Summary Of The Challenges Of Being Baptist By Bill Leonard

In Baptist historian Bill Leonard’s “The Challenge of Being Baptist: Owning a Scandalous Past and an Uncertain Future,” Leonard “examines elements of the Baptist past as a way of informing current ecclesial dilemmas and future prospects for a Baptist future.” Placing the current Baptist Movement struggles into a larger context, Leonard sets out to identify areas that need attention for future generations but ultimately argues that despite the struggles, being Baptist is still worth the effort. He identifies the “audacious witness” of past Baptists to be a reason to persist for those who may be reconsidering the Baptist faith, suggesting there is a place for that determined spirit moving forward.

Strong in his belief that “Baptist identity

Suggesting that “Local congregations must exercise greater intentionality in exploring and defining the nature of the Baptist heritage for themselves,” he goes on to advise that Baptists need to avoid falling victim to false theories of origins, recognizing that there “are many Baptist ‘stories.’” Leonard emphasises that Baptists must come to understand their ‘distinctives’ as significant ideals and need to also rediscover their “role as religious dissenters from establishments political and religious.” Concluding the chapter second, he writes, “Baptists might remember that historically and theologically there are many ways to be a

Leonard makes a clear distinction between the moment of salvation versus the life of salvation and notes the shift in thinking among Baptists.

Moving into the fourth and most distinguishing Baptist mannerism, Leonard expresses how the Baptist identity remains rooted in this idea of expressing faith through baptism. However he goes on to offer thirteen questions that believers should ask themselves should they wish to fully embrace this ideal of the church being identified by its covenantal commitment to baptism. Leonard reiterates this importance in the concluding chapter in such a manner that it is almost a word for word