The Independent Fundamental Baptists

A movement of independent Baptist churches, fellowships, colleges and preachers, with no convention and no creed, who immerse believers, put the Bible above every church, and keep apart from what they judge to be unbelief or worldliness. Their wings differ above all on the King James Version.

Baptist Bible Fellowship International, Articles of Faith (revised September 2002)

FBFI (Foundations Baptist Fellowship International; the constitution as posted still names it the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International), Constitution (Statement of Faith)

FBFI (Foundations Baptist Fellowship International), Position Statements (each block dated by year; readopted 11 June 2013)

Foundations Baptist Fellowship International (FBFI), home page and Mission and Vision

Baptist Bible Fellowship International, BBFI National Officers (term September 2026 to September 2029)

Federal Bureau of Prisons, Inmate Locator, Jack Allan Schaap, register number 12409-027 (checked 28 October 2026)

Eric Pement, "Gimme the Bible that Paul used: A look at the King James Only debate" (March 1987), posted on David M. Williams's site, quoting Peter Ruckman, The Christian's Handbook of Manuscript Evidence (1970)

West Coast Baptist College (Lancaster, California), About: Doctrines, Concerning Music, Foundational Pillars

Pensacola Christian College, Biblical Foundations (Articles of Faith)

Pensacola Christian College, Student Handbook 2026-2027

Hyles-Anderson College, What We Believe (the statement of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana)

Hyles-Anderson College, What We Expect (Child Protection Policy)

Bob Jones University, Our Beliefs and Mission (Our Creed)

David Cloud, Way of Life Literature (Port Huron, Michigan), Statement of Faith

David Cloud, "What Is an Independent Baptist?" Way of Life Literature

David Cloud, "My Position on the King James Bible" (first published 9 January 1997), Way of Life Literature

Jack Hyles, Enemies of Soul Winning (chapters 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7), as published by First Baptist Church of Hammond and posted at fbbc.com

Jack Hyles, "Are You Leading Prayer At The End Of Soulwinning," from his book Let's Go Soulwinning, posted at independentbaptist.com

Paul Chappell, "Fellowship, Separation, and the Local Baptist Church" (4 January 2018)

Paul Chappell, "Covering Abuse and Sin Is a Tragedy for the Work of Christ" (12 December 2018)

Lancaster Baptist Church (Lancaster, California), home page

Christianity Today, report on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram investigation (December 2018)

Carol Kuruvilla, "Investigation Unearths Hundreds of Abuse Allegations in Independent Baptist Churches," HuffPost (14 December 2018), copy at BishopAccountability.org

Associated Press, "Ex-pastor gets 12 years for sex with girl" (March 2013), copy at BishopAccountability.org

"Independent Baptist," Wikipedia (a last-resort source, used for dates and for what is said of named teachers, never for a body's own words)

"Jack Hyles," Wikipedia (a last-resort source, used for dates only)

"Peter Ruckman," Wikipedia (a last-resort source, used for dates only)

The movement grew out of the fundamentalist quarrel of the 1920s and 1930s, when conservative Baptists left the Northern Baptist Convention and others set up fellowships apart from the Southern Baptist Convention. It has no founder and no official historian. This chart follows the fellowships' own pages where they date themselves and names Wikipedia, a last-resort source, wherever it is the only dated account. Each leader is placed in the wing his own words belong to, and no one is made to speak for the movement.

The FBFI's own starting date

The FBFI's home page says it has been "Nurturing fellowship since 1920", and calls itself the successor of three earlier bodies: "the Fundamentalist Fellowship, the Conservative Baptist Fellowship, and the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship". Wikipedia, a last-resort source, dates the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International to 1967, which fits a later name in that line rather than a new body.

The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches

Conservative Baptist churches leave the Northern Baptist Convention and form the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. Wikipedia lists it among the fundamentalist Baptist bodies, and notes that it became independent in 1934. It has its own place in the chart on The Baptists, and is not counted among the Independent Fundamental Baptists here.

J. Frank Norris and the first fellowship

J. Frank Norris of Fort Worth, Texas, organizes independent, premillennial Baptist churches into the Premillennial Missionary Baptist Fellowship, later the World Baptist Fellowship. Wikipedia says he did it to combat what he saw as modernist influences within the Southern Baptist Convention. A historian it quotes, W. Glenn Jonas Jr., adds that "he made premillennialism a requirement for membership".

The Sword of the Lord

John R. Rice, a Dallas pastor, funds the paper that became the chief journal of the movement. Wikipedia says it was "the major IFB newspaper The Sword of the Lord", and that Rice edited it until his death on 29 December 1980.

The Baptist Bible Fellowship International

Major divisions in Norris's fellowship lead to a rival group of independent Baptists in Springfield, Missouri, led by Beauchamp Vick. Wikipedia dates the Baptist Bible Fellowship International to 1950. Its Articles of Faith, revised in September 2002, are quoted below.

