Am I methodist?

[BryanW92]

Many Baptists are semi-calvinists. They may not believe all five points. But as long as they believe in "Once Saved Always Saved" and some form of election their doctrine is mostly from Calvinism. There is a movement within the SBC to make the denomination even more Calvinist led by the President of the Southern Baptist seminary in Louisville, KY.

Everyone is a "semi"-Calvinist. Everyone is a "semi"-Wesleyan. You could probably even find one point in your theology. Their version of OSAS is totally different from the Reformed idea of Election. I would hope that they would move towards Calvinism because the theology of the SBC is a disjointed mess. Talk to 10 Southern Baptists and you'll hear about 10 totally different theologies, if any of them bother to have a theology. I could be a Methodist, a Lutheran, or a Presbyterian, but never a Baptist!

 

[BryanW92]

I hear what you're saying Bryan. And I'm glad you found a home. I know you were pretty upset with your former Pastor and with the denomination as a whole. In that situation, some people reject God. I'm glad you were able to recognize that you just simply weren't where you were being called to be.

I was mostly sorry for him. I still do feel sorry for him. He's an ultra-conservative in the UMC and that means that he is very limited in what he can say and do. When I finally left, it was just because of questions that I couldn't answer as a Wesleyan (and I couldn't accept the answers given by others).

But I am very happy where i am. Thanks for remembering.

 

[RomansFiveEight]

Everyone is a "semi"-Calvinist. Everyone is a "semi"-Wesleyan. You could probably even find one point in your theology. Their version of OSAS is totally different from the Reformed idea of Election. I would hope that they would move towards Calvinism because the theology of the SBC is a disjointed mess. Talk to 10 Southern Baptists and you'll hear about 10 totally different theologies, if any of them bother to have a theology. I could be a Methodist, a Lutheran, or a Presbyterian, but never a Baptist!

That, I think, comes from congregationalism in it's purest form. While Southern Baptists have associations, those associations don't really have any authority. Baptist churches are kind of whatever the laity want it to be. And if they don't like it, they can just form a new church. My community has a dozen Baptist churches, most of them with maybe 8 or 12 people attending on a Sunday, and most of them a small group of people who didn't like some point of theology or praxis of some Pastor so, since they couldn't get everyone to go along with firing them, they just broke off, became a new church, and decided one of them should be the Pastor. Overwhelmingly, these churches are served by uneducated, untrained Pastors. There are Pastors in this community Ordained under the blessing of the association that lack even a high school diploma.

That doesn't mean some SBC churches don't have a pretty good and solid theological foundation (even if it's one I disagree with), but there is definitely potential for some way out there ideas.

 

[GraceSeeker]

I apologize if I am going off topic with asking this question, but is being born again for a Methodist being baptized? I have heard being born again used in the context of a conversion experience and I was always curious of the Methodist understanding.

Short answer: No, baptism does not equate with being born again.

 

[GraceSeeker]

Interestingly, I met someone who said they weren't Calvinist, they were Reformed. Umm... Calvinism is reformed theology! Ha! But I guess, there might be some distinction.

It's very fair!!

Zwingli was Reformed, and he was definitely NOT a Calvinist. In fact, their supporters fought some very bloody wars with one another in Switzerland.

 

[RomansFiveEight]

It's very fair!!

Zwingli was Reformed, and he was definitely NOT a Calvinist. In fact, their supports fought some very bloody wars with one another in Switzerland.

Oh okay, I guess I was the understanding that Reformed Theology and Calvinism were synonyms.

 

[BryanW92]

It's very fair!!

Zwingli was Reformed, and he was definitely NOT a Calvinist. In fact, their supporters fought some very bloody wars with one another in Switzerland.

Since Zwingli came before Calvin, that makes sense. But Calvin was certainly Reformed. In the contemporary usage, they are used interchangeably--at least inside the Reformed camp.