Question about denomination of Baptist.

[now faith]

I had not realized there were so many differences among the Baptist until I joined the forums here.
I have stated before my background and most of my life I considered myself Baptist.
My Dad was a ordained Baptist minister who was a Pastor,so I grew up in Church.

In 2008 until 2010 I attended a independent Baptist Church.
My children both graduated from independent Baptist schools
So my question is what is a independent fundamental Baptist Church?
To me the Word independent relates to operating apart from any group,on their own I suppose.
When I looked at the definition of fundamental here's what I found:

adjective
1.
serving as, or being an essential part of, a foundation or basis; basic; underlying:
fundamental principles; the fundamental structure.
2.
of, pertaining to, or affecting the foundation or basis:
a fundamental revision.
3.
being an original or primary source:
a fundamental idea.
4.
Music. (of a chord) having its root as its lowest note.
noun
5.
a basic principle, rule, law, or the like, that serves as the groundwork of a system; essential part:
to master the fundamentals of a trade.
6.
Also called fundamental note, fundamental tone. Music.
the root of a chord.
the generator of a series of harmonics.
7.
Physics. the component of lowest frequency in a composite wave.
Correct me if I'm wrong would the title independent fundamental,be a contradiction of terms?

Another question.
As I have noticed conversing here there are two core beliefs being presented Calvinism and
Arminianism,Are there titles on the Churches to determine which doctrine is promoted?

Do any church's consider themselves to be neutral?
If so would they be the Independent fundamental group?

Thank You.

 

[Radagast]

When I looked at the definition of fundamental here's what I found:

The name actually comes from a series of books called The Fundamentals: The Fundamentals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As I have noticed conversing here there are two core beliefs being presented Calvinism and
Arminianism,Are there titles on the Churches to determine which doctrine is promoted?

Do any church's consider themselves to be neutral?
If so would they be the Independent fundamental group?

It's pretty much impossible to be "neutral" -- churches tend to be one or the other. Sometimes this is reflected in the name ("Reformed Baptists," "Strict Baptists," "Particular Baptists," and "Sovereign Grace Baptists" are Calvinist), but often it is not (many churches in the Southern Baptist Convention are Calvinist, for example). Independent Baptists might be either Calvinist or Arminian.

 

[now faith]

Thank you! I will check out the book.

 

[98cwitr]

safe to say if you're in the south you're either a baptist or a Methodist if you call yourself a Christian. Methodists say "hey" in liquor stores to each other, baptists dont.

 

[Exodus20]

ummm - ??? The O.P. is ... well very confusing ,,, at least to me.

You went to an I.F.B.C. and you sent your kids to an I.F.B. school , but you are asking us what that church believed ...? Did you not read their 'Statement of Faith' - often printed on the back of the bulletin , or posted in the entry hallway...?!

In the U.S.A. there at several kinds of "Baptists" . At the top of this part of the site / page there is a "Sticky" note called "What Baptists believe" . You should read that as it gives basic "Baptistic" beliefs. Almost all of the groups and those totally "independent" have websites nowadays. Enter the names into your search engine and read what each group teaches / believes / preaches / practices.

{[ Baptists use the words 'Association' or 'Convention' , because Baptists churches are independent , aka; 'Congregational' church government --- the people in the pews ( members) vote for the Elders & Deacons, Pastor. ) . Many Baptists associate , or convene yearly or every other year. The other forms of Church government are "Episcopal" ( Bishop in charge of a geographical area and the chapels in that region,,, Pastors are assigned to the Chapel/Parish by the Bishop after completing a training course & ordination. ). The other is called "Presbyterian" rule by a board of ordained "Elders". Each local church has Elders , and then each church is a member of an area Presbytery / synod , and if there is a problem in the local chapel , and it cannot be solved ,,, the issues/problem is brought to the assembled "Presbyters" of the other like-minded Chapels/Churches. ]}

Reformed Baptists ( 1689 L.B.C.F. --- ARBCA ) ; Strict Baptists / Particular Baptists [ Much like the Ref. Baptists ( 1689 ) they are of the "Calvinistic" thought ] ;

Southern Baptist Convention ( They started out as a Calvinistic group that adhered to the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, but as the decades went by - Arminian teaching and Professors took over the Convention and many of the S.B.C. Churches,,, and now there is "The Founders Movement" within the S.B.C. which wants to return the S.B.C. to the ideas of the 3 Founders of the Louisville Seminary: Boyce , Manly & Broadus. ;

The American Baptist Convention ( Used to be the 'Northern Baptists' - They have gone wishy-washy -liberal. ) ; Free-Will Baptists { The Free-Will Baptists and the 1st three kinds of Baptists on this list got there starts in England in the 1600's. The "Free-Will Baptists" are the opposite of the other 3 groups concerning what has become known as the TULIP ;

Missionary Baptists ; National Baptists ( Largely a 'Colored / Negro / Black' group of churches ) ; The Conservative Baptist Association ( iirc ) HQed in Illinois , the C.B.s are good on the Bible being true , and building up believers.

Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches... often ,,, ( My son has been a member of / attender at several during his 10 years in the USAF ), and often - they are very narrow and focused on "Getting people saved'... every week - usually the same 10 or 15 people ... each week they hear nothing except John 3:3 & John 3:16. Very little depth or growth , but the Preachers are very loud! Very often ( not always though ) they will not cooperate with any other kind of church in the town or the county. They almost always HATE "Calvinism" --- but 90% of the IFB guys agree with the 'P' in the Dutch flower (aka; O.S.A.S. ) .

The I.F.B's detest the R.C.'s and Popery , but many of the IFB guys are 'mini-Popes' and yaa better not disagree with them or else!

There is also the G.A.R.B.C. ---> General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. They have a website if you wish to find out what they believe & do & where they are.

P.S. / Addition: The "F" stands for "Fundamental" and that means sticking with the "Fundamentals "of the Biblical - Christian religion. The term comes from a very good 4 volume set edited by Dr. R.A. Torrey done in the early 1900's. It was financed by two concerned Christian Laymen who saw the decline of American Christian Churches due to liberalism , Higher Criticism & the cults. They paid for the authors ( Preachers, Professors , Teachers ), paid for the printing/binding and then they sent out freely the volumes to Pastors , Preachers , Missionaries , YMCA & YWCA admins , and Sunday School superintendents. Good lessons and well worth the reading ! Here are some links for you to read them free , or you can buy them ( amazon has them and iirc Christian book dot com ) .

h t t p: / / web dot archive dot org / web/ 20030101082327/ h t t p: / / w w w dot geoctes dot com / h t t p : / / w w w dot geocites dot com / Athens / Parthenon / 6528 / fundcont dot htm .

I wish and hope that the I.F.B. guys would read those volumes --- and also the Faculty , staff & students of Biola U. in La Mirada. Biola was founded by Torrey & the Stewarts about a hundred years ago ,,, and sadly ( I lived in La Mirada, Cal. for 2 decades ) the place has long since forgotten the founders and their ideals. }
Hope this helps you .



Then there are a few called "Landmark Baptist" churches. They teach that since the time of Christ Jesus and His Apostles ... there has been a Baptist Church around. ( I think they are in agreement with what is called : "The Trail of Blood". { Personally --- I always get somewhat queasy ( green around the gills ) when some church says they are true because they have been around for 2000+ years. I would exercise MUCH caution before ever entering a 'Landmarker' Baptist church or a 'Campbellite' ( Church of Christ ) building.

There might be some other kind of "Baptist" out and about , but for the most part I think I have listed all the ones you will likely find in the U.S. and Canada.


Use your 'Search Engine' ! The answers are as close as your keyboard. Either from the Wikipedia listings , or from the official websites of the Associations / Conventions or local chapels.
Btw - Several of the groups ( Especially the S.B.C. ) put $$ in the hat for colleges & seminaries & Publishing houses. They often have missionary sending funds and because of the numbers - they can do much more than a local independent Church/Chapel.

 

[dysert]

So my question is what is a independent fundamental Baptist Church?

I spent over half my life in baptist churches, so even though this is an educated guess, I'll go with it unless a more authoritative definition comes along...

"independent" probably means that it's not affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

"fundamental" probably means that it is doctrinally conservative/traditional, i.e., Calvinistic, believe in OSAS, is dispensational, etc.

By this definition, an independent fundamental Baptist Church would be an ok place to grow up and raise a family (imo). That is, unless Westboro and/or snake-handling churches call themselves independent fundamental, in which case I'm all wet.

 

[skypair]

Correct me if I'm wrong would the title independent fundamental,be a contradiction of terms?

No. One describes their dissociation with other churches in structure. Independents have no hierarchy telling them how to run the church. Fundamentalist is in regards to Bible interpretation. A church that is both is simply trying to let Christ be Head, not some convention or denominationally "inspired" pastor.

As I have noticed conversing here there are two core beliefs being presented Calvinism and Arminianism. Are there titles on the Churches to determine which doctrine is promoted?[/qutoe]
Rarely. Sometimes a Baptism church will call itself "Reform Baptist" indicating a connection to Calvinism and Reform Theology. I would steer clear of them.

Do any church's consider themselves to be neutral?
If so would they be the Independent fundamental group?

I was once a member of a GARBC church (General Association of Regular Baptists) which is about the most independent church I have known. They had a loose affiliation with other GARBC churches in which they agreed on doctrine so that one going from one city to another might identify churches of their doctrine. I don't think that they ran any seminaries where they pumped out "clones" like the SBC does. I rather think that they had had enough of biblical compromise they saw among most other Baptist churches.

skypair

 

[now faith]

Some Independent Fundamental Baptist Preach Landmarkism as well.

On reason I was told that they were independent was the distribution of missions funding.

They wanted to maintain control of who they supported.

The assessment of preaching to the choir is what I found too,not a lot of teaching on the Christian life,but a lot of convict and challenge.

The statement was correct on a assessment of beliefs before placing my children in their School.
Now that they are grown they won't set foot back in Church.

 

[now faith]

safe to say if you're in the south you're either a baptist or a Methodist if you call yourself a Christian. Methodists say "hey" in liquor stores to each other


Several local Baptist Churches I know condone Wine drinking but your not supposed to get drunk.
In the past I never knew I was drunk until I was drunk go figure