Why primitive baptists are not calvinists

This article shows ten basic distinctions between Calvinists and Primitive Baptists. Baptists are not Protestants. Baptists derive their existence from Christ and the Apostles, and as such, predate Catholics, and have maintained a separate existence from them even through the Dark Ages. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The Means of Grace. The Reformers continued the Roman Catholic idea that salvation is mediated by the "church". Though they largely discarded Roman Catholic sacramentalism i.

Primitive Baptists, on the contrary, insist that the only mediator of saving grace is Christ and that the media of word or ordinances are applicable to discipleship, not sonship. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God.

Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Saving Faith. Calvinism's primary slogan is "sola fide" -- faith alone. The doctrine of "justification by faith alone " is the bedrock of Reformed Theology. By that phrase, they mean that sinners are justified in the sight of God only by the act of believing the gospel, not by their works.

Primitive Baptists believe that Scripture teaches that the subject of justification has various phases by grace, by blood, by faith, and by works , some of which do not have eternal implications; hence, the word "alone" is misleading. If we were forced to employ the word "alone", we would rather speak of "justification by grace alone" or "justification by blood alone". We believe that the Calvinist errs by assuming the noun "faith" always means "the act of believing the gospel".

Further, we interpret justification by faith in terms of the assurance of salvation, not the application of redemption. Calvinism asserts that all the elect will persevere in faith and holiness. If an individual does not persevere, then he proves by his apostasy that he was merely a professor, not a possessor, of eternal life.

Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. I and my Father are one. A child of God may indeed fall from his own steadfastness in the faith, but will not fall from God's covenant favor. The chastisements upon God's children in disobedience are parental and remedial [corrective], not punitive. All of God's people will be preserved for they are "kept by His power", but they are responsible for "keeping the faith", "keeping their hearts with all diligence", and "keeping themselves in the love of God" that is, behaving in such a way that He will manifest His blessing upon them and that they may adorn rather than reproach the doctrine they believe.

Their preservation, not their perseverance, is guaranteed by covenant decree. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Double Predestination.

Thus, more often than not, the small, staunchly Calvinist Primitive Baptists rarely garner little more than a footnote or a sidebar in Baptist historiography. Those who formed the Primitive Baptists—so called for their claimed association with the primitive church of the New Testament—were even more horrified by insistent fund-raising appeals for foreign and domestic missions, for the construction of colleges, and for other benevolent organizations.

Their withdrawal from the warmth of Baptist fellowship and their unyielding defense of five-point Calvinism also made them an easy target for cultural stereotyping.

Missionary Baptists regarded—and much of American society still regards—Hardshell Baptists as ignorant, impoverished, or worse. Guthman is on somewhat less steady ground in his discussion of the African American—founded and —led National Primitive Baptist Convention of America, whom he characterizes as unique guardians of West African religious traditions that were carried by the slaves who converted to Christianity.

African-influenced praxis can be found in nearly all black Protestant denominations. Unfortunately, Guthman undermines his own argument. A close look at some of the Calvinistic confessions reveals that both the WCF and the SLC affirm two types of regeneration: the first is seemingly by means May God bless our studies and understanding until we no longer see through a glass darkly, but see Him face to face.

The "author of sin" charge is confusing. The phrase is not found in the Bible. The Bible does say Satan is the Father of Lies. Authors write books. Isaiah King James Version KJV says: "10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:" In talking about predestination, the Bible leads to the usual objection in Romans, chap 9: "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

For who hath resisted his will? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Is the PB conclusion warranted? You make a number of observations in your brief comment that I would like to address: DG: The "author of sin" charge is confusing.

TETH: Let me define it more explicitly. This phrase designs that if God has absolutely predestined all things through a positive decree wherein every single act of the obedience of Christ was as directly and actively preordained in precisely the same sense as every single act of pedophilia then God is indisputably the originator and creator author of sin as a matter of unavoidable logical consequence.

DG: The phrase is not found in the Bible. Do you agree? TETH: True. Or does that title belong to God? Is it an expression of harmony or rebellion, peace or discord, darkness or light? I John DG: Authors write books. To me, that decision is a no brainer as no one should accuse God of being the author of sin I John