DESCRIPTION: This course will offer a general introduction to the history of Baptists, their convictions and commitments. We will explore the Anabaptist, English Congregational, and missiological roots of the contemporary Baptist movement, early Baptist confessional statements, and issues of doctrine and polity that define who Baptists are today. Students will be introduced to Baptist identity expressed in its different communities. Polity discussions will focus on the authority of Scripture, the autonomy of the local church, the association principle, soul competence, the role of the pastor, priesthood of all believers and ministry of the laity, separation of Church and State, and believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper as ordinances. We will also examine standards and procedures for Baptist ordination.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: Satisfactory completion of this course will provide the student with the necessary formation, along with other aspects of seminary education, for Baptist ministry in its many forms, and for ordination.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students completing this course will have demonstrated that they (1) are conversant about Baptist history, with particular emphasis on the beginning and development of the Baptist movement in America, (2) recognize several historic Baptist leaders and missionaries and their contributions to Baptist life and witness, (3) understand Baptist principles and be able to articulate their own position on them, (4) are acquainted with recent developments within Baptist churches and conventions, and (5) are making progress toward fulfilling ordination requirements.

COURSE FORMAT: The course will meet for three-hour sessions once a week for lectures, group discussion, and creative exercises that will engage Baptist principles. Students will be expected to have pre-read assigned texts that will prepare them for in-class discussions.

REQUIRED READING in addition to the New Testament (modern translation suggested):

Leonard, B. J. Baptist Ways: A History. Judson Press, 2003. ISBN: 0-8170-1231-1. Pub.price: $30.00.

Baptist World Alliance. We Baptists. Franklin, TN: Providence House, 1999. ISBN: 1-57736-143-1. Pub.price: $7.50.

Maring, N. H., and W. S. Hudson. A Baptist Manual of Polity and Practice. Rev. ed. Judson Press, 1991. ISBN: 9780817011710. Pub.price: $24.00.

Brackney, William, H. Baptists in North America: An Historical Perspective. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-4051-1864-4. $34.95.

Freeman, C., J. W. McClendon Jr., and V. da Silver. Baptist Roots: A Reader in the Theology of a Christian People. Valley Forge: Judson, 1999. ISBN: 0-8170-1281-8. $20.00

Randall, Ian N. Communities of Conviction: Baptist Beginnings in Europe. Schwarzenfeld: Neufeld Verlag, 2009. ISBN: 978-3-937896-78-6. No price shown.

McBeth, H. Leon. The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness. Nashville: Broadman, 1987. ISBN: 0-8054-6569-3. Pub.price: $49.99.

Dictionary of European Baptist Life and Thought. General editor John H.Y. Briggs. Colorado Springs: Paternoster, 2009. ISBN: 978-1-84227-535-1. Price not shown. (Selected articles.)