Expert: Bruce Gourley - 1/4/2007

Question
what is the difference between southern and cooperative baptists? what are each of their beliefs?

Answer
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship split off from the Southern Baptist Convention in 1990, in disagreement with the (new) fundamentalist direction of the SBC leadership (not Southern Baptists in the pews, per se, but the leadership, which was, and is, more fundamentalist than typical SB church members).

Overall, today the two organizations differ over such issues as women's ordination and biblical interpretation, with the SBC taking a more fundamentalist stance (even compared to other evangelical organizations) and the CBF taking a more progressive stance.  Also, the SBC has taken stances against the historical Baptist positions of the priesthood of all believers (the SBC position is that church members should submit to the spiritual authority of their pastor), strict separation of church and state and full religious liberty for all (Southern Baptist leaders advocate for special privileges for Christians), and the bible as authoritative specifically in matters of faith and practice (SBC leaders have declared that the Bible is inerrant in every area of knowledge upon which it touches, a modern position among Baptists), and Jesus as the criterion for interpreting scripture (the official SBC position now is that Jesus is NOT the criterion for interpreting scripture). The CBF affirms the historical Baptist positions on these matters.

There is much more, but this should give you some idea of some of the differences between the two groups of Baptists.

Bruce Gourley
www.baptistlife.com
www.centerforbaptiststudies.org
www.brucegourley.com