists | Itinerant preacher Benjamin Randall organized the Free Will Baptists in New England in 1780. | |
| Bible Baptist Fellowship | The Bible Baptist Fellowship formed after a split with J. Frank Norris in 1950 and became the largest association of independent Baptists in America. | |
| Billy Graham Holds First Integrated Crusade in Chattanooga, TN | In 1953, Billy Graham's decision to hold an integrated crusade in the South helped shift racial attitudes among white evangelicals. | |
| Billy Graham's Los Angeles Crusade | Billy Graham's Los Angeles Crusade (1949) catapulted the southern evangelist into the national spotlight for the first time. | |
| Billy Graham's New York Crusade | In 1957, Billy Graham's New York Crusade became his largest American revival campaign with more than two million attendees. | |
| Birmingham Church Bombing | On September 15, 1963, a bomb detonated inside 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama. Four young African-American girls were killed, sparking national outrage. | |
| Brown University | In 1764, the Philadelphia Baptist Association commissioned James Manning to found Brown as a Baptist college. | |
| Civil War | The Civil War (1861-1865) was fought between the U.S. government and 11 southern states. The Union prevailed, slaves were freed, and nearly 700,000 people died. | Historical Content |
| Cold War | The antagonistic relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, known as the Cold War (1947-1991), lasted for nearly half a century. | Historical Content |
| Colonial Period | Colonial America took root in Virginia in 1607 and gained momentum when the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts. By 1760, there were two million settlers. | Historical Content |
| Conservative Baptist Association of America | William Bell Riley, fundamentalist minister and Bible college president, led the Minnesota Baptist Convention out of the Northern Baptist Convention in 1947. | |
| Cooperative Baptist Fellowship | Moderate Southern Baptists formed the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in 1991 to protest the conservative dominance in the denomination during the prior decade. | |
| Election of Jimmy Carter | In 1976, Jimmy Carter was the first self-proclaimed "born again" Christian elected president of the United States. | |
| First Ordained Southern Baptist Woman, Addie Davis | In 1964, Addie Davis became the first woman ordained in a Southern Baptist church. | |
| First Wave of Feminism | The 72-year struggle to grant women the right to vote evolved as the central theme of the first wave of American feminism (1848-1920). | Historical Content |
| Formation of the Alliance of Baptists | Liberals in the Southern Baptist Convention, frustrated by the conservative takeover of the denomination, formed a progressive association of churches in 1987. | |
| Founding Period | With independence won, the United States of America began creating a new government during the Founding Period (1783-1791), including the selection of the first president. | Historical Content |
| Free Will Baptists Founded in North Carolina | In 1727, Paul Palmer founded North Carolina’s first Baptist Church. This led to the spread of Baptist churches throughout the state. | |
| Great Depression | The Great Depression (1929-1939) brought the biggest economic upheaval in U.S. history. Millions of people were unemployed, banks/businesses failed, and there was sweeping poverty. | Historical Content |
| Henry Dunster Becomes President of Harvard | In 1640, Henry Dunster became the first President of Harvard College and helped lay the foundational structure for America’s most renowned institution for higher learning. | |
| Initiation of the Baptist Landmarker Movement | In 1851, the Baptist Landmarker movement began and embroiled the Southern Baptist Convention in controversy. | |
| Jerry Falwell Helps Found the Moral Majority | With the help of Baptist preacher Jerry Falwell in 1979, the founding of the Moral Majority would later influence Ronald Reagan's election in 1980. | |
| Jim Crow Laws | Abolition freed the slaves, but blacks were kept segregated from whites in the South through local and state regulations known as Jim Crow laws (1890-1965). | Historical Content |
| King Philip's War | For 14 months (1675-1676), Indians raided settlements and colonialists launched counterattacks. It ended after King Philip, the chief of the Wampanoag Indian tribe, was assassinated. | Historical Content |
| Liberty University | Jerry Falwell founded the small Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971, which would grow into the largest private, nonprofit university in America by the 2010s. | |
| Lottie Moon Sent to China as a Southern Baptist Missionary | In 1873, Lottie Moon went to China as a Southern Baptist missionary at a time when sending unmarried women to the mission field was rare. | |
| Nat Turner's Rebellion | Nat Turner’s rebellion (1831) is the most famous slave revolt in American history. | |
| National Association of Free Will Baptists | In 1935, the two major "branches" of Free Will Baptists joined together to form the National Association of Free Will Baptists. | |
| National Baptist Convention | The National Baptist Convention has been the largest national association of African-American Baptists since 1895 despite major denominational splits in 1915 and 1961. | |
| Northern Baptist Convention | The Northern Baptist Convention formed in 1907 and represents the theologically liberal and politically progressive strains of the Baptist tradition. | |
| Ordination of Ruby Knapp Bixby by the Free Will Baptists | In 1846, the Freewill Baptists ordained Ruby Knapp Bixby, making her the first licensed female Baptist preacher. | |
