When my son moved from Kentucky to Wisconsin after graduating from college, he initially went to an American Baptist church. They seemed to have a lot more liberal policies than the SBC, in the areas of same sex relationships, women deacons, inerrency of the Bible, and seven day Creation. They were just more liberal in general. A big divide around here is the difference between the SBC and Primitive Baptists in the subject of missions. We are on opposite end of the spectrum, from world wide evanglisim and missions to none. I know very little of FBC, as I have no desire to be rigid in areas just for the sake of being rigid when they have nothing to do with the Bible.
Yes, I agree. There are some Protestant denominations, such as conservative Presbyterian and Reformed Baptist, or even SBC,that are closer despite mode of baptism than Reformed Baptist is to General. I am sure there are many examples of denominations coming closer to each other than different types of Baptists.
Baptists have no unity in the areas of Calvinism vs free will, KJVO, open or closed communion, and other areas. Locally, there are some SBCs in neighboring counties that accept alien Baptisms. It makes the issue of transfering letters more difficult in a church like ours that requires immersion. Some Baptists embrace Calvinism with the name and ignore his doctrine on infant baptism, and the concept of theocracy, which he practiced. While I agree with doctrines of sovereignty and grace, I refuse to refer to it by the name Calvin, for the reasons listed above, and his involvement in the death of Michael Servetus. Another area where Baptists have no unity is end times doctrine. Pre trib, mid trib, post trib, pre mil, amil, they are all over the map.
You will notice on this board a huge disagreement on drinking alcohol in moderation. That is another thread that has shown the tendency to hurl back and forth mean names. What surprises me is that I can expect that out of me, a retired Postal electronics technician and substitute teacher, but to imagine two Pastors going back and forth really gives one a reason to ponder things.
Personally, I think the denominations I want to stay away from, (and I thank the Lord I am in the SBC I serve in with Tom Butler on this board), are Church of Christ, any Pentecostal type, charasmatic, Catholic, and Greek Orthodox. Next to the SBC church, I would cast my lot with a conservative Presbyterian church. I do not consider Mormons or JW to be Christian, in fact cults, and an enemy of the Christian faith.
