Baptist take on spirituality

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Don Whitney knows what happens when people hear that a Southern Baptist seminary is offering a doctor of philosophy degree in spirituality.

“For many people, connecting ‘Baptist’ and ‘spirituality’ is like ‘military’ and ‘intelligence.’ They just can’t picture those two words together,” said Whitney, director of the new Center for Biblical Spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

But for Baptists, he stressed, it’s crucial to underline the word “biblical” in front “spirituality,” in order to stress the center’s ties to Protestant reformers who rejected what they believed were the errors of Rome.

When Whitney and his colleagues talk about spirituality, they emphasize images of the great Charles Spurgeon spending hours in Bible study before preaching, laypeople meditating on the symbolism in John Bunyan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress” and missionaries weeping while praying for the lost…
…
“We believe that biblical, Evangelical spirituality has not been tried and found wanting. It simply has not been tried.”…
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“We already have people accusing us of trying to smuggle a kind of Roman Catholic approach to faith into an evangelical seminary,” said Haykin. “What we are saying is that the Protestant reformers were trying to get past the whole medieval Catholic world and reconnect with the ancient church and its approach to the spiritual life. That’s what we are trying to do, too.”
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Baptists are not particularly spiritual people.
  • They reject all sacraments.
  • They reject communion of saints.
  • They mostly reject glossalalia (speaking in tongues).
  • They believe in angels but don’t talk about them very much (too spiritual).
I’m glad to see Dr. Whitney taking up this cause, even though his theology won’t allow him to get into some very important areas. Perhaps he will discover that there really are sacraments that God wants us to use.
 
Zenas said:
Baptists are not particularly spiritual people.
  • They reject all sacraments.
  • They reject communion of saints.
  • They mostly reject glossalalia (speaking in tongues).
  • They believe in angels but don’t talk about them very much (too spiritual).
I’m glad to see Dr. Whitney taking up this cause, even though his theology won’t allow him to get into some very important areas. Perhaps he will discover that there really are sacraments that God wants us to use.
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I see your points, but I don’t agree with most of them. As far as rejecting sacraments, I think our use of the term “ordinances” throws people off. We share the same two sacred rites that all Protestants share. Catholics have them too, but they also have five more. We also practice versions, for lack of a better term, of some of the other Catholic sacraments (matrimony, ordination, in some cases anointing of the sick) but we believe that they don’t rise to the level of ordinances. I know that for me, baptism was and communion is a very spiritual experience.

What make sou think we reject the Communion of the Saints? The Rev. Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, preached a chapel message entitled “The Apostles Creed: The Holy Catholic Church and the Communion of the Saints” where he talks about that. Here’s the link:
sbts.edu/media/audio/fall2008/20081111mohler.mp3

Yes, we reject speaking in tongues, and with good reason.

Can you expound on your comments about angels? What do you mean by too spiritual?
 
Paul3144 said:
I see your points, but I don’t agree with most of them. As far as rejecting sacraments, I think our use of the term “ordinances” throws people off. We share the same two sacred rites that all Protestants share. Catholics have them too, but they also have five more. We also practice versions, for lack of a better term, of some of the other Catholic sacraments (matrimony, ordination, in some cases anointing of the sick) but we believe that they don’t rise to the level of ordinances. I know that for me, baptism was and communion is a very spiritual experience.

What make sou think we reject the Communion of the Saints? The Rev. Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, preached a chapel message entitled “The Apostles Creed: The Holy Catholic Church and the Communion of the Saints” where he talks about that. Here’s the link:
sbts.edu/media/audio/fall2008/20081111mohler.mp3

Yes, we reject speaking in tongues, and with good reason.

Can you expound on your comments about angels? What do you mean by too spiritual?
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First, regarding sacraments. Baptists refer to baptism and the Lord’s Supper as ordinances expressly because they want to avoid the appearance of embracing the concept of sacraments. A sacrament is a visible manifestation of the conferring of graces. The baptismal waters confer grace on the recipient. The body and blood of Christ do likewise. The annointing confers grace on the sick. Etc. Baptists don’t believe that, thus they don’t believe in sacraments and they carefully avoid using the term “sacrament.”

Next, regarding the communion of saints. You’re right about Albert Mohler. I have been following his work for quite some time and I must say his thinking is more Catholic than any Baptist scholar I know of. He will quickly tell you that the Pope teaches a false gospel but at the same time he embraces a lot of Catholic concepts–communion of saints for one; Mary being the new Eve for another. I have listened to his sermon on the communion of saints and he does indeed purport to embrace the concept. I believe his scriptural authority was Hebrews 12:22-24. He recited it and then said something to the effect that this should give you great excitement. However, talk to Mohler about praying to the saints and he will quickly denounce the idea. So will every other Baptist I know.

Not all Baptists reject speaking in tongues, just most of them. Most Baptist churches, at least the big ones, will have a small group of 2 or 3 people who use what they call a “private prayer language.” You won’t hear them get up in front of the church and talk about it but if you hang around long enough, you will find them.

The remark about angels simply comes from my own experience. I have been a Southern Baptist all of my 64 years and have never heard a sermon or a Sunday School lesson exclusively on angels. It has only been on one or two occasions that I have ever heard a Baptist offer a prayer invoking the protection of angels. And I have never, ever heard a prayer to an angel. Also, when ever did you see a Baptist church named something like “St. Michael the Archangel?”
 
Another spirtual phenomenon Baptists reject is apparitions. I was over 60 years old before I ever heard of anything like Fatima, Lourdes or Guadalupe.
 
