Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 1/27/2010

Question
Dear Pastor Don Carpenter,

I certainly agree with the teaching about being unequally yoked and all that it entails.

However, my question is not about what is right or wrong for individuals but simply about what Baptist Church policy is. Is there a general Baptist Church ruling forbidding interfaith marriages or is each local church left to decide for itself?

I say interfaith, not interdemonational. If a Christian girl decides that she wants to marry a Hindu man, and the Hindu man wants to stay Hindu, are there Baptist churches that will marry them? Will a Baptist church tolerate one of its members marrying a Hindu of the opposite sex in a Register Office or the USA equivalent, whatever that is?

I ask not for any personal reason but simply because I have just told a Hindu friend that, quite apart from what individual Christians decide to to do, there is no actual rule against interfaith marriages in western Protestant Churches. After sending the letter I thought I'd better check as I'm not as sure as I thought I was.

Every blessing,

Simon

Answer
Hi Simon,

Thank you for this great question.  One of the Baptist distinctives is the autonomy of the local church.  We are not governed by a ruling body that is greater than the local church.  I suppose that there are some different Baptist conferences, but the ones I know of are generally loose and still give the local church the authority to make their own decisions as to polity.

Having said that, the general consensus among Baptists is to take the Bible literally, and follow what it says.  The Bible is very very clear in this matter.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said,  I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

I do not know of any Baptist church that would perform this marriage.

I hope that this helps you.

In Christ
Pastor Don