1. Distinctives
   Articles
2. Creeds
   Set-forths

There are eight "distinctives" in the Baptist denomination. As the name implies, these are beliefs that set Baptists apart from other strains of Christianity.

1. Baptism itself
   Being born again through Christ
2. Performing good works
   Taking the Lord's Supper

It might surprise some people to know that baptism isn't the most important part of being a Baptist. The church values "regenerative membership," meaning that being born again is the most important thing. Baptism is an external symbol of that rebirth.

1. Baptism of believers
   Baptism of entire families at once
2. Baptism with holy water
   Baptism with wine

One of the most important articles of faith in Baptist churches is that church members shouldn't be baptized until they're old enough to have made a profession of faith. The opposite is infant baptism, which many denominations practice.

1. A form of baptism
   Intensive Bible study
2. Intensive seminary training
   Speaking in tongues

Many Baptist churches practice this method of baptizing adults (or older youths), dunking the entire body in water. In warm climates, this can be done in a river.

1. Six
   Twelve
2. Sixteen
   There's no set age.

Individual churches make this decision. Generally, as soon as a child is old enough to make a conscious profession of faith, they are considered old enough to be baptized.

1. The Bible
   The pastor's decision
2. The individual's intuition
   The original teaching of the earliest Baptist leaders

Baptists look to the Bible for the last word on matters of religious practice. Of course, they are not alone among Christian denominations in this.

1. Individual believers
   Male heads of household
2. Church pastors
   The leaders of the Southern Baptist Conference

The "priesthood of the believer" means that every believer can pray directly to God, or evangelize nonbelievers. This is a split from the Catholic tradition, which requires a priest to intercede with God, particularly in confession.

1. A Conference
   A Synod
2. A Ward
   None, it is accountable only to itself.

Considered by some outsiders as a strict faith, the Baptist tradition is also one of individualism. This extends to each church having autonomy -- paying its own bills and running its own affairs. All this, of course, is with the guidance of the Bible and the eight distinctives.

1. Two
   Three
2. Half a dozen
   A dozen

"Ordinances" in the Baptist church are baptism and communion (the Lord's Supper). These are the rituals the church holds in highest esteem, though it also carries out important community functions, like weddings and funerals.

1. Archbishop
   Deacon
2. Pastor
   both #2 and #3

There are few positions of authority in a Baptist church. The pastor is at the head of the congregation, with deacons subordinate to him. Some deacons are ordained; others are laypersons.

1. Continuous faith
   Perpetuity
2. Successionism
   Either #2 or #3

This idea is not too different from the Catholic tradition that holds that Peter was the first pope. However, most modern religious historians say that the Baptist faith -- its central ideas and tenets -- arose much more recently.

1. Anabaptists
   Jansenists
2. Michaelists
   Lutherans

The Anabaptists were theological radicals in Europe, who believed adult baptism (or re-baptism). They also largely advocated for the shunning of society and for total pacifism, things that Baptists do not endorse. The idea that modern Baptists are descended from the Anabaptist tradition is largely discredited.

1. John Stuart Mill
   Horace Livewright
2. Henry McNeil
   John Smyth

John Smyth was an Englishman who broke with the Anglican church, bringing a number of congregants with him. This is the generally accepted view of the beginnings of the Baptist tradition.

1. Amsterdam, the Netherlands
   Winston-Salem, N.C.
2. London, England
   Manchester, England

This is a little confusing -- Baptism *did* grow out of the English separatist tradition, but the first recognized Baptist minister, John Smyth, preached in Amsterdam. He fled there, like his followers, from persecution.

1. Georgia
   Maine
2. Massachusetts
   Rhode Island

Two cities lay claim to having the first Baptist church, but both are in Rhode Island: Providence and Newport. The churches were founded by Roger Williams and John Clarke, respectively.

1. Dancing
   Drinking
   Gambling
2. Smoking
   all of these

None of these activities are forbidden by Baptist doctrinal statements. But the culture of the Baptist denomination looks on these things as vices to be avoided.

1. Separation of church and state
   The right to bear arms
2. The Electoral College
   The Bicameral Legislature

Many Christian denominations appreciate, in general, the separation of church and state -- it's the basis of their tax-free status, after all. But for Baptists, it's an important point of doctrine. This reflects the persecution John Smyth and his followers suffered in England.