The Southwide Baptist Fellowship

Wikipedia lists the Southwide Baptist Fellowship, founded in 1956, with the other fellowships of the movement. None of its own pages was read.

Jack Hyles comes to Hammond

Jack Hyles becomes pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, in August 1959 and serves until his death. Wikipedia says a national survey of the early 1990s ranked it the largest church in the nation by average weekly attendance. Through its college, Hyles-Anderson, it became a center of the wing that binds the King James Version.

David Cloud sets out his position on the King James Bible

David Cloud of Way of Life Literature first publishes "My Position on the King James Bible" on 9 January 1997 and updates it in 2006. It sets out a King James only view that is not Ruckman's.

Hyles dies

Jack Hyles dies on 6 February 2001, after more than forty years at Hammond. His successor, Jack Schaap, is dealt with in the fold below.

Peter Ruckman dies

Peter Ruckman, pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, and founder of the Pensacola Bible Institute (not Pensacola Christian College), dies on 21 April 2016. His school, which held the King James text to be "advanced revelation", is set apart in the leaders below.

Chappell on separation

Paul Chappell writes on 4 January 2018 that "the buzzword of younger leaders is collaboration" where his own generation's watchword was separation. He is a leader in the King James wing describing a quarrel inside the movement.

J. Frank Norris

Pastor in Fort Worth, Texas, and founder of the Premillennial Missionary Baptist Fellowship in 1933. He made premillennialism a term of membership in it.

John R. Rice

Founder and editor of the Sword of the Lord until his death. Wikipedia lists him among those who held that the King James Bible is preferable to most modern translations but is not divinely inspired.

Jack Hyles

Pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond from August 1959 and author of Enemies of Soul Winning and Let's Go Soulwinning. He bound the new birth itself to the King James Bible: "If all a person has ever read is the Revised Standard Version, he cannot be born again".

Peter Ruckman

Pastor of Bible Baptist Church, Pensacola, Florida. In The Christian's Handbook of Manuscript Evidence (1970), as Eric Pement quotes it, he wrote: "When the Greek says one thing and the A.V. says another, throw out the Greek" (p. 137), and "Mistakes in the KJV are advanced revelation" (p. 126). This is his school's teaching, not the movement's. David Cloud, himself King James only, calls it "a goofy Ruckmanite belief", and the FBFI rejects any position on translation "that goes beyond the specific claims of Scripture".

David Cloud

Publisher of Way of Life Literature (Port Huron, Michigan) and, by its own account, a church-planting missionary in South Asia since 1979. He holds the King James Bible to be inspired "because it accurately translates the inspired text", rejects Ruckman, and writes of the movement from the edge: "I am very much on the periphery of the IB church movement today".

Paul Chappell

Senior pastor of Lancaster Baptist Church in California, and founder and president of West Coast Baptist College, which calls itself "an integrated auxiliary organization of Lancaster Baptist Church". He answers the abuse reports of 2018 in the fold below.

Where the wings divide. In 2001 the FBFI defended itself and "other like-minded Fundamentalist institutions" against what it called "public attacks and false accusations" over the text of Scripture, without naming the institutions. A 2001 article from Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, as Wikipedia reports it, said that Bob Jones University, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary and Central Baptist Theological Seminary had "turned their guns on the defenders of the KJV". That is their critics' grouping. None of the three schools' own pages on the version was read, and Bob Jones University's creed leaves "more specific issues" to positions that were not found.

The range of King James positions. Cloud lists it from inside the movement: "some holding a Peter Ruckman position that the KJV itself is infallible and unchangeable" and "many others holding to the King James Bible as an accurate and lovely translation of the preserved Greek and Hebrew texts", while "others using the New King James Bible or the New American Standard Version or other modern versions" think the question unimportant.

Reports of abuse, with their status. This fold is history, kept out of the verdicts. It speaks of named cases and named reports and of nothing broader, and nothing here says what any church other than the one named does.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, December 2018. HuffPost reported on 14 December 2018 that the newspaper "identified 412 abuse allegations in 187 independent fundamental Baptist (IFB) churches and institutions across 40 states and Canada", and found that "168 IFB church leaders were accused or have been convicted of sexually abusing children". These are the newspaper's counts of allegations and accusations, not court findings, and the original series was not read for this chart; the figures come through HuffPost and Christianity Today. A survivor quoted by HuffPost, Ashley Easter, said that the independence of the churches "makes it easy for churches to pass off abusive pastors and missionaries to other churches in their network or to blacklist survivors". That is her claim.

Jack Schaap, First Baptist Church of Hammond. The Associated Press reported in March 2013 that Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano of the federal court sentenced Schaap, then 55, to 12 years in prison and five years of supervised release. He had "pleaded guilty in September to transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity", and had been fired in July 2012 as pastor of the church. The Federal Bureau of Prisons' inmate locator, checked on 28 October 2026, lists Jack Allan Schaap as released on 4 May 2022. Nothing read says more of his present status.

