Baptist Faith and Message

Template:Southern Baptists The Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) is the statement of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It summarizes key Southern Baptist thought in the areas of the Bible and its authority, the nature of God as expressed by the Trinity, the spiritual condition of man, God's plan of grace and salvation, the purpose of the local church, ordinances, evangelism, Christian education, interaction with society, religious liberty, and the family.<ref>BGCT's new fund for missionaries, chaplaincy board expands SBC rift Template:Webarchive, February 27, 2002, accessed January 20, 2007.</ref>

History

Although the Southern Baptist Convention was organized in 1845, no formal confession of faith was adopted until Baptist theologian Edgar Young Mullins led the denomination to adopt the original BF&M in 1925.<ref> William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 62</ref> Described as "the New Hampshire Confession of Faith [of 1833], revised at certain points, and with some additional articles growing out of present needs," it was intended as "a reaffirmation of Christian fundamentals," which was deemed necessary because of "the prevalence of naturalism in the modern teaching and preaching of religion."<ref name="comparison">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The BF&M was revised in 1963 (under the chairmanship of Herschel H. Hobbs), amended in 1998 (with the addition of Section XVIII on The Family), and again revised in 2000 under the chairmanship of SBC President Adrian Rogers; the 2000 revisions incorporated sociological as well as theological changes and were considered the most controversial.<ref> CT, Do Good Fences Make Good Baptists?, christianitytoday.com, USA, Aug 9, 2000 </ref>

Position Statements

The BF&M includes 18 topics which are position statements of the SBC. Each article or position is followed by Scripture which they use to support their position.Template:Efn

I.	The Scriptures
II.	God
	A. God the Father
	B. God the Son
	C. God the Holy Spirit
III.	Man
IV.	Salvation
V.	God's Purpose of Grace
VI.	The Church
VII.	Baptism and the Lord's Supper
VIII.	The Lord's Day
IX.	The Kingdom
X.	Last Things
XI.	Evangelism and Missions
XII.	Education
XIII.	Stewardship
XIV.	Cooperation
XV.	The Christian and the Social Order
XVI.	Peace and War
XVII	Religious Liberty
XVIII.	Family

Reception

The significant changes to the BF&M in the 2000 revision were praised and criticized.

Affirmations

Some of the changes that were particularly well received by some Baptist theologians include the following:<ref name="Dilday">Russell H. Dilday, An Analysis of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, centerforbaptiststudies.org, USA, April 2001 </ref>

• The controversial use of the word "inerrancy" was not inserted into the section on scripture. Some were concerned that it would be included.Template:Cn
• No inclusion of more restrictive views of eschatology, such as dispensationalism. Apprehension had been expressed that such views might be espoused in the revisions.
• Inclusion of a statement that Baptists honor the principles of soul competency and the priesthood of all believers.
• Reaffirmation of most historical Baptist convictions.
• Addresses issues of contemporary concern—soteriological inclusivism (Section IV), family (Section XVIII), gender (Section III), sexual immorality, adultery, homosexuality, pornography, and abortion (Section XV).
• Clear expressions about the future direction of the SBC under the "conservative resurgency" leadership.Template:Cn
• Editorial changes, such as the use of gender-inclusive language, considered improvements in the form of the statement.

Criticisms

In 2001, Russell H. Dilday of the Center for Baptist Studies at Mercer University raised 12 controversial points about the 2000 revision.<ref name="Dilday"/> The most contentious points were in the areas of male priority (in marriage and in ministry, specifically the pastorate), the exegetical standard by which the Bible is to be interpreted, and a catalogue of specific sins.<ref>Smith, James A., Sr. "A confession of faith worthy of support." Editorial, Florida Baptist Witness, April 25, 2002. Accessed July 11, 2007.</ref>

Gender-based roles

For the first time in SBC history, provisions were added to define male-headship gender roles in ministry and marriage. Regarding ministry, the BF&M now explicitly defines the pastoral office as the exclusive domain of men—thus prohibiting female pastors. While not stated in the 2000 BF&M, some churches also apply this interpretation to deacons, technically a pastoral office of the church, and will not ordain women or allow them to serve as deacons.Template:CnTemplate:Efn

Regarding marriage, the BF&M added Article XVIII to specify that the husband is the head of the household (though this is to be understood in a complementarian role, not as an autocrat). Nothing in the BF&M prohibits or discourages the wife from holding outside employment, or the husband from performing household duties traditionally considered those of the wife.

Exegetical standard

The 2000 revision removed the assertion that the person of Jesus was to be the exegetical standard by which the Bible was to be interpreted,Template:CnTemplate:Efn and replaced it with the last sentence in the quotation below. The change was made over concerns that some groups were elevating the recorded words of JesusTemplate:Efn in Scripture over other Scriptural passages (or, in some cases, claiming that Jesus' silence on an issue held priority over other passages explicitly discussing a topic, an example being homosexuality). The traditional SBC view is that Template:Em Scripture is Template:Em inspired by God.<ref>Article I, The Scriptures</ref>

This revision was particularly objectionable to the Baptist General Convention of Texas,Template:Cn the largest SBC state convention, which had previously split between moderates and conservatives, with the latter forming the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

Catalogue of specific sins

The 2000 BF&M has been criticizedTemplate:Cn for including a specific list of contemporary sins, which could lead to endless additions.

See also

• List of Baptist confessions

External links

• Baptist Faith & Message (2000, with Scripture references)
• Comparison of 1925, 1963 and 2000 Baptist Faith and Message (the 1963 version contains the 1998 amendment)