Questions tagged [baptist]

The Protestant denominations characterized by the need for professing believers baptism.

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Why do many churches use grape juice in communion?

Some Baptists and many other evangelicals use grape juice in communion. Is this explained on any catechism (or systematic theology available online) ? Does the reason for not using wine have to do ...
pterandon's user avatar
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19 votes
5 answers
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Where did Baptists get their name and what do they believe?

Where and when did the Baptists get their name and what do they believe that sets them apart from the rest of Protestant denominations? I realize there are different divisions among Baptists as well, ...
Caleb's user avatar
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17 votes
9 answers
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How have Protestants explained how Jesus could be born of mankind and be sinless?

Very simple question really. If the sin of Adam is passed down through the generations, so that all of us are born with a sin nature, how can it be that Jesus was born of Mary (a human being), yet ...
Jeff B's user avatar
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13 votes
4 answers
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Is a claim of 50,000,000 Baptist martyrs accurate?

In the book The Trail of Blood by James M Carroll, the author makes the claim that 50,000,000 early Baptists were martyred under persecution by the Catholic Church. The author makes the claim ...
Zachary's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
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Why do Baptists believe in the autonomy of local congregations?

Why do Baptists reject the idea of a central authority and instead place authority in the local congregations? Does this have a biblical basis or is it a result of past conflict with authority figures?...
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11 votes
4 answers
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Is it fair to say that Baptists have a liturgy?

One distinctive of Baptists and many other congregational churches is that they have no prescribed method of worship. Unlike, say, an Episcopalian or a Roman Catholic, there is no prayer book and no ...
Affable Geek's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
4k views

Did Baptist and Methodists ever believe that Jesus is Michael the Archangel?

I recently found references that suggest both Baptists and Methodists used to believe that Jesus and Michael the Archangel are one and the same. This surprised me because both Baptists and Methodists ...
Lesley's user avatar
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9 votes
8 answers
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Why are Independent Baptist Fundamentalists labelled Protestants?

Something that always bothers me which I witness to Catholics: the well-meaning ones tell me I am a Protestant and say that "we protested the Catholic Church". This isn't true, the Baptist Church was ...
dongle26's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
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What are the main differences between the Baptist and Pentecostal traditions?

What do these two movements disagree on? Also what are the differences in the way each group seeks to study and understand the Bible?
emanski's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
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According to churches which teach Believer's Baptism, what are the consequences of not being baptized with water?

Are there any direct consequences to not getting baptized? Whether this person doesn't think it's important, or just doesn't want to, or wants to but just doesn't get around to it, did Jesus or his ...
LCIII's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
465 views

According to Baptist theology why doesn't Satan surrender?

We know that Satan is at war with God. This is a root cause of the Fall (depending on your perspective). We also know that God is omnipotent, while Satan is not. This means that Satan is doomed. ...
Mark Gardner's user avatar
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1 answer
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How do Leslie Weatherhead's views on the will of God compare to contemporary Baptist thought?

I am reading Leslie Weatherhead's collection of sermons on 'The Will of God' from a book of the same title (ISBN: 9 780687 074822 published by Abingdon Press). He looks at God's will in three ways -...
Jo2108's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why did the authors of the London Baptist Confession of 1689 callout the pope as being the antichrist?

In chapter 26 paragraph 4 of the 1689 LBC, the authors called the pope the antichrist: neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of ...
warren's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
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How does the doctrine of British Baptists compare with their American cousins?

This question examines the difference between the American Baptists and Southern Baptists in the USA. In the UK, there is one formal Baptist denomination, the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB). ...
Waggers's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
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How does a Baptist church handle a believer who was already baptized as an infant and confirmed as a youth?

Let's say a Christian grew up in a non-Baptist Reformed church and was baptized as an infant. This Christian went through a catechism and confirmation during his youth (12-15 yr. old) and in the ...
GratefulDisciple's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
4k views

What is closest thing Baptists have to a catechism?

I teach Sunday School at an evangelical congregation that is essentially nondenominational, but has various, historical ties to the Church of the Brethren and or one of the smaller Baptist ...
pterandon's user avatar
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What do immersionists believe it means to be buried with Christ through Baptism?

