On my blog, I posted a quiz to see if anyone could guess the specific church/denomination with the following statement of faith/confession. The answer might slightly surprise you (or, then again, maybe not). I've eliminated a couple of the statements as they would "give it away."

I want to see if anyone on the PB can guess correctly!

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Tim Phillips
Pastor, Midlane Park Presbyterian Church (ARP)
Louisville, KY
Husband of Scottish Lass
My Blog: Gairney Bridge
My Facebook/My Avatar

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

"Wherever the gospel is preached, it is as if God Himself came into the midst of us." ~ John Calvin

RC ?

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Bruce
PCUSA
Ocean City NJ

It looks like a church without one of the historic confessions or creeds, albeit with a good "statement of faith."

The word "alone" would make it one of the historic protestant denominations (or copying their doctrine).

When we do get to the point of disclosing the answer, please post a reference so we can see the whole context of this statement. It will no doubt be surprising.

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Scott
PCA
North Carolina


"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)"
Hebrews 10:23

Point 10 sounds almost Eastern Orthodox, though the other points would rule them out.

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T W Hopper
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church
Currently between churches since PRC closed here - attending Crossroads Christian Church.
Canberra, Australia.

LDS?

Margaret

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Margaret
Free Church of Scotland [Continuing]
Michigan

Maybe some sort of baptist or charismatic probably non-denominational with a knowledge of historical theology but does not want to go all out reformed. Trying to marry reformed with some man centeredness, trying to find a way to merge man's free response with God's sovereignty.

It did not mention the rapture, most churches like to mention the rapture in their mission statement.

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Erick Bohndorf, Redeemer Presbyterian PCA
http://qayaqtraveler.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pr...90&ref=profile
Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Ecclesiastes

Margaret, the wording of 7) made me think maybe LDS, but I didn't think they believed in Perseverence of the Saints.

Adventism?

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Timothy Johnson
First United Presbyterian of Moline
PCUSA (Yea, I know)
Theology/Philosophy Sunday School Teacher
Davenport, IA

Islam.

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Andrew DeShazo
Husband of Kathryn
Father of Phillip-Giles B. DeShazo
Deacon
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Memphis, TN
"From out of the depth of unbroken Infinfity arose the Question, "Who am I?" And to that Question there is the answer, "I am God!" -Meher Baba, died 1969.

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Christ, died 33 AD, ressurected three days later.

OK, let's tighten this up a bit. The church/denomination in question is Protestant. It is not a heretical cult.

As more of a hint, Shackleton has come closest to a correct guess, I believe.

SBC or Reformed Baptist. [I would qualify this but you are just asking for the denomination or group.]

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Rev. Andrew J. Barnes
Husband of Dena
Father of Oliver
Master of Bruce
Pastor of Tchula Presbyterian Church

What can I say, I like blogs!

Judging from what was left out, it's got to be baptistic.

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Wes Bredenhof
Pastor, Providence Canadian Reformed Church
Hamilton, Ontario
www.bredenhof.ca
Gospel Talk Radio Program

I'm trying to decide whether what is left out is the baptistic part or a pentecostal aspect: or, of course, both.

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Paul Korte
OPC
Flint, MI

They who perceive in themselves discoveries of the divine goodness, so full and absolutely perfect, and who make them the subject of earnest meditation, will never embrace new doctrines, by which the very grace they feel so powerfully in themselves is thrown into the shade. --John Calvin

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Missionary Baptist Church!

It is not from a Baptist confession with which I'm familiar. Definitely not SBC. But it's probably some kind of Baptist. Craig may be right about it being Missionary Baptist or something similar.

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Christian
One Pilgrims Progress

I can't post at the blog,

So, I'll just ask here if the point of this exercise is to note how a "bare-bones" creed is of limited practical usefulness in:

a) stating what you believe; and
b) separating what you believe from the beliefs of others who actually disagree sharply and decisively
?

I'll just guess and say "Bethlehem Baptist" (John Piper) [wrong, btw, CM]

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Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI


When posting friends, kindly bear those words of earthly wisdom in mind:
Oh, that God the gift would give us
To see ourselves as others see us.
--Robert Burns, 1786 (modernized) ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions? --

I'm sure our brother must have some point with this exercise, but at this moment I can't see the point in trying to guess the origin of a statement that admittedly has the denominational distinctives edited out.

-----Added 1/1/2009 at 04:35:39 EST-----

It's not Bethlehem Baptist. Here's their Congregational Affirmation of Faith.

I don't know who owns it but it has snakes and it is not a good "statement of faith".