| Pat Robertson Founds Christian Broadcasting Network | In 1961, Pat Robertson founded the Christian Broadcast Network, which became a multi-million dollar outlet for Christian television. | |
| Philadelphia Baptist Association | In 1707, Welsh Baptist immigrants in Philadelphia formed the first permanent Baptist denomination in America. | |
| Philadelphia Confession of Faith | The Philadelphia Baptist Association adopted the Philadelphia Confession of Faith in 1742, unifying Particular Baptist churches throughout the country. | |
| Progressive National Baptist Convention | In 1961, the Progressive National Baptist Convention split from the National Baptist Convention, USA, due to disputes regarding Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights activism. | |
| Prohibition | The 18th amendment made the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcohol illegal in the United States for 13 years (1920-1933). | Historical Content |
| Publication of An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty | In 1773, Isaac Backus published a collection of sermons promoting religious liberty and the separation between church and state. | |
| Publication of Shailer Mathews's The Faith of Modernism | Shailer Mathews's The Faith of Modernism (1924) was an influential systematic theology of theological liberalism. | |
| Ralph Elliott Fired in the "Genesis" Controversy | When Southern Baptist seminary professor Ralph Elliott challenged the historicity of Genesis, conservatives forced him to resign (1962), foreshadowing the conservative resurgence in the SBC. | |
| Reconstruction and Industrialization | During the Reconstruction and Industrialization period (1865-1890), the South struggled to recover after the Civil War. Meanwhile, United States was emerging as an industrial giant. | Historical Content |
| Rhode Island Royal Charter | In 1663, the Rhode Island Royal Charter made a unified government in the colony possible, acknowledged American Indian land rights, and declared religious toleration. | |
| Rise of Equal Rights Movements | The social justice movements of the 1960s were infectious, giving rise to women, racial minorities, and LGBT groups seeking equal rights in the United States. | Historical Content |
| Roger Williams Founds Providence, Rhode Island | In 1636, Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, which became known for its religious tolerance and deregulation of religious behavior. | |
| Signing of the American Baptist Bill of Rights | The American Baptist Bill of Rights (1939) defended the separation of church and state, paving the way for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. | |
| Silver Bluff Baptist Church | Silver Bluff Baptist Church was founded over the course of 1773-1775 as the first black Baptist church in America. | |
| Southern Baptist Convention Founded | The Southern Baptist Convention (1845) resulted from a split between Northern and Southern Baptists over slavery. It is now the largest Protestant denomination in America. | |
| Southern Christian Leadership Conference | Founded in 1957, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) believed that racial equality was a Christian imperative and utilized non-violent protests to combat racism. | |
| The Cooperative Program Instituted in the Southern Baptist Convention | In 1925, the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program centralized budgetary authority and aided the growth of the denomination. | |
| The First Great Awakening | The First Great Awakening (1730s-1770s) was a series of religious revivals that propelled the expansion of evangelical denominations in the colonies. | |
| The Primitive Baptists Coalesce | In 1827, the Primitive Baptists began forming in response to growing Baptist denominationalism. | |
| The Second Great Awakening | The Second Great Awakening(s) (1790s-1840s) fueled the rise of an evangelical Protestant majority in antebellum America, giving rise to new denominations and social reform organizations. | |
| The Trial of Margaret Meuse Clay | In 1770, local authorities trialed Margaret Meuse Clay for challenging the gender norms of colonial society and for preaching without a license. | |
| Thomas Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists | In 1802, Thomas Jefferson's letter contained the phrase "a wall of separation between Church and State," important in later legal interpretations of the first amendment. | |
| Tim LaHaye publishes Left Behind | Starting in 1995, the Left Behind series of novels about the Rapture would become the best-selling works of American Christian fiction. | |
| Triennial Convention | In 1814, the Triennial Convention became the first formal Baptist missionary agency in America. | |
| University of Chicago | In 1890, John D. Rockefeller and William Rainey Harper founded a non-sectarian university in Chicago to promote progressive education and modernist theology. | |
| Vietnam War | America’s two-decade involvement in the Vietnam War (1955-1975) was costly and divisive. It claimed more than 58,000 U.S. lives and cost 140 billion dollars. | Historical Content |
| Virginia's Religious Disestablishment | In 1786, the Virginia legislature passed a bill by Thomas Jefferson ending the Anglican Church's formal establishment as the state religion. | |
| War of 1812 | The War of 1812 (1812-1815) is often called the second American Revolutionary War, because it again pitted America against Britain. | Historical Content |
| Westward and Southern Expansion | The United States of America began pushing beyond the boundaries of its original 13 states, until its holdings spanned from sea to sea (1790-1848). | Historical Content |
