Editing Regular Baptists (section)

{{Baptist}}
'''Regular Baptists''' are "a moderately [[Reformed Baptists|Calvinistic Baptist]] denomination that is found chiefly in the southern U.S., represents the original English Baptists before the division into [[Particular Baptist|Particular]] and General Baptists, and observes [[closed communion]] and [[Maundy (foot washing)|foot washing]]", according to Merriam Webster.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Regular+Baptist|title=Definition of REGULAR BAPTIST|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en|access-date=2019-09-30}}</ref> This definition describes [[Old Regular Baptists]], not those who formed as a result of the [[Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy|Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy]].

The most prominent Regular Baptist group is the [[General Association of Regular Baptist Churches]]. While the term ''Regular'' ''Baptist'' was originally a reference to the [[Particular Baptists]], it came to be used more loosely as a synonym for ''orthodox''. The ''Baptist Bulletin'' of the [[General Association of Regular Baptist Churches|GARBC]] defines them simply as groups who believe "orthodox, [[Baptists|Baptist doctrine]]" and "affirm the rule or measure of the Scripture."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://baptistbulletin.org/the-baptist-bulletin-magazine/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-regular-baptist/|title=What Does It Mean to Be a 'Regular' Baptist?|last=Brodrick|first=Jeff|date=May 2, 2008|website=Baptist Bulletin|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref>{{efn|In this case, the definition of the English word "regular" comes from the Latin term ''regula'', which means "rule or example". For instance, the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary definition for the adjective "regular" is: "Ecclesiastically subject to, or bound by, a religious rule, belonging to a religious or monastic order."<ref name=":0" />}} As compared to [[General Baptist]]s or [[Free Baptist]]s, Regular Baptists were strict in their beliefs, and also called Strict or Hard-shell Baptists.<ref name=":0" /> To be a Regular Baptist church in the [[General Association of Regular Baptist Churches|GARBC]] is to hold to distinctive baptistic ecclesiology and interpret the Bible literally.