A religious movement with roots in the
British Colonies in North America created by evangelists who left the Church of
England and founded new congregational religious communities in what is now the Southern United States. Because the ministers were not ordained priests of the Church of
England in colonial times, these groups came to believe in the "priesthood of all believers." Also, the reason why they are "bible only" is because when they left the Church of
England and its priests and bishops, the only authority they had left came from the Bible. By the way, it is possible to be a baptist without being affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The first baptists were not part of that, but churches join it mostly to facilitate missions and support common interests. A baptist church is only the
people in it, (even if it's only two people,) their preacher (who can be anyone they pick regardless of education or credentials,) and the Bible.
My 6th great grandfather helped found the oldest church in the State of Tennessee. He was an evangelist from the Anglican Church (Church of
England) in Colonial Virginia and told the poor settlers in Tennessee that
Jesus loved them and that one day they would see
Jesus and their family in heaven so they should keep on working and having babies. Now they'
re all still living there and in the general area, and many of their churches and the people descended from them identity as Southern Baptist and they might be affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
