Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)
Introduction:
Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), organized in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia. Southern Baptists share a common bond of basic Biblical beliefs and a cooperative commitment to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a United States-based Christian denomination. It claims to be the world’s largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States.
Following a split from northern Baptists over the issue of forbidding Southern slave-owners from becoming ordained missionaries. There was another slit after the American Civil War, most black Baptists in the South separated from white churches to set up independent congregations, regional associations, and state and national conventions, such as the National Baptist Convention, the second largest Baptist convention.
They defend religious liberty, and deny the right of any secular or religious authority to impose a confession of faith upon a church or body of churches. Churches are evangelical in doctrine and practice. Specific beliefs based on biblical interpretation can vary somewhat due to their congregational governance system which allows autonomy to each individual local church.
The Southern Baptist Convention has officially sanctioned the model of male headship and female subordination, making it a core belief in its “Baptist Faith and Message.” Laypersons have the same right as ordained ministers to communicate with God, interpret Scripture, and minister in Christ’s name. Women are prohibited from holding pastoral position. The Southern Baptist Convention has an autonomous or independent local congregations are not required to adopt male-only pastors as their theological position. Southern Baptist Convention proclaims God’s plan for marriage and sexual intimacy. Believing a one man and one woman, for life, through matrimony. Homosexuality, extra-marital sexual relations, and polyamorous relationships are not seen as valid “alternative lifestyles.”
History:
First Baptist Church was in Charleston, South Carolina was organized in 1682. Most early Baptists in the British colonies came from England in the 17th century, after the established Church of England persecuted them for their nonconforming religious views. The Baptists operated independently of the state-established Anglican churches in the South, at a time when non-Anglicans were prohibited from holding political office.
In Virginia and in most southern colonies before the Revolution, the Church of England was the state-established church and supported by general taxes, as it was in Britain. Baptist and Methodist evangelicals in the South before the Revolution, had promoted the opinion of the common man and their equality before God. This embraced slaves and free blacks. They challenged the hierarchies of class and race and urged planters to abolish slavery. They welcomed slaves as Baptists and even accepted them as preachers.
The struggle for religious understanding erupted during the American Revolution, as the Baptists worked to renounce the Anglican Church in the South. The rapid spread of Baptists in the South especially in Virginia, many Baptist preachers were prosecuted and accused of disturbing the peace. Patrick Henry and James Madison defended Baptist preachers prior to the American Revolution. Thomas Jefferson in 1779, wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, enacted in 1786 by the Virginia General Assembly.
Baptists unified nationally in 1814, under the Triennial Convention based in Philadelphia. It allowed them to join their resources to support missions abroad. The Home Mission Society, affiliated with the Triennial Convention, was established in 1832 to support missions in frontier territories of the United States. Slavery in the 19th century became the most critical moral issue dividing Baptists in the United States.
It was after the Civil War and emancipation, the blacks wanted to practice their form of Christianity separately. They read the Bible as offering hope for deliverance, for their own Exodus out of slavery. They quickly left white-dominated churches and associations and set up separate state Baptist conventions. The black Baptists of the South and West combined to form the Consolidated American Baptist Convention In 1866, they merged to create the National Baptist Convention, USA, in 1895.
The Southern Baptist Convention has had several periods of major internal controversy. The Landmark controversy happened in the 1850-1860 a group of young activists called for a return to certain early practices, or what they called Landmarkism. Other leaders disagreed with their claims, and the Baptist congregations became split on the issues. Eventually the disagreements led to the formation of Gospel Missions and the American Baptist Association in 1924).
The Civil Rights era, into the 1960’s, most Southern Baptist pastors and most members rejected integration and accepted white supremacy. Whitsitt controversy of 1896–1899 Dr. William H. Whitsitt, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, suggested that, contrary to earlier thought, English Baptists did not begin to baptize by immersion until 1641, when some Anabaptists, began to practice immersion.
Moderates-Conservatives controversy when the Southern Baptist Convention conservative group in 1970-2000 was an intense struggle for control of the Convention’s resources and ideological direction. This disagreement captured the attention of the nation. The two major groups were between the moderates and conservatives. The Convention in 1995, voted to adopt a resolution renouncing its racist roots and apologizing for its past defense of slavery, segregation, and white supremacism.
Belief:
Southern Baptist Convention believe depend on the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and prayer to make them more like Jesus Christ.
Southern Baptist Convention believe that Jesus Christ is the only hope for the world, and believing Southern Baptists are yearning for spiritual renewal and Christ-centered living, and recognizing the challenge of Jesus to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Southern Baptist Convention believe the local church is given the authority, power, and responsibility to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world.
Southern Baptist Convention believe that Jesus died for our sin, was buried, and then rose from the grave is foundational for Southern Baptists. He lives today and stands ready to give abundant and eternal life to all those who repent of sin and place their faith in Him.
Southern Baptist Convention believe the significance of the individual conversion experience which is affirmed by the person having a total immersion in water for a believer’s baptism. As a result, they reject the practice of infant baptism.
Southern Baptist Convention believe in two ordinances: the Lord’s Supper and Believer’s baptism (also known as credo-baptism, from the Latin for “I believe”).
Southern Baptist Convention believe the husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to his people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Reference:
Official website for the Southern Baptist Convention: http://sbc.net/
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Southern Baptist Convention (SBC):.” Becker Bible Studies Library Oct 2013.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2482,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2013, October) “Southern Baptist Convention (SBC):.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2482,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2013) “Southern Baptist Convention (SBC):.” Becker Bible Studies Library (October), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2482, (accessed).
