Spiritual authority in Baptist life.Where does spiritual authority lie in Baptist life? First, for Baptists ultimate spiritual authority is to be found in Christ Lord (Mt. 28:18; 1 Cor. 15:24-28). Baptists believe Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the incarnate in·car·nate adj. 1. a. Invested with bodily nature and form: an incarnate spirit. b. Embodied in human form; personified: a villain who is evil incarnate. manifestation of the Eternal God. To say, therefore, that "Christ is Lord," is to say that "God is ultimate." That is the Protestant Principle and the Baptist conviction. The goal, therefore, for Baptist people has been a Christocracy, the rule of Christ over our lives. Second, for Baptists, penultimate pe·nul·ti·mate adj. 1. Next to last. 2. Linguistics Of or relating to the penult of a word: penultimate stress. n. The next to the last. religious authority is to be found in the Canon, the sixty-six books of the Bible Books of the Bible are listed differently in the canons of Jews, and Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox Christians, although there is overlap. A table comparing the canons of these denominations appears below, for both the Old Testament and the New Testament. . Many Baptists believe that within the biblical canon, the twenty-seven books of the New Testament are preeminent. Practically speaking, almost all Baptists agree that the New Testament takes precedence over the Old Testament. Because Christ is Lord, Christ is the lens through whom Baptists read the entire Bible (Mt. 5:21ff). Baptists seek the rule of Christ (Christocracy) over our lives by reading and obeying the Bible in the light of the actions, attitudes, and spirit of Jesus of Nazareth. Third, for Baptists the rule of Christ (Christocracy) is defined by the local Church as it seeks the mind of Christ through the examination of scripture and the leadership of God's Holy Spirit. While the Baptist goal is a Christocracy, Baptists believe that the best means of achieving that goal is through the democracy of the local church, not through the autocracy AUTOCRACY. The name of a government where the monarch is unlimited by law. Such is the power of the emperor of Russia, who, following the example of his predecessors, calls himself the autocrat of all the Russias. of a single individual or the aristocracy of a few individuals. In the end, the local church, not the ecumenical church, the denomination, civil government, or the individual believer, is the final arbiter of Christ's will for the local body of believers. A fourth aspect of spiritual authority for Baptists is individual conscience. This is a reference to personal experience as authority and the right of the individual to follow God's leadership for his or her life. It is Luther's "Here I Stand." The authority of individual conscience includes the freedom to submit one's soul to the authority of Christ, the freedom to interpret the Bible for oneself, and the freedom to speak one's conscience within the local congregation of believers. A fifth, often unrecognized and certainly informal but very real, authority in Baptist life is the charismatic authority The sociologist Max Weber defined charismatic authority as "resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him. of powerful individuals. While Baptists do not have an official "magisterium mag·is·te·ri·um n. Roman Catholic Church The authority to teach religious doctrine. [Latin, the office of a teacher or other person in authority, from magister, master; see ," as do the Catholics or Eastern Orthodox, we are unofficially subject to the powerful and persuasive voices of our preachers and theologians. While this has been the case in all of Baptist life, it appears to be especially the case in fundamentalist Baptist life and to some degree in African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. Baptist life. While formally preaching the priesthood of all believers The general priesthood or the priesthood of all believers, as it would come to be known in the present day, is a Christian doctrine believed to be derived from several passages of the New Testament. It is a foundational concept of Protestantism. , Baptists have often informally practiced the priesthood of the priest, the authority of the pastor. However, the pastor does not acquire any authority in Baptist life by virtue of position and calling. The pastor has no constitutional authority. Rather ministers earn authority/power in Baptist life by virtue of service in Christ's name, servant leadership Servant leadership is an approach to leadership development, coined and defined by Robert Greenleaf and advanced by several authors such as Stephen Covey, Peter Block, Peter Senge, Max De Pree, Margaret Wheatley, Ken Blanchard, and others. , and pulpit persuasion. Charismatic authority is not restricted to the pastor; a powerful and influential lay person may also be a charismatic leader for Baptist people. The person with the authoritative and persuasive voice can become a leader and informal authority in Baptist life. These five C's of Christ, Canon, Church, Conscience, and Charismata work together to constitute a constellation of authority in Baptist life. These five C's help to guarantee that authority in Baptist life is DYNAMIC, not STATIC. Walter B. Shurden Executive Director The Center for Baptist Studies Mercer University Mercer University is a private, coeducational, faith-based university with a Baptist heritage, located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Mercer is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in eleven diversified fields of study: liberal arts, |
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