Texas Baptist Young Professional Network

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So what DOES it mean to be Baptist?
Baptists have a set of beliefs that we affirm because of the foundations of autonomy and our understanding of how God interacts with humanity.  These beliefs make us “distinctive”.

THESE BELIEFS CAN BE DESCRIBED WELL AS OUR COMMITMENT TO FOUR FREEDOMS

Bible Freedom
Soul Freedom
Church Freedom
Religious Freedom

The Baptist Distinctives Committee of the Baptist General Convention also developed a list of basic baptist beliefs that are representative of what many baptists believe (listed alphabetically):

• Authority of the Bible
• Autonomy of the local congregation of believers
• Believer’s baptism and church membership
• Congregational church government
• Deity and lordship of Jesus Christ
• Evangelism and missions: the Great Commission
• Religious Freedom and separation of church and state
• Salvation only by grace through faith
• Security of the believer
• Soul competency and the priesthood of the believer
• Symbolic understanding of baptism and the Lord’s supper
• Voluntary cooperation among churches

Early Baptists did not set out to discover Baptist distinctives, not even distinctives as important as religious liberty and church-state separation.  Rather, they happened upon them, first and foremost, by studying the Bible.
Brent Walker, Baptist Joint Committee

Presentation materials on Baptist distinctives

• Presentation
• Handout

Printed Resources for Further Discussion
-The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms by Walter Shurden, Smyth & Helwys Publishing 1993
-Beliefs Important to Baptists (study guide and teachers guide available) by William Pinson, Rosalie Beck, Ebbie Smith, and James Semple, BaptistWay Press 2001
-The Baptist River: Essays on Many Tributaries of a Diverse Tradition,  Ed. W. Glenn Jonas, Jr., Mercer University Press, 2006.
-New Baptists, New Agenda by Nigel G. Wright, Paternoster Press, 2002.

Web Resources for Further Discussion
-The Baptist History & Heritage Society           
-Center for Baptist Studies (Mercer University)     
-Baptist Distinctives (BGCT)                       
-The Baptist World Alliance (look under Resources)     
-The Baptist Joint Committee