Romans 6:1-4 (NIV) What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you ...
Mawia's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
751 views

What is the Baptist justification for anti-confessionalism?

According to Wikipedia, "Confessionalism, in a religious (and particularly Christian) sense, is a belief in the importance of full and unambiguous assent to the whole of a religious teaching. ...
Double U's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
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Is there a word for the beliefs of Baptists?

The beliefs of Catholics are Catholicism; the beliefs of Lutherans are Lutheranism; the beliefs of Presbyterians are Presbyterianism; etc. What about the beliefs of Baptists? It "should" be &...
Someone's user avatar
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1 answer
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How do credo-baptists explain baptism in the Nicene Creed?

How do credo-baptists explain "baptism for the remission of sins" in the Nicene Creed? Is this phrase interpreted in some way as being symbolic?
JRystedt's user avatar
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1 answer
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American and Southern Baptists

What are the principal differences between the Southern Baptist and American Baptist denominations in the US?
DJClayworth's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
508 views

Do baptists believe baptism did not pre-date Jesus Christ?

Reading "Why Baptism As Symbol And Not A Saving Ordinance" by J. B. Moody, D. D. (First Baptist Church), he made the following statement: If we are saved now as men were saved in the olden ...
JBH's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
186 views

What is the SBC's stance on what/how salvation is/works?

What is the Southern Baptist Convention's stance on what salvation is and how it works? Is there an official doctrine? Is it challenged by prominent members?
djeikyb's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
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What do baptists mean when they refer to an ordained baptist minister?

In most denominations, ordination refers to the process of being officially recognized and established by an ecclesiastical authority like an elder, a bishop, or a cardinal to be a minister. Given the ...
Ben Mordecai's user avatar
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6 votes
4 answers
20k views

What is the relation between the First Baptist Church and the Baptist Church?

In my neighborhood there has been a Baptist Church for a while. I'm moderately aware of the history of Baptist Church in general. Very recently a temple of The First Baptist Church has been built. I´...
deps_stats's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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What is the baptist view on "gambling" in scenarios like "Jeopardy!"?

I realize there are many variations even among Baptists, but I personally have never heard this area discussed. How do baptists view the "gambling" associated with games like Jeopardy!? For those ...
warren's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
808 views

What do Protestant Christians believe about sanctification, holiness, and attaining perfect love in this life?

When I first became a Christian my Baptist minister spoke about sanctification, holiness and aspiring toward Christian perfection in our lives. Personally, I doubt any of us will see perfection this ...
Lesley's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
453 views

How do proponents of sola fide explain Titus 1:16?

Evangelicals believe that faith alone establishes your salvation. How do they resolve Titus 1:16? They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, ...
The Freemason's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
12k views

Why do so many baptisms occur with regular clothes on and not swimwear?

Why do so many baptisms occur with regular clothes on, and not in a swimsuit? On my visit to a Southern Baptist church, I saw a little girl get baptized by immersion. That was the only time when I ...
Double U's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
1k views

How did Baptists in the southern US justify slavery as compatible with Christianity?

The wikipedia article on Slavery in the US states: Over the decades and with the growth of slavery throughout the South, Baptist and Methodist ministers gradually changed their messages to ...
Flimzy's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
13k views

What theological differences exist between Baptist and Evangelical Free denominations?

What theological differences exist between Baptist churches and the Evangelical Free Church of America? Where Baptist viewpoints might differ, assume American Baptist Churches USA as the specific ...
TheIronCheek's user avatar
6 votes
6 answers
813 views

What's God's justification of not allowing the choice of personal annihilation? [duplicate]

Question: God is just, so what would be God's justification according to the Bible of Not allowing the choice of annihilation of yourself if you found out Jesus actually never knew you after death? ...
question's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why do Baptists even baptize in water at all considering their "spirit baptism" views?

It is common for Baptists to take the position that any passage in scripture that sounds like its saying baptism is required for salvation is referring to "Spirit baptism." [Examples, Acts 2:38, Gal 3:...
david brainerd's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
409 views

How do Baptists catechize children?

If Baptists do not believe in the formalized confessional creeds of the church, then how do they catechize children? In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther notes that learning the Creeds is very ...
Double U's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
159 views

In the USA today are there congregations who still follow in the footsteps of J C Philpot?

