Just what is a "true Baptist?"

www.baptistboard.com is an ecumenical organization.

 

A True Baptist is one who doesn tell a lie

 

vanilla ice cream instead of chocolate.
Tea instead of beer
fried chicken instead of baked
church on wednesday instead of prayer meetings
hymns instead of praise music
sitting still instead of dancing

that's it! lol

 

Dear Granny,

If it is true that AWANA has compromised this would be sad.
I will look for something more specific than what you posted and let you know if I find something.

HankD

 

Hank,

Awana has not compromised anything. They reaffirmed the authority of the local church and that Awana is a parachurch ministry, serving the church, not setting itself up over it. Churches complained to Awana that by requiring that they sign a statement of faith, Awana had become a psuedo-denomination. This offended the independent churches, who felt that by having Awana, they were now "tied" to the Awana "denomination".

What Awana did was go back to its original, Bible based, rock solid, doctrinal statement.

http://www.awana.org/webelieve.asp

This removed clauses prohibiting "this group" and "that denomination" from ever having an Awana club. Why? Well, the reason above, but also because they felt it was time to stop playing the role of doctrinal police.

What Awana now does is make sure each church that desires a club is fully informed about the doctrinal position of Awana and how those positions are taught to the children through the Awana materials. Any differences between that church's position and the Awana doctrinal position are clearly pointed out. Understanding any doctrinal differences, the church is given the final decision on whether or not to start a club, but they have to agree not to change the Awana materials or teaching method. So a charasmatic church could run a club, but would they really? Would they agree to teach their children doctrine that they don't agree with?.....Answer...99 times out of 100, NO! The other 1% would now be running a Bible based, Christ centered kids club leading children to the Lord and teaching them correct doctrine!

In effect, Awana now says to all churches, "This is who we are, what we stand for, and what your children will be taught. Here are any differences between your denomination/church and what Awana holds to and teaches. IF you agree not to change the Awana materials and message in any way, you may run a club."

Bottom line, if a church, ANY CHURCH is running an Awana club, that club is teaching the Bible's plan of salvation - the Gospel of Jesus Christ and correct doctrine.

Sorry for the long post, but I felt the other side of this story needed to be told.

In Him,
WW2'er

[ September 17, 2002, 10:24 AM: Message edited by: WW2'er ]

 

Thanks WW2,

I read their statement of faith and it looks good to me.
Of course there would be those who would say they left out _____ fill in blank, but it works for me.

HankD

 

Thanks, Hank.

If Awana's doctrinal statement ever strays from the Bible, then people should get upset. Unfortunately, you will have some separatists that are upset that Awana took out the man-made clauses about not associating with "this denomination" or "that movement". But once you start that, where do you stop?

It's always best to simply rely on THE STANDARD the Bible.

In Him,
WW2'er

 

As a former Catholic, I am a separatist.
Each Local Church must decide for themselves what that means in terms of associations and businesses from which they purchase materials and services.
The Church I membership with decided Awana is OK.
I agree.
I thought Granny meant that they had suddenly departed from the faith.
But I don't see anything different than I remembered from the start.
Perhaps by her criteria they have.

But then again, that's Baptists for ya'

HankD

 

I've alway been told that when Baptists ask God for something we alway use the word "just".

Lord, just bless so snd so, and just do this or that. I'm almost sure that is the true test of a true Baptist.

 

Baptists have not been around since the days of Christ. They go back a long way, further than 1600, but not right back to Christ. However, baptistic beliefs are the same as apostolic beliefs so in a sense you could trace them back that far. If we were in Antioch in Paul's day we would have just been plain Christians, but that title has been hijacked by numerous cults.

What truly disinguishes a Baptist is his belief in immersion in baptism as opposed to sprinkling etc. A Baptist may be post, pre, mid tribulation and there are many other variences. But the true distinguishing mark is the form of Baptism.

The reasoning behind forms of baptism spills over so possibly covenant theologians would not really be Baptists as they would endorse sprinkling babies. (This last paragraph I am not entirely sure about but am mostly sure. Hey, D Moore and Dr Steve, I know you know about this one. Help me out.)

[ September 17, 2002, 05:14 PM: Message edited by: M Wickens ]

 

Usually a true Baptist is one that believes just like the one that is using the term!

It may be hard to narrow down to suit very many people as to what a "true" Baptist is, but I think that they would have to be Bible believers who hold the same general principles that have been held historically by Baptists. How could any who do not meet that minimum standard really be considered Baptists?

 

I'm very surprised that no one has mentioned the Baptist Distinctives

Biblical Authority
Autonomy of Local Church
Priesthood of Believer
Two Ordinances
Individual Soul Liberty
Saved Church Membership
Two Offices
Separation of Church and State

Attending a Baptist college, these precepts are really drilled into our heads a lot. These 8 truths have traditionally separated Baptists from other religious groups and for one I'm thankful to be a Baptist, but I'm even more thankful to be a believer.

 

Dear Teddy,

The distinctives were mentioned on page 2 of this thread and the following URL was posted:

http://www.garbc.org/garbc_home/baptdist.shtml

It is the GARBC version of the distinctives with a little blurb on each.

HankD

 

I think the very question being upa point that many have made: that Baptists themselves don't agree on all matters.

What is a "true" Baptist? The typical Baptist would say "anyone who believes like me".