You should try Independent Baptists! They make Southern Baptists look like ecumenical fuzzballs. . . .
But seriously, what is “wrong” with Southern Baptists from a Catholic perspective is basically the following:
- Most generally, they are heretics from your perspective. In other words, their understanding of Christianity is seriously different from yours. I put this first because many Catholics seem to think that Baptists are anti-Catholic just to be mean, and it’s important to recognize that there are serious theological differences in play.
- Following on from the preceding, Southern Baptists (in contrast to more moderate/liberal Baptist groups) tend to be dogmatic in their understanding of the Christian faith. By that I mean that they think doctrine really matters. Again, this is a point Catholics need to appreciate.
- More specifically, though, Southern Baptists tend to believe in a particularly strong version of “sola fide”: salvation by faith alone. This has two consequences. For one thing, obviously they differ from the Catholic doctrine of salvation (see no. 1 above), and since they think salvation is really, really important, naturally they worry about that. But it gets a little more complicated. Southern Baptists don’t define faith *simply *as believing the right things–you can believe all the right things and go to hell. But many of them do believe that saving faith necessarily involves having a right understanding of the doctrine of salvation (see no. 2 above). While Catholics used to think this more than they do now (see the next point), it remains true that because Catholics emphasize works of charity there is more theological room for saying “if you live a holy life you must have a relationship with God.” The Baptist version of this is “if you clearly profess faith in Jesus you must have a relationship with God,” and many Baptists today would take that route. But others continue to insist that the profession of faith must be done in a certain way and rest on certain theological principles.
- This isn’t really a point about Baptists, but it’s relevant to the previous point. Catholicism has changed quite a bit in its attitude to other Christians in the past few decades. At one time Catholics would have been as hostile to Southern Baptists as they are to Catholics. I get a bit frustrated with Catholics who wail about anti-Catholicism when so much of it is just returning the hostility Catholics would have been dishing out until a generation or two ago (and some still do). Southern Baptists have changed less in the past 50 years or so than many other Christians. And so they seem “mean” when some of it is just conservatism. Specifically, Catholics would at one time have been very dubious about whether someone could be saved with the flawed, heretical Baptist understanding of salvation.
- Finally, leading out of the previous point, there is a long history of antagonism between Catholics and Protestants, and Baptists tend to be particularly aware of this for several reasons. One is that many of them identify (rather ahistorically) with the Anabaptists and (with far less justification) with medieval dissenting groups persecuted by the Catholic Church. Another is that Southern Baptists are among the most enthusiastically and ideologically American of Protestant denominations. They see the American understanding of religious liberty as a central truth of the Christian faith, and historically they have seen Catholics (with some reason) as the enemies of religious liberty.
All of these factors work together.
Why do you Protestants do this?
Edwin: This is a very enlightening commentary.
I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church myself (as noted in other posts,) though I am no longer Baptist. I have a friend who left the Baptist Church, and now says he is a “recovering Baptist.” Years of “threats of Hell” tend to stay with a person.
You are right in saying that “others continue to insist that the profession of faith must be done in a certain way and rest on certain theological principles.”
For the Baptist, one does have to pray and ask for forgiveness and salvation. The words of that prayer are critical to the salvation experience. The prayer involves the convert acknowledging that he/she is a sinner, repenting of sin, acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God–and paid the price for our sins, asking for the forgiveness of sin-in the Name of Christ, and asking Christ to come into his/her heart. This results in the “born-again” experience, which is followed, usually in a few weeks, by Baptism in the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Some Baptists are actually Baptized more than once, because they reach a point of doubting whether their original conversion experience was valid. Again, “getting salvation right” is a serious issue for Baptists.
And yes, salvation by “faith alone” is very important in Baptist doctrine. You can place Scriptures, that clearly prove otherwise, in front of a devout Baptist; and they will not waver. They will ignore those Scriptures and cling to Salvation by faith alone.
In my experience, most Baptist attempts to proselytize began with the statement, “If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?” Instilling the “fear of Hell” in the prospective convert was a very popular tool to “win coverts,” for a long time. It still is in some Baptist Churches. Though some have moved to emphasizing “heaven” for the “elect.”
Either way, the threat of Hell or the lure of Heaven, demonstrates a kind of obsession with the afterlife–that some would say is narcissistic.
It is good to meet you on the forums again, Edwin. It was through our discussions and
your patience, that I let go of “Sola Scriptura.”
In Christ,
Anna
Iam glad that you are obeying God’s calling despite the retribution you are encountering. One sign that follows those who are entering or entered the Kingdom of God is persecution. Jesus states if they persecuted me, they will persecute you. Jesus also states in another place he came not bring peace but division between family members.