Wait that's not quite right is it? What they must agree on is the two core principles of Christainity: Who God is, and what is His plan of salvation. Everything else is secondary.
The question of "When does life begin?", is not an essential question to Christianity.
To me, It's an important question, there are lives at stake in my opinion. For I believe life begins at conception. Other's aren't sure whether lives are at stake. Some think not. Some don't know.
But I don't believe their salvation hangs in the balance on whether their views on abortion are correct. I think they can be wrong on abortion and still be saved.
I think this preacher is divisive. He is not serving his flock well. Tommoorow it will be some other issue, and he will kick more members out.
When do you believe an individual gains a soul? One week, two months, nine months?
you are completely WRONG. You cannot support doctrine opposite of God and it not matter deeply to HIM. This is the wicked kind of mindset that has led to the crumbling of our nation.
There are a lot of fake Christians out there playing church who will inherit eternity with pagans, apostates, and evildoers.
You mention the question about “when life begins” being an important one due to lives being at stake. Agreed.
There’s an even more relevant question where more lives (souls) are at stake:
Do I follow God’s Doctrine or the Devil’s?
2 Timothy 2:15 covers it:
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,3 a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
A true Christian has no excuse and will be held accountable for their beliefs/actions.
If he’s being divisive, he’s doing it to rid his congregation of the wolves.
“The question of ‘When does life begin?’, is not an essential question to Christianity.”
Of course it is. The doctrine of the incarnation is essential. Without the incarnation there would be no Christianity. It happened when Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit.
There are “sins unto death” that are distinguished from other sins, such as perhaps “besetting sins”. See 1 John 5:16-17 and Hebrews 12:1-2.
Many other passages make a similar point:
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NKJV
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
1 John 3:15b NKJV
You know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
How can we even know if a murder has occurred if we cannot define what it means to be alive?
My point is not to reduce Christianity to a list of facts or views that must be minimally agreed to. My point is that there is more at stake on certain issues than merely opinion. These are not academic questions. They are practical, and they DO have eternal implications. In a word, they are “essential”.
Christianity is "divisive" because it preaches truth. You can have your lukewarm and "non-divisive" faith, but it's not Christian.
Good for him!
How many bad apples does it take to spoil the whole barrel?
Well, he COULD wait until the tares are tossed into the fire, but how many wheat will have been trampled on before then?
These are just the better known national ones, just in the US.
Alliance of Baptists
American Baptist Association
American Baptist Churches in the USA
Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America
Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists
Baptist Bible Fellowship International
Baptist Missionary Association of America
Central Baptist Association
Christian Unity Baptist Association
Conservative Baptist Association of America
Continental Baptist Churches
Converge (formerly Baptist General Conference)
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Enterprise Association of Regular Baptists
Free Will Baptist
Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship
Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association
Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of America
General Association of Baptists
General Association of General Baptists
General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
General Conference of the Evangelical Baptist Church, Inc.
General Six-Principle Baptists
Independent Baptist Church of America
Independent Baptist Fellowship International
Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America
Institutional Missionary Baptist Conference of America
Interstate & Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptist Association
Landmark Baptists
Liberty Baptist Fellowship
National Association of Free Will Baptists
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
National Baptist Evangelical Life and Soul Saving Assembly of the U.S.A.
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A.
North American Baptist Conference
Old Regular Baptist
Old Time Missionary Baptist
Original Free Will Baptist Convention
Primitive Baptist Universalists
Primitive Baptists
Progressive National Baptist Convention
Reformed Baptist
Regular Baptist
Separate Baptist
Separate Baptists in Christ
Seventh Day Baptist General Conference
Southern Baptist Convention
Southwide Baptist Fellowship
Sovereign Grace Baptists
Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists
United American Free Will Baptist Church
United American Free Will Baptist Conference
United Baptist
World Baptist Fellowship
A Baptist was shipwrecked, and spent 10 years alone on an island. When he was rescued, the captain saw two huts, one fresh, one overgrown. When he asked the castaway why two, the answer was, "That was my old church."