The answers of the bodies. Paul Chappell wrote on 12 December 2018: "Allegations of crimes must be reported to civil authorities." He added: "Over the years, we have broken fellowship with churches who mishandle these situations." Hyles-Anderson College states: "We vehemently condemn any actions of abuse or misconduct directed toward any man, woman, or child." Whether these words have been kept in every church is outside what this chart can say.

The Bible alone, in every statement read; in practice a bound translation, a signed statement of faith or a school code stands beside it, and the wings differ on which.

Every statement read puts the Bible first. The Baptist Bible Fellowship International calls it "the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried". The FBFI says the Old and New Testaments alone are "the sole authority of faith and practice", and asks each member to sign its Statement of Faith. Pensacola Christian College calls the Bible "the final authority of all that we believe", and adds that for "the purposes of the College's doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline", "the Board of Directors is ultimately responsible for interpreting the meaning and application of Scripture".

Where they differ is the text. The wing around Hyles-Anderson, West Coast and Pensacola binds the King James Version in its own ministries, and its teachers say why. The FBFI refuses any teaching on translation that goes past what Scripture claims. David Cloud holds the King James Bible to be inspired "because it accurately translates the inspired text", and answers a correspondent who asked which is his authority when the AV and the Received Text differ: "The AV is the authority." Peter Ruckman's school goes further and is described, with the other versions of the question, under King James Only below.

the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried

the sole authority of faith and practice

the Board of Directors is ultimately responsible for interpreting the meaning and application of Scripture

The FBFI makes agreement with its statement the price of membership: "All applicants for membership must give testimony of their agreement with and obedience to the Statement of Faith of the Fellowship by signature on the membership application form". Its members are individuals, not churches.

Cloud's statement says the same of the church: "The church's sole authority is the Bible". The statements are one voice on the principle. They part on whether the principle covers a version.

Saved by grace through faith and repentance; baptism is the immersion of a believer after salvation, a testimony and not the means; some wings lead the sinner in a prayer.

The FBFI teaches salvation "is appropriated by repentance and faith in the person and cross work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ". Hyles-Anderson College adds that "At the moment one stops trusting in his own way" and trusts in Christ, he is born of God. Baptism comes after. Way of Life Literature writes that it "is not for salvation and is not a part of salvation but follows after salvation as a public testimony thereof". Hyles-Anderson calls it "a step of obedience", and says a profession of faith "is the only biblical prerequisite to baptism". All of them immerse believers only.

They differ on repentance and on how a person is led to Christ. Jack Hyles taught that repentance is turning from unbelief only. Wikipedia, a last-resort source, reports that David Cloud holds true repentance to be the abandoning of sins, and Cloud himself warns against "a Quick Prayerism type of" soul winning. Hyles taught the soul winner to lead the lost person to pray, asking: "Would you ask God to forgive you and tell Him you want to receive Jesus today?"

is appropriated by repentance and faith in the person and cross work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

It is not for salvation and is not a part of salvation but follows after salvation as a public testimony thereof

Would you ask God to forgive you and tell Him you want to receive Jesus today?

Hyles on repentance. In Enemies of Soul Winning he calls the doctrine that a person must make Jesus Lord of his life "false doctrine", and writes: "Salvation is simply repenting of unbelief, and believing, and letting Christ save us." On Acts 2:38 he writes: "Peter is saying, "Change your mind and be baptized.""

The prayer. Hyles's method is set out under Soul winning below. Wikipedia, a last-resort source, adds that Hyles also criticized the claim that prayer is necessary to be saved, in a sermon called "Fundamentalist Heresy." That sermon was not read for this chart.

A memorial of Christ's death, kept with self-examination by baptized believers; no fellowship names how often.

The Baptist Bible Fellowship International says baptism is "prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation and to the Lord's supper, in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of bread and the fruit of the vine are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded always by solemn self-examination". The FBFI says the Supper is "the commemoration of the Lord's death until He comes". First Baptist Church of Hammond, in the statement Hyles-Anderson publishes, names the elements: unleavened bread and "unfermented grape juice". On how often, that statement is plain: "No instructions were given as to how often the Lord's Supper is to be observed".

to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded always by solemn self-examination

The Lord's Supper is the commemoration of the Lord's death until He comes, is a reminder of our continual fellowship with Him, and should be preceded by careful self-examination

No instructions were given as to how often the Lord's Supper is to be observed

The same Baptist Bible Fellowship Articles say, on giving: "We are commanded to bring our gifts into the storehouse (common treasury of the church) upon the first day of the week." The first day is named for the offering, and no body read names it for the Supper. The FBFI's Lord's Day statement, in the other direction, says the New Testament church assembled for weekly worship on that day, and resolves "to keep this day uniquely separate from the other days of the week".

Each church governs itself under one pastor, with deacons; the wings differ on how far the pastor rules.

