Featured Do Baptists come under the unbrella of Protestants

I consider Baptists Protestants.

I have no problem at all calling myself a Protestant.

 

Salty, where did you get that definition?

 

Salty, here's reproof for such erroneous thinking from R.B.C. Howell, a founder of your denomination:

Howell was SBC President throughout the 1850s.

 

I think this debate is another case of "same word, different dictionary."

If one is trying to identify Baptists through the stream of Reformation churches (such as Lutheran and Calvinist congregations), then the connection isn't so clear, and I see legitimate room for debate. I view Baptists as Protestants in this stream, but I also understand and respect the opposing argument (to a point).

My reservations are primarily based on attitude . If a Baptist is claiming to be from a distinct tradition from the main churches of the Reformation, I can fully respect that argument. If a Baptist is making that claim but presenting it with a sense of arrogance, failing to recognize the contributions that the Reformers made in rejecting the errors of the Catholic church, then I'm less sympathetic to the argument.

In everyday usage, though, "Protestant" usually means a non-Catholic Christian in the West. I don't know if it's worth spending too much time worrying about making a distinction for the average person (especially non-Christians), if meant in this sense.

 

Another factor to consider---I wonder if willingness to identify as a Protestant is related (at least in some cases) to one's general theological framework.

I'd assume, for instance, a Reformed Baptist, who would be very similar to a Presbyterian (especially considering the similarities of the LBC and the WCF), would probably be more comfortable identifying as a Protestant. (This point is probably fairly obvious, though; "Reformed" IS in the name, after all.)

Personally, I tend to identify more with the Reformed stream of Baptists (although not totally), so being in the general umbrella of the Protestant Reformation feels completely normal for me.

 

Baptist were not part of Catholicism and did not protest.
We have existed, not necessarily in name, but basic doctrine, separated from the Catholic church back before 300 AD long before Martin Luther

 

Have you even read the LBC? In adapting the WCF, they removed words such Sacrament and Reformed!

If Baptists are 'Protestant' because (some, long ago) came out of Protestant churches, then why aren't Protestants 'Roman Catholic' since they came out of that Church?

 

Do Baptists come under the umbrella of Protestants?

NO.

To "protest" the invention of the heresies of the hierarchy of the Church of Rome is to give credence to her and her abominable heresies.

I love the laity of ROME. My quarrel is with the hierarchy.

When it comes to Rome I am a Separatist not a Protestant.

 

We are not Catholics so.....

 

But we can't really use Seperatist, as that name, in English speaking Christianity, covers those Dissenters who left the Church of England. Baptists and Presbyterians among the lot.

 

Yet, they adapted it. That's not a separate ecclesiastical stream but a development of it.

Why aren't Protestants called "Roman Catholic" under this logic? It's not an apples to apples comparison.

The difference between Protestant and Catholic is significant. Apart from significant divergence in several points of doctrine, Protestant churches explicitly reject papal authority. Many Reformers considered the Pope and/or the papacy the antichrist.

Differences among Protestant churches exist, but the disagreements are still under a basic set of Protestant beliefs. I wouldn't necessarily claim complete agreement on the five solas of the Reformation, but, generally speaking, Protestant churches share these principles. Catholic churches do not, as they have the Magisterium (inclusive of ex cathedra papal declarations) as an authority on the same level of Scripture.

Protestants rightly reject the Catholic understanding of church Tradition, and that makes a major, irreconcilable difference. Protestant churches developing out of other Protestant churches may vary in doctrine, but the general principle is that these churches appeal to Scripture as the basis for their doctrinal claims. We are dealing with disagreement over the interpretation of Scripture, not disagreement over the authority of the church Magisterium to interpret Scripture in a binding manner. Protestant churches simply do not claim the same authority as the Catholic church does.

Furthermore, in Protestant churches that still recite the early creeds of the church, they proclaim belief in "one holy, catholic, and apostolic church"--they may not believe in the "Roman Catholic" church, but they profess belief in a catholic (universal) church.

 

Interesting to note, later copyies of Greek of the NT letters have the Greek for catholic, translated general as in General Epistle, as used in the KJV.

 

Do Baptists come under the unbrella of Protestants

No, we got wetter than that when we became Baptists.

 

i can use any name i choose - BTW you misspelled Separatist

 

That one slips by on occasion, but my all time unspellable word is garuntee...guarantee....

Use dictates meaning, and everywhere I go Protestant seems to be a synonym for not-Catholic.

 

Ya, samo except i misspell it gaurantee