July 24, 2000
New Faith & Message not Baptist, Denison tells TBC
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___CORPUS CHRISTI--The newly revised Baptist Faith & Message is not a Baptist statement of faith, and those who affirm it "cannot be understood to be historic Baptists," the pastor of Texas Baptists' top missions-giving church said July 15.
___This presents Texas Baptists with an opportunity to "move beyond the Baptist battles"by identifying themselves as Texas Baptists and reclaiming the heritage behind the name "Baptist," said Jim Denison, pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas.
JIM DENISON
Pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church, Dallas
___Denison made the comments during a keynote speech at aCooperative Baptist Fellowship breakfast during the July 14-15 convocation of Texas Baptists Committed in Corpus Christi.
Read the full text of Jim Denison's remarks here
___"The Southern Baptist Convention is now a different denomination theologically," he explained. "It has adopted a statement of faith which departs from historic Baptist views of authority, hermeneutics and ecclesiology. In short, the Southern Baptist Convention is no longer Baptist as Baptists have traditionally defined themselves."
___Given this understanding, "we must claim our heritage and identity as Texas Baptists," he added. "Now we know who the Southern Baptist Convention is and will be. And we know who we are. We are Baptists--Texas Baptists," he said, emphasizing the word "Baptists."
___"Texas Baptists believe in biblical, non-creedal authority for our faith," Denison declared. "Texas Baptists believe in a Christ-centered message and hermeneutic. Texas Baptists believe in local church autonomy and freedom for ministry and mission."
___He quoted a line from Shakespeare to suggest that Texas Baptists have a window of opportunity to stake a claim for what they believe: "And we must take the current while it serves, or lose our ventures."
___"We must move beyond the Baptist battles by being historic Baptists," he said. "Let us exercise our freedom and autonomy to preach Christ, not creed. Let us move beyond the bitter rancor, the name-calling and slander, the internal, myopic focus produced by 20 years of controversy. ... We can end the Baptist battles in Texas by being Texas Baptists."
___Denison articulated three reasons why he believes the Baptist Faith & Message as revised by the SBC in June is not a Baptist statement of faith:
___Authority. He cited newly inserted phrases that call the Baptist Faith & Message an "instrument of doctrinal accountability" and say that its doctrines are "essential to the Baptist tradition of faith and practice."
___"For the first time, the denominational faith statement is intended to be an 'instrument of doctrinal accountability,'" he reported. "For whom? By whom? Now we understand the exclusion of the statement, 'Such statements have never been regarded as complete, infallible statements of faith, nor as official creeds carrying mandatory authority.'
___"And for the first time, this faith statement is said to be 'essential to the Baptist tradition of faith and practice.' Essential for what? For whom? Perhaps this sentence explains the exclusion of the 1963 statement, 'The sole authority for faith and practice among Baptists is Jesus Christ, whose will is revealed in the Holy Scriptures.'"
___Both the phrases he cited as omissions were included in the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message but were not carried over in the 2000 version. Charles Wade, BGCT executive director, attempted to get SBC messengers in June to reinsert the section about Jesus being the sole authority for faith and practice, but his amendment was soundly defeated.
___"Simply put, a document which elevates such a human statement of faith to this level of authority cannot be understood to be Baptist," Denison said. "And those who affirm it cannot be understood to be historic Baptists."
___
___The difference between these two statements is "gigantic," said Denison, who previously taught hermeneutics at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and wrote his doctoral dissertation on the subject.
___"Now, for the first time, Baptists are to interpret Scripture without the Christological hermeneutic which has characterized our theological history," he said. "One of the interpretive principles we inherited from our Anabaptist forefathers made clear the fact that the New Testament interprets the Old Testament, and the statements of Jesus are the means by which we interpret the rest of God's inspired word."
___In practical application, this principle means Christians ask, "What would Jesus say?" and "What would Jesus do?" he explained.
___But the Baptist Faith & Message as revised does not allow room for such questions, he said, and therefore is not a Baptist document.
___
___While neither arguing for or against women serving as pastors, Denison said this declaration by the SBC infringes on the role of local churches to interpret Scripture and act as they believe God leads them.
___"Baptists have always championed the principle of local church autonomy," he said. "We have made clear the fact that a local congregation can do exactly as it pleases in seeking and following God's will. Nowhere is this freedom more crucial than in the matter of pastoral selection and leadership.
___"Make no mistake. This has never been done in the history of Baptist confessions of faith," he added. "Simply put, a document which intrudes upon local church autonomy in such a restrictive manner as this cannot be understood to be Baptist. And those who affirm it cannot be understood to be Baptists."
___Even though Texas Baptists may disagree with the changes made by the SBC to the Baptist Faith & Message, these changes will be "normative and formative" for the SBC in the years ahead, Denison predicted.
___And that, combined with the ongoing SBC controversy of the past 20 years, has "created a massive obstacle to effective ministry and missions," he asserted, citing recent market research done by Park Cities Baptist Church.
___The church employed a secular marketing firm to conduct nine focus group interviews with unchurched residents of North Dallas, Denison explained. Those interviewed were asked to rank Baptists, Catholics, Methodist, Pentecostals and the Church of Christ on identification by certain words.
___Baptists ranked first in words such as "pushy," "self-serving," "cliquish," "discriminates," "fundamentalist" and "hateful," he reported. Conversely, Baptists ranked next-to-last in descriptions such as "loving," "diversified," "open-minded" and "modern."
___The marketing firm concluded that "the single greatest impediment to our church's ability to communicate the gospel in our culture is the fact that we are a Baptist church," Denison said. "How ironic that a denomination formed to obey the Great Commission is now our church's greatest obstacle to its fulfillment."
___The way around this, he suggested, is to reclaim a more positive Baptist heritage as Texas Baptists. The SBC no longer represents historic Baptist ideals, but Texas Baptists can and do, he said.
___"I am who I was, but the Southern Baptist Convention is not what it was. They have moved from me, not I from them. They have moved from us, not we from them."
___Although Denison did not mention convention-funding issues in his message, it was delivered in the context of a two-day meeting filled with talk of changing the BGCT's budget in October to reduce funding for at least some SBC agencies and institutions.
___David Currie, executive director of Texas Baptists Committed, urged those at the meeting to return to Corpus Christi in October for the BGCT annual session, which will be held just blocks away from where the Texas Baptists Committed event convened.
___Currie urged them to bring a full slate of messengers from their churches to vote in favor of BGCT budget changes which are expected either to be proposed in the convention's budget or made through motions from the floor.
___Denison's church last year ranked first among all BGCT congregations in total missions giving through the BGCT, with $1.03 million. Of that, $421,805 was given to BGCT operations and $103,748 was given to worldwide missions causes. The remaining half-million dollars was designated to various missions offerings.
___Denison also is slated to bring the convention sermon when the BGCT holds its annual session in Corpus Christi in October.
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