The Baptist Bible Fellowship International says "the local church has the absolute right of self government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations". The FBFI names two offices, pastor and deacon, and a congregational form of government. Only men are ordained. First Baptist Church of Hammond, in the statement Hyles-Anderson publishes, says that of the elders one is the overseer, "commonly called the pastor", and that "God has delegated to him authority as an under-shepherd under Christ".

How far that authority goes is not agreed. Jack Hyles wrote, "Now I do not think for a minute that the pastor should be a dictator"; he taught that in business the church is "a pure democracy", and that "The spiritual program of the church should be under the leadership of the pastor, and the people should follow." David Cloud describes the range in his own movement: "some holding to a lordly dictatorial style, requiring "unquestioning loyalty" of the people, while others hold to a much more humble and scriptural approach". West Coast Baptist College promotes "loyalty to the home church and pastor at all times", and Paul Chappell warns that "The leader who sets himself as superior to others and instructs people to follow him is fostering the carnality Paul warned against".

we hold that the local church has the absolute right of self government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations

God has delegated to him authority as an under-shepherd under Christ

The spiritual program of the church should be under the leadership of the pastor, and the people should follow.

On the number of pastors, Cloud says: "There are even Ind. Baptists, though in the extreme minority, who practice a plurality of pastors." The Baptist Bible Fellowship adds that men alone hold "the leadership positions (pastors and deacons) in the church".

Hyles on the shape of the church: "Here you have the simplicity of the organization of the New Testament church - pastor, deacons, people."

Preaching, prayer and singing with a choir and instruments; music and dress are held to written standards, strictest in the schools.

The sources read describe a congregation that sings, with a choir and instruments. West Coast Baptist College says its concentration is "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs", that "worldly music and Christian rock music are destructive to their maturing as a Christian", and that its home church has instrumentalists. The FBFI urges "discernment and caution in using Praise Choruses", saying "We do not condemn all choruses per se". Pensacola Christian College sets a rule for its students: "music in the style of contemporary Christian, country, jazz, rock, rap, R & B, or pop is prohibited and may not be listened to on or off campus".

The FBFI also resolves on the Lord's Day, which it says the New Testament church kept for its weekly worship. Jack Hyles gave a chapter of Enemies of Soul Winning to formal worship.

worldly music and Christian rock music are destructive to their maturing as a Christian

We do not condemn all choruses per se

music in the style of contemporary Christian, country, jazz, rock, rap, R & B, or pop is prohibited and may not be listened to on or off campus

The FBFI's resolution gives its reason: it calls the modern Praise and Worship movement "a by-product of the Charismatic movement". West Coast Baptist College adds a caution aimed at its own side: students "will not, however, be taught to have a judgmental spirit of other ministries with slight variations in music style".

Wikipedia, a last-resort source, says most Independent Baptist churches use traditional worship, and that Hyles, Chappell and Cloud have rejected contemporary Christian music. No page read from a church gives its order of service.

The Holy Spirit indwells every believer; the sign gifts are not sought, and the FBFI and Way of Life Literature say they have ceased.

Every statement read holds that the Spirit convicts, regenerates and indwells. First Baptist Church of Hammond says "The Holy Ghost indwells all believers" and adds "we are not to seek after signs or sign gifts". The FBFI goes further: of the miraculous gifts it says "These gifts have ceased, being no longer needed because the Scriptures have been completed and the church has been divinely certified". David Cloud writes that "the New Testament gift of tongues is not in existence today, but ceased with the completion of the Scriptures". The Baptist Bible Fellowship's Articles, as read, state the Spirit's work but not whether the gifts continue.

These gifts have ceased, being no longer needed because the Scriptures have been completed and the church has been divinely certified

we are not to seek after signs or sign gifts

the New Testament gift of tongues is not in existence today, but ceased with the completion of the Scriptures

Jack Hyles gave a chapter of Enemies of Soul Winning to what he called the modern tongues movement. The FBFI adds a line of its own on healing: "God, in accord with His own will, does hear and answer prayer for the sick and afflicted".

Christ will return; the FBFI and West Coast Baptist College teach an imminent rapture before a seven-year tribulation, followed by a thousand-year reign.

The FBFI writes: "We believe in the imminent rapture of the church to Heaven followed by a seven-year period of tribulation upon all the earth." West Coast Baptist College teaches "the pre-tribulational rapture of the church saints, followed by the seven-year tribulation" and a thousand-year reign. First Baptist Church of Hammond says Christ "could at any moment return to receive us unto Himself", and that later, after great tribulation, He returns with His own. The Baptist Bible Fellowship's Articles teach that "Christ shall reign a thousand years in righteousness", and do not state a pretribulation order. The FBFI holds that the wicked are "condemned to everlasting conscious punishment in the Lake of Fire".

We believe in the imminent rapture of the church to Heaven followed by a seven-year period of tribulation upon all the earth.

We believe in the pre-tribulational rapture of the church saints, followed by the seven-year tribulation.