Zenas said:
First, regarding sacraments. Baptists refer to baptism and the Lord’s Supper as ordinances expressly because they want to avoid the appearance of embracing the concept of sacraments. A sacrament is a visible manifestation of the conferring of graces. The baptismal waters confer grace on the recipient. The body and blood of Christ do likewise. The annointing confers grace on the sick. Etc. Baptists don’t believe that, thus they don’t believe in sacraments and they carefully avoid using the term “sacrament.”

Next, regarding the communion of saints. You’re right about Albert Mohler. I have been following his work for quite some time and I must say his thinking is more Catholic than any Baptist scholar I know of. He will quickly tell you that the Pope teaches a false gospel but at the same time he embraces a lot of Catholic concepts–communion of saints for one; Mary being the new Eve for another. I have listened to his sermon on the communion of saints and he does indeed purport to embrace the concept. I believe his scriptural authority was Hebrews 12:22-24. He recited it and then said something to the effect that this should give you great excitement. However, talk to Mohler about praying to the saints and he will quickly denounce the idea. So will every other Baptist I know.

Not all Baptists reject speaking in tongues, just most of them. Most Baptist churches, at least the big ones, will have a small group of 2 or 3 people who use what they call a “private prayer language.” You won’t hear them get up in front of the church and talk about it but if you hang around long enough, you will find them.

The remark about angels simply comes from my own experience. I have been a Southern Baptist all of my 64 years and have never heard a sermon or a Sunday School lesson exclusively on angels. It has only been on one or two occasions that I have ever heard a Baptist offer a prayer invoking the protection of angels. And I have never, ever heard a prayer to an angel. Also, when ever did you see a Baptist church named something like “St. Michael the Archangel?”
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Zenas, why don’t you drop that “nominal baptist” part from yourself and go 100% Catholic? Take the plunge, brother! We’d love to have you! God bless!
 
a non spiritual Baptist, someone must be confused, thare ain’t no such critter.
 
allischalmers said:
a non spiritual Baptist, someone must be confused, thare ain’t no such critter.
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I have a sister inlaw who would disagree with you. She had told me that her religion was all about psychology, and that was what her minister taught. She did not believe in any kind of spiritual power whatsoever.
 
geometer said:
I have a sister inlaw who would disagree with you. She had told me that her religion was all about psychology, and that was what her minister taught. She did not believe in any kind of spiritual power whatsoever.
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Is she Baptist? :confused:
 
She said she doesn’t believe in any spiritual power. God is a spiritual power.
 
Zenas said:
Baptists are not particularly spiritual people.
  • They reject all sacraments.
  • They reject communion of saints.
  • They mostly reject glossalalia (speaking in tongues).
  • They believe in angels but don’t talk about them very much (too spiritual).
I’m glad to see Dr. Whitney taking up this cause, even though his theology won’t allow him to get into some very important areas. Perhaps he will discover that there really are sacraments that God wants us to use.
Click to expand...
  • They believe that God leads, loves and also chastises them. All true believers endure to the end, because HE will keep them. A true Christian can sin and he can backslide, but he cannot stay there if he is truly a child of God.
  • They believe in a new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit. That is being born again. (One does not have to engage in barking and flapping on the ground as if in seizure. If in a congregation with different nationalities present everybody could clearly understand me in their language I would consider myself speaking in tongues.)
  • They believe in God changing somebody’s heart completely, giving him the ability to serve God in the first place
If that does not sound spiritual in a scriptural way…
Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.
 
A Southern Baptist who doesn’t believe in God? Now I’ve heard everything.:rolleyes:
 
gurneyhalleck1 said:
Zenas, why don’t you drop that “nominal baptist” part from yourself and go 100% Catholic? Take the plunge, brother! We’d love to have you! God bless!
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I agree! As a former Baptist, I’ll tell ya, the water is fine! 😃
 
Zenas said:
Another spirtual phenomenon Baptists reject is apparitions. I was over 60 years old before I ever heard of anything like Fatima, Lourdes or Guadalupe.
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Sometimes there are good reasons to reject certain things… Mainly because they are unbiblical like these…
Only Jesus Christ ever showed Himself after His death and that was only until He was taken up…
The only assumption that I have is that these so called apparitions you are talking about go in the same category as the talks with deceased family members via a spiritist… If you want to talk to a demon go there… They know enough about you and the one you want to talk to… It’s a demon hotline.
 
Janet1983 said:
Sometimes there are good reasons to reject certain things… Mainly because they are unbiblical like these…
Only Jesus Christ ever showed Himself after His death and that was only until He was taken up…
The only assumption that I have is that these so called apparitions you are talking about go in the same category as the talks with deceased family members via a spiritist… If you want to talk to a demon go there… They know enough about you and the one you want to talk to… It’s a demon hotline.
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It appears that you never heard of Fatima, Lourdes and Guadalupe. I suggest you read up on these apparitions before trashing them.
 
Zenas said:
It appears that you never heard of Fatima, Lourdes and Guadalupe. I suggest you read up on these apparitions before trashing them.
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Read up on them?
I was catholic for 23 years of my life… I heard about that in a sufficient manner…
And even though I wasn’t catholic anymore I was invited to a celebration for “Our Lady of Guadalupe” last year… I was glad that they remembered that not everybody understood Spanish half way through giving out pictures to honor people… I would have felt even more awkward.
I also spend 10 months at a nunnery and before that I went on several pilgrimages…
So what are you trying to tell me?
 
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