July 10, 2000
Texas Baptist Forum
No finer witness
___ The new Baptist Faith & Message implies an attempt to codify the "truth." This is a bit like modern science unifying quantum physics and relativity. Nice thought. Some semblance of it may be realized, but realistically defining "the" unified theory is just not going to happen. Neither is defining with words what the "truth" is.
___If this happened, the Bible would no longer be alive and therefore become just another book. It takes the full body of the church functioning with the living word through the guidance of the Holy Spirit to relate it to our lives. Any attempt to restrict the process of growth--limit personal freedom--is a move away from us becoming a fitting bride for Christ.
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
___I cannot think of a finer witness than a demonstration of conciliation and mutual Christian respect between members of our denomination whose convictions are quite different. Anything less than this shows we are leading with our own motivations instead of by the Spirit. This seems to be the distinguishing characteristic between mere men and apostles.
___ Jeff Jones
___ Albany
Wheat & tares
___In the the parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30), Jesus made it obvious "the enemy sowed tares among the wheat and went away." The tares did what tares do--corrupt the crop.
___This parable has a lot to say about Southern Baptists today. "No creed but the Bible" theoretically is an outstanding statement of faith, but the atmosphere both within the SBC and in our land can lead to gross misinterpretation of the Bible.
___One of the problems we encounter is in a faulty definition of "priesthood of the believer." The true definition is the right of all believers to approach the throne of Christ with the realization he is our High Priest. "Priesthood of the believer" has very little, if anything, to do with the personal interpretation of the Scriptures.
___The SBC cannot tell people what they must believe. On the other hand, we are doomed to let the tares take over the field if we fail to show people a biblical basis for what Christians ought to believe.
___I applaud our SBC leadership for meaningful stands, though unpopular to many. The trouble is the tares, who try to tell us that we cannot identify tares as tares, sin as sin and deception as deception.
___ Jim Bulin
___ Hereford
Unlocked doors
___Are we truly insisting on a creedal denomination or are we simply protecting our heritage? We appreciate the autonomy of the church and our freedoms. But we have always had the unwritten understanding that we were secure in our understanding of the Scripture and its authority. We have also had the security of knowing that our seminaries were teaching the principles that we believed in.
___However, times have changed, and new philosophies have emerged--philosophies the average person in the pew that is faithfully giving to and supporting our schools and entities would in no way support, philosophies that have endeavored to reinterpret the Bible.
___As they begin to reinterpret our 1963 confession of faith to fit with their theology, it became necessary to amend our statement to clarify our beliefs so as not to be further misinterpreted. This is not creedalism; it is defining the boundaries and being a good steward to those that give to these institutions.
___There was a time when we did not lock our doors, but times have changed. Will a person leave theirs unlocked so that they will not offend the thieves? I for one hope that we, members of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, adopt the new Baptist Faith & Message statement.
___ Danny Shearman
___ Dennis
Real Baptists
___Let's see now: Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention would like to (a) tell me who can be a pastor in my church; (b) tell me how to interpret the Bible; and (c) tell me how to vote in the presidential election. Well, I don't think so!
___Thank God real Baptists have a home in the BGCT, and thank God for the editorial discussing the proper relationship between Jesus and the Bible.
___ Larry Burner
___ Garland
Rallying cry
___Marv Knox hails the rallying cry of the BGCT elitist leadership: "Jesus should stand over Scripture" (June 19).
___Not only does Knox establish a false dichotomy (How does he propose to know Jesus' teachings apart from Scripture?), his claims do not accurately represent the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message, to which he and his comrades have valiantly staked their claim.
___The preamble to the 1925 Baptist Faith & Message emphatically states, "the sole authority for faith and practice among Baptists is the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments." The 1963 committee not only retained this sentence, they enhanced it by adding, "The sole authority for faith and practice among Baptists is Jesus Christ whose will is revealed in the Holy Scriptures." Instead of viewing Jesus as superior to the Scriptures, as Knox would have us believe, the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message stresses that Christ's will is revealed in (not "outside of" or "in addition to") the Scriptures. They emphasized the equality of the written word and living word by elevating both the Scriptures and Jesus Christ to the position of "sole authority for faith and practice among Baptists."
___The 1963 committee clearly viewed Jesus and the Bible as inseparable: Christ's will can only be known "in the Holy Scriptures." If Knox and other leaders insist on fighting the battle of Jesus vs. the Bible, they simply cannot do so by appealing to the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message.
