Soul Competency and the Priesthood of All Believers
As taught in the Baptist tradition
Teaching the individual's direct accountability to God and the equality of all believers in Christ.
What is the fundamental nature of the human soul in its relationship to the Creator? This question lies at the very heart of the Baptist tradition, distinguishing it from both the sacerdotalism of Rome and the magisterial structures of the early Reformation. Within the Baptist heritage, the twin doctrines of Soul Competency and the Priesthood of All Believers answer this question by asserting that every individual human being is created with the inherent capacity and the non-delegable responsibility to relate directly to God without the mediation of a human priest, a state-mandated church, or a sacramental system. This is not merely a political claim for religious liberty, though it certainly undergirds it; it is a profound theological statement about the imago Dei. To be human, in the Baptist view, is to be "competent" under God to answer to God.
By the end of this lesson
- **Identify** the biblical and historical origins of the doctrines of Soul Competency and the Priesthood of All Believers within the Baptist tradition.
- **Distinguish** between the Baptist view of the priesthood and the sacerdotal views of the Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions.
- **Explain** the relationship between individual Soul Competency and the authority of the local church and Holy Scripture.
- **Articulate** how the doctrine of the Priesthood of All Believers necessitates a congregational form of church government.
- **Trace** the impact of these doctrines on the development of religious liberty and the separation of church and state.
- **Defend** the necessity of personal, unmediated access to God based on the high priestly work of Jesus Christ.
- **Apply** the concept of the "priesthood" to the believer’s daily life, specifically in the areas of personal Bible study, intercessory prayer, and witness.
- **Compare** the 17th-century confessional expressions of these doctrines with modern interpretations in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
Scripture
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