A Biblical People

Most Southern Baptists, at the beginning, were members of small rural churches spread across the Southeastern part of the USA.   Many, if not most pastors had to supplement their income by farming or other work.   Educational standards were low and seminary training was almost unheard of.   Even so, Baptists were surprisingly united in doctrine, believing that the Bible should be their only authority for doctrine and practice.   The Bible was the primary text book of the pastors, churches and members before other Christian literature became commonly available.  (Read more)    As Baptist colleges and seminaries sprung up, the final authority of the Bible in matters of doctrine and faith was almost universally held to and insisted upon by the supporting churches.    This gave Southern Baptists a foundation that has kept the denomination Biblically conservative.    That conservatism has done much to spare Southern Baptists from the constant convulsions of doctrinal changes and insipid Christianity that has clearly weakened many other denominational groups.   Some denominations, with their new doctrinal thinking, no longer see missions as being central and withdraw from the effort.   Southern Baptists are among others who, in obedience to Christ, hold the Great Commission as inviolable.   Evangelism, as a central feature of the Great Commission, remains very important to Southern Baptists.