Anglican vs Baptist: What is the Difference in Their Beliefs?

9Rock9

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I think you're mostly spot on, but of course, like with many things, it's more nuanced in reality.

While we don't do creeds per se, most Baptists would have no problem with affirming the Nicene Creed, aside from a possible objection with one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

Some Baptist churches and associations will still often compose their own statements of faith, but not call them creeds. The Southern Baptist Convention, for example, uses the Baptist Faith and Message as basically a summary of what the denomination believes and teaches. Even then, member churches can disagree with parts of it.

While we don't baptize infants, our attitude towards other denominations that do varies. Some won't accept infant baptism as valid at all, while other Baptists will accept Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Anglicans as saved even though we disagree over baptism, though most Baptists would still say you need to be fully immersed if you want to join them.
 
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Pielun123

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Wouldn't Baptists and Anglicans differ also in their views of salvation?

Don't most Baptists 'generally' associate with OSAS/unconditional security whereas Anglicans (similar to Catholics) typically hold to conditional security views?

This is probably a gross generalization because I personally know Baptists who strongly agree with conditional security but, as a sweeping statement, would this be true? I don't know too much about this and would really appreciate if anyone has anything to add. God bless.
 
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seeking.IAM

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Wait, as a side question, does anyone know if Anglicans believe in purgatory?

I have been Anglican for over 10 years now. I have never heard purgatory spoken of in church. That said, my answer, as for most things about Anglican belief, is some probably do; some probably don't. Again, Anglicans aren't as much about common belief as we are common worship. Also, there is a significant percentage of Anglicans who are former Catholics, who are likely to have brought much of their belief with them.
 
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mark46

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Wouldn't Baptists and Anglicans differ also in their views of salvation?

Don't most Baptists 'generally' associate with OSAS/unconditional security whereas Anglicans (similar to Catholics) typically hold to conditional security views?

This is probably a gross generalization because I personally know Baptists who strongly agree with conditional security but, as a sweeping statement, would this be true? I don't know too much about this and would really appreciate if anyone has anything to add. God bless.

I find it interesting that folks often talk about being saved based on what we do, as if salvation is a decision we make. Do we walk down the aisle. What sins do we leave unconfessed?

Let's be clear. Jesus saves whoever he chooses to save: Baptists, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists. It is HIS choice.
==============
And let me very clear, as one who once taught in a Southern Baptist church. I understand the idea that one can be saved forever if at 7 years old (or 11) he walks down the aisle and claim Jesus as Lord. There is nothing that he or anyone (including Jesus) can do in the next 70 years of his life to change his salvation. Yes, it is indeed very difficult to give up your salvation, but Jesus will allow it.
 
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Paidiske

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Wait, as a side question, does anyone know if Anglicans believe in purgatory?

Officially, the Anglican position is that purgatory "is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God."
 
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Christoph Maria

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...while other Baptists will
accept Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Anglicans as saved even though we disagree
over baptism...
That´s interesting. I did not know that.

Don't most Baptists 'generally' associate with OSAS/unconditional security whereas Anglicans (similar to Catholics) typically hold to conditional security views?
I am not really sure what that means... (I must be stupid :doh: )
Does unconditional security mean: everybody is saved. no matter what ?

Also, there is a significant percentage of Anglicans who are former Catholics, who are likely to have brought much of their belief with them.
Exactly - Like ´Yours truly´ for instance... ;)
Although I never really ´subscribed´ to the concept of purgatory.

______________________________________

Anyway: Thanks to all of You! I learned something new today! :)
 
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9Rock9

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That´s interesting. I did not know that.


I am not really sure what that means... (I must be stupid :doh: )
Does unconditional security mean: everybody is saved. no matter what ?


Exactly - Like ´Yours truly´ for instance... ;)
Although I never really ´subscribed´ to the concept of purgatory.

______________________________________

Anyway: Thanks to all of You! I learned something new today! :)

Not quite. OSAS, or eternal security means that an individual who has been regenerated cannot lose their salvation or become unregenerated. Christ died for all of our sins once and for all, and knew every sin we would commit.

Now, a believer can backslide or renounce the faith, but even in this state, he is still saved. The difference between him and and false Christians is that the one who has actually been regenerated will always repent and return to God.
 
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Akjv

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Baptists, like Anglicans, run a pretty wide spectrum of belief and practice. Some Baptist churches can be fairly formal, with hymns you'd recognise, and eucharist (communion) pretty much every week. Others are very, very low church, practically Pentecostal, with nothing resembling a liturgy and communion maybe twice a year.

But basically I think the summary in the OP is pretty good. I was raised in Baptist churches by a rampantly anti-Anglican father and a secretly-still-Anglican mother, and I now worship in a traditional Anglican parish while attending a Baptist-run Bible college, so I'm pretty familiar with the similarities/differences but still not as up on Anglican beliefs as I probably should be. So here are my comments:

1 - This is probably the main problem Baptists take with Anglicans. My father talks about infant baptism as a "deception he was delivered from", so that's... a fairly typical Baptist opinion on infant baptism. Baptists generally won't baptise anyone under about twelve years of age (I was six or seven when I decided I wanted to be baptised, and made to wait quite a few years because I "wasn't old enough to make that decision"), and always full immersion. To baptise babies is considered "popery" and referred to as "christening" or, even more derogatorily, "sprinkling".

2 - Baptists have no hierarchy. Whatsoever. I'm still not entirely clear on what "apostolic succession" is, although I have a fairly good idea, so that should indicate how much of it Baptists have. Authority in Baptist churches doesn't extend beyond the local congregation, although there might be some "unions" or "conferences", there are certainly no parish councils, dioceses, or synods. There might be well-known preachers considered semi-authoritative by lots of churches, or a Bible college / seminary with a bit of sway, but that's it.

