BAPTISTS----REFORMED OR REFORMERS? PART 1

     I've been studying Baptist history for over 30 years now. Until the past few years, I had never heard of a "Reformed Baptist". When I first saw the term, I genuinely thought it was a support group for ex-Baptists who for whatever reason either had a bad experience growing up Baptist, or converted to another more liberal faith group. Once I realized that the term referred to theological views, I immediately went to work to find the answer to the question, "Can Baptists be both Reformed and Baptist?" Let's take a look.

   First you need to understand that I will not be quoting Scripture in this article. This is not a theological debate, and most of my readers will be familiar with the theological views mentioned. What I wish to point out, is that once you understand the Reformed positions, can a Baptist be united with it? It is my view that he cannot.

   First where does the word "Reformed" come from? Well obviously it is a term coined during the Protestant Reformation. The word "reform" means "make changes in something, typically a social, political, or economic, or religious institution or practice, in order to improve it." What we now call the Reformers never intended to leave the Catholic Church, they only wanted to "correct" or reform it. Once they realized this was not possible, they declared that THEY were the continuation of the Catholic Church, carrying with them, valid sacraments, ordinations, etc, while recovering true doctrine. While there is much to be admired, there is also much to question, especially if you call yourself a Baptist.

   In the strictest sense, Reformed theology teaches the following.

1. Church and State have an obligation to be joined together, imposing punishment for those who disagree with the State Church on any point. This was also the Catholic position. John Calvin set up a theocracy in Geneva Switzerland, where church attendance was mandatory, but not any church would do, it had to be HIS State Church. The gov't he set up fined, jailed or put to death any detractors. Martin Luther did similar things in countries where the monarch was converted to Lutheranism. To this day in Germany and the Scandinavian countries, taxes support the church and pay the clergy. Much of what is called "Kingdom Now" theology derives from this doctrine.

2. The theology of the Reformed movement taught (and teaches) the following doctrines.

     a. Infant Baptism (church membership begins in infancy)

     b. Covenant theology (the belief that salvation runs in family lines, that a child born to "Christian" parents is among the elect) This is their doctrine of "predestination." This, in their view, would explain why some countries have a lot of Christians, while others do not.

     c. Replacement theology (the belief that the "church" has replaced Israel, that Christians aren't merely "grafted in" but a new tree altogether. This has historically been used to fuel anti-semitism.

     d. Sacramental Theology (the belief that Baptism and Communion actually confer grace, and is a means of grace in addition to the Gospel) This doctrine alone denotes a works based salvation.

     e. Church Gov't should always be a hierarchy (either episcopal, with some going as far as teaching apostolic succession, or by a synod).

   Which of these views, if any, can a Baptist believe and still be Baptist? In my view NONE. Now let's look at Baptist views of the above Reformed positions. The numbers which follow will correspond to the numbers above.

1. Baptists of ALL stripes have ALWAYS held to separation of Church and State. There has never been a nation where "Baptist" was the established religion, and the one time it was considered, the Baptists rejected it. They knew where it could lead, and they had no desire to forcefully impose their doctrines on anyone. If someone was going to be saved, it would be God that did it, not a government nor a "church". The Established Churches, both Reformed (Protestant) and Catholic, persecuted Baptists along with all others who tried to meet separately from the national church. This was especially true for early Baptists in England.

 

2. The theology of Baptists is not a megalith. There are Particular Baptists and General Baptists, and each group has various sub-groups within it. This is precisely because each church is autonomous, but the following doctrines are held by all true Baptists.

   a. Believer's Baptism. The Particular Baptists (predestinarian) and General Baptists would totally reject infant baptism practiced by the Reformed churches. All Baptists would agree  that ONLY a person who was capable of giving a believable profession of faith should be baptized, and only by immersion.

   b. Covenantal Theology. The only covenant that Baptists believe in is the one brought by the blood of Jesus Christ, that the Bride Christ chose would be made up of individuals, and all those would make up  a "nation of priests", where each believer is responsible before God, and Christ is our only mediator and advocate with the Father. "Clergy", while being a word Baptists sometimes use to denote one who is ordained to preach the Gospel, has no power over individual conscience. While there may be times a Baptist Church would "exclude" someone for various offences, he could never be banished from "The Baptist Church" because there's no such thing as THE Baptist Church. There are only Baptist CHURCHES (plural). The belief that you are elect and could reach heaven on the coat tails of your parents would be anathema to both groups of Baptists.