Christ shall reign a thousand years in righteousness until He hath put all enemies under His feet

The order was a term of fellowship from the start. The historian W. Glenn Jonas Jr., quoted by Wikipedia, writes that early Independents "embraced premillennialism as the only acceptable eschatological view", and that Norris's fellowship of 1933 "made premillennialism a requirement for membership".

The King James Version and its varieties

Whether the King James Version is the only Bible for English speakers, and whether it binds a church. The wings answer differently.

Which body holds what matters most here, so each is named.

The schools that bind the King James Version. First Baptist Church of Hammond, in the statement Hyles-Anderson College publishes: "God has divinely preserved His words for English-speaking people in the King James Version." West Coast Baptist College: "the King James Version is the preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people and is the only acceptable translation to be used in this college". Pensacola Christian College says, more narrowly, "it is our practice to use only the Authorized Version (KJV) in the pulpit and in classroom instruction", and calls the King James "an accurate English translation of the preserved Word of God". Jack Hyles tied the new birth to it: "I have a conviction as deep as my soul that every English-speaking person who has ever been born again was born of incorruptible seed; that is, the King James Bible."

Two kinds of King James only. David Cloud says: "I believe the King James Bible is the inspired Word of God because it accurately translates the inspired text." Peter Ruckman went further. As Eric Pement quotes his Christian's Handbook of Manuscript Evidence (1970): "When the Greek says one thing and the A.V. says another, throw out the Greek", and "Mistakes in the KJV are advanced revelation". Cloud, from inside the King James camp, calls the belief that the KJV "is advanced revelation" "a goofy Ruckmanite belief". Ruckman's school claims added revelation, falls outside this chart's rule, and is named so that no reader takes it for the movement.

The fellowship that refuses a version test. The FBFI resolved in 2001 that text and translation "are matters of soul-liberty and should not be a test of fellowship for Fundamentalists", and in 2008 that the Bible "makes no claim to the specific manner by which it would be preserved, or to further inspiration or perfection through any translators in any language".

Neither. The Baptist Bible Fellowship International's Articles name no version at all.

I have a conviction as deep as my soul that every English-speaking person who has ever been born again was born of incorruptible seed; that is, the King James Bible.

the King James Version is the preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people and is the only acceptable translation to be used in this college

should not be a test of fellowship for Fundamentalists

And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying, Behold, are not all these that speak Galilæans? And how hear we, every man in our own language wherein we were born?

I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

Every word of God is tried: He is a shield unto them that take refuge in him. Add thou not unto his words, Lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth. For, All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth: But the word of the Lord abideth for ever. And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you.

Scripture promises that God's word will last: "the word of the Lord abideth for ever" (1 Peter 1:25). On that, the King James wing is right, and so is everyone who trusts the Bible. But Scripture never names one English translation as that word. At Pentecost every man "heard them speaking in his own language" (Acts 2:6), and "They then that received his word were baptized" (Acts 2:41): three thousand were baptized after the word reached them in their own tongues. To bind one translation on a church, a school or a believer's new birth is to add to what God has said: "Add thou not unto his words" (Proverbs 30:6). Hyles's claim, that no one in English has been born again except by that book, adds a condition to the new birth that the apostles never gave. The FBFI stands nearer the text when it refuses a version test, and Peter Ruckman's claim of new revelation is the plain case of what Revelation 22:18-19 forbids.

The King James wing's own proof texts, Psalm 12:6-7 and 1 Peter 1:23-25, promise that the word is kept. In 1 Peter, the word that abides is "the word of good tidings which was preached unto you" (1 Peter 1:25). Neither passage names a translation or an edition.

What the wings share, and credit. Both hold the Bible to be without error and reject the modern criticism that treats it as a human book. Cloud calls the King James "an accurate and lovely translation", and calls Ruckman's school by its name. West Coast Baptist College, Paul Chappell's school, says its students are not to "have a judgmental spirit of other ministries" over slight differences in music; the same restraint on version would be nearer the text than a version test.

Separation, personal and ecclesiastical

A church is to stand apart from false teachers and from fellowship with those who tolerate them, and a believer from worldly practice.

The FBFI states the doctrine in three parts: "separation of the local church from all affiliation and fellowship with false teachers who deny the verities of the Christian faith, and from those who are content to walk in fellowship with unbelief and inclusivism"; separation of the individual believer from worldly practices; and separation of church and state. First Baptist Church of Hammond adds that believers "should further withdraw ourselves from every brother who walks disorderly". Wikipedia, a last-resort source, and Christianity Today, reporting the historian John Fea, name a further step, "second-degree" separation, from Christians who will not themselves separate. None of the statements read uses that name.

Paul Chappell, who leads West Coast Baptist College, records the quarrel in the movement. He writes that "The conviction of early fundamentalists and independent Baptists was that doctrine determined fellowship", and warns: "It is entirely possible to be so hyper-separated that you alienate fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who share your doctrinal convictions and biblical practices."

separation of the local church from all affiliation and fellowship with false teachers who deny the verities of the Christian faith, and from those who are content to walk in fellowship with unbelief and inclusivism

we should further withdraw ourselves from every brother who walks disorderly

It is entirely possible to be so hyper-separated that you alienate fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who share your doctrinal convictions and biblical practices.

Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you,

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them that are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which ye learned: and turn away from them.

but as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat.

But him that is weak in faith receive ye, yet not for decision of scruples. One man hath faith to eat all things: but he that is weak eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth set at nought him that eateth not; and let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand; for the Lord hath power to make him stand.

On the first part they stand on the apostles' ground. Paul told the church to "turn away from them" (Romans 16:17) that cause divisions contrary to the doctrine they learned, and "with such a one no, not to eat" (1 Corinthians 5:11), and the call to "Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate" (2 Corinthians 6:17) is plain. They are right to keep a church from fellowship with a false teacher. The fault comes when separation is made a test for matters Scripture leaves to conscience. The weak in faith are to be received, "yet not for decision of scruples" (Romans 14:1), and a brother is not to be judged over a food or a day. Where separation is made to turn on a translation or a style of music, a rule has been made where the apostles made none. Chappell's warning against hyper-separation is the text's own, and the FBFI's refusal of a version test is nearer the line than the wing that makes the version a test.

Norris's fellowship of 1933 made a view of the last things a requirement for membership, which the text does not (see the last things above). The same principle, tests where the apostles gave none, runs through the movement from its beginning, and it is the reason a statement signed at the door can function as a creed.

Soul winning and the prayer at the end

A personal work of winning the lost, with a prayer led at the end in the churches that follow Hyles.

Soul winning is the movement's best-known work. Hyles-Anderson College states "the greatest mission of the church is to go, win, baptize, and teach", and trains students to become soul winners themselves. West Coast Baptist College says of its faculty that they "will model soulwinning through their faithful, weekly involvement in reaching others".

Hyles taught the method in Let's Go Soulwinning: get the lost person to pray. He writes: "I stop abruptly in my prayer." He then asks the person to pray and, if the person does not know how, to say: "Lord, be merciful to me a sinner... forgive my sins and save my soul... I now receive Jesus as my Saviour". Cloud, in the same movement, calls this "a Quick Prayerism type of" ""soul winning" that inoculates more people to genuine salvation".

the greatest mission of the church is to go, win, baptize, and teach

they've prayed the prayer

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him. And with many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls.

And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name.

and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately.

because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him: for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

The work itself is the apostles' work, and the movement is credited for it. Jesus sent His church to every creature, and these churches go. The led prayer is another matter. Its strongest text is Paul's: "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13), with Jesus confessed as Lord and believed in the heart (Romans 10:9). That promise is true. But Peter quoted the same words of Joel at Pentecost, and when his hearers asked, "Brethren, what shall we do?" he answered, "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:37-38). Ananias told Saul, a man already praying, to "be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16). Calling on the name is joined to baptism, not put in its place, and no convert in Acts is led in a set prayer. In Hyles's method the moment of salvation is the prayer and the handshake after it, and there, as the site's Search the Scriptures chart on the sinner's prayer shows, the practice stands where baptism stood.

Romans 10 in its setting. Paul wrote to a church already "baptized into Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:3), and the chapter goes on, "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?" (Romans 10:14): calling follows faith and the preached word, not a formula. Confessing Jesus as Lord belongs to turning to Christ, and the eunuch, who heard Jesus preached, asked at once for the water (Acts 8:36). Romans 10:9 names no repentance either, which every body read requires, so no one reads it as the whole list.

Cloud makes the point from inside the movement, and it is to his credit: leaders and people are unconcerned "because "they've prayed the prayer"". His correction, however, keeps baptism as a testimony after the fact, which is the step the text puts earlier. Hyles reads Peter's "Repent" as "Change your mind about receiving the Word" and puts salvation before the water, against Peter's "unto the remission of your sins."

Standards of music and dress

Written rules on music, hair, clothing and appearance, strictest in the colleges.

The colleges write the rules down. Pensacola Christian College's handbook for students says "Fads and extreme hairstyles or clothing are not permitted." and "Dresses/skirts and shorts should extend to the top of the kneecap at all times." Its music rule is quoted under Worship above. West Coast Baptist College teaches students to "refrain from all immodest and immoderate appearances, piercings, and bodily markings".

The colleges do not all speak alike. The same college says: "we also must not be so foolish as to believe that outward conformity will lead to a spiritual heart". David Cloud writes of churches that are "striving for true godliness and not mere conformity to a list of external standards". The FBFI's resolution on praise choruses is a call for discernment. Nothing read sets rules for members of churches generally.

Fads and extreme hairstyles or clothing are not permitted.

Dresses/skirts and shorts should extend to the top of the kneecap at all times.

we also must not be so foolish as to believe that outward conformity will lead to a spiritual heart

In like manner, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment; but (which becometh women professing godliness) through good works.

