Difference between Methodist & Baptist

[graceandpeace]

Okay, I generally know the answer to the post title, but I wanted to find a good link - like a comparison chart or something for the two? Does anyone know of a good source?

Do all Baptists hold to Calvinist thinking, like in official doctrine or does it vary ? Again, links would help.

I am asking because I was talking with a friend today who has always gone to Baptist or non-denominational, & when I told them I was looking into UMC & wanted to stay within the same theology ( Wesleyan) they didn't understand the difference.

Thanks!

 

[BryanW92]

Google is your friend:

https://www.google.com/search?q=dif...rosoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=&safe=active

 

[graceandpeace]

Well, of course I know about Google, lol! I tried that but I was not liking the initial links I saw. They were okay, but I wanted more in depth or a side by side...maybe I missed it!

 

[BryanW92]

There were some pretty good ones in that search. Of course, "good" is relative since any side-by-side comparison is likely influenced by one side or the other.

In my experience of living in the south, surrounded by Baptists, and being a Methodist is that most rank-and-file Baptists don't really have a theology of their own. They can tell you what their pastor told them, but can't explain why. I'm not saying that's a bad thing because they have stronger faith than most of the Methodists I know.

Most Baptists I know aren't 5-point Calvinists (but they are 3- or 4-pointers). Sadly, a few of the older Methodists in my church are 2- or 3-pointers. LOL.

When you sit down with a Baptist and explain Sanctifying Grace for the first time, their eyes light up and usually proclaim, "Why didn't anyone ever tell me about this?" I've had some wonderful conversations on that one topic with my Baptist friends.

 

[seeking.IAM]

Back when I was in the UMC my Pastor defined a Methodist as a Presbyterian without money and a Baptist without religion. I always found that amusing.

 

[BryanW92]

Back when I was in the UMC my Pastor defined a Methodist as a Presbyterian without money and a Baptist without religion. I always found that amusing.

That's a good one. And there is some truth to it.

 

[circuitrider]

Okay, I generally know the answer to the post title, but I wanted to find a good link - like a comparison chart or something for the two? Does anyone know of a good source?

Do all Baptists hold to Calvinist thinking, like in official doctrine or does it vary ? Again, links would help.

Thanks!

I'm a former Baptist. I'm afraid there isn't a comparison chart that would take into account all the varieties of Baptists and their views. Remember Baptist churches are autonomous and also remember that there are several Baptist denominations out there. So views vary widely.

As to Calvinism, no all Baptists are not Calvinist. My former denomination, American Baptist Churches, USA, is primarily Arminian rather than Calvinist and includes a merger with a northern Free Will Baptist body.

Two of the larger Baptist bodies are the SBC and the ABC/USA. I would give their websites a look. The SBC has a document called the "Baptist Faith and Message" which gives their doctrine. And the ABC/USA has a doctrinal statement on their site called "We Are American Baptists."

But there is also the General Association of Regular Baptists (GARBC), Conservative Baptist Convention, General Baptists, American Baptist Association (a fundamentalist body not to be confused with the ABC/USA), Independent Baptists, and the Baptist General Conference just to name a few.

I'm also happy to answer specific questions. When I was in the process of transferring my ordination from the ABC to the UMC I spent a lot of time discussing the differences with the Board of Ordained Ministry of my annual conference.

 

[circuitrider]

Back when I was in the UMC my Pastor defined a Methodist as a Presbyterian without money and a Baptist without religion. I always found that amusing.

The one I heard was that a Baptist is a man who has learned to wash, a Methodist is a Baptist who learned to read, a Presbyterian is a Methodist who went to college, and an Episcopalian is a Presbyterian whose investments have done well in the market.

 

[Qyöt27]

One that I've heard is that if you walk into a liquor store and there's a Methodist and a Baptist also in there, the Methodist will actually talk to you.

 

[GraceSeeker]

All I know is that they all eat fried chicken on Sundays.

 

[graceandpeace]

Thanks for your responses y'all!

I decided to just give one example of a difference to my friend & let them know I'd be happy to talk more if they wanted.

 

[circuitrider]

One that I've heard is that if you walk into a liquor store and there's a Methodist and a Baptist also in there, the Methodist will actually talk to you.

At least in this part of the country that would be true.

 

[BryanW92]

At least in this part of the country that would be true.

When I lived in SE Idaho, the joke was "never go fishing with just one Mormon because he'll drink all your beer."

 

[rockytopva]

-----------------Removed.

