I have discovered the idea of creating a list of Baptist saints - those exemplars of the Christian life - has been floating around for a while. See Steve Harmon's Towards Baptist Catholicty mentioned in the last post, to which we can also add Steve Holmes' Listening to the Past (Paternoster, 2002), John Colwell's The Rhythm of Doctrine (Paternoster, 2007) and Brian Haymes, Ruth Gouldbourne and Anthony R. Cross' On Being the Church (Paternoster, 2008). All of these theologians argue for the importance in some form or another of the doctrine of the communion of the saints.
Let me quote from On Being the Church, which I think helpfully says what our aim might be in creating some kind of list:
Baptists and others might well look again at the importance of this doctrine. The communion of the saints refers to all who share the holy life in Christ. Some are special exemplars whose lives should not be forgotten, especially the martyrs. Others might be unknown to the majority but honoured by the local congregation and God as those through whom the light of Christ shone. The saints given us insights into gospel living. They remind us that the church is great than our local congregation, thus expanding our understanding of the church. They are gifts of God to us, helping us on the journey of faith. In Christ we are one, sharing companionship in life and death.
All this might prompt us to review our tradition of keeping the local church anniversary as a time for reflection and memory. We could also look to recall the saints in the great Christian tradition whose story inspires and helps us to understand what following Christ today might mean. There are Baptists of the past whom it would not be wise to forget, such as Thomas Helwys, Dorothy Hazzard, William Carey, William Knibb, Marianne Farningham, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Martin Luther King Jr. Recalling these and others is to be reminded of the gracious work of God in human lives. it is to hear again the call in Christ to be saints (pp.44-45)
As Keith Jones written on the IBTS community blog (and I quickly realised following the initial comments to that post): 'How are we to get this right ? I think Steve and Andy will struggle to compile a global, acceptable list (too few theologians? not enough women? who on earth where they?)'. I think part of my response to this is to recognise that maybe listls will be created locally, although with some names of those names, which remind us and challenge us from other parts of the world. Most of the names that were offered in the comments of the previous post are entirely unknown to me (although not unimportant). My hope is where ever this discussion goes as Baptists locally, nationally and globally we might remember the lives of those 'saints' whose life and witness have meant that the Baptist way of being church has continued.
Good topic for someone to do a PhD on, perhaps, Andy?
Posted by: SteveH | August 20, 2011 at 09:06 PM