The late Dr. Colon Smith, in a Baptist Bulletin article, thought the acrostic B-A-P-T-I-S-T is harmful in teaching the Baptist distinctives rather than helpful. For example, Dr. Smith asks, “Where is the “C” for congregational rule in the acrostic?” Dr. Smith tells of a church that changed its form of government from congregational to elder rule. [...]
Archive for the ‘Doctrinal Statements’ Category
The Importance of Doctrinal Statements: Part 4 “The Baptist Distinctives”
Posted: April 19, 2010 in Doctrinal Statements, Pastoral TheologyTags: Baptist Distinctives
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The Importance of Doctrinal Statements, Part Two
Posted: April 25, 2009 in Doctrinal Statements, Pastoral TheologyTags: Baptism, Catholics, Council of Trent, Eucharist, Evangelical Catholics, Justification by faith, Keith A. Fournier, Lord's Supper, Ludwig Ott, Protestantism, Vatican II, Wayne Grudem
A church member once said to me, “Catholics are Christians.” I tried to explain the difference between what the Catholic Church and the Bible teaches concerning salvation. I explained that while it is possible for a Catholic to be a believer it is not possible for a Catholic to be a believer and adhere to what [...]
The Importance of Doctrinal Statements, Part One
Posted: April 24, 2009 in Doctrinal Statements, Pastoral TheologyTags: Arianism, Arius, Athanasius, Church councils, Constantine, Council of Constantinople, Council of Nicaea, creeds, Doctrinal Statements, eternal generation of the Son of God, Eusebius, Fuller Theological Seminary, Jehovah Witnesses, Subordinationalism
In the next several posts, I want to grapple with what is necessary for the preservation of a local church or any Christian institution i.e. , adhering to a Biblical doctrinal statement. I will eventually discuss Fuller Theological Seminary which slowly abandoned its doctrinal statement and also slowly moved to its present theologically liberal state. Possessing a Biblical [...]
