Baptist Distinctives

The Texas Baptist Young Professional Network began in late July 2007. The Network has grown so rapidly (over 250 members) that we now have multiple opportunities to connect with each other, and there are many possibilities for what we can do with this group. But I hope we can stay true, also, to the original intent behind creating TBYPN, which is to educate and empower young adults to be lay leaders, reclaiming their Baptist identity. What we realized is that to do this, young adults (I believe all Baptists, really) need a solid foundation on what it means to be Baptist.

Of course, as the next generation of leaders we can define what this means for ourselves. But how much stronger can our voice be if we have a better understanding of what it has meant to others to be Baptist. What are those beliefs that make Baptists distinct? I would highly recommend looking at the links under ‘About Baptists’ to learn more about Baptist history and Baptist distinctives. I would also HIGHLY recommend the BaptistWayPress study “What Baptists Believe” as something to go through with a small group or even an entire church.

Baptists have a set of beliefs that we affirm because of the foundations of autonomy and our understanding of how God interacts with humanity. These beliefs make us “distinctive”. Here are beliefs representative of Baptists (developed by the Baptist Distinctives Committee of Baptist General Convention of Texas):

• Authority of the Bible
• Autonomy of the local congregation of believers
• Believer’s baptism and church membership
• Congregational church government
• Deity and lordship of Jesus Christ
• Evangelism and missions: the Great Commission
• Religious Freedom and separation of church and state
• Salvation only by grace through faith
• Security of the believer
• Soul competency and the priesthood of the believer
• Symbolic understanding of baptism and the Lord’s supper
• Voluntary cooperation among churches

These have more recently been described as our commitment to four freedoms (definitions from Walter B. Shurden’s book “The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms”):

Bible Freedom

the Bible, under the Lordship of Christ, must be central in the life of the individual and church and that Christians, with the best and most scholarly tools of inquiry, are both free and obligated to study and obey Scripture

Soul Freedom

the inalienable right and responsibility of every person to deal with God without the imposition of creed, the interference of clergy, or the intervention of civil government

Church Freedom

local churches are free, under the Lordship of Christ, to determine their membership and leadership, to order their worship and work, to ordain whom they perceive as gifted for ministry, male or female, and to participate in the larger Body of Christ, of whose unity and mission Baptists are proudly a part

Religious Freedom

Freedom of religion, freedom for religion, freedom from religion.

This is not an exhaustive description, nor do all Baptists believe each of these things. But we can generally agree on most of them. If you are interested, TBYPN has created a brief newsletter on Baptist Distinctives as an additional education tool, and we can send you a copy, just email me, Alexis.Cooper@bgct.org .Our website also has a presentation you can download if you wish to use it.

In the future, we’ll be posting some blogs on how these distinctives are affecting Baptists around the world today, as well as an in depth look at these individually. I hope these ideas are thought-provoking for you and encourage you to vigorous discussion with one another.

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