| Very Brief Introduction to
Baptist Theology, Then and Now
Note: See links at bottom of page for resources
concerning historical Baptist theology.
Historically, Baptists are a diverse people bound together by a belief
in freedom of conscience, the truthfulness of Scripture, believer's
baptism by immersion, Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and
State, local church autonomy, and the Priesthood of all Believers. Apart
from these commonalities, internal dissension has abounded, including
disagreements over Calvinism and Arminianism, missions, denominational
structures, worship styles, music, and many other issues. As a result,
Baptists have split many times over into dozens of distinct groups
within the United States and hundreds worldwide.
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, many
Baptists in America -- particular among Southern Baptists and other
fundamentalist Baptist groups -- came to understand
diversity as undesirable, insisting instead upon forced
conformity. In many instances in modern Baptist circles, long-held
Baptist beliefs by the late 20th century gave way to modernistic
theology (fundamentalism, forged in the late 19th century) committed to
the enforcement of doctrinal purity. The time-honored doctrine of
biblical authority in matters of faith, for example, has been denied and
discarded by fundamentalist Baptists and replaced with the modern
theological concept of "biblical inerrancy." Creedalism
is now common in Baptist life despite Baptists' strong historical
aversion to creeds. Likewise, the foundational Baptist belief of
freedom of conscience now competes with the political and theological
correctness espoused by fundamentalists. Traditional Baptist belief
in religious liberty for persons of all faiths or no faith, and the
cherished Baptist concept of separation of church and state, both
secured in America after 150 years of persecution and spilled blood,
have been discarded by some in favor of church-state union. Local church autonomy is valued less and
less by many Baptists who now defer to religious hierarchy. And many
(Southern Baptist in particular) fundamentalists are increasingly
turning to strict Calvinism, generating tension within the larger
fundamentalist community (many of whom remain hostile to the primary
tenets of Calvinism).
On the other side of
the modern Baptist spectrum, mainstream conservative and moderate Baptists
(represented by many dissenting Southern Baptists, as well as American Baptists,
Cooperative Baptists, African-American Baptists and others who
collectively comprise about 20 million of America's roughly 38 million
Baptist population) maintain a commitment to the historic Baptist principles listed
above, while increasingly opening the doors of church leadership to women (some women
deacons and preachers have been present in Baptist life at least as far
back as the mid-18th century), focusing
on freedom-centric (rather than propositional-centric) faith, emphasizing the
social justice themes prevalent in the Bible, and displaying a willingness to learn
from other historic Christian traditions.
On a denominational
level, the
Baptist
World Alliance, created in 1905 and currently comprised of over 200
member Baptist groups worldwide, is a joint Baptist effort to witness, minister
and advocate Baptist beliefs and practices throughout the world. While
theological nuances abound within member bodies, BWA Baptists are
committed to religious liberty, separation of church and state, human
rights, and freedom of conscience.
In addition, within the
contemporary scholarly world, a new generation of Baptist theologians
(dubbed Bapto-Catholics) are now re-examining the Baptist commitment to
freedom, expressed in a growing effort to reconcile Baptist freedom with
hierarchical faith.
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