Free Will Baptist

Its formal establishment is widely linked to English theologian Thomas Helwys who led the Baptist movement to believe in general atonement.

In 1702, Paul Palmer would go on to establish the movement in North Carolina and in 1727 formed the Free Will Baptist Church of Chowan.

With the establishment of Free Will Baptists in the South, Benjamin Randall developed the movement in the Northeastern United States.

The notion of free will was a systematic rejection of the Puritan movement, due to its overall religious beliefs and lack of social mobility.

Though no help was forthcoming, Paul Palmer, whose wife Johanna was the stepdaughter of Benjamin Laker, founded the first "Free Will" Baptist church in Chowan, North Carolina in 1727.

The "Randall" line split into two groups in 1835: The Bullockites, mostly under the name "Freewill Baptists", continued in Maine into the early 20th century, while the Buzzellites disappeared shortly after their founding.

However, in 1911, the majority of the Randall Line churches (and all the denominational property) merged with the Northern Baptist Convention.

[8] Fraternal relations had existed between the Northern and Southern Free Will Baptists, but the question of slavery, and later the Civil War, prevented any formal union until the 20th century.

On November 5, 1935, representatives of the General Conference (Palmer) and the Cooperative General Association (a mixture of Randall and Palmer elements west of the Mississippi) met in Nashville, Tennessee, to unite and organize the National Association of Free Will Baptists.

[10] Still, Free Will Baptists believe God has given man the freedom of choice to accept or reject Christ's sacrifice.

[11] On Perseverance of the Saints from the official Treatise: "There are strong grounds to hope that the truly regenerate will persevere unto the end, and be saved, through the power of divine grace which is pledged for their support; but their future obedience and final salvation are neither determined nor certain, since through infirmity and manifold temptations they are in danger of falling; and they ought, therefore, to watch and pray lest they make shipwreck of their faith and be lost.

Churches advocate (voluntary) tithing, totally abstaining from alcoholic beverages, and not working on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath.

Benjamin Randall (1749–1808) was the founder of the Free Will Baptist movement in New England in the late 18th century.
Return of Roger Williams , a later supporter of the movement, after denouncing the Puritan movement in 1644