"void of holiness" is not the same as total depravity.

Yes and Arminians say God elects those whom He knows will accept the gospel.



Have a blessed New Year,

Craig got it right!

When I was home on vacation last week, I asked my mom for her copy of the "Articles of Faith" of her church (the same church I grew up in). It is indeed a Missionary Baptist Church. I believe it was founded somewhere around 1847, which explains the lack of reference to dispensationalism and Pentecostalism (I'm sure the Articles have undergone some revisions over the years -- evident in the switch from Holy Ghost to Holy Spirit in some of the statements -- but not severe enough in include wholesale inclusion of these schools of though).

FWIW, here are the two articles that excluded, just to make it fun:

13. We believe that a church of Jesus Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, united in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the ordinances and obeying the laws of Christ; and that its officers are pastors and deacons.
14. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer, in water, by a properly qualified administrator, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Now, my reason for posting it is two-fold. First, I always have a difficult time explaining to my mother the differences b/t Baptists and Presbyterians (it's not like she's going to be content simply to take the WCF and read it). I expressed to her that apart from the two Articles mentioned above, I would find the Articles agreeable (they are "bare-bones" enough, as CM stated above). Yes, there are a few things I would like to be stated more precisely (e.g., the Scriptures are not just "a" perfect rule of faith and practice, justification is through faith in Christ alone, etc.). But generally it is not a bad statement of faith -- especially for a rural Missionary Baptist church -- even if it is not as thorough as we might like. Showing my mom the various points of agreement is helpful, I think.

But second, I think it might highlight the "uselessness" of confessions if one does not hold to them. For instance, I have no doubt that this church is now thoroughly dispensational and Arminian in its theology. I'm wondering how many churches of the same persuasion have similar Articles of Faith, and how many would essentially be out of accord with the statements (or at least very uncomfortable). For example, the references to election, the Christian Sabbath, use of terminology like "regeneration," the unchangeable nature of God's law, etc. Would I be incorrect to say that many Baptists (or many evangelicals, to broaden the parameters a bit) would find such a confession objectionable?

-----Added 1/2/2009 at 09:57:36 EST-----

I saw this video on James White's website this morning. In light of this thread, it is very interesting that a Mormon can serve up a vague confession that sounds "Christian." It highlights the need we have for confessionalism, I suppose.

Without looking at anyone elses post I shall take a stab at it and say the Episcopalian Chuch.

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Michael P Doyle
Waukesha WI
Member of http://www.cornerstone-pca.com/
Attending http://www.lampseminary.org/

True, but Calvinists believe that only the elect will accept the gospel. Their statement is not anti-calvinist.

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[B]Manley Beasley[/B]
Southern Baptist Convention
Fayetteville, Arkansas

[B]Wir sein pettler. Hoc est verum (We are beggars. This is true.).--Luther's dying words[/B]

Awww...gadzooks, foiled again

My question for the PB: are the statements Calvinistic "enough"? Would they make an Arminian Baptist today uncomfortable? And for RB/SBCers, how would such a confession fly in those circles?

Where's this Missionary Baptist church located?

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Glenn Ferrell
Pastor, Sovereign Redeemer Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Boise, Idaho

http://sovereignredeemer.org

http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_de...formationidaho


Nec Tamen Consumebatur


The duty of magistrates...extends to both tables of the law, ... those laws are absurd which disregard the rights of God, and consult only for men. - Calvin, Institutes, IV:20:9

Manley,
Is this a good statement?

Thanks,


-----Added 1/2/2009 at 06:25:50 EST-----

I'm mostly a lurker on the PB but my is that "The Statement of Faith/Confession" is not Calvinistic enough.

1 It's void of the doctrine of total depravity.
2 There is no mention of man being dead in sins and trespasses.
3 No mention of when regeneration takes place and puts regeneration with election.
Man can only accept the gospel after God makes a person alive.



Lets remember that alone and by themselves 2 articles of the Remonstrants were pretty good.


Have a good Lord's day,


.

Its a very poorly written one, with TONS of wiggle room written in it....

IMHO from a baptist background, if one were forced to distill doctrines down to single sentences, i think they're mostly fair statements. I think someone mentioned that the word "alone" would have been helpful, like for point 5 regarding justification by faith. I'm not familiar with Missionary Baptist churches, but i guess from the posts that they wouldn't actually adhere to many of these statements?

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Alex
Member of Carmel Baptist Church (SBC)
Matthews, NC

South-central Georgia. It is a rural church.

I didn't comment on the first statement, just the conclusion you drew from the second one.