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The Baptist Way: Distinctives of a Baptist Church

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If Stan Norman's book accurately describes the "Baptist way," then many Christians can be happy to find another. This book reflects the attitude of what someone else has called "the crossest of Christians," one who mistakes meanness for moral righteousness and embraces it as a virtue. The author decries rationalism, but hopes to be taken as logical and reasonable. He decries tradition, but elevates hero stories that suit his purpose as moral exemplars of doctrinal rigor. He declares the essential doctrine of Biblical inerrancy and the use of "biblical teachings" as a yardstick for true faith, but pays little or no attention to issues of canonicity or inspiration. He claims the primacy of New Testament scripture but seems to reflect more an Old Testament brand of righteous judgment. His advice to "regenerate churches" provides a "how to" guide for the narrow-minded "spirit-led" congregation to purge its ranks of any non-conforming members. The appeal to "Baptist distinctives" seems conveniently selective, elevating the 2000 version of the Baptist Faith and Message but ignoring its displaced (and more central) 1963 version. Norman claims to be righting the Southern Baptist church from any tilts toward liberalism, modernism, and neo-orthodoxy; perhaps he inadvertently bares the compassionless bias of recent Baptist fundamentalists toward social and spiritual exclusivism (a charge I suspect the author would be happy to embrace). I thought that the gospels told the story of a man of compassion, who taught love and forgiveness, who sought to heal and bring peace and demonstrate the nature of our heavenly father. Apparently I didn't read them "the Baptist way."

The first 4 Chapters are worth the price of the book. Great presentation on the historical position of Baptists toward the Word of God, the priesthood of all believers, and the ordinances. The author is a little weak on understanding the autonomy of the local church (he comes from a strong SBC background) but overall it is a great book.

I've been a Southern Baptist for over ten years now, but I haven't really explored my denomination's history or distinctives until the last few years. I picked up this book a year or two ago because I thought it would deepen my understanding of what it means to be a Baptist. Overall, it did not disappoint. In the book, Norman lists and discusses eight historically Baptist tenants in detail. His statements are well documented and are almost always supported by Scripture. I've read several other books on the subject, and they all have their good points, but for the reader who is interested in a detailed introduction, this is a good place to start. To put it another way, this book is for the Baptist who wants to know more about their denomination than what a brochure at the church welcome center would provide.

Big point: Norman is a very "conservative" Baptist (Is there any other kind, you ask? Well, yes, there is.). I typically don't mind this since I lean to the right anyway. But for some, his language may seem a bit overbearing in certain places. He makes no excuse in his introduction that this book is for Baptists, and he believes that all Baptist churches should openly and visibly manifest these distinctives. You don't have to be a theologian to read this, but you may need to be at least somewhat familiar with some typically Protestant terms like inerrancy of the Bible, regenerate church membership, congregational polity, and believer's baptism. Might be a good resource for deacons, too.

Here is a book written by a Baptist for Baptists, Southern Baptists in particular.

It is an "off the shelf" book, meaning I missed it when it first came out, but now have the pleasure of reading and recommending it. The Baptist Way, published in 2005 by B&H, comes to us from the pen of Southwest Baptist University's Vice President for University Relations, R. Stanton Norman.

The Baptist Way provides "an introduction to the principles that distinguish Baptists from other Christians and offers ecclesiological distinctions of healthy Baptist churches." This work is a sequel to Norman's earlier work, More Than Just a Name: Preserving Our Baptist Identity which provided a historical background for understanding Baptist distinctives.

Chapters in this volume include "Regenerate church membership" and "Church discipline", and I guarantee that in light of current SBC church practice these chapters are worth the price of the book alone. But even chapters on "Congregational Polity", "Ordinances", "Biblical Authority", and "The Lordship of Jesus Christ" will cause us to examine whether we appreciate and live out the biblical mandate in these doctrines.

I think it is safe to say we all want healthy churches. But some are led to think such health comes through doctrinal minimalism, putting our Baptist identity far in the background. Norman counters this idea:

"We as Baptists believe that our distinctive theological identity contributes significantly to the health of our churches. Our Baptist distinctives are not the only traits that define church health, but we do believe they are essential components of a healthy church. This conviction was true for our Baptist ancestors, and the same conviction should characterize Baptists today. The distinctive doctrines of Baptists are actually the theological traits that define and shape our churches. I fully believe that, ideally, a healthy church is a Baptist church."

And countering the misguided thought that emphasizing doctrine won't grow a church, Norman says:

"Although the need to reach more people is commendable, we do not achieve meaningful growth by compromising our convictions. The abandonment of theological convictions will devastate the vitality and mission of our churches. The lack of emphasis on doctrine, which is supposed to improve the growth of a church, will in fact result in the ultimate demise of the church."

Baptist Pastors, do you have Stan's books on your shelves? If not, make it a priority to order them today. He brings the Bible, doctrine, pastoral insight, and Baptist church history together in making a compelling case that we (Baptists) need to get back to understanding who we are - and why we are who we are. To the extent that Baptists in the past got many things right ecclesiologically, we have to get serious about heeding their insight into Scripture. Standing on the shoulders of giants doesn't mean we are slaves to past tradition. Often it just means we are humble enough to admit when we need to go back in order to go forward. Norman gives great counsel in how to do so.

There is not much to say about this book except that it is worth reading again and again. If you want to know what makes Southern Baptists different from others, this book is the book for you. And by the way, its not about drinking or dancing. I was priviledged to have Dr. Norman as a professor when I attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a man of deep convictions concerning these matters, I wish that Dr. Norman would release a video series of himself teaching on these issues. I have used this book along with a workbook I put together to teach a Baptist Doctrine class at the church that I pastor. I believe the only drawback to the book is that there a few "BIG" words that may need to be defined for the average layman. Otherwise, as I have told others, I believe that every Southern Baptist should read this book.

Every Baptist needs to read this book to discover why they are Baptist, especially those from the CBF. Yes, most Baptists have no idea why they are Baptists and what differentiates them from other christians, especially from the liberal CBF. This book written by Dr. Stan Norman, professor of Systematic Theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, will make clear exactly what is a Baptist. Dr. Stan Norman is one of the finest theological minds of this century.