Before the Reformation, the church
recognized two sources of authority: the Bible and the traditions of
the church. These traditions included ecumenical councils, the
writings of church fathers, and the infallibility of the Pope. As a
result many heresies crept into the church. One was that the church
was the only source of forgiveness for sins. Another was that you
could use money to buy forgiveness for sins past & future. Church
leaders would control both kings and the people with the threat of
hell.
Martin Luther and other reformers
believed that the Bible was the final authority and superior to
church tradition. Luther challenged the church on 95 wrong teachings
and appealed to the Bible for his arguments. The Reformation led many
churches across Europe to declare their independence from the Pope.
Baptists follow this teaching from the
Reformation. We believe in the Bible as the sole authority for faith
and practice. The Baptist Faith & Message (1963) states:
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the
record of Gods revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure
of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its
end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. It
reveals the principles by which God judges us; and therefore is, and
will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian
union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds,
and religious opinions should be tried. The criterion by which the
Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.
Many people today believe that
tradition is equal to the Bible. One Baptist was winning an argument
regarding a controversial teaching. His opponent said, “I don't
care what the Bible says, it ain’t Baptist!”
There are many regional beliefs that
Baptists have that are not grounded in the Bible. These often begin,
“Baptists don't...”
You can fill in the blank with many
cultural prejudices about dancing, movies, women wearing pants and
more. One infamous belief was the defense of slavery by some Baptist
churches. Baptists repented of this upon a closer examination of
scriptures.
One principle of the Reformation is
called ecclesia semper reformanda est, which
is Latin for “the church is always to be reformed.” The Baptist
movement was born as a result of examination of the scriptures. For
more than 400 years Baptists have examined the scriptures and adapted
their doctrine accordingly. This principle has helped Baptists to
continue to grow as other denominations began to decline.
Baptist
leaders must know the Bible well and dedicate themselves to lifelong
study of the scriptures if we are to continue to keep our churches
free from doctrinal error.
“Thy word is a lamp
unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Psalm
119:105 (KJV)
2 comments:
This study is great. I am learning many things that I never knew about Baptist beliefs. We tend to go by what we have been told all our lives, and we do not search the truth in God's word. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not undo thy own understanding" Proverbs 3:5
'For those who believe that you don't need tradition because you have the Bible, the Christian Tradition has sought to say, "You are not entitled to the beliefs you cherish about such things as the Holy Trinity without a sense of what you owe to those who worked this out for you." To circumvent Saint Athanasius on the assumption that if you put me alone in a room with the New Testament, I will come up with the doctrine of the Trinity, is naive. So for these readers I have tried to provide a degree of historical sophistication, which is, I believe, compatible with an affirmation of the central doctrines of Christian faith.'
Jaroslav Pelikan
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