Southern Baptist

Start by looking at the Southern Baptist Faith and Message. It can be found here in its three forms. The final form as updated in 2000 AD.

http://www.baptist-church.org/sbmf.html

 

http://www.sbc.net/bfm/default.asp

 

Southern Baptists were historically Conservative and Reformed. Today they are all of the above but probably dominated by dispensationalism. Unfortunately a lot of Southern Baptists bought the Scofield Reference Bible.

 

I don't know (personally) any SBC who are dispensationals, or who read the Scofield.
If I remember correctly I think I know someone who has had a Scofield, but can't remember who, they may nnot be baptist then.

 

The average SBC member in the pew is a dispensational premillennialist nowadays.

 

Most of the people in my church have never heard of it, meaning they've never had a pastor who taught it.

 

I have an old KJV Scofield that was given to me by a well known SBC preacher years and years ago but I haven't used it in many years.

I use my Nelson NKJV Study Bible, am VERY conservative (NO divorce, NO women preachers, No drinking, smoking, gambling...) I'm pretrib and certainly not Reformed, Calvinistic or Bapticostal.

 

I find that to be very, very surprising as most SBCers I know believe in a pre-trib "rapture" and a literal, physical earthly kingdom for 1000 years.

Personally, I have no use for dispensational premillennialism, I am conservative, use the ESV, don't object to all divorces, do object to women "preachers", don't object to drinking as long as one does not get drunk, don't object to smoking, don't object to limited gambling, definitely not Bapticostal.

 

"Southern Baptists were historically Conservative and Reformed. Today they are all of the above but probably dominated by dispensationalism. Unfortunately a lot of Southern Baptists bought the Scofield Reference Bible. " -posted by oldregular

I am a southern baptist and they still are very conservitive as am I. southern baptist arent all of the above because liberal definately is nto what i am (if that is what u are refering to as all of the above Dispensational? Reformed? Conservative? Liberal? ). I dont understand why it is unfortunate to own a scofield bible. I own one now and it is a great bible to learn on and to study from, my mom and her mom came to the lord using a scofield.

 

The word "Bapist" is like the word "charity" - it covers a multitude of sins!

Southern Baptists are the largest non-Catholic grouping in the U. S., and with our more than 5,000 international missionaries in over 150 nations, one of (if not the) largest in the world. We began (1845) with a division over local autonomy; Baptists in the north wanted to tell Baptists in the south that no slave-holder could go as a missionary under their (at that time mutual) system. Baptists in the south replied that this was a local church decision, and after some years of abolitionist pressures, met and formed a group "for eliciting, combining and directing the energies of the whole denomination to one sacred effort, for the propagation of the Gospel . . . ." (from the preamble, still in use today.) (By the way - they then proceeded never to send any slaveholder as a missionary, and one of their first was a black minister, to Haiti as I recall without checking.)
Because Baptists in the south were varied, what then became the
"Southern Baptist Convention" was also varied. Most of the first leaders held sovereignty, in accord with both the Philadelphia and New Hampshire confessions, and many were "landmark" in accord with New Hampshire and other leaders, and with special emphasis on J. R. Graves, a highly influential editor and prolific writer. After the depression and WW II, as many Baptists from the south went north to find better-paying jobs, they were disappointed to find Baptist churches there involved in the NCC/WCC, and much more formal in their services than "back home." It was at this point that "Southern" Baptists began to become a national group, one which John R. Rice often called "the largest organization of Bible-believers in the world." With the varied streams of Separates, Regulars, "United" Baptists, and (later) fundamentalism, SBC has been a highly mixed grouping, almost beyond classification. It has been said that our "liberals" would be called
"conservatives" or "fundamentalists" in most other groups; while there have been a few who really were "far-out left," most of them are gone after a long-term process beginning in the late '60's, pretty well over at the national level, now working its way through state groups.
SBC has tried (with varying degrees of success) to maintain the maximum amount of Biblical authority consistent with soul liberty, and the maximum amount of personal liberty consistent with an authoritative Bible. That means that some are staunchly "fundamental," especially as influenced by such effective preachers as Norris and Rice, more recently Falwell (who has become a Southern Baptist!); some are "moderate conservatives," and some would like just to go back to that original document and "elicit, combine, and direct the energies" of churches for mission work around the world.

As usual, I've probably answered the question
"What time is it?" by explaining how to make a watch, but hope this brief "thumb-nail" sketch from someone who grew up SBC and has watched the convention carefully for nearly 60 years may be of help to more than one inquirer. It is a bit like the blind men and the elephant; some see only our "liberals," some only our
"dispensationalists," some only our "Reformed," but as has been suggested above, the best place to start is the Baptist Faith and Message. We in Kentucky accepted Philadelphia, New Hampshire, and the 3 SBC Faith and Message statements as good models for our churches. Possibly the most consistent thing about our "inconsistencies" is that each local congregation makes its own decisions, and voluntarily decides whether to co-operate and how much (both in time and money). When I see our Methodist neighbors being forced by their conference to send a certain percentage of local receipts, accept the pastor sent, etc., I rejoice again in our Baptist freedom. When I hear someone (less now than before) making some unbiblical statement from some position of SBC leadership (schools, pulpits, convention platforms), I still recognize our Baptist freedom and use it to disagree, and when possible to move things back toward the basis for all Christian faith - "Thus saith the Lord."

Merry and a happy - Charles - Ro. 8:28

 

I have been raised in a southernBaptist Church and believe in Pre tribulation resurrection but Have never owned a Scofield Bible.
imagine that

what really upsets me about many of the southern Baptist churches is that they have taken the Prayer alters out of their church.
It is dishartening to me to visit a Church that does not have an altar.

 

Dispensational premillennialism (or, for those who are dyslexic, premillennialist dispensationalism) is not a requisite for being SBC. Many are, but it is by no means a litmus test. I am SBC, but am not dispensational premillennialist.

I, too, am conservative, use the KJV and NIV, don't object to all divorces, don't object to women preachers, but do object to women pastors, don't object to drinking as long as one does not get drunk, don't object to smoking unless it becomes addictive, don't object to limited gambling, and am definitely not Bapticostal.

[ December 21, 2004, 04:54 PM: Message edited by: Johnv ]

 

In accourdance with the Great Comission, yes, absolutely. All are commanded to preach the Gospel, without regard to gender. Preaching is not the same thing as pastoring.

 

...that's a point to ponder, isn't it!

 

Diane, shhhhhhhhhhh! This is the only way I can advertise my website.

 

Jesus wasnt being gender spesific when he commanded us to go into the world and preach the gospel to all people of every nationality and to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

Well Goodness, Phillip! I didn't realize it was YOUR website! LOLOL