The Baptist Distinctives project, which began nearly three decades ago as an effort to help Texas Baptists understand and preserve their biblical identity, is now being translated into languages around the world in an effort to make Baptist teaching and history accessible to a broader audience.
The project grew from an effort launched by the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1994 to provide churches with resources on Baptist beliefs, history, and church governance. At the time, Baptist leaders were concerned some church members had limited understanding of the beliefs and practices distinguishing their tradition.
The concern emerged as churches experienced changes in how people entered Baptist life. Traditional programs for teaching Baptist history and doctrine were declining, while congregations increasingly included people from different denominational and religious backgrounds. The project sought to address the gap by explaining Baptist convictions along with their biblical and historical foundations.
From articles to resource
Bill Pinson, a former executive director of the BGCT, and Doris Ann Tinker became central to developing the materials. Their work later expanded through support from Texas Baptist businessman Noble Hurley, who established a fund through the Baptist Foundation of Texas to help churches teach Baptist beliefs and practices.
Pinson and Tinker produced a series of articles published over a year in the Baptist Standard. The articles eventually became a collection of 27 Baptist Distinctives pieces addressing subjects including biblical authority, salvation, believers’ baptism, church membership, congregational government, church autonomy, religious liberty, missions, ministry, worship, and education.
The project later expanded to include the Baptist Distinctives website, featuring the 27 articles in both illustrated and text-only versions, along with translations, a brief history of Baptists, an annotated bibliography, and an online resource for Baptist history and heritage organizations.
A reach beyond Texas
Its reach eventually extended beyond Texas. By 2018, the Baptist Distinctives website was drawing visitors from more than 30 countries, according to a Texas Baptists report. Churches, pastors, chaplains, universities, and lay leaders were among those using the resources.
David Mahfouz, who has worked closely with the project for years, has helped advance its translation efforts through Global Leadership Development and partnerships with seminaries around the world.
“I have worked to expand the reach of Baptist Distinctives through translation efforts and our global seminary partnerships,” Mahfouz said. “Through Global Leadership Development, my role has involved supporting translations, maintaining the integrity of the original materials, and helping connect these resources with theological schools and churches.”
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The international translation effort began taking shape in 2018 through collaboration among Pinson, the Baptist Distinctives Council, and leaders involved in theological education and missions. The work is now being advanced through Global Theological Ministries and its Global Leadership Development initiative.
For Mahfouz, the project connects theological education with the life of the local church, giving pastors, students, and other believers an opportunity to study the biblical foundations of Baptist convictions in their own languages.
“For me, this project links theological education directly with church life,” Mahfouz said. “Pastors, students, and other believers need opportunities to understand the biblical roots of Baptist convictions—such as the authority of Scripture, the priesthood of all believers, believer’s baptism, church independence, and religious liberty.”
Studying those principles in a person’s own language, Mahfouz said, can deepen understanding and help believers apply what they learn in teaching, discipleship, and ministry.
Translation project growing
The working project now encompasses 25 languages completed: Afrikaans, Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, Mandarin Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil, Telugu, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.
The project’s potential reach extends beyond the number of translations. Global Theological Ministries reports relationships with more than 140 seminaries in more than 80 nations, providing opportunities to incorporate the materials into theological education, pastoral training, church leadership programs, and congregational study.
The materials already are being used in several international settings. Seminary leaders in Tanzania have reported students gained a clearer understanding of Baptist theology when the material was available in Swahili. Baptist churches in Romania have printed and distributed Hungarian translations for use by pastors and congregations. Arabic translations also have been used in church-planting efforts and small-group settings, according to project materials.
Because the resources are available at no cost and can be downloaded, printed, and shared with proper acknowledgment, churches and theological institutions with limited educational resources can use them.
A university cooperative relationship
In early 2020, the project established a cooperative relationship with Dallas Baptist University to make Baptist Distinctives resources available through the university’s Center for Baptist History and Heritage. Using the original text of the articles, DBU developed a new online format for the materials and linked the university resource to the original Baptist Distinctives website.
The arrangement created an additional online resource for the project and expanded access to its historical and theological materials. The resources, originally developed for Texas Baptists, are now available to pastors, students, churches, and theological institutions in multiple countries and languages.
Pinson emphasized the collaborative nature of the translation work.
“The Baptist Identity Translation Project has been a team effort. David Mahfouz enlists and supervises the translators from around the world, Brad Hepp posts the translations on the original website and prepares the websites for each language, and Jeff Smith facilitates the funding. The translations and related websites are funded by various entities including an endowment fund,” Pinson said.
“Through the fund, the work of numerous volunteers, and the expanding partnerships of Global Theological Ministries and Global Leadership Development, Baptist Distinctives is positioned to move from Texas to the nations and from one generation of believers to the next,” he said.
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