Learning from History

Many of the challenges of Baptist life are educational in nature. We must train our people to know, understand, and live out the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. When people do not understand who we are, where we have come from, why we exist, what we stand for, and where we are going we have failed educationally.

As I observe life in our Baptist churches and our beloved Southern Baptist Convention I am persuaded that much of our confusion comes from a lack of understanding of who Baptists are historically. The issues of polity and theology that many of our churches face could be solved with proper training concerning our Baptist History. While, I recognize we must look to the future, we can only do so as we correctly understand our past.

Wednesday evenings in July I will be teaching on “Church History and Baptists.” It is important that Baptists understand from “whence we have come.” There are many who seem to think that there has never been a generation that faced the challenges we face today. Many of the challenges that Baptist face today are not new but rather former challenges dressed in new clothes. One of our greatest weaknesses is our lack of historic perspective. Either we learn from history or we are destined to make mistakes based on a faulty understanding of our past.

Attempting to connect the dots…

Wayne
Romans 1:16

Quotable:
If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development.
~ Aristotle