What is a “Separatist?”
2 Corinthians 6:17 demands that Christians separate from unbelievers and “come out from among them”. In this brief passage of scripture, the Apostle Paul outlines principles of separation that have guided the true church of Jesus Christ for centuries. As early as the third century, Christians were identifying three areas that mandated separation: the exemplary lifestyle of believing men and women, the non-interference of the state, and the purity of the “visible” church. 1 From these early Christians came the title of Separatist.
Historically, Separatists denounced the apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church and eventually any state ordained religion. They fought the Reformers who refused a clear break with papist theology and many gave their lives for the purity of biblical belief over cultural “religion”. Although often lumped together in the vague term “pilgrim”, the Separatists were different from the Puritans (who sought to purify the existing churches) and stepped away from the established churches for the sake of purity. In many instances the term separation took on two meanings: personal separation from ungodliness and ecclesiastical separation from unbelief and apostasy.2
Separatists today have been the caretakers of biblical Christianity. Throughout the Great Awakening, into the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy and continuing to the Post Modernist movements of today, godly Christians have continued to hold to the biblical principle of separation. In areas of personal godliness and ecclesiastical (church) fellowship, Separatists remain fixed on Paul’s statements that righteousness cannot fellowship with unrighteousness, light has no communion with darkness, Christ has no concord (or agreement) with Belial (Satan), believers should have no part (participation) with an infidel (or unbeliever), and there is definitely no agreement between the temple of God and idols.
Historical, traditional and current Separatists have always been marked by a careful study of the Bible, a strict adherence to the Word of God as solely authoritative, and an understanding of the price to be paid by those who choose to separate.3
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Ernest Pickering, Biblical Separation (Regular Baptist Press, 1979), p.24.
Pickering, p. 53.
Pickering, p. 41.
Historically, Separatists denounced the apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church and eventually any state ordained religion. They fought the Reformers who refused a clear break with papist theology and many gave their lives for the purity of biblical belief over cultural “religion”. Although often lumped together in the vague term “pilgrim”, the Separatists were different from the Puritans (who sought to purify the existing churches) and stepped away from the established churches for the sake of purity. In many instances the term separation took on two meanings: personal separation from ungodliness and ecclesiastical separation from unbelief and apostasy.2
Separatists today have been the caretakers of biblical Christianity. Throughout the Great Awakening, into the Fundamentalist-
Historical, traditional and current Separatists have always been marked by a careful study of the Bible, a strict adherence to the Word of God as solely authoritative, and an understanding of the price to be paid by those who choose to separate.3
______________________
Ernest Pickering, Biblical Separation (Regular Baptist Press, 1979), p.24.
Pickering, p. 53.
Pickering, p. 41.