Reformed Baptists
Reformed Baptist (n.) - an all-wet Presbyterian with a copier, a bottle of white-out, a pen, and no recollection of Reformation atrocities.
Some time ago, I was asked what I thought about “Reformed Baptists” and provided this admittedly provocative definition in response. As a result I was accused of careless rhetoric and making “blanket statements” regarding other Christians. I would not disagree that this is a “blanket statement” in that it broadly applies to those who refer to themselves as “Reformed Baptists.” I would suggest that folks who bluster at this definition train their attention instead upon a more important question - Is this true? Consider the following:
All-wet Presbyterian with a copier - this comes from the indisputable fact that large portions of the Second London Confession (1689) affirmed by the Reformed Baptists are directly copied from the Presbyterian Westminster Confession of Faith, and among the most prevalent edits they made to the document were to state that baptism is by immersion.
A bottle of white-out - per the items they removed from the WCF.
A pen - per the edits they made and the sections they added.
And no recollection of Reformation atrocities - in that they proudly bear the “Reformed” moniker when the testimony of history is that the “Reformers” slaughtered and tortured untold numbers of their baptist forefathers in the same way that the Roman Catholic Church treated the Reformers - a fact conspicuously absent from Foxes Book of Martyrs.
While I am thankful that the Reformed Baptists embrace a great deal more truth than the Arminian Baptists who seem to dominate the Baptist landscape, I nevertheless completely stand by the definition I provided. Rather than find offense in it, I would ask that it be given due consideration in light of the four-point clarification above. If these things are true, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16)
“Come and see.” (John 1:46)
- Elder Daniel Samons