Christianity · branch
Evangelical and Baptist Christianity
A personal decision of faith, a high and usually literal view of scripture, and very little between the individual and God — no priesthood, no mediating sacraments, ordinances rather than mysteries. Exclusive about the path and clear about what it costs to say so.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescueFurther toward "fallen and in need of rescue" than most traditions in the matrix.
- D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as graceFurther toward "given as grace" than most traditions in the matrix.
- E1 Exclusivityone true pathFurther toward "one true path" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and bindingFurther toward "literal and binding" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly existsBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 1.00 | 0.02 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | a personal being one can addressBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.97 | 0.03 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | strictly oneBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.03 | 0.04 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | between wholly beyond the world and fully present within itBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.45 | 0.13 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | revealed and fixedBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.10 | 0.09 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | literal and bindingBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.10 | 0.09 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | between clergy and tradition decide and individual conscience decidesBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.58 | 0.16 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | continues in some formBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.98 | 0.02 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | one life, then judgmentBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | fallen and in need of rescueBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.08 | 0.08 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | given as graceBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.10 | 0.10 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | between essential and prescribed and optional or absentBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.62 | 0.15 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | leaning to be disciplinedBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.28 | 0.14 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | one true pathBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.08 | 0.09 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | an intentional actBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | an individual choiceBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.88 | 0.08 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | leaning creation, given for useBaptist Faith and Message (2000) and the Lausanne Covenant (1974) | 0.25 | 0.13 |
Further reading
- The Lausanne Covenant (1974) — Evangelical self-definition, including the exclusivity encoded at E1.
- The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978) — The B2 position stated at its strongest.
Compared with
- Evangelical and Baptist Christianity and Reformed Christianity (Calvinism)
- Evangelical and Baptist Christianity and Anabaptism (Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite)
- Evangelical and Baptist Christianity and Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity
- Evangelical and Baptist Christianity and Pantheism
- Evangelical and Baptist Christianity and Zen (Chan) Buddhism
- Evangelical and Baptist Christianity and Secular Humanism
Where do you sit?
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.