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Baptist Faith

Larry Gates

HUM 130

February 18, 2011

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Through my research and findings the earliest date of the Baptist Religion is in

the 1600’s in which the Baptist Faith is a part of Christianity. The Baptist faith was part

of the English Separation movement of religion from the Catholic Faith this seems to be a

debated point by many people. Some people believe that the Baptist Faith was never part

of the Catholic Faith well many others believe the opposite and through my research it

seems fitting that the faith did indeed come from the Catholic Faith. There seems to be

much debate over the fact that the Baptist Faith had been around since the time of Christ

but facts support since the 1600’s. The first church that was established was the Baptist

Church of Jerusalem. The faith is based on five pillars that are strictly followed and

believed by all of the followers of Baptism. There are almost 100 million followers of

this faith according to recent numbers and statistics.

The Baptist Faith seems to vary in some regards than most other faiths as they

have no official theological beliefs that are followed by all the factions of the faith. A

faction that seems surprising for many people are how there is a major difference in how

different denominations of the faith interpret the bible compared to other factions of the

same faith. There as been some backlash within the recent century of the Baptist faith that

seems to be shaping the views of followers of different faiths. Some Baptist followers

began to do missions to help spread the word of baptism which other followers of the

Baptist Faith didn’t seem to believe in. The other followers that didn’t seem to agree with

this returned to a more structured and organized Baptist Faith. The recent crisis within

the Baptist faith is what has seemed to shape it into the Baptist Faith we know today.

Research on the Baptist Faith leads me to the North Cleveland Baptist Church in

my hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee. Through contacting the church I set up a time to

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meet with the Deacon Byron Goodwin. The facility seemed to be a newer facility that

was very organized and clean. Comparison of the facility versus the facility in which I

attend was very intriguing because it seemed to catch me off guard. Sitting in the front of

the church there was many pictures of Jesus and a bible that looked quite old. The bible

was a copy of the New Testament and I was informed that the church belonged to the

Southern Baptist which is one of the factions of the Baptist faith. The Deacon introduced

himself and informed me that he would be the one performing the interview and was

open to any questions in which I may have regarding his faith.

I also took the liberty to visit the church on a Sunday fore going my own faith

to get a better feel and understanding of the faith. The opening remarks were to take

prayer request and ask for anyone who had not been Baptized to do so after the

services with the entire congregation. The act of Baptism is only to be done for Adults

who have declared their faith. An older child or Adult can publicly declare their faith

and then be recognized and encouraged to take part in the Baptism. The Pastor as well

as the Deacon preached there sermon with a lot of enthusiasm and shouting which was

very disturbing to me and left me feeling uncomfortable. The Deacon Byron Godwin

told me something that made me somewhat understand why the shouting was a part of

the faith and I am quoting him word for word "All Christian denominations perform

some kind of ministry. For some denominations, ministry is given only to members of

their own faith. In others, the ministries that are performed may have a limited scope

or focus. These things, however, can not be said of the Baptist faith. It is a basic

precept of the Baptist faith that all Christians should act to work as part of the social

order, to improve the quality of people's lives through good works (Southern Baptist
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Convention 9). For this reason, ministering to others is a fundamental part of the

Baptist mission. Not only do American Baptists minister to other Baptists, but they are

expected to extend their ministries to those of other faiths as well. Many ministries

exist under the umbrella of the Baptist church."

Through more conversation on the topic of ministries existing under the

umbrella of the Baptist faith his statement was regarding the fact of the different

factions. The Southern Baptist Convention is one umbrella faction of Baptism which

is the world’s largest Baptist denotation with over 16 million members. The Southern

Baptist became a denomination in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia due to the issue of

slavery. The first alliances of the Southern Baptist was heavily influenced in the south

hence the name the Southern Baptist Convention. Since the 1940s the Southern

Baptist Convention is no longer just heavily populated and followed in the South as it

know has 41 affiliated state conventions.

The Baptist faith believes in the precepts of trinity, Heaven, and Hell.

Surprisingly Mary does not have a special place in the Baptist religion. They do not

teach the assumption of Mary because Mary is seen as just Jesus’ mother. As for the

beliefs in Saints, they really don’t designate saints because they believe that we all

have been saved and we are all God’s messengers. This is a surprising fact that caught

me off guard because it is taught in some many other religions including my own that

messenger’s of God are appointed by God and are of unique and special values.

Unlike other faiths of Christianity, Baptists do not have Bishops or Cardinals. The

Baptist religion has a much more loose structure than that of the Catholic Faith which

I had explained earlier in my writings.

