Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 7/9/2004

Question
Thank you for taking my question..Kerry picked Edwards for his running mate and I read that he is a Medthonist...my question is how does this differ from being a Baptist...or even a Catholic..Thank you ..George Pope

Answer
blessings and thank you for your questions.

In the US, Baptist constitute 27 groupings and their total membership is about 30 million.  Baptist churches are completely independent, yet bound together by an amazing common allegiance to principles and doctrines.  They claim no founder but Christ, and often claim they have been preaching since John the Baptist.  When the Reformation began in the 16th century, scattered Baptist groups in Europe advocated doctrines that eventually united them.  As the left wing of the Reformation, they were called ANA-Baptists ("to baptize again"), because they immersed (dunked) those who had been baptized in infancy.  They held to a literal application of the Bible, were communal and pacifistic, and opposed capital punishment, taking oaths in court, and the holding of public office. They insisted upon the complete separation of church and state.  Undergoing persecution for their then - radical views, they spread all over Europe.  In Holland a group of Mennonites, followers of the former Anabaptist leader Menno Simons, were teaching Anabaptist principles and took in  a group of British refugees undergoing persecution under James I.  One of their leaders, John Smyth, completely accepted the teaching of the Mennonites.  Smyth and his followers were rebaptized, became Anabaptists, and organized the first English Baptist church in 1609.  However, they remained English and refused to take on all the accoutrements of the Mennonites.  As persecution waned, the English Baptists went back across the channel and began a Baptist church in London.  Although they spread, they divided again, this time over the theology of the Atonement.  The General Baptist churches held that Jesus Christ died for everyone, while others held to the teachings of the Particular Baptist church - following the teachings of John Calvin - that salvation was only for those predestined by God.  The first Particular (British) Baptist Church had its beginning in 1638.  A third group, Immersion Baptist, broke away and in 1644 produced a confession of faith that is still in use by many.  For the first time, these Christians were popularly known as Baptists.  In 1631 Roger Williams went to America, and although he was not a Baptist, established a Baptist church at Providence, RI.  In 1814 Baptists organized the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions.  This step marked the first real denominational consciousness and united the Baptists.  They formed a society for publication as well as for missions and education.  In 1845 came the major split.  Southerners seceded from the union over the issue of slavery, and formed the own Southern Baptist Convention to carry on the work of their churches.  What was left of the General Missionary Convention formed the Northern Baptist Convention which changed its name to American Baptists Churches USA. The two have remained separated ever since.  Baptists generally agree upon the Bible as the inspired Word of God, the supremacy of Jesus Christ, inherent freedom of individuals to approach God for themselves, salvation by faith through God's grace, two sacraments (called ordinances) of Baptism (adult only immersion) and the Lord's Supper, the independence of the local church, the church as a group of regenerated believers, complete separation of church and state, the immortality of the soul, and the ultimate triumph of God's kingdom.  Because Baptists have had freedom of expression in the pulpit and pew, they are quite democratic.  This means that liberal and conservative doctrines can be preached freely because each church is autonomous.  Local churches license and ordain candidates for the Ministry.


Methodists.  The Methodist originated as a nickname for a group of Oxford University students in 1729 because of their methodical application to Bible study and prayer.  The three dominate figures of this group were John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield.  In the beginning the Methodists appealed primarily to the Lower classes, mainly through open-air meetings, The first Methodist church society began in London in 1740.  Between 1739 and 1774, the organizational elements of Methodism were instituted and a phenomenal growth started.  Methodism began as a lay movement, and John Wesley tried to keep it with in the church of England.  In 1739 Wesley drew up a set of general rules, which modern Methodists still hold.  Wesley died before the Methodists became a recognized church.  The Methodists spread to the new world.  Bu 1773 more than 1600 worshiped in America, but less than half that number existed 4 years later because the Methodists tended to be pro-British.  They seemed doomed to extinction by 1776.  Francis Asbury's leadership of the Methodists at this crucial period lead them forward, and they prospered.  In England Wesley accepted the inevitable changes, ordained ministers for the colonies, and appointed Asbury and Thomas Coke as superintendents.  The Methodist Episcopal Church was born in December, 1784 with its first general conference held in 1792.  Circuit riders moved westward with the population and the denomination flourished.  They had differences all along, however; some groups split off because of the emphasis upon the Episcopal Church.  Prior to the Civil War the Methodists, like the other denominations, split over the slavery issues.  They stayed separate denominations until 1939.  The uniting conference of 1939 adopted a new constitution, and this action began the reuniting Methodists in the US.  Theologically the Methodist have never been strongly separatists.  Many of the churches repeat the Apostles' Creed and the theology is Arminian as interpreted by Wesley.  Methodists believe in the Trinity, the natural sinfulness of humanity, the need for repentance and conversion, freedom of the will, justification by faith, sanctification and holiness, future rewards and punishments, the sufficiency of the Bible for salvation, baptism (infant and adult), the Lord's Supper, the enabling grace of God and perfection.


Now the two denominations have several things in common.  Both are evangelical (meaning both believe in having a conversion experience for Salvation and the need to go out to win converts).  Both believe in Baptism (but disagree over the method).  Both believe in the Trinity, the Bible, the Divinity and Humanity of Christ, the Lord's Supper, the need for repentance,  the freedom of will, justification by faith, sanctification and holiness, future rewards and punishments, and the enabling Grace of God.

