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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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B
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Baptist
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1992-09-03
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Member of any of several Protestant
and evangelical Christian sects that practise
baptism by immersion only upon profession of
faith. Baptists seek their authority in the
Bible. Baptism originated among English
Dissenters who took refuge in the Netherlands
in the early 17th century, and spread by
emigration and, later, missionary activity.
Of the world total of approximately 31
million, some 26.5 million are in the USA and
265,000 in the UK. The first Baptist church
in America was organized in Rhode Island
1639. The Baptist Missionary Society, formed
1792, pioneered the 19th-century missionary
movement which spread Baptism through Europe
and to British colonies. In 1905 the Baptist
World Alliance was formed.