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JerryBobCo
Posts: 8,227 Senior Member
Question for Buffy about Baptists.
JerryBobCo
Posts: 8,227 Senior Member
How many species of Baptists are there in your neck of the woods? So far, I've seen mention of Hardshell Baptists and Missionary Baptists, neither of which I have ever heard of before.
I grew up in a Baptist church, and we had Southern Baptists and Fundamentalist Baptists. I really don't know the difference, other than the Southern Baptists hold conventions. Also, I think that the Reverends Billy Graham and his son Franklin are members of the Southern Baptist Convention.
BTW, this is a serious question.
I grew up in a Baptist church, and we had Southern Baptists and Fundamentalist Baptists. I really don't know the difference, other than the Southern Baptists hold conventions. Also, I think that the Reverends Billy Graham and his son Franklin are members of the Southern Baptist Convention.
BTW, this is a serious question.
Jerry
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Replies
I used to be a member of an Independent baptist church. I reckon that means they weren't in the SBC.
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Independent, Free-Will, Primitive (Hardshell is the fundamentalist version of Primitive - more on that in a bit) Southern, Missionary, and more than I can remember right now.
My feeble understanding of the Baptist history over the last 200 years is that there used to be just "Baptists", and I'm speaking here in the southeast. At some point in the early? mid? 1800s, there was the first major split. Some of them wanted to go to foreign lands and conduct "missions" and the others didn't.
Hence, you wound up with Missionary Baptists and Primitive Baptists. Primitive not meaning ancient, but from the root word "Prime" meaning "original". It is the latter that I was born and raised and am a member.
Basically, forget every branch, splinter group, version, sect etc that you've heard and here is the major difference. Those Baptists that believe in the "doctrine of eternal and particular election". (Predestination) This is a tenet of Primitive Baptists. Then there are those who do not believe in predestination. Free will or choice or however it's termed. That is, in a nutshell, the major difference between the Baptists.
Now, the term "Hardshell" is a sect of Primitive Baptists that never caught up with modern times. It is the church we USED to attend. They are among the oldest in existence down here. Basically, (and my great-grandfather was a major leader in that day) they tried to "stop time" as my father says. These churches have no electricity, no plumbing, and the membership is expected to not attend worldly things, ie baseball games, movie shows, dancing, etc. etc. This is the reason I've mentioned here before that I grew up with no t.v. In a way, I'm glad of that because we all turned out to be voracious readers. However, politics and law over grace and love were the order of the day, and as a result, these churches are dying out.
We are still Primitive Baptists but do not ascribe to the previously mentioned politics.
Hope this explains a bit. Ask me anything else if you have further questions.
Bryant
The Hardshells do not have instruments in their churches. As a result, all music is acapella. You may recall the documentary that was done on my family and our Sacred Harp singing. This singing is all acapella and done throughout the world, now, thanks to the internet. But it was and has been a primarily south eastern tradition.
The Sacred Harp sings were independent of the Hardshell church but over time, the music became associated with Hardshells because they were the ones that were mainly left singing. My father, through the blessings of the Almighty, has strove many years to bring Sacred Harp back to where it belongs, that is the Community.
I don't know about other Baptist denominations, but Southern Baptists also tend to hold the local church more autonomous. Things can be decided at a state, local, or national level, and the local church can decide to go another way and still be "Southern Baptist." I know of one or two churches that have actually have ordained women, contrary to the resolutions of the Southern Baptist Convention. And they're still called "Southern Baptists."
Wow, you just cleared up something for me that I didn't even realize I had muddled.
We Primitive Baptists have Annual Meetings as well. I had no idea that the Conventions you hear about were the sorta-kinda counterpart to our Annual Meetings.
It is there, at the AM that we partake in the Communion and we wash feet, then strike the parting hand.
Another interesting point is the naming of the Associations. It seems a lot of Indian names are used. The Association that my church is a part of is the Alabaha Association.
(EDIT: The Alabaha RIVER Association, that is)
Dancing is also something that is disallowed in the Southern Baptist Church.
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One other oddity:
We don't say convention and rarely say Annual Meeting. We say "Big Meeting".
I guess that's simpler for a bunch of backwards thinking, wine guzzling Hardshells. :tooth:
Our members make our own wine. Usually one of the deacons does it.
Haha. That's how the wife's folks church is.
I called them Missionary but my pa-in-law said, "I think it's Southern."
Now I'm curious.
Y'all got a specific name for someone like that? :tooth:
Ask him if they have names for their mission offerings, and what those offerings are.
Southern Baptists have the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for foreign missions.
I do but this is a family forum.
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From the way I understand it, the only real difference in Missionary Baptist and Southern Baptist is where the fund go to but I could be wrong on that. Missionary Baptist do not believe in predestination and for the translation of the Bible use, it really more depends on the Church. Our pastor prefers the King James Version but many others prefer others. If yall have anymore question, please feel free to ask and I'll answer as best as I can or find the answers for ya.
Rank does not concur privileges. It imposes responsibility. Author unknow