___ Brett Stair
___ Lewisville
Letting go
___The time has come for me to let go. I have held on so many years praying that the situation would be resolved to the glory of God. Nurtured and "born-again" in a Southern Baptist church, I now will no longer call myself Southern Baptist.
___Why? We have become like the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoevsky's "Brothers Karamazov," banishing Jesus Christ from Earth because he didn't conform to the teachings of the church. We have become like those church hierarchies who interpret Scripture for congregants, freeing them from studying the Bible themselves. Our self-righteousness in "winning the world" has become more important than really caring, and so we stand as Jesus condemned the Pharisees: "You have traveled over sea and land to win one convert; and when you have won him you make him twice as fit for hell as you are yourselves."
___I feel like one of the creatures in George Orwell's "Animal Farm," looking through the window from "pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
___We have become that which we opposed. What we abhorred, we now embrace.
___The Baptists who fought and died for our religious freedom, for our "priesthood," for our right to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ unencumbered by any worldly authority would see now only oppression and despair.
___They would look at the Southern Baptist leadership and see the pope.
___How far we have fallen.
___ Richard L. Elam
___ Cleburne
Semantic wedge
___The Baptist Faith & Message committee should be commended for answering the concerns Charles Wade spoke about several weeks ago in his column concerning the BF&M preamble.
___They heard his concerns; ... no one would doubt our belief in the doctrine of soul sufficiency and the priesthood of the believer.
___The concern over raising the issue of Jesus over the Bible is a play on semantics, which Adrian Rogers addressed sufficiently: "We have said one more time as Baptists that we believe the Bible and we want to live by the Bible ... We love Jesus passionately and devotedly. But the Jesus we love is the Jesus of the Bible--not the Jesus of the imagination, subjectivity or personal revelation. That really is the watershed."
___The secular ABC program "Jesus" underscored more dramatically why we must affirm the Bible to be God's word and inerrant.
___Without that authority, our Jesus is without real merit.
___I do hope that our leadership will not drive a wedge into the BGCT over semantics. Overall, the convention is great.
___ Harold O'Chester
___ Austin
Next: Pointed hats?
___What happened to the "priesthood of the believer" principle for SBC churches? What next?SBC presidents wearing pointed hats?
___Wayne Bishop
___San Antonio
Old ghosts
___ Recent arguments and events at the SBC annual meeting and specifically changes to the Baptist Faith & Message prompt the old ghosts of Baptist life to arise: Confession vs. creed.
___ Charles Wade reminded us all (June 26) that even though it is stated that the Baptist Faith & Message is non-binding on churches which are autonomous, it is simply the opposite as seen in how it is used.
___ One thing I have learned is that words are an illusion unless supported by behavior. The behavior of associations and state conventions show the trickling effect of the larger bully, the SBC. The Baptist Faith & Message is used as creed. It is sheer hypocrisy for those who say local churches are autonomous and in their next breath vote a church out of an association for ordaining a woman.
___ Scott Blair
___ Kansas City, Mo.
Disappointed
___ I am so disappointed the Southern Baptist Convention has headed in a direction in which I cannot follow, but I am glad to know I can still turn to Jesus Christ for my direction and
___ My faith has always been simple and will continue to be. The June 19 editorial reminded me of the simplicity of trusting in Jesus Christ as the example by which to live. I'm a little tired to the overuse of WWJD, but in truth, don't we just need to ask ourselves, "What would Jesus do?" His guidance and co-piloting of my life is enough for me.
___ Jean Burden
___ Conway, S.C.
Colson out of line
___ When I read the article on Charles Colson's commentary on Charles Stanley (June 26), I became very upset. If one violates God's word because in his view another brother has violated God's word, what is that? Colson has flagrantly violated Matthew 18:15-17. If
___ Second, Colson is not even a member of Stanley's church. Last time I looked, the priesthood of the believer was still intact, as well as local church autonomy. I wonder if Colson is running for pope.
___ Where does Colson get off comparing Stanley's situation and President Clinton's? There is no comparison. Colson needs to be held accountable for his outrageous comments.
___ Charles Colson is not one of my leaders, and I will not give him a pass on this moral failure.
___ E.H. Clark
___ Levelland
Keep the unity of the Spirit
___ I think the Baptist Standard is a good newspaper but it frightens me that some Southern Baptist preachers can't get along with some people of the BGCT. In the Bible it says in
___ Archie Davis, Jr.
___ Bossier City, LA
Cultists?
