July 24, 2000

Changes in Faith & Message are
'seismic,' Hendricks says
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___CORPUS CHRISTI--Changes in the Baptist Faith & Message related to the lordship of Christ are "seismic" in proportion, a veteran Baptist theologian told the annual gathering of Texas Baptists Committed.
___"The shift of emphasis from a Christological principle of interpretation to an assertion that Christ is the focus of the Bible is seismic," said Bill Hendricks, former professor of theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Brite Divinity School at Texas

WILLIAM HENDRICKS

Christian University.
___Hendricks was one of several keynote speakers surveying changes made to the Baptist Faith & Message by the Southern Baptist Convention in June. About 300 people attended the annual convocation of Texas Baptists Committed in Corpus Christi July 14-15.
___The lordship of Christ has been a "towering landmark" in Baptist life, Hendricks asserted. But the rejection by the SBC of a sentence found in the 1963 version of the Baptist Faith & Message article on Scripture redefines this concept, he added.
___He referenced the omission of a paragraph that said in part: "The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ."
___Anthony Sisemore, pastor of First Baptist Church of Floydada, unsuccessfully pleaded with SBC messengers to reinsert the 1963 language. The Texas pastor since has been ridiculed and quoted out of context by SBC leaders and several prominent pastors who have sought to defend the Baptist Faith & Message changes as necessary to prevent a slide into liberalism.
___"Behind the 1963 statement is the reformation principle, long affirmed by Baptists, that Christ is King and Lord of Scripture," Hendricks explained. "Jesus Christ is the definitive revelation of God, is one with the Father and is the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
___"To remove the living Christ as the touchstone for interpreting the Scripture is to downgrade Christ and promote bibliolatry," meaning worship of the Bible as an idol.
___Hendricks reported hearing one of the framers of the SBC statement "say on nationwide television that Jesus was submissive to the authority of the Bible."
___This is an odd statement, Hendricks suggested, because "the New Testament was not written in Jesus' day."
___"Such a statement was robbing Jesus to pay Paul, not an unknown phenomenon in current Baptist disagreements," he added. "Jesus submitted only to God; while respecting the law and the prophets, he felt free to reinterpret them and to point out where they were being misused by the religious leaders of his day."
___In the body of his message, Hendricks used the framework of E.Y. Mullins' "Axioms of Religion" as a means of highlighting other changes made to the Baptist Faith & Message. Mullins and his book were pivotal influences on both the 1925 and 1963 versions of the Baptist Faith & Message.
___"Mullins pointed out six axioms of religion which are landmarks that need to be set firmly at the boundaries of the Baptist family today," Hendricks said.
___First is the theological landmark, which asserts that God has a right to be sovereign. All Baptists affirm that God is sovereign, Hendricks said, but various groups mean different things by saying this.
___"The landmark of God's power as creator is not in question. The interpretation of God's use of that power is at the center of differences in the Baptist family," he said. "The practice which arises from a commitment to God's sovereignty should be a humble acknowledgement of our status as creatures.
___"God is God. No person is God's infallible, inerrant, inexorable, inquisitorial interpreter. No one."
___Second is the religious landmark, which says all believers have equal right to direct access to God.
___"Soul competency or the priesthood of the believer was to have been excised from the amended Baptist Faith & Message," Hendricks said. "Fortunately, it was not. What has not been noted sufficiently is that the intended omission of this necessary Baptist landmark was tied directly to a certain view of the sovereignty of God and the power of the pastor."
___Third is the churchly landmark, which says all believers have equal privileges in the church.
___"This is a radical statement," Hendricks said. "The changes made to the Baptist Faith & Message in 1998 and 2000 are the crux of the divisions among us. The 'gracious submission' of wives to husbands and the specific denial of the possibility of women as senior pastors are violations of this landmark. Equal privileges are equal privileges."
___Fourth is the moral landmark, which says humans must be free in order to be responsible.
___What Mullins meant to emphasize here, Hendricks said, is "freedom from creedal and hierarchical authority."
___Yet the Baptist Faith & Message has become "both a religious creed and a secular condition of employment," he charged, citing the expectation that all employees of SBC agencies and seminaries must affirm the revised doctrinal statement.
___"Given this litmus test of conformity, can anyone still take seriously the preamble, which states, 'Confessions are only guides in interpretation, having no authority over the conscience'? The practice is not in keeping with the profession."
___Fifth is the landmark of social relationships, which quotes the Bible to say, "Love your neighbor as yourself."
___Hendricks pointed out the listing of specific sexual sins to the Baptist Faith & Message article on Christians and the social order, then said: "It is a Baptist landmark, shared by most Christian groups, that Christians should 'oppose all forms of sexual immorality.' Is that general statement not enough? Or if one is going to list the sexual sins of adultery, homosexuality and pornography, why not expand the roster to include pedophilia, sexual inversion and incest?"
___The changes made by the SBC do not focus constructively on what constitutes sexual morality and immorality, he said. "Is there a way to address these issues in a positive way, leaving room for the persuasive power of the Holy Spirit and the winsome example of Christly love?"
___Sixth is the landmark of a free church in a free state.
___While the article on religious liberty was not changed in the Baptist Faith & Message, Baptist practice in this area is the real area of change, he said.
___He quoted from the article: "The church should not resort to civil power to carry on its work. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion."
___Then he said: "The crucial issue for Baptists today is how are these statements to be interpreted and applied? ... This landmark seems to be, like the glaciers, in motion. I predict it will be one of the most controversial issues to confront Baptists who seek to understand, maintain and apply their heritage."

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