Monthly Archives: March 2011

The Baptist denomination is part of the protestant church that believes that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior and that salvation (being saved) is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  The denomination leaves much up to the individual church to determine in ways of beliefs, but they do have some base beliefs connecting them. One belief is the Bible is the Word of God, divinely inspired and is the written authority for being Christian. Believers are able, competent, and should be in a direct relationship with God as well as can read and interpret the scripture. The Bible is to be used to direct the believer in how to live a Christian life, to set morals, practices and direction of the church. A common belief with Baptists that is if the Bible does not say it, then it’s not sufficient enough to be believed, this comes out with their belief in baptism.

They believe that baptisms should be given to adult believers who can rightly take that choice, unlike other Christian denominations that baptize children. They believe it is a symbol and a sacrament but baptism is not necessary for a soul to be saved. They believe that they is a right and assurance to freedom of religion, including worship and opinion.  Part of that belief in religious freedom is that a person’s faith and status of their faith is between God and the individual, again emphasizing the direct relationship between God and the believer.

Baptists believe they need to be Christ’s witnesses to society and there is a strong emphasis on missions and being involved with ministry. They partake in communion (also known as the Eucharist) which is an act of ingesting bread and wine (or juice) as symbol of the body and blood of Christ and the union of Christ and the believer.

According Baptist historian Walter B. Shurden, the donomination breaks these beliefs down into four specific “freedoms”: Soul freedom, church freedom, Bible freedom, and religious freedom. Soul freedom refers to the direct relationship and decision-making capabilities of the believer and their relationship with God. The freedom of the church is that the local church can and should stand without interference from any outside entity, no matter if it’s government or civilian. The Bible freedom, similar to soul freedom, is the right for the believer to read and interpret the Bible on their own without intervention or a religious authority doing so for them. And lastly religious freedom is that an individual has the right to choose, and practice their religion. In the United States this is commonly looked at as the separation of church and state.