Beginner

[Shuuyaru]

Hello,

I was wondering if there are books for beginner baptist. I guess something along the lines of "Baptist for dummies". Let me explain..

My husband is Baptist :)
Im not. Im not christian or catholic, tho I was raised as a "semi" catholic, got the basic teachings but no follow up. I wouldnt say Im an atheist either since I dont deny the existence of God but atm, I cant accept the concept. I dont know, Im really confussed about this.

I think, from what my husband has told me of his faith, that its beautiful. We dont talk about it much because Im the type that questions what I dont understand and argues and question some more, so I come off as someone who's attacking his faith (which Im not, Im trying to understand it) and it hurts him and I hate to see that hurt look on his face :sigh:

My husband has recommend I read the bible again.
Ive read it in HS as we had a church history class. It wasnt bible study, so we just read it so that we'd know what the history was about.
I tried to read it again.
I didnt even finish the genesis, my mind went blank :(
I think it might be too heavy atm.

I dont even know the type of book Im looking for :sigh:
I guess a book with the basic teachings.

-.-

[sageoffools]

Hey Shuuyaru,

Well, it's great that you are searching. I'm also especially pleased that you find the Baptist beliefs "beautiful".
First, let me say, I can't speak for all denominations of Baptist, but your husband wasn't too far off, to tell you to read the Bible.
To be honest, one of the things that I enjoy most, and that is most attractive to me about being a Baptist, is that there is no body that governs the individual churches (I speak for Independent Baptist, there are other kinds of Baptist, Southern Baptist, American Baptist, etc, each with a central governing body that has varying levels of authority over the individual churches). Unfortunately, that is also one of the things that makes "Baptist" so hard to define. If you want to know what the Catholics believe, you can simply look to the Vatican for the one core set of beliefs that all Catholic churches are to share, again, Baptist do not have this. Although some see that as a bad thing (it does cause it's problems) it allows each individual church to study the Bible and determine for itself God's leading.
Sorry for the long lecture, to answer your question more directly, there are a few places that you can go, outside of the Bible, to get a general idea of the core beliefs that most Baptist share:
http://www.baptiststart.com/doctrine.htm
http://www.baptistdistinctives.org/
are probably good starting points, the first leaning a little more Southern Baptist.
I would also encourage you, if your husband is really well grounded in the Bible, and has been a Baptist for a long time, sit down with him and preface the conversation by telling him what you said here.
Tell him, you are searching and really want to know more about the Baptist beliefs, but sometimes, in trying to find answers you question and argue things that don't make sense to you. Assure him that you are not trying to bash his beliefs, just trying to understand them for yourself, and hopefully you can alleviate any problems or hurt feelings before you begin.
If he is not very grounded in the Bible, ask him the questions that you have, and let him answer the ones that he can. If there are questions that he can't answer, perhaps you both can sit down with his pastor and ask him the questions, learning the answers together. It would be a good time of growth for both of you.

If you have any more specific questions, you are also more than welcome to post them here.
SOF

[Shuuyaru]

Thank you for the readings :D

Ill definitly check them out.

[BigNorsk]

You should know something up front.

Is your husband a Calvinist Baptist or an Arminian Baptist?

Does he go to a church that is affliliated with a larger Convention of Baptists? Often the Conventions have an explanation of beliefs on their websites.

Or is he part of an Independant Baptist?

That would help in directing you to an explanation of beliefs.

I'm sure if you know those things people can help you find a good explanation.

Marv

[sageoffools]

You should know something up front.

Is your husband a Calvinist Baptist or an Arminian Baptist?

Does he go to a church that is affliliated with a larger Convention of Baptists? Often the Conventions have an explanation of beliefs on their websites.

Or is he part of an Independant Baptist?

That would help in directing you to an explanation of beliefs.

I'm sure if you know those things people can help you find a good explanation.

Marv

Hey Marv,
I was trying to avoid confusing her as much as possible. ;)

As a good man once said, where two or more Baptists are gathered together, there is sure to be at least seven different opinions between them! :D

SOF

[BigNorsk]

I know, I was almost wondering if something like C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" might not be a better place to start. Instead of trying to get into Baptist distinctives. Focusing on distinctive too much can give a rather warped view.

