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Distinctly Baptist

By November 17, 2011July 16th, 2014No Comments

Brian C. Brewer, ed.
Judson Press, 174 Pages, Paper, $17.99

A press release for this book says that we are living in a post-
denominational age in which church membership is determined more by fellowship opportunities than denominational affiliation; “it’s time to make Baptists aware of the power and potential of their own witness.” Interestingly, this book is published by the American Baptist publishing house, but many of the book’s writers and editors are Southern Baptists.

This book covers various Baptist distinctives and argues for them, but some conclusions and applications would make fundamental Baptists wince, especially when it comes to social issues. In “Our Baptist Legacy” in chapter 5, the father of the social gospel, Walter Rauschenbusch, is cited for his social justice and social ministry, calling Christians to make “better the society in which they live.” The book also leaves room for varying views on the Bible: “Some Baptists insist that the Bible must be inerrant, while others say that it is infallible but not inerrant. Some even dismiss its supernatural verbal inspiration—but we all agree that the Bible should absorb the world for us.”

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