Reformed Baptist Ideas of Authority

A critical examination of the Reformed Baptist Ministry

Preface

I have purposed here to write a critique of the Reformed Baptist ministry; this is done out of the conviction that it is a most necessary thing to do. Having been a Christian for thirty years, I have been exposed to a great many things in the Christian church that deserve criticism. But there are few things that strike me as worthy of it more than the ideas men hold on authority in the Reformed Baptist ministry. Fifteen years of my time as a Christian in the American church has been spent in association with the Reformed Baptist church. Therefore, I feel compelled, as well as especially qualified to write on some of the issues I have personally witnessed firsthand. Since I had been a part of this particular church identity for a considerable period of time, I have formed my own personal perspective on what constitutes its idea of authority. I am referring to Elder authority in particular, as this is a major theme as well as source of controversy in these churches. I have ruminated long and hard upon the subject before coming to the point that I would write about it. Also, I have studied the issues surrounding this matter from church history as part of the formation of my present thinking.