But if it's going to be something distinctly Baptist, it would seem to me to be better to focus on whichever group her husband belongs to promote marital bliss instead of adding confusion.

And I'd just like to say to the original poster, may God bless you, it's so great to see that you are willing to take on such a study.

The wikipedia article on Baptist beliefs wouldn't be a bad place to start. It really gives a pretty good overview, and gives many biblical references without being too much. And it states areas of disagreement without focusing on them. It can be helpful to have kind of a basic outline understanding even when doing a more involved study. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist_Beliefs

I would also recommend talking to your husband's pastor if you haven't already. Most pastors I know have a pretty good basic study on beliefs sitting right there on their shelf just for such occassions.

Marv

[Shuuyaru]

You should know something up front.

Is your husband a Calvinist Baptist or an Arminian Baptist?

Does he go to a church that is affliliated with a larger Convention of Baptists? Often the Conventions have an explanation of beliefs on their websites.

Or is he part of an Independant Baptist?

That would help in directing you to an explanation of beliefs.

I'm sure if you know those things people can help you find a good explanation.

Marv

Im confussed about the calvinist or arminian, I asked hubby and he doesnt know either so Im guessing he's neither ;)
He hasnt found a church since he moved here, so atm, I cant really go speak with his pastor, which would be the simplest thing :sorry:

Hey Marv,
I was trying to avoid confusing her as much as possible. ;)

As a good man once said, where two or more Baptists are gathered together, there is sure to be at least seven different opinions between them! :D

SOF

And it was really helpfull. Ive been reading on distinctives since you gave me the websites. I still have a lot to read

I know, I was almost wondering if something like C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" might not be a better place to start. Instead of trying to get into Baptist distinctives. Focusing on distinctive too much can give a rather warped view.

But if it's going to be something distinctly Baptist, it would seem to me to be better to focus on whichever group her husband belongs to promote marital bliss instead of adding confusion.

And I'd just like to say to the original poster, may God bless you, it's so great to see that you are willing to take on such a study.

The wikipedia article on Baptist beliefs wouldn't be a bad place to start. It really gives a pretty good overview, and gives many biblical references without being too much. And it states areas of disagreement without focusing on them. It can be helpful to have kind of a basic outline understanding even when doing a more involved study. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist_Beliefs

I would also recommend talking to your husband's pastor if you haven't already. Most pastors I know have a pretty good basic study on beliefs sitting right there on their shelf just for such occassions.

Marv

Thank you for the title, ill be sure to check it out
Ill also look up the wiki

Thanks so much everyone for your reply :hug:

[sageoffools]

Im confussed about the calvinist or arminian, I asked hubby and he doesnt know either so Im guessing he's neither ;)

Hey Shuuyaru,
I'm glad you're reading up on the Baptists. As I said before, I am also very glad that you are searching in general.
Regarding Marv's comment about Calvinist or Armenian, to sum it up, for the sake of easy reading: Calvinists believe that God chooses which people get saved, the individuals don't have a choice. Armenians believe that salvation is all about man's perseverance and will to be saved. Two totally different ends of the spectrum. And there are people that believe everything in between. Personally, I'm a right-in-the-middle kinda guy. Like I said, that is the general idea, just to clarify.

SOF

[Shuuyaru]

Thank you for shedding light on those two. ^^

[HappyChicken]

I recently started going to a GARB....I think. My neighbor and I go to the same church (*she invited us to it)... she said its a GARB (General Assembly of Regular Baptists) I don't know where it falls as far as Calvinist or whatever....(I'd like to find out).... but it's a very nice church and we are very happy there. It's very casual and everyone is very nice. There seems to be no "extremes" that I have been a part of before so that is refreshing for me. So, if you are looking for a Baptist church in your area, maybe you could find one like this...or not... just a friendly suggestion.:D

[TimRout]

You might try Stan Grenz's, "The Baptist Congregation: A Guide To Baptist Belief And Practice".