Historically Baptists who desired to cooperate with one another have sought to unite around truths held in common, rather than seeking to divide over differing opinions on various matters of interpretation. Southern Baptists have agreed to cooperate together within a consensus statement, The Baptist Faith and Message. This confession provides precise language where needed, but is broad enough to allow for both Calvinists and non-Calvinists to cooperate together for the sake of the Great Commission. As a historian, I believe that by looking backward we can often find our best way forward. A clear example of the type of cooperation needed today is seen in the Terms of Union Between Regular and Separate Kentucky Baptists of 1801. This document facilitated the cooperation between Calvinists and non-Calvinists which eventually resulted in the Kentucky Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention.
On the second Saturday of October 1801, the Elkhorn…
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