Talk:American Baptist Association

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There are a lot of terms in this article which either needs explanatation or cross-referencing. Alternatively it may be considered as an "insider article". Bad thing for an encyclopedia (from Germany).

As with most articles on Wikipedia, this one is still being developed. Perhaps you can give us some ideas on what needs explaining. Thanks. - Rlvaughn 02:55, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I think a couple of things in the recent edit by 209.174.80.79 are not good for the article. I removed this part - "They reject the recent mildly Calvinistic movement which had split the ABA in the mid 20th Century. The Calvinistic movement holds that total depravity and eternal security are in conjunction with general atonement." It makes no sense, in light of the fact that the 1950 split had nothing to do with Calvinism, and in light of the fact that ABA churches almost "to the man" hold total depravity and eternal security in conjunction with a belief in a general atonement. I left "They reject Calvinism", and moved it to the paragraph on beliefs. The other problem I will leave and give someone a chance to establish their reasoning. References to northern and midwestern churches in the beginning of the formation of the American Baptist Association seem to be an effort to "nationalize" the movement's origins. It's beginnings did include a few churches outside the area of its greatest strength, but that does not change the historical fact that it was formed by churches mostly in the old southwest - and especially Texas and Arkansas. Does the "editor" or anyone else have any documentation of these "northern and midwestern" churches starting the ABA? - Rlvaughn 03:23, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I have question. this article redirects from "Freewill Baptist but makes no mention of what a Freewill Baptist is. I am trying to link to Freewill Baptist regarding Harriet Livermore who preached in Freewill Baptist churches in 1822--yet this article gives no insight into what a Freewill Baptist is or in what form the denomination/movement took at that time. Why does it redirect from Freewill Baptist? JCrocombe (talk) 17:04, 23 February 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Closed Communion

The article's stated reason for closed communion is that Christ and the Apostles separated from the other disciples for the last supper. I think a better explanation is the disbelief in a universal church. If communion is limited to the church, and each church is independent (not part of some greater whole), then communion is limited to the members of the local body. That is the explanation I always heard - never heard anything about the Apostles and Christ separating from other disciples. If there are no responses, I'll update the article. My knowledge is limited to participation in ABA churches, not any official denominational documents. Leatherwing (talk) 19:27, 21 April 2008 (UTC)