I hope, God willing, to visit the USA sometime and am looking for congregations who follow J C Philpot and J K Popham 'even as they followed Christ' (I Corinthians 11:1). These men denominated ...
Nigel J's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
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What are the requirements for a teacher in the Baptist church?

A while ago, I read this academic paper by Casey Schutt. Although the entire paper was about evangelism ethics in the workplace and how self-identified evangelical/born-again Christians go about doing ...
Double U's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
1k views

Do Baptists consider immersion baptisms of adults performed to be valid if performed by other denominations?

Baptists are often distinguished by their belief in "believer's baptism" (i.e. that an adult must believe the tenets of faith in order to be baptized) and rejecting infant baptism (a.k.a. paedobaptism)...
Thunderforge's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
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Why is it a custom in Baptist Churches to vote on new congregation members?

My friend recently became a member of the local Baptist church. When she and her mother wanted to join, they went to the preacher and he told them there would be a vote among the congregation members ...
Ella 's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
5k views

What are the main theological differences between Reformed Baptists and other Baptists?

I have recently met people who are Reformed Baptist. However, I'm having a hard time understanding what their major beliefs are, especially in comparison to other Baptists. The Wikipedia article gives ...
Thunderforge's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
972 views

How do Baptists interpret the summoning of Samuel by the medium of Endor?

Considering that Baptists generally believe that the soul of a faithful servant of God is immediately united with God upon death, how does the Baptist Church interpret 1 Samuel 28:8: 8 So Saul ...
Jon the Architect's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

Would men have ever sinned if Satan did not tempt Eve in the garden in the first place? [closed]

I talked with one of our fellowship members who had not been attending services recently. I then asked him how his spiritual life is. He told me he doesn't even know if God exist sometimes and said he ...
Chiana Timbori R Marak's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
153 views

How do Baptists interpret Revelation 20 and 21?

I understand that Revelation is one of the more challenging books to ask about, but what I hope to find out is what Baptists believe chapters 21 and 22 foretell for the future. Chapter 20:1-3 and ...
Ella's user avatar
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5 votes
0 answers
202 views

Why was the Baptist Confession of Faith changed in 1986?

For hundreds of years, generations of believers held to the historic belief that Rome/Popes were Antichrist/The Antichrist, what led to the dismissal of this traditional interpretation of Scripture in ...
Barrie Brown's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Do any conservative Baptist churches recognize infant baptisms despite not performing them?

This may seem like an odd question on its face since Baptists are defined by their insistence upon only baptizing people upon profession of faith, but there is a meaningful distinction to be made. ...
Ben Mordecai's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
2k views

What is the Biblical basis for the formal 'membership' requirements that some Baptist churches have?

When I have been looking for a church to congregate, I have found that there are different ideas about membership. Some churches require a letter of transfer. Other churches need to see my behavior ...
Paul Vargas's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
452 views

From the Baptist perspective: Does Leviticus 20:13 prove that God is advocating for the murder of homosexuals?

Just to clarify, so we don't get any wrong ideas here. I am a baptist. I believe that faith in Jesus Christ ALONE will save you from death and that baptism isn't necessary for salvation. I study the ...
E. Huckabee's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
154 views

According to proponents of Believer's Baptism, can an infant be saved?

Proponents of Believer's Baptism argue that Baptism requires an existing faith on the part of the person being baptized, and for this reason a) reject the practice of infant baptism and b) teach that ...
Matthew's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Should a Baptist marry a Jehovah's witness? [closed]

My fiancee is a Jehovah's witness. We're supposed to be married in three weeks and I'm just now finding out about the mechanics of his religion. With my being a Baptist I can't help but think it's ...
Alexis MCcullough's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
351 views

According to Baptist teachings, what are the actual precepts God requires of us who are his?

I am reading Psalm 103 and I come to the word "precepts" in these verses in the NIV: 17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with ...
Judith Wilkinson's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
906 views

Where does the idea that faith must be a condition for baptism originate from?

I have been told that I possess a very definitive view of faith in regards to baptism. So far as I believe faith in Jesus as personal Lord and Savior must be present at the time of baptism. Hence my ...
Neil Meyer's user avatar
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