Thank you all for a great discussion this morning! I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts and opinions on the whole denomination thing. I really like that we have some diversity of denominational backgrounds in the class...and thanks for not being timid about it.
Please go check out the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message:
Its not too terribly long and gives a great overview of Southern Baptist theology, though again, Southern Baptist churches are not required to adhere to it, necessarily.
Here are a few additional details that we didn't get to related to Baptist beliefs. In addition to the things we discussed about Baptism, I forgot to mention (though most of you probably know) two things: Baptism is strictly by immersion (meaning a dunk vs. a sprinkle) and is required for local church membership (of which voting is a key privelage). Regarding "immersion", that is quite the literal meaning of the Greek word we translate "baptize"; see "βαπτίζω". It is documented, I think, that sprinkling became an alternative way to baptize for those who were not near an adequate water source to dunk in...and so for many it eventually became the standard.
Also, Baptists, being out of the Separatists tradition, also agree very much with the separation of church and state for two reasons: 1) they do not want a state endorsed denomination where government would influence the church, and 2) they do not want law overriding man's conscience on spiritual matters, in which they believe he should be free from compulsion. That has the potential to be in conflict with the portion of the Baptist Faith and Message that says something to the effect that encourages Christians to influence law to reflect Christian morality...but that is another subject.
I know there are other things too but just reading the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message should fill in the gaps.
Also, I have a new blog I'm just starting to discuss the strange things I wrestle with in my head and my first real post is about this whole Baptist thing. Check it out and comment if you'd like: theought.wordpress.com.
see you soon...
casey
Sunday, May 17, 2009
To Be a Baptist (or not)...
Posted by HomeBuilding Team at 7:30 PM
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2 comments:
sounds really interesting and im sad i missed it.
tiff
yeah, i wish you could have been there. There are several folks in our class with Catholic backgrounds like yourself...at least four that I know of in total now. Its cool, not in the sense that we converted you guys, but just that we have that broader experience within the class. Hope you feel better.
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