Why Baptist? Aren’t Baptists backward, superstitious, and ignorant?

I have from time to time seen in my readings the terms backward, superstitious, and ignorant used of people who call themselves Baptists.  I have also heard people say such things but rarely so.  Nevertheless a Baptist does stand for certain things.  Just as other folks who believe differently stand for what they believe in, so do Baptists.  Baptists do not trace their heritage by a physical genealogy back to the time of Jesus instead, they trace their beliefs to the time of Christ.

Baptists, as do other evangelical churches, hold to the protestant Bible as the authority for faith and practice. What we believe and what we do should conform to what is taught in the Bible.

A distinguishing belief of Baptist’s to that of other evangelical churches is that we believe the Bible teaches that only believers should be baptized and that baptism is by immersion only.

Concerning how a church should govern itself, Baptists hold to a congregational form of government that is autonomous. Baptist’s are self-governing churches with each church responsible for governing their particular local church.  No other church can determine the faith or practice of a local Baptist church.  Baptists do associate with other churches and organizations for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus.


Their are other distinctives of Baptists which I would be happy to discuss with you.  If you want to talk, please call me at (209) 986-7366 on my cell phone and mention the website.  If you prefer to discuss via email, just click on contact in the menu and send me a message.

Thanks for reading, Elder Theo.