Living Wittily

Baptist Identity – Seven Spiritual Values

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Seven Spiritual Values Embedded in
Baptist Identity.

 ·       
Sole
Headship of Christ as final authority in faith and practice, as revealed in Scripture

·       
Baptismal
confession of faith by believers in context of worshipping community

·       
Covenant
faithfulness to Christ within a living community of believers

·       
Gathered
community as the Body of Christ, competent under God to discern together
the mind of Christ

        ·       Mission as bearing witness to the world
through the lived practices of the Gospel in the

          power of the risen Christ.

·       
Principled
separation from State control and State privilege

·       
Religious
freedom and tolerance as the rationale for our own claimed freedom to
witness to Christ.

Baptist identity is elusive. Ways of being Baptist are so diverse that, to avoid partiality and unfair narrowness, it would be more useful to talk of Baptist identities. But I still would want to argue that all of the above provide a cluster of spiritual values which, when taken together, are integral to Baptist identity. Or am I missing something – or claiming too much?

Comments

2 responses to “Baptist Identity – Seven Spiritual Values”

  1. Ken avatar
    Ken

    A good cluster of identity markers. I wonder where we place the celebration of the Lord’s Supper? Most Baptists churches place the communion table in a central position, indicating the importance of regular obervance – although in Southern Baptists settings they normally celebrate this only once a quarter – a change, for me, from the weekly communion I enjoyed in many Scottish Baptists churches. One one further point, most Scottish Baptists churches have ‘buried’ one of their central symbols – the baptistry. Thus one important, although not the primary identity marker is lost from sight. Just a couple of thought from o’er the water….

    Reply
  2. Ken avatar
    Ken

    A good cluster of identity markers. I wonder where we place the celebration of the Lord’s Supper? Most Baptists churches place the communion table in a central position, indicating the importance of regular obervance – although in Southern Baptists settings they normally celebrate this only once a quarter – a change, for me, from the weekly communion I enjoyed in many Scottish Baptists churches. One one further point, most Scottish Baptists churches have ‘buried’ one of their central symbols – the baptistry. Thus one important, although not the primary identity marker is lost from sight. Just a couple of thought from o’er the water….

    Reply

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