Lesson 1 Baptist Confessions

Introduction
I. Defined. A Confession of Faith is “a statement of faith or outlining essential doctrines and beliefs that a church affirms and assents to.”
II. Why is a Confession of Faith needed:
A. To publicly affirm key doctrines and practices that defines biblical orthodoxy (Philippians 1:27)
B. To promote true unity based on doctrinal agreement (Ephesians 4:3)
C. To gauge the scriptural soundness of a minister of the gospel (Titus 1:9)
D. To help view the historical association with orthodox Christianity (Jude 1:3)
III. Baptist Confessions:
A. 1644/1646 London Baptist Confession of Faith---Published by seven churches in London and published in 1646.
B. 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith---Published in London by 37 Ministers and Messengers representing churches in England and Wales in 1689. This confession borrowed many thoughts from the 1646 Westminister Confession (Church of England) and 1658 Savoy Declaration (Congregational churches of England) and enlarged the 1646 London Baptist Confession.
C. 1742 Philadelphia Confession of Faith---Adopted by the Philadelphia Baptist Association in 1742. It was an affirmation of the 1689 Confession with the addition of two other chapters, “Of Singing of Psalms” and “Of Laying on of Hands.”
D. 1900 Fulton Confession of faith---The affirmation of the 1689 Confession with footnotes added to clarify “sections that seemed ambiguous” in Fulton KY by 51 Elders of Primitive Baptists Faith.
E. Eureka Primitive Baptist Confession of faith (1910)---Summary of essential doctrines.