If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances, Handle not, nor taste, nor touch (all which things are to perish with the using), after the precepts and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.

But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, And every tongue shall confess to God. So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge ye this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock in his brother’s way, or an occasion of falling.

But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.

Scripture does call for modesty: women are to adorn themselves "in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety" (1 Timothy 2:9), and the colleges that teach it are nearer the text than the churches that do not. The fault is in the lengths and lines. Where Scripture names no hem, no hair length and no genre of music, a handbook that fixes one and applies it "on or off campus" binds what the apostles did not. Paul asked the Colossians why they obeyed ordinances, "Handle not, nor taste, nor touch" (Colossians 2:21), which have a show of wisdom and are not of any value against the flesh. West Coast's own Pillar Seven and Cloud say the same, and they have the text with them.

The weakness is not in the care for holiness. Jesus said of men who taught "as their doctrines the precepts of men" (Mark 7:7) that they left the commandment of God. A rule may be wise for a school, which can set the terms on which it takes students, and the school is not wrong to do so. It becomes a fault when it is carried as the measure of a Christian's standing.

Who may be a pastor

Only men, and for some colleges only men who have not been divorced and remarried.

The Baptist Bible Fellowship International teaches that "only men are eligible of licensure and ordination for pastor by the church". West Coast Baptist College says the same and adds that divorced and remarried persons "may not be considered for the offices of pastor or deacon". Wikipedia, a last-resort source, says that many Independent Baptists read the 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 qualification of "husband of one wife" this way and that some do not; it reports that Ruckman argued the text addresses polygamy.

only men are eligible of licensure and ordination for pastor by the church

may not be considered for the offices of pastor or deacon

But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness.

The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge; if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly. For the bishop must be blameless, as God’s steward; not self-willed, not soon angry, no brawler, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre;

Paul wrote, "I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man" (1 Timothy 2:12), and a bishop is to be "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2). On the first, these bodies keep the text where others have given it up, and they are credited plainly. On the second, they hold a reading that the plain words support, and they are not alone in doing so. What the text also asks is that the elders be plural, "appoint elders in every city" (Titus 1:5), and the churches these bodies describe have a single pastor over each, with very few exceptions, as Cloud says.

The plumb line is the New Testament: what the apostles commanded, and what the churches practiced with their approval. The wall shows how far each position stands from it. Where the Independent Fundamental Baptists stand near the pattern they are credited plainly, and each verdict names the fellowship, school or teacher it concerns. These Baptists immerse believers only, put the Bible first, and hold the churches free of any hierarchy, as the Baptists do. They are weighed where they differ from the wider family, and the wings are named wherever they differ from each other. Ruckman's school is outside this weighing, as the distinctive on the King James Version says.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other.

Every statement read puts the Bible first, as the Bereans did, "examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11), and that puts them nearer the line than any body that binds a tradition. They stand short in three places. The wing around Hyles-Anderson, West Coast and Pensacola binds a translation in its ministries, and Hyles bound the new birth to it, though no apostle named an English version. The FBFI asks every member to sign its statement as the price of fellowship, and Pensacola Christian College, for its own doctrine and discipline, gives its board the final word on what Scripture means. And the schools fix rules, on music, hair and hem, where the text is silent. Scripture alone, with no creed bound beside it, is the pattern: "not to go beyond the things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6).

The FBFI stands nearer the pattern than the version-binding wing, because it refuses a test of text and translation. Peter Ruckman's claim of "advanced revelation" is outside this weighing, and would be the farthest from the pattern if it were weighed: "Add thou not unto his words" (Proverbs 30:6).

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ;

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.

They immerse, and only penitent believers, as the apostles did: "they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him" (Acts 8:38). On who is baptized and how, they stand on the line. They are wrong about what baptism is for. Way of Life Literature says it "is not for salvation and is not a part of salvation," and Hyles-Anderson calls it "a step of obedience," but Peter commanded it "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38), Ananias told Saul to "be baptized, and wash away thy sins" (Acts 22:16), and Jesus said "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16). Where Hyles's method is followed, the led prayer has taken the place the apostles gave to the water: not one convert in Acts was led in a set prayer, and the promise to "call upon the name of the Lord" (Romans 10:13) is the one Peter answered with baptism (Acts 2:21, 38). Cloud's warning against what he calls quick prayerism is right, and it is to his credit.

Hyles read Acts 2:38 as "Change your mind and be baptized," which keeps the order and drops the purpose. Peter did not say baptism followed forgiveness; he said it was "unto the remission of your sins." The site's Search the Scriptures chart on the sinner's prayer weighs the same practice at length.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.

They keep the Supper as a remembrance, with no priest, no sacrifice and no change in the bread, as Paul taught: "this do in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24). They guard it with self-examination, as he did: "let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup" (1 Corinthians 11:28). On what the Supper is, they stand on the line. They stand short on when. The disciples at Troas were "gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7) "upon the first day of the week" (Acts 20:7), and that first-day Supper is binding. First Baptist Church of Hammond says that no instructions were given, and no fellowship read names the first day for the Supper, though the Baptist Bible Fellowship names it for the offering.

