Protestant church holding the same doctrines as other Calvinistic Baptists but observing the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath. In the Reformation in England the observance was adopted by many, and in the 17th cent. there were Seventh-Day Baptists among the followers of Oliver Cromwell. In America the first Seventh-Day Baptist church in the country was organized (1671) in Rhode Island. Another group, the German Seventh-Day Baptists, under the leadership of Johann Conrad Beissel, established (c.1728–1733) at Ephrata, Pa., a semimonastic religious society, famous in colonial times. Among their industries was a noted print shop. Their teaching and practice are closely related to the Brethren Church.

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

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