June 11, 2001

Two books carry the same title: Dueling Baptist books
___By John Pierce
___Baptists Today
___MACON, Ga.--Ask your bookseller or librarian for "Why I Am A Baptist" and the response likely will be, "Which one?"
___The latest volume with that title, released this year by Broadman & Holman, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, was produced in response to a 1999 volume from Smyth & Helwys Publishing, a decade-old independent publisher of church resources.
___Earlier works edited by Louie Newton in 1957 and Joe Odle in 1972 also carried that title.
___The latest editors to use the title, Tom Nettles and Russell Moore, write that their edition was birthed from a conversation the two had at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., as they "were flipping energetically through the pages" of the Smyth & Helwys volume.
___They claim the Smyth and Helwys book was written by "a virtual who's who of the Baptist left" that "made a concerted effort to attempt Baptist identity without Baptist theology."
___Smyth & Helwys Publisher Cecil Staton Jr., editor of the 1999 volume, disputed those claims.
___"This is not a deliberate attempt to put forward the view of the 'left' as is charged in the other book," Staton said. "I think we have a remarkable diversity that includes those both in and out of the SBC fold."
___The contrast between the two books lies more in content than format. In addition to sharing the same title, both books compile personal essays from a variety of Baptist leaders addressing the question of what it means to be a Baptist.
___The Smyth & Helwys book features several Baptist leaders connected to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and others who have criticized changes in Southern Baptist life over the last two decades. The Broadman & Holman volume highlights some of those most directly involved in making those changes and who now hold SBC leadership positions.
___Both books, however, include writers beyond the predictable guest list for either side.
___Familiar participants in the so-called "moderate" movement--such as Cecil Sherman, Daniel Vestal, James Dunn, Bill Leonard, Keith Parks and Molly Marshall--are featured in Staton's book. But other writers include American and European Baptist leaders.
___New SBC leaders like Paige Patterson, Al Mohler, Tom Eliff and Jimmy Draper contribute essays to the Broadman & Holman volume, but other writings come from lesser-known Baptists as well as evangelical scholar Carl F. H. Henry. Editors Nettles and Moore even reach back into the 18th century to include the writings of religious liberty advocate Isaac Backus and missions pioneer Ann Judson.
___Contrasting understandings of and appreciation for what it means to be Baptist are revealed by the editors in their respective prefaces as well as in the selection of contributors.
___Staton enlisted former President Jimmy Carter and called him "a voice of hope and reason for many who have been more proud to be a Baptist because of his faith and personal commitments."
___Nettles teaches historical theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., where Moore is completing a doctorate and doing research for seminary President Al Mohler. These editors proclaim Mohler as "undoubtedly the towering Baptist theological presence of the 21st century."
___In his essay from the Smyth & Helwys book, Carter wrote, "It is time for all Baptists to put an end to the animosities and bitter words that have separated us as brothers and sisters in Christ."
___In the other volume, Mohler describes how while completing doctoral work at Southern Seminary he "came to see that for some persons, even some Baptist leaders and seminary professors, Baptist identity had been reduced to a set of 'distinctives' all revolving around libertarian notions of the sovereign self."
___Mohler argues that these so-called "distinctives" are not the defining marks of being Baptist, but Baptist identity is based on commitments to "the integrity of the gospel," biblical authority and congregational polity.
___Some contributors to the Smyth & Helwys volume emphasize their commitment to biblical authority (which critics have claimed is weak among moderates) as well as to principles of liberty. And some contributors to the Broadman & Holman volume emphasize their commitments to religious freedom and local church autonomy (which critics have claimed are lacking in the fundamentalist understanding of being Baptist).

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