 

[Historicus]

My Pastor says that the difference between a Methodist and a Baptist is that the Methodists will sing all the verses of a hymn.

and I agree...we never sang all the verses of a hymn in the Baptist Church

 

[Ben13]

Okay, I generally know the answer to the post title, but I wanted to find a good link - like a comparison chart or something for the two? Does anyone know of a good source?

Do all Baptists hold to Calvinist thinking, like in official doctrine or does it vary ? Again, links would help.

I am asking because I was talking with a friend today who has always gone to Baptist or non-denominational, & when I told them I was looking into UMC & wanted to stay within the same theology ( Wesleyan) they didn't understand the difference.

Thanks!

I was raised Missionary Baptist, in summer I visited my grandparents and attended their Primitive Baptist church.
I was raised in a small community in the USA, the Missionary Baptist church I attended had about 250 members.
An man at church (friend of my parents and about their age) stated in church during a discussion that ONLY the people that were members of that particular church would be allowed in Heaven, no other Missionary Baptist or any other branch or region would be allowed in Heaven. Just those 250+ members would be the only ones who got into Heaven, no one before the church was founded would get in either.
This caused a big discussion and the preacher actually agreed with this idiot. My parents and most others, strongly stated that he was wrong and shouldn't be filling peoples head with lies.
This man (and those that agreed with him) and this one incident divided the church with about 70% (guessing) leaving the church.
We changed to another Missionary Baptist church. We didn't like it because it was near a rich neighborhood and most of the members wouldn't speak to or have much to do with new people coming in. We stopped going.
I went to a First Baptist church for a few years but was divided by money as well, those that had more money and tythed more money thought their vote should count more than those that didn't tythe as much.
I am a Spiritual person now and I do not attend church because of the experiences I had with all the churches (Methodist, Episcopalian, Assembly of God, Pentecostal, and others) I went to to try to find the one I liked. Most condemned certain things while accepting divorce, adultery, liers, gamblers, drunks, tax cheats, gossips and other sins. The last three churches I went to within the last ten years were bad as well.
In one a mixed race couple (black male, white female) were absolutely shunned by everyone. Also a gay couple were shunned.
Yet the preacher was divorced three times, his wife divorced twice, most decons and major players in church were divorced, having affairs, gossips, a few were known shoplifters, drunks, drug users and other sinful acts completely accepted by all members of the church.
I was disgusted by their hypocrisy.
Shunning someone because they married outside their race or their sexuality while the majority of members were the biggest sinners I have ever seen was disgusting.

I communicate with God, pray and worship but I won't attend church.

This doesn't really answer your question. Sorry just stating my experience in more that 40 years.

 

[Anto9us]

In all seriousness, I would have to say that Baptists put more stress on a personal conversion to Christ, Methodists-- at least where I was when I was growing up -- just seemed to consider that you were a Christian by osmosis. I went to sunday school and church every morning, youth group and church every sumday night -- and was never presented with or confronted with "have you ever made a personal committment to Jeus Christ?"

Even the altar calls at church -- and, yes, we sang all four verses to JUST AS I AM WITHOUT ONE PLEA -- but the INVITATION to come forward was alwasy TO JOIN THAT PARTICULAR CHURCH.

Never -- even during the "REVIVALS" held semi-annually -- was there an altar call FOR A PERSON TO ACCEPT CHRIST AS PERSONAL LORD AND SAVIOR.

I did that at 19 -- off at college -- away from the Methodist Church where they had essentially "had a shot at me all those years" without ever presenting me with "do you accept Christ as your personal savior?"

More after I check on the oven...

 

[rockytopva]

Here is a sermon by an Evangelist who went to Wesleyan Asbury University, and then was an evangelist to Baptist churches. He would pack the altars like I have never seen, and was a good mixture of Baptist and Methodist. Here is a sermon I uploaded of him from the 1970s!

 

[Anto9us]

In one sense, I could say that the Methodist church missed the whole essential point -- in this boy's life who NEVER MISSED A SUNDAY or any service, who was essentially DRAGGED TO CHURCH EVERY TIME IT WAS OPEN -- and was never presented with what I later learned that the Baptists looked on as THE WHOLE SHOOTIN' MATCH -- making a personal decision for Christ. I went to Baylor University, a huge Baptist University, and never really heard of Calvinism at all until I got on message boards years later in 1999.

I now know that Baptists from the beginning were divided into GENERAL Baptists (Arminian) and PARTICLULAR Baptists (Calvinist). In my town today, there are tons of Southern Baptists - and a handful of the General Baptist convention churches. Whether the term General Baptist Convention today means anything at all like Arminian vs Calvinist - I dunno. But one of the most popular Arminian authors - Roger Olson - goes to one of the General Baptist churches in my town and is a seminary professor at Truett Seminary at Baylor University.

