>From Baker's Concise Dictionary of Religion: BAPTISTS- Christians, once called ANABAPTISTS or antipaodobaptists, who emphasize baptism by immersion in water upon the personal profession of faith of the candidate. One of the early Protestant divisions opposing infant baptism and upholding personal and ecclesiatical freedom, Baptists have emphasized the sole authority of the Bible, personal Christian experience, and the primary authority of the local church. many early Baptists were martyred in the cause of religious freedom. Today Baptists constitute one of the largest groups of Christians in the world, with more than 40 million members. See also names of individual Baptist groups. My note: The anabaptists (later known as Baptists) most certainly came out of and opposed the practices of the Roman Catholic Church. There is another booklet called the Trail of Tears that gives the history of the these churches. It also has several pages with a chart that shows which church broke off from which group (the continuing saga of disagreement) but each Protestant group eventually goes back to the RCC. The break with the church had to do with disagreements concerning doctrine as the RCC turned to human tradition as the standard to live by rather than the inerrant doctrines of the Bible. The Bible is considered the unchanging Word of God, personally spoken by Him to men (inspiration literally translates as "God-breathed"), who in turn wrote it down (II Timothy 3:16, 17; I Thessalonians 2:13). I hope this helps. Respectfully, Angela Whaley. M.S. Counseling Professional Counselor