BAPTIST DISTINCTIVES

                I have been a Baptist all my life. I have a cradle roll certificate from a Baptist church. My father and grandfather were Baptists.  I graduated from a Baptist Bible College and seminary. I am an ordained Baptist minister and I have been a pastor in several Baptist churches. This may be why my son asked me to blog about Baptist distinctives.

                It is not surprising that I thought that I had a pretty good idea of what it means to be a Baptist. However, when I looked up Baptist Distinctives on the internet, I found surprising results. One common idea was to use the acronym B.A.P.T.I.S.T.S. to outline eight Baptist distinctives.

                Biblical Authority

                Autonomy of the Local Church

                Priesthood of the Believer

                Two Ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

                Individual Soul Liberty

                Saved, Baptized Church Membership

                Two Offices in the Church: Pastors and Deacons

                Separation of Church and State

This sounded too American to me so I looked up a Canadian Baptist website (baptist.ca)

and found a slightly different set of distinctives.

1. Jesus is Lord

2. The Word of God is the Authoritative Rule of Faith and Practice

3. The Priesthood of All Believers

4. A Believers’ Church

5. Believer’s Baptism by Immersion

6. Congregational Government

7. Separation of Church and State           

               

                It does not use the handy acronym, but it is more in line with what I have always believed. This is the set of distinctives that I will be commenting on in this blog.

Question:            What do you see as the major difference between these two sets of distinctive?