Some say Methodists believe "everything and nothing". At age 65, now looms a possible SPLIT in Methodism over the gay issue. For the brief period in my life that I was Episcopalian, I was happy at an Episcopal church in Dallas when off in New Hampshire a gay man was made a Bishop. It got really ugly. I don't want to go through any of that again -- I don't want going to church to be a venue where this one issue is thrust in my face all the time like it was in those Episcopalian days in Dallas - making me leave that church and come back to Methodists.

This GLOBALISM of United Methodism I am not too sure about. I was there at a convention in late sixties when United Methodist Church was formed. Late sixties -- it took THAT LONG to resolve issues of slavery that had made THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH -- and they and other Methodist groups became UMC.

It is so GLOBAL now that many African UMC churches are NEVER going to budge on the gay issue, and the UMCwill probably spilt. I have mixed emotions --sure I know God loves gay people as much as anybody else -- but would a move to accept and affirm them be a step forward or as some think a "watering down" of Biblical Christianity?

Within a year of accepting Christ at 19, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, received the gift of tongues, as many, many of my peers did -- huge outpouring in early 70's -- and the rule rather than the exception was that most young people stayed within their own denominations rather than move to outright charismatic denominations like Assembly of God or Pentecostal.

I became very Wesleyan and Arminian in my theology -- especially when I had Calvinism presented to me -- I was repulsed by the idea of a God who would determine from Eternity past that person A would be saved and person B would be damned with no regard whatsoever for what the person would come to think, believe or do.

I read Wesley and Arminius themselves, their own writings, and to this day have read none of the "modern Arminians" save one book by Robert Shank. Being on message boards from 1999 til now has reinforced my Arminian ideas, I think most Christians would say "of course man has a Free Will" even if they have never read a word of Jacob Arminius or considered themselves an Arminian.

I understand Assembly of God is Wesleyan/Arminian in theology, and that is a possible choice for me if a SPLIT happens that I feel would put me in anywhere near the situation like the past Episcopalian experience when they elected that gay Bishop. It seems surreal that the local UMC church I go to now is in any way involved with this "big homosexuality issue" but of course, its part of the denomination.

Baptists to me emphasize freely the idea that was lacking in my growing up -- a person must be presented with making a decision for Christ. Baptist Churches are not so GLOBAL, many individual churches have their own Statement of Faith, I mean each congregation. Will I read Roger Olson's books and consider the General Baptist option? Of course. Will I visit the Nazarene Church - Wesleyan/Arminian as well, and the one in town growing wildly - maybe so.

Will I stay in the UMC church that is an eight-minute walk from my apartment, and just "blow it off" that there is a Lesbian Bishop somewhere in California? Maybe.

I don't "hold it against the Methodists" that I was never presented with Plan of Salvation all during my upbringing -- although maybe in some way I should. It is painful to think about in a way. Would a move to AoG land me in an area more comfortable with my charismatic experience? No doubt. Would a move to Nazarene to 'escape the gay gay gay gay issue' be anything but delaying the issue til Nazarenes get as liberal as UMC now about that? That could happen, I don't know.

It is Wesleyan/Arminian theology I am committed to, not the UMC as a corporation. Right now, the only difference between General Baptist and Southern Baptist seems to be that Generals are not hard and fast against women pastors and Southerns are. IT may be just a coincidence that the Arminian professor at the Seminary is in a Baptist church here of the General Baptist Convention.

To the OP of what is the difference between Methodists and Baptists, maybe the Liquor Store anecdote has a ring of truth, but the more serious thing is -- is the UMC being 'more liberal' for the RIGHT REASONS ? (extending God's love to all types of people) -- or is it just a matter of watered-down approach to biblical standards? I really couldn't tell ya.

But the GLOBALISM approach, I fear, will because of the huge African contingent, skew any real apprehension of whether or not American Methodists will accept/affirm homosexual people and give them true acceptance. Why tell a gay person -- you can come to church -- but you cannot be a pastor, deacon, superintendent or Bishop. There cannot be any halfway acceptance, imo, and I just don't know if people are ready.

I wish we'd all been ready.

 

[Anto9us]

Don't believe in the eschatology any more, but it was a good song.

In blogging with author Olson -- we both saw Larry Norman perform it live in the same year.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=I+wish+we'd+all+been+ready+Larry+Norman&view=detail&mid=7B75019412182F0E81F67B75019412182F0E81F6&FORM=VIRE