___ I read with interest Jess Moody's concern that those with a high view of Scripture can
___ Cults are seldom, if ever birthed by those who approach the Bible reverentally, and with a proper hermeneutic. But many are the cults which find their origin in those who own a Christ no longer "imprisoned" in the Bible.
___ Brad Foster
___ Dumas
How would Jesus respond
to those on death row?
___What is going through the minds and hearts of Southern Baptist Conventon messengers who voted for the resolution on capital punishment (June 19)? I 100 percent agree with David Crosby and Greg Titus' statements that "there are better ways we can witness to the
___ Just because "the world is saying so much about it" doesn't mean we as Baptists and Christians have to jump on the bandwagon. What has happened to our human compassion, our love all as Christ loves us, our wanting to be Christ-centered in all we do and say?
___ A grave and unjust vote was cast at the convention, and I for one do not and will not abide by what men have decided is best for Southern Baptists. I know that my God will "search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings" (Jeremiah 17:10).
___ We should be on our knees and praying that God will work in the lives of those that commit heinous crimes and ask ourselves "What can I do to help those that are on death row?" Isn't that what Jesus would do?
___ Debi Gabler
___ Schulenburg
Will the waters part for Texas Baptists?
___ I am watching Texas with a sense that may be close to what the Hebrew children felt as the Egyptians came charging down the savannah toward their huddled masses.
___ Will Moses part the waters? Will we escape across the divide? Is there a response from the BGCT after the public rebuffs from the SBC podium during the "debate" on the Baptist Faith & Message (June 19)? The follow-up press conferences also seemed to say, "Our way or the highway."
___ Since I am apparently unable to take solace in Christianity as an "independent," always hoping for fellowship that is mutually accountable, can you send me hope? I honestly believe Texas is strong enough to make such an institutional move--that will maintain the Christian integrity of Baptist faith and heritage.
___ Is that the sound of chariots rumbling or waters parting that I hear?
___Tom Harrington
___Macon, Ga.
Stanley a test case for fundamentalist leaders
___ We have an opportunity to watch a major test case of the SBC conservative leadership.
___ One of their own, Charles Stanley, is a newly divorced pastor. This seems to be in violation of their interpretation of Scripture. Recently, the SBC leadership decreed that
___ It will be interesting to see how this is publicly handled. My guess is that there will be a pious guise of "local church autonomy" and a call not to judge this particular situation too harshly. But the extreme fundamentalism we see more and more of in the SBC is not concerned with situations or exceptions. Scripture is to be strictly followed, period.
___ That explains, for them, why no woman can be a pastor. No exceptions. If this were a well-known moderate pastor who continued to serve in a large moderate church, in the midst of a protracted, public divorce, then the SBC leadership might well be expected to subtly condemn both pastor and church. But what do you do when the chickens come home to roost?
___ The conservative leadership has set in place ever-narrowing parameters on whom they feel is qualified to lead and minister. What remains to be seen is whether or not they censure equally, thus holding a like standard for all.
___ Steve Martin
___ Slaton
Take a lesson from math
___ Since Christianity and mathematics are disciplines consisting of elements that have no terminal in searching for the end to all quests for exactment, why can we not take a lesson from math?
___ A question: Why can Christians who use the Bible not permit each student to use the degree of exact interpretation--ratio of God's intent to man's comprehension, called the pi of the Bible--to whatever degree the task requires, never knowing the precise ratio?
___ Some Christians seem to be using the tactics of a used-car salesman who is selling a vehicle whose odometer has been inoperative for years. They, also, really do not know what God's material is precisely, but they are selling it anyway, yet not emphasizing the fact they do not know the exact condition or contents of the vehicle, in this case the Bible.
___Otis Patrick
___Loveland, Colo.
Stunned
___ I was stunned to read that someone wrote to affirm the North American Mission Board's
___ You will find none who hate divorce more than those who have experienced it. If we are looking for someone perfect, I know of none except our Lord who would qualify.
___Earl D. Powell
___San Antonio
Falwell
___Roy Roberts
___ Irving
No sinless saints
___ Chuck Colson said recently Charles Stanley should resign the pastorate of First Baptist Church in Atlanta because of his divorce.
___ God always knew Stanley's situation, and still he put him into the ministry. God calls saved sinners to serve him, who become sinning saints.
___ In 50 years, I have never met a sinless saint. He that is without sin can cast the first stone, including Colson.
___ R.T. Ware
___ El Paso
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