Website owner:  James Miller

  WHERE I DISAGREE WITH BAPTIST FUNDAMENTALISTS            4/81


   There are two things that fundamentalist Baptists emphasize 
   over and over, two main points of their doctrine, that sets me 
   apart from them.  Although I may not wish to totally disagree 
   with them I don't like their fanatic, uncompromising emphasis 
   on these points.  These two points are: 

   1. Eternal Security (Once saved, always saved).  This point is 
   closely related to their emphasis on salvation being guaranteed 
   through compliance with a rather ritualistic formula (i.e. 
   "Accepting Christ as your Savior", "Giving your heart to 
   Christ"). 

   2. Salvation is by faith not by good works.  Baptist 
   fundamentalists fanatically emphasize that salvation is not by 
   good works.  They repeat this over and over again.  They 
   have, in fact, become so biased and polarized against the idea 
   of "salvation by good works" that you never hear anything about 
   the value of Goodness and Virtue in their sermons.  They have 
   become so carried away, so fanatical, that they have totally 
   separated the ideas of Goodness and Virtue from religion.  It 
   has nothing to do with religion in their minds.  Their sermons 
   are devoid of reference to it.  They live in a spiritual vacuum 
   devoid of it.  To mention it would be an act of treason to 
   their doctrine.  Now that I have been away from Baptistism for 
   awhile I note that "salvation by good works" is just another 
   way of saying "salvation by following God's commandments and 
   teachings" and that is not very far from my own view of 
   "salvation through faith in God and following his 
   commandments".