1. Gay marriage
   Women as pastors
   Women as deacons
2. All of these
   All but #3

Baptist churches have individual autonomy; despite this, it's safe to say it's common for them to shun gay marriage and women in pastorships. However, many churches allow women to be deacons.

1. An angel in the Book of Revelation
   A temple in the Old Testament
2. One of Jesus's disciples
   An early Baptist leader

The temple at Shiloh predated the grand one that Solomon built in Jerusalem. It was where the wise prophet Samuel, so influential in the Books of Kings, served.

1. Creed
   Elder
2. Protestant
   Synod

Some Baptists believe that their faith tradition precedes Martin Luther (even going back to Christ's time). They consider Baptists "pre-Protestant."

1. American Baptist Churches USA
   Progressive National Baptist Churches
2. National Baptist Convention of America
   Southern Baptist Convention

Nearly 47,000 Baptist churches make up this convention. Though each church is autonomous, churches within the SBC tend to present a unified front on issues like abortion and homosexuality.

1. Abortion
   Temperance (alcohol abstinence)
2. Pacifism
   Slavery

Southern and Northern Baptists would split over the issue of slavery. Prominent Baptist leaders in the South were slaveholders at the 19th century, which means they had a strong financial incentive to claim that the Bible condones slavery.

1. Episcopalian
   Lutheran
2. Methodist
   None of these

Only Catholics outnumber Baptists in the United States. (Not that it's a competition, eh?)

1. 1.5 million
   3 million
2. 5 million
   33 million

The Baptist denomination is a thriving one in the United States. The number might be even larger, given that autonomous churches may not be reporting their numbers to any larger body.

1. 17
   24
2. 38
   60

Only 40 percent of Baptists live in America. The religion, which started in Europe, has truly spread around the world.

1. True
2. False

Although many African-American Baptists might live in the southern United States, they are not required to affiliate with the Southern Baptist Convention -- and instead many churches are part of the National Baptist Convention instead. It's headquartered in the southern city of Nashville, TN.

1. 1960s
   1980s
2. 1990s
   the current decade

In 2012, the SBC elected Fred Luter as its president. This was probably overdue, given the strong black presence in the Baptist church in the American South.

1. Mary Baker Eddy
   Martin Luther King Jr.
2. Cotton Mather
   Billy Sunday

King was a Baptist minister and the son of a Baptist minister. His faith was a key part of his civil rights message, though he also took inspiration from a Hindu leader, Mahatma Gandhi, whose methods of nonviolent resistance he emulated.

1. Birch Tree
   Fatherland
2. Grundy
   Westboro

Disclaimer: The views of the Westboro Baptist Church and its late leader, Fred Phelps, are not typical of the views of most Baptists. They're known for picketing the funerals of gay people, holding signs with a slogan so distasteful we can't repeat it here.

1. Cartoon religious tracts
   Founding a survivalist camp
2. Unsuccessful runs for president
   Surviving an assassination attempt

Chick wrote "fire and brimstone" tracts that showed Jews and Catholics burning in the flames of hell. He was an Independent Baptist, not representing the views of the major conventions.

1. Antique
   Original
2. Primitive
   Dispensalist

Among the things that differentiate Primitive Baptists from others is the a cappella singing in their services. They do not believe in introducing musical instruments into the church service, because instruments are not mentioned as part of worship in the New Testament.

1. The size of their congregations
   Whether they believe in singing hymns
2. Whether they believe salvation is possible for everyone
   Whether they take communion

It might surprise some people to know that some Christians -- not just Baptists -- believe that only an "elect" are chosen by God to be saved. It's part of a theological debate between schools of thought called Calvinism and Arminianism, with Particular Baptists falling on the Calvinist side of the debate.

1. True
2. False

The Episcopalians hold the record here. This reflects the tendency of American presidents to come from the nation's upper middle class, where Episcopalian is a popular denomination. The Baptist tradition is more a blue-collar one in the US.

1. Bill Clinton
   Jimmy Carter
2. Richard Nixon
   Harry S Truman

Little is known about Richard Nixon's personal religious leanings, but he had a Quaker upbringing. Fun fact: Nixon swore the oath of office of the president despite the Quaker prohibition on oaths.

1. True
2. False

The Baptist World Alliance is not a ruling body, but a coalition. It allows Baptist churches around the world to support each other in common goals, including charity.