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Why Baptists Should say the Apostles' Creed

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  If Baptists can say the Apostles' Creed, as I explored in the previous post, should they? I submit we should. First, a brief explanation of Baptist nervousness about creeds and statements of faith.  The first Baptists came to be in a time of state churches. Confessions of faith had the force of law. Presumed heretics were burned at the stake. Baptists in England were jailed for baptizing by immersion.  Such experiences made Baptists understandably nervous about coercion in matters of religion and passionate about religious freedom.  Even in the context of the history, Baptists still produced statements of faith. E.Y. Mullins, a prominent defender of what Baptists call "soul freedom," still believed such statements were "justifiable and may be of great value." You can find some of Mullins' rationale in the 1919 Fraternal of Southern Baptists  and the 1925 Baptist Faith and Message . Mullins was concerned to promote certain religious views.  Here are some r...
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Can Baptists say the Apostles' Creed?

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You might have noticed in worship, especially before a baptism, the congregation has been invited to say the words of the Apostles' Creed. For those that grew up Methodist, Presbyterian, or Lutheran, this probably felt familiar. If you grew up Baptist, you might have scratched your head. Baptists have been known for being anti-creedal, sometimes saying "no creed but the Bible!"  Is it un-Baptist to say the Apostles' Creed? At the founding of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), a global body to which CBF belongs, in 1905 the great Alexander Maclaren invited the group to stand and confess the Apostles' Creed, "not as a piece of coercion or discipline, but as a simple acknowledgement of where we stand and what we believe."  In 2005, a group of Baptists theologians asked the BWA again to confess the Apostles' Creed . The BWA gather did confess together.  In both cases, the danger of creedalism was noted: the confession of the Apostles' Creed was not me...
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Why do we do Communion like this?

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  In the Baptist churches of my childhood, the Lord's Supper did not look like it does at First Baptist Athens. Usually, 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 was read. The music got very, very slow. Heads were bowed low. I didn't really know what was going on.  It seemed very serious and I figured I needed to look somber. One of my professors said “Baptists seem like they are doing a funeral for Jesus.” What’s the problem with that? He is Risen!       When Paul says in 1 Cor. 11:25 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes,” he doesn’t mean we should simply remember Jesus’ death. In the New Testament, the word proclaim is usually associated with the good news of the Gospel. To proclaim Jesus’ death is share the good news. Joy is allowed! Baptist practice can miss the rejoicing element of Communion. Here a few reasons why we’ve been using the pattern of Opening Responses (“Lift up your hearts), the song of joy (Sanc...
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