Baptist Church Beliefs And Beliefs

Lastly, the values of the Baptist Church, United Church, and Liberal Secularists are distinct with one another. What is first needed to be understood is the difference between values and beliefs. Values are different than beliefs because they are the resultants of them. For example, an individual’s values are things that they would deem important, such as equality, effort, honesty, education, and loyalty. With the effect of Christianity, the Bible would influence many values. Some values that spring from the Bible include, baptisms, marriage, forgiveness, faithfulness, honesty, and perseverance. For example, the Bible verses Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) insists, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
Furthermore, Baptists point out that in the New Testament a commitment to believe in and follow Jesus as Lord and Savior was always voluntary. Therefore, baptism as a sign of such commitment ought always to be voluntary. (BaptistsDistinctives)
The Baptist church values baptism as a symbol of commitment to Jesus. Additionally, they see Baptism should only be allowed for those who “have put their faith in Jesus Christ.” The reason why this is significant is because most churches allow for infant baptisms, but instead the Baptist church does not allow such because babies are not able capable of understanding what it means to follow Jesus. In contrast to this value of Baptism, the United Church of Canada argues:
We believe the gift of God's love doesn't depend on our ability to understand it, so we baptize people as infants right up through adulthood. With children, instruction is given to parents or sponsors to equip them for the child's Christian nurture. During the ceremony, everyone in the congregation pledges support for the child and his or her parents.
Clearly, there is a divide in the value of baptism between the Baptist churches and the United Church. It does not make sense to compare a Liberal Secularist and baptism since the belief of God and holy traditions are not believed in. However, there is a difference when comparing the value of forgiveness between all three subcultures. Firstly, a Pew research survey was conducted on Christian American adults based on what they believed to be essential to the Christian faith. With Baptists being Evangelical and the United Church being Mainline Christian, there is a clear distinction is beliefs. Apparently, eighty-one percent of Evangelicals believe that “Forgiving those who have wronged you” is essential to the Christian faith, rather only sixty-three percent of Mainline Christians believe that it is essential, see Figure 2:1. On the other hand, Hemant Mehta, an advocate for Liberal Secularism, spoke out on the topic of