I'm ok either way, but which way? Mr. Rogers' Baptists are Protestants. or Brass Lamps the false premise that Baptists are Protestants
Again, emphasis, this is not a debate on the faith of those who choose either viewpoint, just me asking as an outside what should be the naming convention. You guys call yourselves by the term "Baptist", so you are the best people to clarify this for us non-Baptists.
“I just want to know — do we include Baptists with Protestants (and ‘Protestant’ is a big umbrella term) or not when we talk about Protestants.”
Depends on the Baptist. I’m sorry I cannot give you a definitive answer, but every Baptist congregation is independent. Thus some Baptists preach and teach that we descended linearly from John the Baptist (don’t ask me why). They will resent being lumped in with Johnny come lately Protestants, since they believe they have some sort of apostolic succession of their own.
Most Baptists would never think to complain, because we don’t as a whole worry about history and succession. Are we following Christ as revealed in the Word of God now?
“And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15And the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus...17And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” - 1 Kings 19
Elijah was a prophet of God, and he was feeling pretty lonely - yet God knew who belonged to him. That tends to be how I look at the history of the church. God never says, “Those who pass a systematic theology course with a score of 80% or higher are mine...”
I obviously disagree with Catholics on many theological issues, but God knows who belongs to Him. I suspect many Catholics and Baptist (and others) do, and many do not. And I think that has been true for 2000 years.
” 24He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” - Matt 13