Categories: uncategorized
Date: 14 January 2007 16:30:35
Word at the Barricades , Andy Goodliff and View from the Basement have all been contributing to a blogosphere discussion on Baptist Identity.
Whilst the "official" BUGB view is: "There is no one distinctive Baptist belief! Although probably most people think of believer's baptism as the distinguishing feature of Baptists, they are not the only Christians to practise it. Nor are they the only Christians to believe in congregational church government, the priesthood of all believers, or the separation of church and state. It is the combination of these various beliefs which make Baptists distinctive." the blog discussion makes the following points about Baptist identity in practice:
View from the Basement makes the point that in many churches there is a reductionist identity where the only real requirements of membership are: (i) you're a Christian and (ii) you've been baptised. Andy Goodliff comments upon the fact that in many Baptist churches even this second aspect is not required and all that is needed to be a church member is a profession of faith and so there is infact no distinctiveness in B/baptist churches. He says this is because we do not have the same sense of our history as other denominations.
Word at the Barricades says that the act of baptism has the potential to go beyond a reductionist act in order to become a distinctive act which can be holistic and an act of freedom (and taking what WATB says about it relating citizenship to Christ rather than national identity a potentially subversive act).
As for me and my contribution to the discussion, I would agree with Andy G. that we need to be more familiar with our history and heritage in order to understand our denominational identity. I think that WATB is correct that the act of baptism has the potential to be freeing and holistic and I think that this is something that should be explored further. What worries me though is the point made somewhere in the string of comments people have left within the conversation, that in someways the Baptist identity is becoming almost interchangeable with evangelicalism. This worries me, not because of my struggles with the E word, but rather because I think there is some truth in this view that they are becoming interchangable in some circles, and also because I am sure Baptist identity is actually much wider than this.
For me the whole thing about Baptist identity are the dual aspects it holds which whilst apparently contradictory are actually interwoven and which I believe are most dramatically represented within the act of baptism. These are:(i) the diversity within it, which is underpinned by the commitment to the idea of freedom of conscience and (ii) the unity within it which is underpinned by a shared commitment to Christ and his teachings - (read connection to God - as one of the things that does wind me up about being a Baptist is the way we spout on about Jesus at the expense of the rest of the trinity, whilst being a Trinitarian tradition). We are, I think, a denomination who hold grace above all (& no that's not totally distinctive, but I believe the way it has been interpreted within the tradition is).