- Be sure to visit HEAVEN DECLARES.
The Baptist View of Creeds and Confessions
Here in America the Philadelphia Confession and The New Hampshire Confession are the old Baptist mainstays. But they were largely patterned after much earlier confessions. Within the Reformed Baptist Community however, they go much further back to the three London confessions the 1689, the 1646 and the 1644. I am including the two earlier Confessions on this site, (the 1644 and 1646) because they are the scarcer of the three, and in my opinion the better of the three. The 1689 was actually the first ecumenical Baptist Confession, designed to bridge the gap between the Presbyterians, the Reformed Anglicans and and the Baptists who were previously considered to be separatists and doctrinal heretics by the Covenant Theology crowd. So the 1689 was an ecumenical statement drawn up to draw the Baptist community into the pale of the then mainstream English protestantism. It is almost a word for word transcription of the Westminster Confession, but this, I believe is it's unforgivable weakness and error. Baptist had always been separatists for a reason, and the reason is that they by and large rejected the unscriptural tenants of Covenant Theology. I am not saying there were no Baptist's prior to 1689 who embraced Covenant Theology. Indeed there were some Baptists of that ilk. But by and large, those Presbyterian doctrines, were usually only embraced by the more strict followers of Calvin, and the Dutch Reformed people, and not in general by most Baptist separatists. In fact most of the Baptist's of that period were not Calvinists at all. Some were, but they did not call themselves "Reformed", they called themselves "Particular Baptist's", meaning that they believed in the doctrines associated with Particular Atonement. By using that term, they could disassociate themselves from the Reformed people, who persecuted them and wanted to drown them for their rejection of infant baptism, and their insistence on immersion. And they were able to embrace the Doctrines of Grace or the Five Points, without embracing all the rest of Calvin's mistakes. They wanted to be followers of Christ and the Bible, not followers of Calvin, the Reformation, or the creeds. This is a simple concept, that is uniquely Baptistic. Many dear Baptist's were martyred for these principles. They knew, that according to the ensconced religious community, they were the heretics, but so be it. They were the genuine Bible-believers of their day and age.
I'm afraid that the 1689 Confession blurred the lines of distinction between the genuine Baptistic distinctives, tenants which actually have no agreement at all with Presbyterianism, and have caused us even today, to think that there is very little difference between a Reformed Baptist and a Presbyterian. That blurring and confusion is abhorrent and unacceptable. Baptist's are not Presby's, nor Anglican's. We need to admit the horrible mistake of the 1689 ecumenical confession, and get back to our Baptist roots. This is my opinion, but many others are beginning to see the same things and are realizing, that if we do not identify with the Baptist distinctives, we will all be converting to baby sprinkling in short order. I was recently in a very large Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) service, and the pastor stated that the denominational figures were in, and that in the last 5 years, more Baptist pastors, have converted to and sought Presbyterian ordination, than at any prior time in their history. The number was in fact surprising. Think about this! Baptist pastors are becoming Presbyterians in droves! That is a travesty against Christ, the Bible, and the historic differences, which Baptist's, (especially baptist pastors), ought to know. We are not Presby's, and we need to know why, we need to show them why, and not convert to their errors! They are wrong, and will always be wrong, unless they drop their unholy traditions which came with Calvin directly from Rome. So if you are a Baptist please read the two older baptist Confessions which I have on this site. It's time for all Baptists to quit dancing a jig to the music of Covenant Theology, and to start following our forefathers in Sola Scriptura.
Baptist's believe that confessions and creeds are important historical documents which show the outwork of human understanding concerning God's word. We view them thus as non-binding "statements of Faith". Baptist's realize that even though they may be derived from the Scriptures, they have no authority or precedence over the Scriptures. We do not hold them equal to the scriptures in settling doctrinal issue or issues of faith and practice. They are always seen as inferior merely humanly authored ideas about what the Bible says. They are useful in showing what certain people believed or thought the Bible was teaching, but they are not meant to teach us what God may be trying to show us today. God shows us what He wants us to know directly from His word, and He may well call us to address different issues and to answer different questions to the different society and age in which we live. That's why our modern Baptist Confessions are different from our Ancient ones. God is alive, and His message is adaptable in different ages to speak to different issues. Yet the Word of God never changes! Baptist's always go directly to the Bible for God's truth, and always hold secondary sources as fallible.
Bible = Infallible.
Creeds and Confessions = Fallible!
Because of that important distinctive, Baptist's are really the only group that can claim "Sola Scriptura"
...the Bible alone!
I'm afraid that the 1689 Confession blurred the lines of distinction between the genuine Baptistic distinctives, tenants which actually have no agreement at all with Presbyterianism, and have caused us even today, to think that there is very little difference between a Reformed Baptist and a Presbyterian. That blurring and confusion is abhorrent and unacceptable. Baptist's are not Presby's, nor Anglican's. We need to admit the horrible mistake of the 1689 ecumenical confession, and get back to our Baptist roots. This is my opinion, but many others are beginning to see the same things and are realizing, that if we do not identify with the Baptist distinctives, we will all be converting to baby sprinkling in short order. I was recently in a very large Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) service, and the pastor stated that the denominational figures were in, and that in the last 5 years, more Baptist pastors, have converted to and sought Presbyterian ordination, than at any prior time in their history. The number was in fact surprising. Think about this! Baptist pastors are becoming Presbyterians in droves! That is a travesty against Christ, the Bible, and the historic differences, which Baptist's, (especially baptist pastors), ought to know. We are not Presby's, and we need to know why, we need to show them why, and not convert to their errors! They are wrong, and will always be wrong, unless they drop their unholy traditions which came with Calvin directly from Rome. So if you are a Baptist please read the two older baptist Confessions which I have on this site. It's time for all Baptists to quit dancing a jig to the music of Covenant Theology, and to start following our forefathers in Sola Scriptura.
Baptist's believe that confessions and creeds are important historical documents which show the outwork of human understanding concerning God's word. We view them thus as non-binding "statements of Faith". Baptist's realize that even though they may be derived from the Scriptures, they have no authority or precedence over the Scriptures. We do not hold them equal to the scriptures in settling doctrinal issue or issues of faith and practice. They are always seen as inferior merely humanly authored ideas about what the Bible says. They are useful in showing what certain people believed or thought the Bible was teaching, but they are not meant to teach us what God may be trying to show us today. God shows us what He wants us to know directly from His word, and He may well call us to address different issues and to answer different questions to the different society and age in which we live. That's why our modern Baptist Confessions are different from our Ancient ones. God is alive, and His message is adaptable in different ages to speak to different issues. Yet the Word of God never changes! Baptist's always go directly to the Bible for God's truth, and always hold secondary sources as fallible.
Bible = Infallible.
Creeds and Confessions = Fallible!
Because of that important distinctive, Baptist's are really the only group that can claim "Sola Scriptura"
...the Bible alone!
©2011 revised 2020 E H Jackson
This article may be reproduced on Webites and blogs with a direct link from the article back to this website. it may not be republished in any other form without written permission.
This article may be reproduced on Webites and blogs with a direct link from the article back to this website. it may not be republished in any other form without written permission.