| World War I | World War I (1914-1919) began in Europe, but grew into an unprecedented global conflict with 65 million troops. It was called the Great War. | Historical Content |
| World War II | With the rise of Adolf Hitler, Germany began annexing neighboring countries, leading to the second World War (1939-1945) and the deadliest conflict in world history. | Historical Content |
Biographies
| Name | Introduction |
|---|---|
| Abernathy, Ralph | Ralph Abernathy (1926-1990) was an important figure in the civil rights movement. He facilitated the Montgomery bus boycott and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. |
| Backus, Isaac | Isaac Backus (1724-1806) was one of the fathers of the Baptist tradition in America and an ardent proponent of religious liberty. |
| Birch, John Morrison | John Birch (1918-1945) was a fundamental Baptist missionary, whose name became synonymous with Christian nationalism. |
| Burroughs, Nannie Helen | Nannie Helen Burroughs was an educator, missionary leader, writer and pioneer for the rights of African Americans, especially Black women. |
| Campolo, Anthony "Tony" | Tony Campolo (1935) is a prominent intellectual for the New Christian Left. His evangelical agencies fight poverty, protect the environment, and help treat AIDS. |
| Criswell, W. A. | W.A. Criswell (1909-2002) was a famous Baptist pastor who expanded First Baptist into one of the largest American churches. |
| Falwell, Jerry | Jerry Falwell (1933-2007) was an evangelical pastor who aired the popular program "The Old-Time Gospel Hour" and helped found the Moral Majority. |
| Fosdick, Harry Emerson | Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969), prominent New York City minister and theological liberal. Famous for criticizing fundamentalists in his sermon entitled "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?" |
| Fuller, Charles Edward | Charles Fuller (1887-1968) was a prominent evangelist on the popular evangelical radio show "The Old Fashioned Revival Hour" and founded Fuller Theological Seminary. |
| Graham, William "Billy" | Billy Graham (1918-2018) was the preeminent evangelist of the second half of the 20th century, preaching to millions in the United States and abroad. |
| Jackson, Jesse | Jesse Jackson (1941-present) is a Baptist minister, civil rights advocate, and politician, whose career continues to earn both praise and criticism. |
| Judson, Adoniram | Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) was one of the first American missionaries to travel to Burma, inspiring other Protestants to engage in overseas missionary work. |
| King, Martin Luther | Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was an African-American Baptist minister and civil rights leader who combined Gandhi’s nonviolent philosophy and Christian love to fight racism. |
| LaHaye, Timothy "Tim" | Tim LaHaye (1926-present) is a famous evangelical pastor/author, known for co-authoring the Left Behind series and authoring one of the first evangelical sex manuals. |
| Leland, John | John Leland (1754-1841) was a prominent evangelical pastor who defended religious liberty and aided in the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. |
| Liele, George | George Liele (1750-1828) was the first black Baptist convert in Georgia and founded the first black Baptist church in America at Silver Bluff, South Carolina. |
| Mathews, Shailer | Shailer Mathews (1863-1941) was a modernist theologian and advocate for the Social Gospel movement. |
| Mohler, Albert "Al" | Al Mohler (1959-present) is the president and an alumnus of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, the flagship seminary for the Southern Baptist Convention. |
| Moon, Charlotte "Lottie" | Charlotte "Lottie" Moon (1840-1912) was a Southern Baptist missionary known for her evangelistic work in China. |
| Norris, John Frank | John Frank Norris (1877-1952) was a controversial Baptist pastor, famous for preaching against modernist interpretations of the Bible. |
| Piper, John | John Piper (1946-present) is a well-known evangelical pastor and author. He facilitated the resurgence of Reformed theology in conservative evangelicalism in America. |
| Randall, Benjamin | Benjamin Randall (1749-1808) founded the “Randall” line of the Freewill Baptist church, believing in free grace instead of the Calvinist view on election. |
| Rauschenbusch, Walter | Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918) was the main founding theologian of the Social Gospel. |
| Riley, William Bell | William Bell Riley (1861-1947) was a fundamentalist pastor who formed the World's Christian Fundamentals Association, fought teachings of evolution, and founded the Northwestern Bible School. |
| Robertson, Marion "Pat" | Pat Robertson (1930-2023) became a prominent media and political figure in the New Christian Right during the 1980s and '90s. |
| Sharpton, Alfred "Al" | Alfred “Al” Sharpton (1954-present) is a Baptist minister, civil rights leader, media figure, and politician, who draws public attention to racial issues in America. |
| Shuttlesworth, Fred | Fred Shuttlesworth (1922-2011) was known as the "most abused and arrested minister in the nation" during the civil rights era. |
| Truett, George Washington | George Washington Truett (1867-1944) was a Southern Baptist pastor who was famous for his 1920 sermon entitled "Baptists and Religious Liberty." |
| Warren, Rick | Rick Warren (1954-present) is a popular evangelical pastor known for his California megachurch and his bestselling book entitled The Purpose Driven Life (2002) |
| Williams, Roger | Roger Williams (1603-1683) was a theologian, advocate for the separation of civil and church authority, and founder of Rhode Island. |
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