The Beliefs of Baptist Churches are not totally consistent from one Baptist church to another, as Baptists do not have a central governing authority, unlike most other denominations.
Historically, Baptists have emphasized the sole authority of the Scriptures, or sola scriptura, and therefore believe that the Bible is the only authoritative source of God’s truth. Chapter one of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith states:
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- The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience…
This view contrasts with the role of Apostolic tradition in the Roman Catholic Church, direct revelation in charismatic circles, and personal philosophy as in Liberal Christianity. Any view that cannot be tied to scriptural exposition is generally considered to be based on human traditions rather than God’s leading, and though they may be accurate, such views are never to be elevated to or above the authority of Scripture. Each person is responsible before God for his or her own understanding of the Bible and is encouraged to work out their own salvation. A common “proof text” for this idea is found in Philippians 2:12 Sola scriptura is likely to be practiced by Reformed Baptist churches and many churches within the Southern Baptist Convention.
In more recent times, many Baptists worldwide have changed their position to Prima scriptura, whereby Scripture is given high authority, but with other allowable ways of guidance. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, for example, states:
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- The Fellowship believes in the divine inspiration of the Bible and its authority in the lives of Christians, who are free to follow and interpret it under the Lordship of Christ. Christians are responsible under God for their interpretation of Scripture.[1]
The American Baptist Churches USA has a similar stance:
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- Holy Scripture always has been for us the most authoritative guide to knowing and serving the triune God… As the divinely-inspired word of God, the Bible for us reveals our faith and its mandated practice.[2]
Biblical inerrancy is also a common position held by more conservative Baptists. Some more fundamentalist Baptists insist on contextually literal interpretations of the Bible. Moderate Baptists prefer the term inspired or God-breathed rather than inerrant to describe scripture, referring to the term Paul uses in 2Timothy 3:16.
Baptists traditionally have resisted any use of creeds. They consider historic Christian creeds, such as the Apostles’ Creed, to be on lower footing in comparison to Scripture, even though they may in essence agree with them.
However, on major theological issues, Baptist distinctives are beliefs that are common among almost all Baptist churches. Baptists share so-called “orthodox” Christian beliefs with most other moderate or conservative Christian denominations. These would include beliefs about one God, virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, vicarious atoning death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Christ, the Trinity (the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, together with God the Father), the need for salvation (though the understanding of means for achieving it may differ at times), grace, the church, the Kingdom of God, last things (Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge everyone in righteousness), evangelism and missions.
Some historically significant Baptist doctrinal documents include the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, the 1833 New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, and the Southern Baptist Convention’s Baptist Faith and Message. Some individual Baptist churches adopt written church “covenants” as a statement of their faith and beliefs.