June 19, 2000

TOGETHER:
Seek to preserve true, abiding Baptist principles
___If Baptists ever cease to think doctrine is important enough to spend time trying to say the truth, then those who do care will be able to imprint their view of truth and their will on the rest of us.
___And what Baptists have had to offer to all Christians--namely a vision of soul freedom, personal responsibility and a free church in a free state--will be lost to the world until some

CHARLES WADE Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

faithful believer is willing to put his or her life on the line again to recover the biblical view that in Christ we have been set free from the legalisms and harsh burdens religions always seem to get around to imposing on their people.
___Southern Baptists have lived longer without a confession of faith than they have with one. From 1845 to 1925 (80 years), the Southern Baptist Convention had no adopted confession of faith. Churches and associations worked out their theology in a spirit of discussion, debate and mutual appreciation. The disagreements could be fierce and painful, but Southern Baptists refused to adopt any statement that might be used in a creedal way to manipulate agreement. All views were challenged and dealt with in the context of free and open efforts to confront error and encourage truth.
___In those early days, the fear of a confession of faith being used as a creed to coerce conformity was so strong that if there had not been a fear of the inroads of evolutionary teaching, it is likely no confession of faith would have seen the light of day. Using the New Hampshire Confession of faith, which had been issued in 1833 but never had been adopted in any official way by the SBC, E.Y. Mullins and his associates put together the first Southern Baptist confession of faith in 1925.
___What Baptists worried about was that a confession of faith could be used to curb the freedom of conscience and diminish the superiority of holy Scripture in theological debate. So the document had five paragraphs to protect Baptist freedoms. These are reprinted verbatim in the preambles to the 1963 and 2000 editions of the Baptist Faith & Message.
___As Herschel Hobbs and associates put together the 1963 statement of the Baptist Faith & Message, the concern to protect Baptist people and churches from any attempts at theological coercion resulted in this language:
___"Baptists are a people who profess a living faith. This faith is rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ, who is 'the same yesterday, and today and forever.' Therefore, the sole authority for faith and practice among Baptists is Jesus Christ, whose will is revealed in the holy Scriptures.
___"A living faith must experience a growing understanding of truth and must be continually interpreted and related to the needs of each new generation. Throughout their history, Baptist bodies, both large and small, have issued statements of faith which comprise a consensus of their beliefs. Such statements have never been regarded as complete, infallible statements of faith, nor as official creeds carrying mandatory authority."
___These are the sentences I asked to be reinserted in the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message preamble. That eloquent and precious language which breathes Baptist identity was not deemed worthy of inclusion.
___I am happy to applaud the current committee for inserting language affirming the soul's competency before God and the priesthood of the believer, even though it was done belatedly, and only after much urging by many Baptists across the convention. It is amazing to me that Baptist leaders of the stature of those who served on the committee should have so misjudged the importance of such crucial Baptist language that they would leave it out of the original text first released to Baptists.
___In contrast to our historic Baptist rejection of creeds, the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message contains a subtle but basic change. Paragraph 15 of the document released to the public this spring contains this language:
___"Baptist churches, associations and general bodies have adopted confessions of faith as a witness to the world, and as instruments of doctrinal accountability. We are not embarrassed to state before the world that these are doctrines we hold precious and as essential to the Baptist tradition of faith and practice."
___Notice the phrase "instruments of doctrinal accountability." That means this confession of faith can and will be used to make people doctrinally accountable. To whom? To what? Baptists always have believed we are accountable to God and to holy Scripture. But never have we believed we were accountable to a confession of faith. That is the very definition of a creed. Why do Baptists resist creedal faith? Because creeds always are used eventually to coerce conscience. The Scriptures are enough! Baptists have no creed but the Bible.
___Perhaps you ask, "What would be a better way to say what is said in paragraph 15?" Would it not have been better and more baptistic to have said, "as guides for doctrinal instruction"? That clearly says what most Baptists have used the confession of faith to do--bear witness to the world and teach our people what Baptists generally believe.
___Furthermore, note the words "as essential" in the second sentence quoted above. Only Scripture can be said to express what is essential to Baptist faith and practice. Does this document express the essentials? Are there no essentials possibly not addressed? Are there things included that may not be essential? And essential for what? For salvation? For holy Christian living? For church membership? For employment in Baptist schools, mission agencies? Will churches begin to require it of their pastors? Staff? Deacons? Sunday School teachers? Where does the signing of statements of faith end? And when did we become a creedal, top-down, eccleastical organization?
___Although defenders of this document may point to the five paragraphs from the 1925 preamble as proof they have protected Baptists from creedalism, it is clear the language used in the illustration above is creedal, and the unwillingness to include the sentences from the 1963 preamble that I offered as an amendment to the 2000 statement makes it very clear this document has become a creed.
___Now, what does this mean for Texas Baptists?
___First, we have affirmed the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message and do not feel any need to change. Thank God for the wisdom exhibited in that convention decision last year.
___Second, we shall protect all Texas Baptists employees and volunteers from having to sign or verbally acquiesce to this new document as a prerequisite to usefulness or employment.
___Third, as the Texas Baptist committees studying the seminaries and the mission-sending agencies do their work, they will evaluate carefully how this 2000 statement of faith will be applied in the SBC agencies as they do their work, employ faculties and relate to other Baptist groups around the world.
___Fourth, we shall seek to hold secure the Baptist vision in a time when many Baptists have voted that these issues are not that important to the Baptist vision after all.

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