It summarizes key Southern Baptist thought in the areas of the Bible and its authority, the nature of God as expressed by the Trinity, the spiritual condition of man, God's plan of grace and salvation, the purpose of the local church, ordinances, evangelism, Christian education, interaction with society, religious liberty, and the family.
[2] Described as "the New Hampshire Confession of Faith [of 1833], revised at certain points, and with some additional articles growing out of present needs," it was intended as "a reaffirmation of Christian fundamentals," which was deemed necessary because of "the prevalence of naturalism in the modern teaching and preaching of religion.
[6] For the first time in SBC history, provisions were added to define male-headship gender roles in both the ministry and in marriage.
She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.The 2000 revision removed the assertion that the person of Jesus Christ was to be the exegetical standard by which the Bible was to be interpreted,[citation needed][c] and replaced it with the last sentence in the quotation below.
The change was made over concerns that some groups were elevating the recorded words of Jesus[d] in Scripture over other Scriptural passages (or, in some cases, claiming that Jesus' silence on an issue held priority over other passages explicitly discussing a topic, an example being homosexuality).
It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.
The 2000 BF&M has been criticized[citation needed] for including a specific list of contemporary sins, which could lead to endless additions.