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I went to a First Baptist school when I was young and the only real thing I got out of it was that they didn't make a big deal about the trinity (they did believe Jesus was the son of God though). They taught us that you didn't have to go to church every Sunday to go to heaven, you just had to believe in God and live a good life. The silly things they believed was the idea that dancing was unnatural and against God, and they were against Halloween. They didn't tell us it was evil on a daily basis, they just never had school dances or had Halloween decorations like some Christians schools did. (which always confused me as a kid)

Anyways, one day in college class I was talking to a girl who was the daughter of a preacher. I told her I went to a Baptist school when younger and she made a god awful face at me like I said I worshipped the devil. Then I said "First Baptist though" and she said "Ooooh" and look relieved.
So is there a big difference between the two?

2007-01-03 03:31:29 · 3 answers · asked by kj 7 in Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

and what about Southern Baptists? Is that different?

2007-01-03 03:32:37 · update #1

3 answers

My understanding - and this may be different regionally but I've been to a lot of first baptist churches in a lot of different states - is that generally speaking "first baptist church" just denotes the first (1st) baptist church to open its doors in a town... often there's a second baptist and so on. Not a very original naming convention but hey.

I think there are some minor differences between different baptist groups but most believe the same core, fundamental things in terms of Jesus, the Bible, and so on. Some are more strict about silly things like dancing and more "fundamentalist" in terms of legalism, etc. but at its core I think you'll find most adhere to the same major beliefs. I.e. Jesus is the Son of God, He died to save people and provide a way to become friends with God once again. You can be sure of heaven when you die if you have accepted Christ, the Bible is God's Word to us, etc. These are the main beliefs that I expect most baptists would accept.

2007-01-03 03:42:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

"First" Baptist simply designates it's being the "first" Baptist church established in that city. There are Second Baptist churches and so on. I attended "Fourth Presbyterian Church" in Chicago. The number doesn't designate a denominational shift.

Southern Baptist is a conservative Baptist association that Baptist churches may join. There is also a more moderate/liberal Central Baptist Fellowship. These are not denominations, but associations that congregations (like the First Baptist Church) may join. These associations also produce teaching material to use in Sunday school and worship services.

2007-01-03 03:43:45 · answer #2 · answered by Aspurtaime Dog Sneeze 6 · 1 0

My family relations were, and some still are, all Southern Baptists. Or, as we call them down south, Regular Baptists. Others may call them "footwashers". The Trinity is HEAVILY taught, as is any opportunity whatsoever to discuss hellfire. Imagine Baptists from the North? *1,000

I'm not sure about "First" Baptists, because down south, we just call them "Regular Baptists". Although I've read of the origins of the Baptist Church, and the first "Anabaptists". The beliefs from the origins, and what the Souther Baptist church is now are *quite* different.

See the wikipedia links below:

2007-01-03 03:41:30 · answer #3 · answered by raVar 3 · 1 0

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