Differences:
  1.  Baptists do not believe in infant baptism, Methodists do.  Baptists only Baptize believers (no infants) by immersion (dunking), Methodist use several means.
  2.  Baptists believe in eternal sanctification or "once saved always saved."  Some Methodists agree, most do not.
  3.  Methodists by name, believe in a "method" of worship, Bible study, and Prayer.  Baptists do not believe in any "method."  They believe only what is taught in the Bible.  They believe that the Holy Spirit helps us to interpret the Bible, study, and pray.  In Worship, Baptists do not follow any format, do not quote any creed, or go by any method.  
  4.  Baptists have no hierarchy.  Baptist churches are independent, even if they belong to a convention.  Each Baptist church owns its own property, hires its own pastor, and makes its own decisions on determination and theology.  Most Methodist churches are denominationally aligned.  They are controlled by the Denomination.  A Bishop or Superintendent directs the church, can veto positions taken by the church, and assigns a pastor to the church.  In many cases the denomination owns all or part of the church structure, keeping the church in line or removing itself from the denomination.


Catholics vs. Baptists

1.  Before the Reformation, Protestants and Catholics were one church.  Martin Luther tried to reform the Catholic Church.  It had strayed from what it was founded on, Jesus Christ.  

2.  Baptists believe that all matters of Faith come from our understanding of God through the Holy Spirit helping us interpret the Bible.  Nothing can out weigh what the Bible says is truth.  Because of this, we only look to the Bible not to man to understand who God is and how we fit in His Plan.   The Catholic Church believes that the Pope is God's direct representative on earth, in a line of succession directly from the disciples themselves.  Anything the Pope says about God is higher than what the Bible says.  For example, the Bible says that Mary, Jesus' mother, had other children.  A Pope once said that no, Mary remained a virgin until her death.  You can begin to see the problem.  Anything in the Bible that disagrees with a Pope's teaching is taken out of their Bible.  

3.  Because of their view of the Bible, the Catholic Church has developed a unique theology of who Jesus is and who Mary is.  They believe in the virgin birth, Jesus' baptism, his ministry on earth, his death and resurrection, and ascension into heaven.  However, they believe that you must obtain works or penitence in order to receive grace.  The Bible says that grace is a gift that cannot be earned.  They believe when you die, you go to purgatory, a place of punishment, until you have served enough time to have your sins forgiven since your last confession.  The word purgatory is not found in the Old or New Testaments.  They believe if people pray for the dead they can be elevated into heaven.  This means if a non-believer goes to hell, he can be prayed out of hell and into heaven.  They can also be bought out of hell.  This is called an indulgence.  This was Martin Luther's biggest complaint, that if someone gave enough money they could have their sins forgiven.  This flies in the face of everything Jesus taught in the Bible.

4.  Mary Worship - the Catholic Church also teaches that you must go through a priest, a dead saint, or Mary to pray to God.  Jesus told us to pray directly to the Father in His name, not go through someone who cannot hear you.  There are now elements within the Catholic church that even believe that Mary is the co-redempter with Jesus Himself.  In other words, they believe you can be saved through Mary just like you are saved through Jesus.

5.  Baptists believe that you must be saved to go to heaven.  Jesus told Nicodemus this is, in John chapter 3.  You must be born again.  Catholics teach that if you are baptized you go to purgatory then to heaven.  

6.  Salvation.  The Catholic Church teaches that Salvation comes through the church, upon Baptism then Conformation.  The Bible says that Salvation only comes through Jesus Christ.  

7.  Original Sin.  The Catholic Church teaches that all sex is sin.  That sin is directly transferred to a child by the sin of sex of their parents.  This sin condemns you to hell unless you are baptized into the church. Baptists believe that Original sin is the term for being born a sinner.  Remember, man was created in the image and likeness of God.  Man was a free moral agent, freely able to choose God or turn away from him.  By eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he did the one thing he was asked not to do.  Breaking God's one commandment to him was sin.  At that point Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden and cut off from the tree of life.  From that moment on, the spirit of man was damaged.  It is as if man is now born with a moral handicap.  He is lame in the most important part of his being- his spirit. The act of sex between a husband and wife is not a sin. In fact, the Apostle Paul said that to withhold sex from your mate is a sin.  Original sin does not come to a child because of the sex of their parents but is a sinful nature in man himself that is in everyone since the fall.  There is a rebellious nature in most children.  They just like to do whatever you tell them not to do.  This natural rebellion stems from man's original sin.  Instead of being morally free, man has a decided tendency toward sin - urged on toward evil by what is called "the world, the flesh, and the devil."  Original sin is a tendency to do evil, not an act of evil itself.  God does not punish people for tendencies to do evil, only for what evil they do in light of what they know.  In other words, babies and children do bad things but do not truly understand the difference between good and evil.  They may even know that what they are doing is wrong, but they do not understand that it is evil.  Therefore, little babies and young children do not go to hell because of original sin, because babies have never committed any sinful acts.  So babies do not even need to be baptized until they are old enough to choose Christ and baptism themselves.

There are many Catholics who are born again believers.  In fact, there is a revival movement going on in the Catholic Church.  I would not be surprised to see another split in the next 20 years.