Baptists would consider Jesus - and Jesus alone - to be the head of the Church (citing passages like 1 Corinthians 1 and so on, and not really knowing how to react on topics such as Peter as the foundation or James as the first bishop) and don't take authority-figures well (although, you know, the Anglican hierarchy is pretty horizontal and seems to involve a lot of committees of lay people, so I'm not sure what the problem is). As one of my lecturers likes to put it, "Baptists were born out of schism and have a very weak ecclesiology".

3 - "Sacrament" is another one of those words which Baptists will dismiss out of hand as "popery", but sacraments such as baptism, marriage, communion, ordination ("commissioning"), and anointing of the sick all still exist to varying extents. Any sort of statue, icon, or imagery is considered idolatory, although most Baptist churches will make liberal use of text (Bible verses), graphics, and pictures of flowers and landscapes in the place of worship.

4 - This is the only point I disagree with. I don't think there are many Baptist churches which celebrate communion weekly (one of the main issues my grandfather, an Anglican priest, takes with them), but certainly most will do it monthly at least, and some fortnightly. It's usually a loaf of bread and some grape juice, though, and not wafer and wine. They're usually passed around on little trays from pew to pew, so frankly I find the Anglican method (queuing, kneeling) a lot tidier! This is also one of the only places where Baptists have something resembling a liturgy - 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 is usually read as communion is given.

5 - I never encountered the Creed in a Baptist church, outside of a praise chorus which has become popular recently (see
), but I expect most Baptists would agree to it. Probably the only council which is recognised would be the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, but churches would also point to various Confessions of Faith, such as the 1644 and 1689 confessions - a church's given "Statement of Faith" is usually taken from one like that.

As a generalisation - because, as in point 2, there are no absolute statements for every Baptist church - Baptists believe the Bible as divinely-inspired, without error, and interpret it pretty literally. This doesn't mean that everyone interprets it the same, though! (I know that, in the US particularly, Baptists can get pretty divided over Calvinism). But a lot of things are taken pretty much as-read. A lot of Baptists definitely hold to verbal inerrancy, and some can be pretty rabidly KJV-only and take *that* literally rather than the original language...

6 - I'm adding this one. Baptists can be highly suspicious of any sort of memorised "rote" prayer. The BCP is seen as more of a hindrance to worship than a help, hymns and chants are dreary and the latter possibly occult, and I won't even start on what's thought of the liturgy. I don't know that this is actually a difference in faith or belief, but just something to be aware of as an Anglican in a Baptist setting.

But, anyway, when you visit your relatives, it would be best I think if you could tell them all the ways in which Anglicans and Baptists are the *same*. A lot of Baptists regard Anglicans with no small amount of suspicion and consider them basically Catholics (which is basically tantamount to following the Antichrist in some circles). When it comes down to it, there are fewer differences between Anglicans and Baptists than Baptists like to think.

I've probably been going on too long, and not said anything new to anyone, so sorry about that. It's just something I've been thinking about *a lot* recently, so I may have seized on the topic a little too voraciously...
I would like to ask a question. Do churches allow non saved people to participate in communion? and should they?
 
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seeking.IAM

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I would like to ask a question. Do churches allow non saved people to participate in communion? and should they?

There are many denominations so I cannot say about them all, but my count I've taken communion with a least six different denominations in my life. None asked me to show a Saved Certificate at the altar rail.

Edited: "can" for "cannot say."
 
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Akjv

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There are many denominations so I can say about them all, but my count I've taken communion with a least six different denominations in my life. None asked me to show a Saved Certificate at the altar rail.
Thanks for the reply. I was just wondering.
 
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Paidiske

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I would like to ask a question. Do churches allow non saved people to participate in communion? and should they?
We don't have any way of looking at someone and knowing their salvation status, as it were. Historically, and in most places still, communion was considered something that came after baptism, though, not before.
 
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Akjv

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We don't have any way of looking at someone and knowing their salvation status, as it were. Historically, and in most places still, communion was considered something that came after baptism, though, not before.
Thank you
 
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Arcangl86

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I would like to ask a question. Do churches allow non saved people to participate in communion? and should they?
The language of "saved" and "unsaved" aren't generally used in Anglicanism. And as was mentioned above, there is historically, and still officially at least in the Episcopal Church, a requirement that somebody have been baptized first. But it's worth pointing out, that the requirement isn't that somebody be baptized in the Anglican Church, though there are some that require confirmation first, but any church at any age.
 
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seeking.IAM

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And as was mentioned above, there is historically, and still officially at least in the Episcopal Church, a requirement that somebody have been baptized first.
It is probably worth mentioning that many Rectors are overlooking the requirement that communicants be baptized replacing instead with language such as, "If you seek Christ, you are welcome at this table..." It's a point of some controversy.
 
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Arcangl86

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It is probably worth mentioning that many Rectors are overlooking the requirement that communicants be baptized replacing instead with language such as, "If you seek Christ, you are welcome at this table..." It's a point of some controversy.
And many Bishops are letting it slide. Which I actually have strong feelings about, but I don't feel like getting into theological weeds right now.
 
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Akjv

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The wording I use is "Any baptised Christian is welcome to receive communion." In reality I'm not standing at the altar rail asking visitors for proof of their baptism.
In the Baptist churchs I have been in everyone stands and several people come to each person and hands to them; no alter.
 
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Arcangl86

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In the Baptist churchs I have been in everyone stands and several people come to each person and hands to them; no alter.
Yeah I've seen that too. But communion also means something very different in that tradition then it does anglicanism.
 
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