   c. Grafted Theology. Baptists, while not in agreement about how God will deal with Israel in the future, do not believe the "church" has replaced Israel or that Israel has no future with their messiah. Spurgeon preached on this many times.

   d. Ordinances NOT Sacraments. No Baptist has ever taught that baptism or communion is a means of grace. Only the blood of Christ saves, and that by hearing the Gospel and believing. The ordinances have no sacramental value, no sacrificial value, only the value of symbolizing the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ in baptism, and the memorial of His sacrifice for us in Communion. They are acts of obedience, identification and remembrance.

   e. Church Gov't. Baptists believe ALL churches are totally independent and self governing. There is no higher authority than the local church, whose head is Christ.

   There ARE things we as Baptists have in common with other groups of Christians. For example I agree with the Catholic Church that Christ was virgin born. However just because I may have points of agreement with the Catholic church, I am NOT Catholic! I would never call myself a "Catholic Baptist" merely because I agree with them on this point. You cannot be both Catholic and Baptist. Likewise, you cannot be both Reformed and Baptist. Those who call themselves by that name are neither Reformed nor Baptist. I believe Baptists are neither Catholic nor Protestant, while at the same time disavowing Landmarkism in its strictest sense. While many early Baptists came OUT of other churches, they didn't bring the outward errors of those churches with them, so they cannot be rightly called a "daughter" of those churches in the same way that the Lutherans and Presbyterians can be called "daughters" of the Roman Church. The Reformed churches brought a boat load of baggage over from Rome, starting with infant baptism, sacraments, hierarchy, clerical privilege etc etc. Baptists on the other hand threw it all out and simply constituted new testament churches based on Scripture alone, admittedly sometimes getting things wrong. But a New Testament Church can be constituted without ever having come from another church.   

   Our existence and validity is not dependent on lineage or successionism, although I do believe there has always been a group of believers who held the basic ideals of the Baptists while not being known as "baptist" in name. In fact, even in the USA as I've researched Baptist history, I am surprised at how many original deeds of Baptist churches begun before the Civil War, don't even have the word "baptist" in the name. Many times the deed reads "The Church of Christ at_______" (insert name of place). Others would read "The Baptist Church of Christ at_______." To this day, if you drive by First Baptist in Macon Ga, the sign out front says "First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon." Many of these churches were founded long before the Campbellites were in existence, starting the "Restoration Movement." The real Church of Christ didn't need to be "restored" or "reformed". The real Church of Christ should be RESTORING and REFORMING the hearts of people by turning them towards Christ Jesus. Any church that fails to do this is not a church at all, even though it may be called Baptist in name. If this describes your church, then come out from among them! Proclaim the Good News in Christ and join a true New Testament church or find fellow believers and begin a new Church of Christ wherever you are, asking other New Testament churches for help!

   In closing let me quote Spurgeon when he said "We did not commence our existence at the reformation, we were REFORMERS before Luther or Calvin were born; we never came from the Church of Rome, for we were never in it, but we have an unbroken line up to the apostles themselves. We have always existed from the very days of Christ, and our PRINCIPALS, sometimes veiled and forgotten, like a river which may travel underground for a little season, have always had honest and holy adherents. Persecuted alike by Romanists and Protestants of almost every sect, yet there has never existed a Government holding Baptist principles which persecuted others; nor I believe any body of Baptists ever held it to be right to put the consciences of others under the control of man. We have ever been ready to suffer, as our martyrologies will prove, but we are not ready to accept any help from the State, to prostitute the purity of the Bride of Christ to any alliance with the government, and we will never make the Church, although the Queen, the despot over the consciences of men". (From The New Park Street Pulpit, Vol.VII, Page 225).

   It has always been a mystery to me how "Reformed" Baptists love to claim Spurgeon as one of their own, yet shiver at this statement. If you know Spurgeon, then you know he is rejoicing in heaven that he stumbled upon a small Methodist Church during a snow storm, went inside for warmth, and ran smack into Jesus when the preacher said "LOOK TO ME".....Baptists have never believed salvation came through a church, nor that those in other churches are false professors. What we have said, is that when we strive to simply follow the Scriptures, the local church is the reason the gates of Hell have not prevailed! Kenny Mann (see also part 2 to this article as well as "WHAT REFORMED BAPTISTS SAY ABOUT THEMSELVES")