Southern Baptists and Alien Immersion

/ Tim A.

I received the following article from the Landmark Southern Baptist GroupList, and Ben Stratton:

 

LifeWay Research, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, conducted a study in spring 2008 among a representative sample of 778 Southern Baptist pastors.  These pastors were asked about several doctrinal questions that often dominate Southern Baptist debates.  Particularly interesting were the results on baptism.
 
Pastors were asked about their church’s practice of receiving members who were baptized in other churches.  Some of the results include:
 
1.  If the prospective new member had been immersed after conversion in another church that does not believe in eternal security, 26 percent of Southern Baptist pastors said they would not require baptism.
 
2.  If the prospective new member had been immersed after conversion in a church that believes baptism is required for salvation, 13 percent of Southern Baptist pastors said they would not require baptism.
 
3.  If the prospective new member had been baptized by sprinkling or pouring after conversion, 3 percent of Southern Baptist pastors said they would not require baptism prior to admittance into membership.
 
4.  If the prospective new member had been baptized as an infant by sprinkling, pouring or immersion, 1 percent of Southern Baptist pastors said they would not require baptism.
 
While this study was only of a small sample of Southern Baptist pastors (There are over 2400 Southern Baptist churches in Kentucky alone.) I was pleased with the results.  Notice that 74% of the pastors surveyed said they would reject the immersions administered by Assembly of God or Free Will Baptist Churches.  Even better 87% of pastors surveyed said they would reject the immersions administered by groups such as the Churches of Christ.  And only 1% to 3% are following the route of John Piper and allowing pedobaptists to become members of Southern Baptist churches. 
 
Overall I was very pleased with these results.  While it is true that Southern Baptists have a number of churches and especially younger pastors who are weak on church truth, this survey shows that the majority of Southern Baptist churches are still sound on the doctrine of baptism.  It also sounds how diligent we must be grounding our churches in the faith that was once for all delivered unto the saints.  Jude 1:3
 
Who is coming into our churches?  Will there be any sure way to know what is believed by “Baptist” churches?  Are we just cooperating with all “evangelical” churches?  That seems to be the guideline nowadays.  Rather than Scripture.  Let’s just baptize everybody by proxy, then we can increase our numbers. :).
-Tim A. Blankenhsip

8 thoughts on “Southern Baptists and Alien Immersion”

  1. I think if we ask what Baptism is, we could easily answer the question about alien baptism. Baptism is the “taking up your cross and following Christ”. It is saying I believe, “that Christ died on the Cross, was buried, and rose and again”, and “saying I believe he did that to take my sins away.” Baptism is an unbroken chain passed down from John the Baptist. Only administered from ordained ministers. By accepting any other baptism but the baptism of an ordained minister from the unbroken chain, from some one who doesn’t believe that the work of Christ was finished on the cross, is completely unacceptable.

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  2. Pingback: Southern Baptist Rebaptism « John Mark Hicks Ministries

  3. Bro. Ben,
    I appreciate your comment here. There are probably many things that I have left unanswered in the history of Baptists where I have addressed the issue. it seems that many of those who comment bring up more.
    There are a growing number of “Baptists” who do not believe in the continued Baptist doctrine down through the centuries.
    Thanks again,
    T.A.

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  4. James Willingham could not be more wrong when he says that “alien immersion was never much of a problem until JR Graves came along. It was only a problem, if the aim was salvation.”

    I can supply dozens of quotes to prove that Baptists rejected the “alien immersions” that were preformed by non-Baptist churches. Please read the below quote. The Sandy Creek Association in North Carolina is the third oldest Baptist association in the United Sates, being constituted in 1758. In 1839, the association responded to a query from one of its churches asking about the validity of alien baptism. Please note that in 1839, J.R. Graves, the so-called founder of “Landmarkism”, was but a youth of 19. The church’s query and the association’s answer are taken from Purefoy’s “History of the Sandy Creek Association”, pg. 179. – Ben Stratton

    “In 1839, the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church present the following query:

    “Is it consistent with the spirit of the gospel, and according to the Scriptures, for any regular Baptist Church to receive into her fellowship any members or members of another denomination, who have been baptized by immersion, without baptized them again?”

    The association responded:

    “Answer: We think it is not. The vote on this query was unanimous. The Baptist is the only denomination that is not guilty of schism – of making a division when it came into existence. They existed prior to any Pedo-baptist denomination now in existence. Baptist have never seceded from any other denomination. All other denominations have either seceded from Rome or one another; they made a division when they came into existence, instead of receiving their baptisms as valid, they are to be marked and avoided for causing divisions. Romans 16:17

    We cannot admit the validity of their baptism without admitting that they are true and Scriptural gospel churches, if we do this we unchurch ourselves, for God never step up or authorized but one Christian denomination. He is not the author of confusion or of antagonistic denominations.

    The Baptist is the only denomination that can claim descent from the apostolic churches, though the true and persecuted and witnessing church, that fled into the wilderness for 1269 years. See Rev. 12:6 and 14

    That the Baptist have descended from this true church is susceptible of the clearest proof. This is not true of any other denomination. We all know the day when, and the man or men who set them up, and no one of them had existence before A.D. 1500. Ordinances cannot be validly administered by both Baptists and Pedo-baptists. God is not the author of but one of them, consequently we cannot receive members upon baptism administered by them, without repudiating the ordinances administered by ourselves.”

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  5. Silly! Alien immersion was never much of a problem until JR Graves came along. It was only a problem, if the aim was salvation. Interestingly enough, Graves’ Intercommunion has one of the best examinations of Acts 19 and the distinction between the oklos (crowd) and the ekklesia. K. Schmidt’s article on ekklesia in TDNT (Kittel’s) is lacking because he never read Graves. Still Graves erred grievously re: I Cors.12:13. All landmarkers fall apart on th verse and its context. Cf Jn, Thornbury’s work, The Church. Also E. C. Dargan’s work on The Church. By the way I heard Graves was the model for the immoral preacher in Mark Twain’s Huck Finn. A friend’s wife’s grandfather was said to be knowledgeable about the situation. Life is full of pains and disappointments. I do believe Baptists have a prereformation origin. I think the Jessey (?) church idea is weak as branch water. But link chain succession is out, although the Philadelphia church connection is not to be despised.

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