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The Logic of BRAPSIS

Discussion in 'Fundamental Baptist Forum' started by Squire Robertsson, Dec 12, 2013.

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  1. Squire Robertsson

    Squire Robertsson Administrator
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    #1 Squire Robertsson, Dec 12, 2013
  2. agedman

    agedman Well-Known Member
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    Quite interesting read, Squire.

    Thank you.

    The only area in which I would have any problem with is the "consciously chosen Jesus Christ as their Savior" part.

    Too many baptists are like my good friend.

    As an unsaved man, he attended a Baptist church with his wife. One morning she encouraged him to go forward with her to "join the church."

    When he got to the front, the pastor said, "Do you come on statement of faith or by letter."

    He knew he didn't have a letter, so he said, "Statement of faith."

    So he was baptized, allowed member ship, became a deacon, and not until the Holy Spirit brought him light did he confess Christ as his Savior.

    To me, there is a huge difference between "consciously choosing" and confessing.

    Confession is stating facts about what has already taken place.

    Choosing is about what is not yet complete.

    One does not "choose" Christ to get saved, they "confess" Christ as already saved.

    It may seem like a small item, but you and I both know that the Baptist church assembly is filled with a lot of head knowledge and little heart knowledge. Maybe that was what the article was actually stating as a "distinktive." :)
     
    #2 agedman, Dec 13, 2013
  3. Squire Robertsson

    Squire Robertsson Administrator
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    I think the "consciously chosen Jesus Christ as their Savior" part is shorthand to contrast with the sacramental pedo-baptist practice of church membership by birth.
     
    #3 Squire Robertsson, Dec 13, 2013
  4. thisnumbersdisconnected

    thisnumbersdisconnected New Member

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    I wonder why we have to boil down Baptist distinctives into an acrostic in the first place. What's wrong with just listing them and not caring how the "shorthand" for those distinctives looks or sounds?
     
    #4 thisnumbersdisconnected, Dec 14, 2013
  5. Squire Robertsson

    Squire Robertsson Administrator
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    The late Dr. Weeks taught MBU's undergraduate Baptist Polity and History classes. BRAPSIS(2) made teaching the distinctives easier on him and the students. Thirty five years later, I can still rattle the off in my sleep.
     
    #5 Squire Robertsson, Dec 14, 2013
  6. thisnumbersdisconnected

    thisnumbersdisconnected New Member

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    For seminary rote, it makes sense. Not much use outside that venue, though. Also, they're not complete, and not in complete alignment, compared to the Southern Baptist distinctives, postulated [URL="http://www.nobts.edu/faculty/itor/lemkesw/personal/baptist%20distinctives.pdf]here[/URL].
     
    #6 thisnumbersdisconnected, Dec 14, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 14, 2013
  7. Squire Robertsson

    Squire Robertsson Administrator
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    Do you mean this paper? (the link you cited was broken for me.) Dr. Lemke is addressing a different question. His work is titled What Is A Baptist? Nine Marks that Separate Baptists from Presbyterians. So, he is specifically dealing with a Southern Baptist's differences with Prebyterians in the context of the Calvinist resurrgence in the SBC.

    Dr. Weeeks held to the Spritual Kinship Theory (Model) of Baptist history. So, he developed BRAPSIS as a yardstick to see how close a given group came to the ideal. He also developed it to include the various flavors of Baptist, i.e. he considered Generals to be just as much Baptists as Particulars. So, he left out soteriological positions. On the matter of offices, Dr. Weeks believed in only two offices (Pastor\Elder and Deacon). But, he didn't want to exclude thoser who held to a Teaching Elder, Ruling Elder and Deacon polity.
     
    #7 Squire Robertsson, Dec 14, 2013
  8. agedman

    agedman Well-Known Member
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    Right out of the gate, the paper has a problem.

    "Baptists and Presbyterians are both products of the
    Protestant Reformation."

    ​
    Nope.

    Baptists were living and breathing far before the protesting of the papists. They were persecuted far before the times of Calvin.
     
    #8 agedman, Dec 16, 2013
  9. Squire Robertsson

    Squire Robertsson Administrator
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    And Dr. Weeks would be in complete aggreement with your assessment. Further, Dr. Weeks was attempting to state our basic distinctives. He was not attempting to lay out a revision of the New Hampshire Confession.
     
    #9 Squire Robertsson, Dec 17, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 17, 2013
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