The government cannot dictate what or how or even if we are to believe in God. I was a radical statement which caused him to be thrown into Newgate Prison, where he died a few years later. When Baptists came to this country, they fought some of the same battles. Rhode Island became a haven for people who believed in the competency of the soul before God. This idea of soul competency was so threatening to the established church here in Massachusetts that the first President of Harvard, Henry Dunster, was forced out of office and banished from the colony for having Baptist views.
Soul competency is still a radical belief.
The gospel message calls for a personal response, a response not made by someone else for you, a response not inherited from your religious forebears, a response which is not a copy of someone else's. Preaching Convocation Planned Church Happenings Conference elects new Exec.