Marks of our American Baptist Heritage

Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls…." – Jeremiah 6:16 ESV.

One of my favorite denominational organizations is the American Baptist Historical Society. Recently I received a card from it that had a photo of the Philadelphia Baptist Confession on the front. I would daresay that most Christians today have no idea of what the Philadelphia Baptist Confession is or the important role it served in Baptist life. In our fervor to stress diversity and progressivism, we’ve nearly forgotten or severely neglected the rich history we possess as American Baptists. As we look back to learn from the past, we find at least three things that mark our American Baptist heritage.

First, our American Baptist heritage is marked by robust theology. Confessions of faith were not an exception, but the norm. One of the main purposes of a confession of faith is to guard against doctrinal error. It provides a time-tested common ground of belief that unifies a denomination. The mantra, “no creed but the Bible” is inconsistent with the history of the church generally and the heritage of Baptists especially. Creeds or confessions of faith do not replace the Bible but provide a common interpretation of what the Bible says. Early church creeds include the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicaean Creed, the Chalcedonian Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. Historic Baptist confessions of faith include the lengthy First and Second London Baptist Confessions of Faith and the Philadelphia Confession of Faith. Also popular among Baptists was the shorter New Hampshire Confession of Faith. Sadly, with the passing of time, most Baptists have departed from embracing a robust, shared theology.

Adoniram Judson

Second, our American Baptist heritage is marked by evangelistic missions. Our Baptist history includes such spiritual giants as William Carey, Adoniram Judson, and Luther Rice. William Carey has often been called, “the father of modern missions.” He was a pioneer for mission work in India. He was also the founder of the English Baptist missionary society. Adoniram Judson spent nearly 40 years ministering in Burma and was instrumental in leading hundreds of people to faith in Christ. He also translated the Bible into two different languages. Luther Rice was on the mission field only for a short period of time but worked tirelessly at home to rally Baptists in America to support foreign missions. With the rise of the Social Gospel movement in the early 1900s, however, the evangelistic fervor of earlier Baptist leaders diminished considerably.

Third, our American Baptist heritage is marked by religious liberty. Thomas Helwys in England and Roger Williams in America were both champions of religious freedom, and sacrificed for it. John Leland was another Baptist in America who was a staunch advocate of religious liberty. He wrote, “Every man must give an account of himself to God, and therefore every man ought to be at liberty to serve God in that way that he can best reconcile it to his conscience.” This historic Baptist support of religious freedom contrasts with much of what is called “Christian nationalism” today.

Deuteronomy 32:7 says, Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. Our American Baptist heritage is rich with robust theology, evangelistic missions, and religious liberty. May we all learn from our Baptist past so that we’ll be strengthened in our present and prepared for our future.

With a shepherd’s heart,

Pastor David