Baptist Ordination Practices Examined (IV)

In "The Meaning of Ordination" by Wm. Loyd Allen (see here), another good article on this subject, Allen wrote (emphasis mine):

"Baptist ordination, however, is not an exact reproduction of any New Testament or Early Church practice. The New Testament gives no comprehensive instructions for ordination. The doctrine and practice of ordination has continued to evolve over the centuries, resulting in a variety of forms with a multiplicity of meanings.

From the New Testament to the end of the Middle Ages, the meaning of ordination moved toward an ever more exclusive and hierarchical rite designed to establish the primacy of the clergy over the laity. By the sixteenth century, the Roman Catholic tradition viewed ordination as an indelible mark granted by God and conferred by ordained clergy upon those whom the clergy approved for entry into elite ministerial society."

I wish that the Baptists who practice ordination after the manner of the Catholics and others who promote an episcopal, rather than a congregational, form of government, would stop it and see how their dividing of the clergy from the laity in this manner has been a slippery slope.

Allen continued:

"In this system, ordination served as certification for the clergy, the sole representatives of the body of Christ able to mediate divine grace to the laity. The belief that ordination bestows some special and sacred status beyond that of the ordinary Christian still has currency among many Christians today.

The Protestant Reformation refuted this claim, emphasizing the doctrine of the priesthood of believers over against the hierarchical medieval view of ordination.

The original Baptists in the first decade of the seventeenth century defended the equality of each member of the body of Christ against the historic claims of clergy privilege made by the bishop led Anglican Church. These earliest Baptists formed congregations of baptized believers who covenanted to share equal authority and responsibility in the body of Christ.

These Baptist churches, governed by congregational polity as dictated by the equal status of each baptized member, chose and authorized congregational leaders not as lords over them, but as servant ministers. Divine authority in Baptist beginnings did not trickle down from ordained clergy to the common Christian, but flowed upward through the members of the congregation to its chosen leaders. The very term ordination was avoided for several decades in the two original Baptist groups, Generals and Particulars, in favor of terms such as ‘set apart,’ ‘called,’ and ‘appointed.’[1]

Eventually, with considerable influence from Calvinist sources, the majority of Baptist churches standardized and promoted ordination practices. The institutionalization of Baptist life intensified the regularization of ordination. The Philadelphia Baptist Association’s 1742 Confession, for example, harking back to the ordination article of Congregationalist’s 1658 Savoy Declaration, describes Baptist ordination in a form familiar to us Baptists two and a half centuries later: Christ-called, Spirit-gifted pastors and deacons chosen by church vote and set apart by prayer and the laying on of hands.

The similarities within Baptist ordination views should not be allowed to obscure the great variations played upon the theme. Indeed, some Baptists have refused to play along at all, referring to ordination as a ritual rendered null and void by the priesthood of believers. Charles Spurgeon, the most celebrated Baptist pastor of the nineteenth century, is popularly believed to have said that ordination consisted of “laying idle hands on empty heads.”

The diversity of Baptist views on ordination is hinted at by the many questions answered either yes or no depending upon which group of Baptists is asked. Who may properly be ordained: Women? Divorced persons? Twice married widowed candidates? What is the place of the ordination council; is it only a formality? What is symbolized by the laying on of hands, and should only previously ordained members be invited to do it? What academic credentials are necessary, if any? What ministers other than pastors and deacons are eligible? This list can and does go on and on within the Baptist tradition."

The whole paraphernalia of today's practice by Baptists having denominational ordaining councils "authorizing" the choice of a congregation and giving "credentials" is contradictory to their belief in local church government, the priesthood of believers, and other important biblical doctrines. The article by Allen should be endorsed by all Baptists.

In another good Internet article titled "ORDINATION - A Protestant Stronghold among Baptist Churches" Robert J. Sargent (here) writes upon this subject with some points worthy of citation. Sargent wrote (emphasis mine):

"If scriptural ordination is essentially a vote to appoint or choose a man, where did all the false notions and ceremonial traditions about it come from? To answer this, we turn to history.

As many ancient churches drifted away from the simplicity that is in Christ, the concept of a sacerdotal priesthood began to emerge. It started, first with the division of God’s people into the clergy (kleros) and laity (laos) classes (in violation of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers), then with the further division of the clergy‐class into a hierarchy.

In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox religions, ordination is known as Holy Orders and is considered a sacrament (a means of grace). The cheirotonia, or the laying on of hands by the bishop, is held as the most solemn moment of the ordination ritual and the essential act in the sacrament, because it is at this moment that priestly power is imparted and the apostolic connection is made. From that point, the priest is able to act in the person of Christ and to administer the sacraments. Ordination is seen as an indelible mark conferred upon those who enter an exclusive society of clergy.

The rite of ordination as practiced by most of the Protestant daughters of Rome finds its roots in their Catholic heritage. Protestants may have moved in a “back to the Bible” direction, but in most mainline denominations ordination continues to be the ceremonial initiation of someone into the ministry, and ordained ministers are the ones considered qualified to minister the Word of God and the sacraments.

Ancient Baptists were sometimes called Acephali, which means “headless.” Their enemies called them this because they refused to adopt any form of ecclesiastical hierarchy. Baptists had their pastors, but they were seen Biblically as the shepherds, rulers, and guardians of individual congregations. In the 17TH century, English Baptists avoided the word ordination altogether — preferring words such as “set apart” and “appointed” when referring to their leaders. Over time, however, the influence of Protestant (particularly Calvinistic) thought led many Baptists to adopt more formal ways to credential their ministers.

Protestant thinking has always been the bane of Bible‐believing Baptists. The notions of a circumscribed, life‐tenured, “ordained ministry” and the necessity of a ceremonial component to ordination are more Protestant than Bible. This is why most Baptist ordination certificates (incorrectly) state that the man is ordained to the GOSPEL MINISTRY rather than to the office of pastor. It is CHRIST Who puts a man into the ministry (I Timothy 1:12); a church puts him in the office.

Many years ago I remember being told about George Beauchamp Vick (1901‐1975), pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan for 40 years, and founding president of Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. It was quite a marvel to some that he was never ordained! After all, he was such a great preacher and a wonderful pastor — how could this be? What was meant by this was that Vick never had a group of ordained preachers lay hands on him. So, was he ordained or not?"

"English Baptists avoided the word ordination altogether"! Let us be Baptists today and have nothing to do with the practice of having denominational "presbyteries" to "ordain" men.