The Gospel and Baptist Identity Series
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Over at my personal blog, Christian Thought & Tradition, I recently concluded a nine-part series titled The Gospel and Baptist Identity. In that series, I attempted to offer a constructive proposal about what I think is a healthy way to articulate Baptist identity in the early years of the twenty-first century. I received some helpful feedback, for which I’m very thankful. This is an expansion of what I’ve been teaching my Southeastern Seminary students for five years and what I hope to one day further develop into a book-length project.
Below, you will find links to each of the individual posts in the series. I hope the series will help spur on further discussion among Southern Baptists about the relationship between the good news and healthy ecclesiology.
The Gospel and Baptist Identity: Introduction
The Gospel and Baptist Identity: What is the Gospel?
The Gospel and Baptist Identity: Pondering Baptist Identity
The Gospel and Baptist Identity: Four Categories of Baptist Beliefs
The Gospel and Baptist Identity: Covenanted Gospel Membership
The Gospel and Baptist Identity: Confessor Baptist by Immersion
The Gospel and Baptist Identity: Christocentric Congregationalism
The Gospel and Baptist Identity: Cooperative Autonomy
The Gospel and Baptist Identity: Free Churches in a Free State
I am not an expert of the “trajectory” of “Baptist Identify” as it applies to the SBC. I believe that your discussion of the topic acknowledges that Baptists have a unique “flavor” or identity. But we shouldn’t beat each other with clubs regarding keeping each other in line relative to some real or perceived “identity” issue if it exceeds the parameters that are explicated in the BF&M. More important than our identity is what is our effectiveness in the proclimation of the gospel and in discipling believers.
One of the supposed aspects of Baptist Identy is “church autonomy”. This can be carried to extremes such that cooperative ventures are throttled.