The Baptist Bible Fellowship restricts the table to the members of the church. This is not charged: Scripture does not forbid a church to keep its table for its own, so the restriction is not weighed against them.

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you: but whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Every church governs itself, and no bishop, synod or convention rules it: "the local church has the absolute right of self government, free from the interference of any hierarchy" (Baptist Bible Fellowship). That is the apostolic order, and these churches keep it. Only men are pastors, as 1 Timothy 2:12 asks. They stand short in one place. The apostles "appointed for them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23), a plurality, and these churches, with a very few exceptions, as Cloud says, have one pastor over the church, to rule it "in much the same way a man would rule his own house." Peter told the elders to be "ensamples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:3) and not lords over it. Where the pastor's rule runs to a "lordly dictatorial style," as Cloud describes some, it stands further from the line.

The FBFI's members are individuals, not churches, and the fellowship has a board and officers, but it claims no authority over a church.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

They keep worship plain: preaching, prayer and the congregation singing, with a leader and a choir, and they hold the music to a standard that guards against entertainment. The FBFI is right to urge "discernment and caution" where emotion crowds out truth. They stand short in two ways. The New Testament gives the church "singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19) and names no instrument, yet Lancaster Baptist Church, the one church whose music was read, uses a choir and instrumentalists, and Pensacola Christian College bans whole genres "on or off campus" where the text names none. Singing without instruments is the pattern the apostles gave.

West Coast Baptist College's rule that music should center on "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" is the language of Ephesians 5:19. Its use of instrumentalists is where it parts from the text.

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.

Now when the apostles that were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit: for as yet it was fallen upon none of them: only they had been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

The FBFI and Way of Life Literature say the miraculous gifts have ceased, and that is what the text shows. In Samaria the Spirit came when "Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:17), through the apostles, and when the apostles were gone the giving was gone. Paul put the end of tongues and prophecy at the coming of "that which is perfect" (1 Corinthians 13:10), and these bodies read it of the completed word. They are nearer the line here than the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. They stand short in one point: the FBFI says the believer is "Spirit baptized into union with Christ" in salvation, before the water, while Peter promised "the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38) to those who repent and are baptized.

The Baptist Bible Fellowship Articles, as read, do not say whether the gifts continue, and Hyles-Anderson says only that they are not to be sought, so not every body read holds the FBFI's explicit statement.

Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.

and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.

They teach what Scripture teaches: Christ will come again "in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven" (Acts 1:11), the dead will be raised, and "these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:46). The core of the hope is on the line. They go beyond the text in the order. The FBFI and West Coast Baptist College write a pretribulation rapture and a seven-year tribulation into their statements, and Norris's fellowship made premillennialism a requirement for membership. Christ speaks of one "hour" (John 5:28) in which all in the tombs shall hear his voice, and Paul puts rest for the afflicted "at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven" (2 Thessalonians 1:7). The order is a belief, and the fault is in binding it on the churches and on fellowship, which no apostle did.

This sits one step further out than the Baptist family's place in the chart on The Baptists. There the largest body, the Southern Baptists, sets out no order and only the Regular Baptists and the American Baptist Association write one in. Here the BBFI, the FBFI, West Coast, Pensacola and Way of Life all write in a thousand-year reign, all but the BBFI a rapture before a seven-year tribulation, and First Baptist of Hammond a return that "could at any moment" come; the FBFI makes signing its statement the price of membership, and Norris made premillennialism "a requirement for membership" in 1933. The site's Pentecostal chart is placed the same for the same fault.

The Independent Fundamental Baptists hold much that Scripture holds. They immerse only penitent believers. They put the Bible above every church and every officer, and keep each congregation self-governing, with no bishop above it. They keep the Supper as a remembrance, with no priest or sacrifice. They hold that the miraculous gifts have ceased, as the FBFI and Way of Life Literature say, and that only men are pastors. They put the Great Commission first, and several of their leaders, Paul Chappell and David Cloud among them, name and warn against the faults of their own movement. The FBFI refuses to make a translation a test of fellowship, and where a church stops short of that, the movement's own writers call it back.

The Independent Fundamental Baptists went back to the New Testament for the baptism of believers and for the independence of the local church, and they have kept both more firmly than most. They fall short on what the water is for, and around that missing step has grown the prayer at the end of soul winning.

Some of them have also bound what the apostles never bound. Hyles-Anderson, West Coast and Pensacola bind a translation in their ministries, and Jack Hyles made it a condition of the new birth; Pensacola fixes hems and genres for its students; the FBFI writes an order of the last days into the statement its members sign. The same trust in the text that brought them to believers' baptism would bring them to the rest of the pattern: baptism for the remission of sins, the Supper on the first day of every week, a plurality of elders in each church, singing from the heart, and a fellowship that asks no more than the apostles asked.

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