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There are five pillars of understanding in the Baptist Faith which are followed

by all denominations of the faith. These five pillars are tracing the history of God,

the belief in the never ending Kingdom of God, the Gospels of Mathew and Mark,

the revelation of Paul’s Gospel, and the Gospels of Luke and John. The followers

of the faith also believe they hold four titles in which to refer to themselves. The

titles are Son of Man, Son of God, Son of Abraham, and Son of David. I asked

Byron what person in the Baptist Faith must do to make their journey to heaven.

His response was simple stating “Publicly confess with your mouth, heart, and soul

that you believe in your heart that Jesus died for you, and show love and

compassion for others.” Also like I stated earlier they must then be Baptized and

receive communion. According to Ezine Articles (2010) “Other denominations

believe baptism may be done through the pouring of sprinkling of water. The

Baptist believe in immersion, as backed by scripture, for two reasons: Firstly, the

English word "baptize" comes from the Greek word "baptizein"; when literally

translated, the closest English word is actually "immersion”. Secondly, there are

scripture passages that support complete immersion, while there are no passages

that support pouring or sprinkling. In Matthew 3:16, Jesus himself is clearly

immersed by John the Baptist. And again in Acts 8:37-38, it is written that Philip

takes the eunuch down into the water as he baptizes him.”

Byron also added to his statement by saying “we are born sinners and are

saved by God.” The Sacraments that they have are Fruit of the Vine and bread,

which are Grape juice and ceremonial bread. In the Baptist religion they have

interfaith communion, where anyone can receive it. To the followers of the Baptist
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faith the sacrament of communion is more symbolic than what Catholics believe it

to be which was personally conflicting with me. I found it interesting that marriage

and confession are not sacraments in there faith. The Baptist don’t have a set

version of the bible in which they use across the board, but for the most part they

follow the King James Version or the new King James Version of the bible. Some

factions of the faith use the Catholic bible which Byron personally disagrees with.

I stated earlier my personally experience at a Sunday service that I attended to

better understand the faith. Through research I found a common format of a

Sunday service which is it normally consists of the choir, devotion (psalms,

scripture, message, prayer, song), responsive readings, congregational prayer,

choir, sermon, and invitation to join the church, offering, and then special

announcements. Many of these practices where also a part of my Sunday

experience as well. Each month a different part of the congregation is in charge of

the prayer service. They receive communion by the Priest and Eucharistic

Ministers taking it down the isles and distributing it. Communion is disturbed to

“everyone who is saved.”

In order to become a Minister in the Baptist Church you must go through

meetings with the Pastor. Then you must do a trial sermon at a mass and then go

from there. The soon to be Ministers are encouraged to take theology classes to

strengthen their knowledge. It took Byron two years to become a Deacon so he

takes his position in the church with great pride. Byron also has a teaching

certificate to help enhance him as a Deacon. His duties as a Deacon are distributing

communion, helping the church community, and taking part in the devotion in
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mass. Deacons preach sermons, but are confined to assisting the pastor in Baptism.

Deacons have to be reaffirmed each year to hold their positions; the Deacon also

has the power to decide whether or not he or she wants to remain a deacon.

The commonalities and difference that I discovered in the interview were that

the Sacraments are different than the Sacraments in the Catholic Faith. There are

seven sacraments in the Catholic Faith baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance,

extreme unction (anointing the sick), Holy orders, and marriage. In the Baptist faith

the only sacraments that are recognized and they are Baptism and Eucharist.

Another difference that I found in this interview process was that of the Baptist’s

view of Mary as just Jesus’ Mother. Christians also believe that she is the mother

of God, but she plays symbolic roles in the Catholic religion. Mary is seen as the

Protectess of all humanity and the immaculate virgin.

According to the gospels of Matthew and Luke, she conceived Jesus by

heavenly intervention rather than human biology. Mary is appealed to in prayer and

is honored in paintings, statues, and shrines. In Christianity she is honored in the

“Hail Mary” prayer. In the Catholic Faith we honor spiritual heroes as saints. These

people who we recognize are so holy and have so much faith, that they dedicated

their life to Christ. On the other hand, the Baptist do not designate saints because

they believe we all have been saved.

Through the entire interview and research process I found this essay to be very

interesting and revealing for me. I have noticed followers of the Baptist faith in

everyday life and never understood their stance on issues that I have discussed with

them. I do not entirely agree with some of the things that I have heard the Baptist
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followers converse about but I understand why they would think and believe the

way they do. The Baptist faith in my conclusion is a unique and very open religion

in regards to the standards of faith in which the entire Baptist community follows

as it varies form church to church. The followers of the Baptist faith are very

friendly but once they realize that you are not of the same religious opinions or

views that they believe in it seems to be a very tense situation which made me

uncomfortable.
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References

An Introduction to the Baptist's Belief in Baptism by Andrew Hallinan

from the Website http://ezinearticles.com/?An-Introduction-to-the-Baptists-
Belief-in-Baptism

Baptists from the Website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptists