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A New Book on Race and the Southern Baptist Convention

June 23, 2017 by Barnabas Piper Leave a Comment

By Andrew Spencer

When people get nostalgic for their childhood, they are usually remembering a time when things seemed simpler. That does not mean life was actually less complex, typically just that they were shielded from some of the twists, confusions, and injustices in the world.

My life was simpler before I knew about the powerful impact racism has had in our nation. Even in my early years in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) I was unaware of the racism that is at the very root of our denomination’s founding. I did not recognize that the racial homogeneity of my church was not simply a function of different preferences in music, but often because my denomination had not done enough to remove the stain of racism.

I now attend a church that is dually affiliated with the SBC and the National Baptist Convention (NBC). The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. and is slowly becoming more racially diverse. The NBC is the largest predominantly African-American denomination in the U.S. My church has historically been predominantly African-American, but is becoming more diverse as we reflect more closely the demographics of our surrounding community. This is, in part, because my pastor has made significant efforts toward encouraging racial reconciliation.

Being involved in a truly multi-racial congregation has caused me to develop a new perspective on race relations and racism. Hearing some of our oldest members tell stories, I can no longer argue that the Civil Rights struggles were “a long time ago” and ignore the legacy of racism in our nation. Listening to conversations around me, I can never again claim I don’t know that systemic biases exist.

A few months ago, my pastor asked me to teach church history to the congregation on Wednesday evenings. In four sessions, I skimmed the surface of the major themes of our Christian past. I spent more time talking about African-American church history in part because of my context and in part because I needed to learn more about it. One of the most painful parts of teaching that lesson was tracing through this history of race relations within the SBC; clearly, we’ve made progress, but it is also apparent we have much more to do.

Removing the Stain of Racism from the Southern Baptist Convention is a volume that tells the story of the SBC’s past, provides a theological basis for moving beyond it, and makes practical recommendations for future progress. This is a necessary next step in a conversation that the SBC has been having, but which needs to continue in earnest.

This volume is an outstanding resource for Southern Baptists and others to learn about racial reconciliation. The volume opens with a collection of SBC resolutions about race, which show the convention has been talking about race—sometimes using the right language—but making insufficient progress toward healing longstanding division. In the first chapter, Albert Mohler recounts the historic origins of the Southern Baptist Convention, which were grounded in the misguided beliefs of slave owners that they could participate in race-based chattel slavery and still be effective missionaries for Christ.

Chapter two is an essay by Matthew Hall, which follows the ongoing participation of some Southern Baptists in racist rhetoric and sometimes political activity. As much as we might wish otherwise, there were many “good Baptists” who argued for Jim Crow laws. The third chapter, by Jarvis Williams, provides a biblical argument for racial reconciliation.

The next six chapters outline suggestions from theologians, pastors, and editors at our denominational publishing house for removing the stain of racism from the Southern Baptist Convention. The body of the book ends with a summary of the state of racial reconciliation within the SBC: we have made progress, but have a long way yet to go. Dwight McKissic and Danny Akin offer epilogues explaining further why the stain of racism remains in the SBC. In a postscript, Vaughn Walker commends readers to continue the work and offers encouragement that the stain of racism can be removed from the SBC.

Although published by the academic arm of B&H, this volume is accessible to the average reader. The writers and editors worked together to create a book that can inform a wide swath of members of SBC churches. More importantly, the contributors to this volume constructed a compelling testimony that (a) racism still exists in our society and our organizations, and (b) there is something we can do about it.

The uniting metaphor of this volume is “removing the stain.” In the preface, the editors explain what that means and their definition is important. To some advocates in racial politics, the stain of racism is like the blood stains on Lady Macbeth’s hands: invisible to living eyes, but indelible to the psyche. The only solution for some is for organizations once complicit in racism to self-destruct. This volume offers a greater hope, recognizing that just as people are redeemable through the gospel, so are organizations.

The metaphor is apt because it also reflects the significant and often time-consuming effort required to remove a stain. Many of us have invested a great deal of time in stain treatments and washing garments by hand to save something treasured from a permanently embedded stain. Rarely are significant stains eradicated in the first attempt, but must be scrubbed repeatedly as by degrees the offending pigment is removed. That is the sort of effort required to continue the work of racial reconciliation in the SBC.

The formal apology for the racist origins of the SBC, affirmed as a resolution in 1995 is important. Electing Fred Luter as the first African-American president of the SBC in 2012 is significant. The resolution opposing the flying of the Confederate battle flag in 2016 takes another step forward. These are important efforts in removing the stain of racism, but they are not enough.

Removing the Stain of Racism reminds readers, with voices from both African-Americans and whites, that though the SBC has made great progress, there is a lot of work to be done. The memory of the racism in the SBC will never be erased, but the stain of racism can be removed. The challenge for the white majority of the SBC is not to attempt to declare victory on our stain-removal efforts too soon. As many have experienced, once you throw the stained garment into the dryer, the stain is often made permanent. We still have scrubbing to do.

Racial reconciliation takes work. While we may remember a time in our denomination’s history when efforts toward removing the stain of racism were not at the forefront, those days only seemed simpler because we were unaware of the problem. Talking about race and racial reconciliation is hard, not least because of the extreme rhetoric on the right and the left of us. The gospel demands we work toward racial reconciliation—no matter how nostalgic we are for simpler days, the work before us cannot be ignored.

_____________________________________________

Andrew Spencer (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate vice president for institutional research at Oklahoma Baptist University. He is Director of Education at Galilee Baptist Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He blogs regularly at www.EthicsAndCulture.com.

Filed Under: Baptist Studies, Cultural Engagement Tagged With: Race, Southern Baptist

4 Threats to Religious Liberty

November 8, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

by Barrett Duke

9781433644375_firstfreedomFirst, a new religious fundamentalism among Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist groups began to grip many countries in the late twentieth century and the early decades of this century. Such groups use the power of the state to suppress other faiths, whether through the direct assistance, sympathy, or apathy of the civil powers.

Second, religious liberty is threatened in other countries by Christ-confessing groups. They believe in the superior nature of their sect or regard other Christ-confessing groups as nuisances or threats to their dominance. This occurs in the former Soviet countries, for example.

 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Apologetics, Cultural Engagement

The Beginning of Religious Liberty

October 25, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

by Jason G. Duesing

9781433644375_firstfreedomWhen Thomas Jefferson replied in 1802 to a letter from the Danbury Baptist Association on the topic of the freedom of religion, he likely did not realize the weight that its most well-known phrase would carry. The phrase was a “wall of separation between church and state”—and if Jefferson did not have a full grasp of his intended meaning, the subsequent generations have labored to supply it for him—but without unanimity.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Apologetics, Cultural Engagement

The Gospel Is for Culture

July 26, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

by Bruce Ashford

9629674033_ea529ce88b_b (1)Because God is the Creator and King over all that exists, Christians seek actively to demonstrate his kingship in every dimension of human culture and across the fabric of human existence. If we do not “embody our faith in the shapes of everyday life,” we limit our witness. Therefore, we endeavor to proclaim and embody the gospel, and allow it to guide our thinking and acting, in every station in society and culture.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cultural Engagement, Missions

Should Pastors Preach Politics from the Pulpit?

March 1, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

Christian_Flag_etc_Covenant_Presbyterian_Long_Beach_20050213Here is a blunt question sure to stir up trouble at your next dinner party: Should pastors preach politics from the pulpit? Some Christians, of course, consider the practice wrong in all cases: “The pulpit is for preaching the Word!” Others respond by saying, “But the Word is full of social, cultural, and political matters.” Our answer, were we invited to your dinner party, is: “Yes and no.” But mostly no.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cultural Engagement, Current Events

How Would Spurgeon Vote?

February 23, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

 

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Photo credit: Personalincome.org

Charles Spurgeon awoke one morning during a general election to find his house vandalized. During the night, hoodlums had painted his front gate and walls blue—the color of the Conservative (Tory) party. That evening, Spurgeon addressed the defacing of his estate in a sermon: “It is notorious that I am no Tory, so I shall not trouble to remove the paint; perhaps those who put it on will take it off when it has been there long enough to please them.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Church History, Cultural Engagement, Current Events, Spurgeon

The Christian Teaching on Homosexuality Hasn’t Changed

February 16, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

UnchangingWitness_CVRThe church is going through a time of severe fracture. Schism is taking place on a scale not seen since the 16th century, and the reasons for this come into clear focus on the issue of homosexuality. The gay Christian movement and revisionist theologians and exegetes have set up an array of arguments, often mutually exclusive, in favor of homosexual practice.

S. Donald Fortson, who serves as professor of church history and practical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, and Rollin G. Grams, who serves as associate professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, address the above arguments on a single point: Can they withstand the evidence of the primary sources?

We recently corresponded with them and posed three questions about this contentious and important discussion.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Biblical Studies, Cultural Engagement, Pastoral

The Unchanging Witness on Homosexuality

February 9, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

UnchangingWitness_CVRby Rollin G. Grams and S. Donald Fortson, III

The church faces a critical moment over the issue of homosexuality. This crisis extends beyond what the church should say on the topic; it includes a crisis of authority regarding the place of Scripture and the church’s witness in theology and ethics. In some communities of faith, the crisis is international and, to a great degree, a matter of church politics—but how long will a declining Western, liberal clericalism be able to dominate the growing, vibrant Christian faith of the non-Western world? In other communions the issue is a purely Western discussion of the relationship between church and culture: Will Scripture and church tradition continue to define orthodoxy, or will modern and postmodern approaches lead to the normalization of homosexuality?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Biblical Studies, Cultural Engagement, Marriage, Theology

Catholicity and the Homosexual Heresy

February 4, 2016 by bhacademic 2 Comments

by Rollin G. Grams and S. Donald Fortson, III

Homosexual practice has been affirmed nowhere in the history of Christianity. An overview of texts [examined in the book] reveals unequivocally that the Fathers, Reformers, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Roman Catholics, and Orthodox churches are unanimous in their condemnation of homoerotic behavior among those who profess Christ as Lord.

Rainbow_flag_breezeIn contrast, in the West a handful of denominations in recent decades have capitulated to the gay Christian movement, and they are currently losing members en masse. They are losing members because the ordination of gay clergy and the blessing of gay marriages are wholesale departures from what Scripture and Christian tradition have always taught. The homosexual crisis in the church has become a dividing line between orthodox Christianity and those who no longer confess the faith of the church across the centuries.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Apologetics, Biblical Studies, Cultural Engagement

The Root Fallacy of Words and Christmas: An Exercise in Missing Meaning

December 22, 2015 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

by Rusty Osborne

Nativity_tree2011It is not uncommon to hear in some Christian circles that many Christmas traditions have their roots in ancient pagan traditions. Some posit that the day December 25th was adapted from a pagan celebration of the winter solstice, while others state that is was a birthday celebration of an ancient pagan deity. The Christmas tree tradition is sometimes likened to pagan tree worship, and recently I was instructed that it is like the Israelites worshipping the asherah-poles in the Old Testament!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cultural Engagement

Thinking About the Gospel and Politics

December 15, 2015 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

When it comes to politics, Christians today seem lost and confused. Many Christians desire to relate their faith to politics but simply don’t know how. Bruce Ashford and Chris Pappalardo talk about their book One Nation Under God and its importance for Christians trying to understand the relationship between politics and the gospel. This book exists to equip the reader to apply Christianity to politics with both grace and truth, with both boldness and humility.

__________

Related:

  • Hey Christian, Withdrawal from Politics Is Not an Option!
  • How to “Christianly” Engage in American Politics

__________

OneNationUnderGod_CVRRequest a faculty review copy here.

Request a media review copy here.

Order One Nation Under God at LifeWay, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Christianbook.com.

Filed Under: Apologetics, Cultural Engagement

Speaking the Truth to Power: Learning from Augustine

December 1, 2015 by bhacademic 1 Comment

Saint_Augustine_by_Philippe_de_Champaigneby Bruce Ashford and Chris Pappalardo

The year was 410. King Alaric had just led his ruthless band of Visigoths into Rome, sacking the city. For the Romans this devastating event demanded interpretation. What had weakened mighty Rome and brought her to her knees? Why was she now being dominated after centuries of being the dominator?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Apologetics, Cultural Engagement

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