Whether Baptists can be catholic is a serious question that requires a serious answer. Before we proceed, however, we must define our terms. What is catholicity? Our English word catholic is really a Greek word, katholikos (καθολικός), borrowed by English. What does . . . Continue reading →

When the ancient church began to use the adjective catholic (universal) to describe her theology, piety, and practice, and to distinguish herself from the Gnostic, Marcionite, and Montanist cults of the second century, the best evidence is that they did not read . . . Continue reading →

My Baptist friends give two replies to the claim that they are not truly catholic. First, they appeal to their intent to be catholic. For example, in the introduction to the Second London Confession (1689) they say: “This we did the more abundantly to manifest our consent with both in all the fundamental articles of the Christian religion, as also with many others whose orthodox Confessions have been published to the world on the behalf of the Protestant in diverse nations and cities.” Continue reading →