John Piper's Baptism and Membership Proposal

This paper was presented on March 13, 2006 at the Society for the Preservation of Baptist Principles and Heritage meeting at Plantation Road Baptist Church in Roanoke, Virginia and on March 24, 2006 at the Eastern Regional Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society meeting at Westminster Seminary outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Outline:

I. A history of the Bethlehem Baptist Church proposal on 'Baptism and Church Membership.'

II. Piper's arguments against believer's baptism by immersion as a test for local Baptist church membership.

III. Concerns this proposal raises.

IV. A final reflection on what it means to be a neo-Landmark Baptist.