Book Comment: The Baptist Faith and Message

This book, The Baptist Faith and Message (1971), by Herschel H. Hobbs, was actually somewhat controversial upon its release.  Many called it ultra-conservative, even fundamentalist.  Actually it is a clear and concise statement of the beliefs of the majority of Southern Baptists.

Baptists come from the Anabaptist tradition, insisting on adult believer's baptism and denying the usefulness of infant baptism.  The name of the Southern Baptist Convention (the SBC) reflects our particular denomination's historical origins.  We arose during the conflict between North and South, the American Civil War.  We have long since left behind the main source of conflict with our northern brethren, a defense of the institution of slavery, and we are now worldwide, not merely "southern."  We number about 13,000,000.

The SBC is congregational; each church is autonomous and participation in state and national conventions is voluntary.  Each church calls its own pastor(s) and elects its own deacons (elders).  Elected representatives from the church attend the state and national conventions.  Statements by the conventions are "advisory" but are not binding on local churches.

The Baptist Faith and Message discusses our main doctrinal points.
1. We believe in "the competency of the soul in religion."  Man is endowed by God with the privilege of choice.  The relationship is between God and the individual believer.  Every person on Earth has an equal right to direct access to God.  The priesthood of all believers means that all believers have the right to read and interpret the scriptures as led by the Holy Spirit.
2. Baptism is by immersion only (βαπτίζω is Greek, meaning "I immerse").  Baptism is not a magical act, it is a statement of belief.
3. We practice "closed communion."
4. The Scriptures are inspired and inerrant in all their assertions.  They were written by men, divinely inspired, whose individual personalities and writing styles can be heard in their writings.  All doctrine must be based on the totality of scripture, not on hand-picked individual verses.  The ultimate criterion for interpretation of the Bible (Old and New Testaments) is Jesus Christ.
5. We are obligated by our salvation to offer this salvation to whoever will accept it.  We are not to compel or coerce belief.
6. We have a living faith, not a creedal one.
7. God is utterly holy and perfect.  He exists as one God in Three Persons, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  His ultimate revelation of Himself to man is Jesus Christ.
8. Man is created in God's image.  Every person on Earth is worthy of respect.
9. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, it is the freely given gift of God.
10. All believers are saints, "set apart."  The process of sanctification of the believer proceeds over our lifetime as we become increasingly like Christ; the believer's ultimate destiny is moral and spiritual perfection, like Jesus.  This is not the result of the believer's actions, but by the work of the Holy Spirit upon him or her.
11. All true believers endure to the end.
12. The Church, the Bride of Christ, is the ἐκκλησία, the body of all believers in Christ down through the ages and for all time to come.
13. The Lord's Supper (communion) is a symbolic act of obedience to Jesus.  It is for baptized believers only.