The Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) is the statement of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It summarizes key Southern Baptist thought in the areas of the Bible and its authority, the nature of God as expressed by the Trinity, the spiritual condition of man, God's plan of grace and salvation, the purpose of the local church, ordinances, evangelism, Christian education, interaction with society, religious liberty, and the family.[1]
Although the Southern Baptist Convention was organized in 1845, no formal confession of faith was adopted until Baptist theologian Edgar Young Mullins led the denomination to adopt the original BF&M in 1925.[2] Described as "the New Hampshire Confession of Faith [of 1833], revised at certain points, and with some additional articles growing out of present needs," it was intended as "a reaffirmation of Christian fundamentals," which was deemed necessary because of "the prevalence of naturalism in the modern teaching and preaching of religion."[3]
The BF&M was revised in 1963 (under the chairmanship of Herschel H. Hobbs), amended in 1998 (with the addition of Section XVIII on The Family), and again revised in 2000 under the chairmanship of SBC President Adrian Rogers; the 2000 revisions incorporated sociological as well as theological changes and were considered the most controversial.[4]
The BF&M includes 18 topics which are position statements of the SBC. Each article or position is followed by Scripture which they use to support their position.
| I. | The Scriptures |
| II. | God |
| A. God the Father | |
| B. God the Son | |
| C. God the Holy Spirit | |
| III. | Man |
| IV. | Salvation |
| V. | God's Purpose of Grace |
| VI. | The Church |
| VII. | Baptism and the Lord's Supper |
| VIII. | The Lord's Day |
| IX. | The Kingdom |
| X. | Last Things |
| XI. | Evangelism and Missions |
| XII. | Education |
| XIII. | Stewardship |
| XIV. | Cooperation |
| XV. | The Christian and the Social Order |
| XVI. | Peace and War |
| XVII | Religious Liberty |
| XVIII. | Family |
There was both praise and criticism for the significant changes to the BF&M in the 2000 revision.
Some of the changes that were particularly well received by some Baptist theologians include the following:[5]
In 2001, Russell Dilday of the Center for Baptist Studies at Mercer University, raised 12 controversial points about the 2000 revision.[5] The most controversial points were in the areas of male priority (in marriage and in ministry, specifically the pastorate), the exegetical standard by which the Bible is to be interpreted, and a catalogue of specific sins.[6]
For the first time in SBC history, provisions were added to define male-headship gender roles in both the ministry and in marriage. Regarding ministry, the BF&M now explicitly defines the pastoral office as the exclusive domain of men—thus prohibiting female pastors. While not stated in the 2000 BF&M, some churches also apply this interpretation to deacons, being a pastoral office of the church, and will not ordain women or allow them to serve as deacons.
Regarding marriage, the BF&M added Article XVIII to specify the husband is the head of the household (though it is to be understood in a complementarian role, not as an autocrat). Nothing in the BF&M prohibits or discourages the wife from holding outside employment, nor the husband from doing household duties traditionally considered those of the wife.
The 2000 revision removed the assertion that the person of Jesus Christ was to be the exegetical standard by which the Bible was to be interpreted, and replaced it with the last sentence in the quotation below. The change was made over concerns that some groups were elevating the recorded words of Jesus in Scripture over other Scriptural passages (or, in some cases, claiming that Jesus' silence on an issue held priority over other passages explicitly discussing a topic, an example being homosexuality). The traditional SBC view is that Scripture is inspired by God.[7]
This revision was particularly objectionable to the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the largest SBC state convention, which had previously split between moderates and conservatives, with the latter forming the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.
The 2000 BF&M has been criticized for including a specific list of contemporary sins, which could lead to endless additions.