January 27, 2003
TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
No time for retreat
___The T.B. Maston Foundation, meeting in its annual session Jan. 17, voted unanimously to express its deep regret over the decision of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to suspend doctoral degree programs in ethics due to retirement or resignation of faculty.
___As reflected in Joe Trull's letter (Jan. 13), M
aston's devotion to the cause of applying the Scripture to practical Christian living made this institution a major force in thousands of lives.
___This day demands our brightest and best to deal with the moral challenges of a wounded nation. Fear clings to the walls of our minds like mustard gas. Betrayals of trust devastate our business world. Hatred and hostility stalk our streets. Complexities bewilder our medical world. Racism's ugly face shows up not only in hoods of hatred but also in genial guise of academic and political decision makers. The institutions of marriage, family and parenthood are under siege. Overflowing prisons create tears from the blindfolded eyes of the goddess of justice.
___This is no time for retreat from equipping the leadership of the next generation in the urgency of the "oughtness" of the gospel.
___
Jimmy R. Allen, Chair
___
T.B. Maston Foundation
___
Big Canoe, Ga.
False patriotism
___Throughout his life, the great Baptist ethicist T.B. Maston fought the very kind of beliefs David Black of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary promotes (Jan. 6).
___Black's beliefs, as noted in the press and on his website, set the work of involved citizens backward, not forward, as they promote a false patriotism based on hatred and distrust of government.
___Certainly there were other issues at stake in the Civil War besides slavery. However, this was the war that had to be fought to end the practice of slavery in our country
___When leaders like Black hang on to a romanticized view of Southern pride and chivalry, it corrupts their very ability to minister effectively. And it can make impressionable seminary minds captive to distrust of government and prone to some bigotry.
___Purveyors of fear and prejudice should not be leaders in our seminary institutions.
___
David Huebner
___
Missouri City
Leftward leanings
___How many times have I read about the Southern Baptist Convention moving further to the right? That may be true, but the split between the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the SBC grows wider because the BGCT is moving to the left.
___The call by the Christian Life Commission for a moratorium on capital punishment in Texas (Jan. 20) is the latest example of the leftward political leanings of the BGCT leadership.
___How many conservatives will leave in disgust because of this? For how many churches will this be the "last straw"?
___As conservatives leave the BGCT, it leaves only the moderates to slow down the leftward push of the liberals.
___
Wallace Pippin
___
Grandview
Stretching the point
___In his guest editorial concerning the Christian Life Commission's proposed moratorium on capital punishment in Texas (Jan. 20), Toby Druin interpreted Jesus' words regarding anyone who caused a child to stumble in coming to him--"It is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea"--as prescribing capital punishment.
___Druin's comments disingenuously stretched Jesus' point while ignoring a fundamental principle of biblical interpretation, in which one Scripture passage informs another.
___Jesus cautioned against law without mercy. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you ... have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith. ... You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!" (Matthew 23:23-24).
___God has forgiven me and redeemed me. How can I offer less? It is only for God to decide when mercy ends and judgment begins.
___In Matthew 18, Jesus tells of the lost sheep. When the shepherd finds it, "he rejoices over it more than over the 99 that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father ... that one of these little ones should perish" (Matthew 18:12-14).
___To the Father, we are all "little ones," especially those who have gone astray. Can it be his will that government extinguish irretrievably their hope for redemption? We must offer Jesus' mercy to all, lest we cause them to stumble.
___
Bill Jones
___
Plano
Lists not needed
___I am proud Texas Baptist churches are giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering at a high rate, but why do we always have to list churches that give the most?
___We do the same with baptisms, Sunday School growth, etc. I have been a Baptist for a long time, and I have never understood that.
___Money, baptism and having your name on the roll don't save you.
___It seems we try to pat ourselves on the back for something we did. But we are warned in God's word not to set our minds on earthly things, because our citizenship is in heaven.
___We give money to missions out of obedience and faithfulness. We give because we are citizens in heaven, and we, along with God, desire to see others become citizens.
___Just because one church gives more than another, or one church baptizes more than another, or they have a higher rate of Sunday School growth doesn't mean each church isn't involved in kingdom work.
___We should be in unity and oneness. I pray that only the total numbers are given to show the growth of God's kingdom. I don't need my church put on a list to know we are serving the Lord at a high rate.
___I am in partnership with all Texas Baptist churches trying to fulfill the Great Commission, knowing that in God's eyes all his churches are No. 1.
___
Richard Ray
___
Buffalo
Sign them up
___We can always count on the Baptist Standard to provide complete coverage of the religious news from fair, impartial reporting.
___I teach a large adult Sunday School class. Almost every Sunday, I share something from the Standard and urge them to ask the church office to send them the paper.
___Last Sunday, I pointed out some of the features of the latest issue and passed around a sign-up sheet, and 18 families signed up to receive the Standard.
___I would encourage every adult Sunday School teacher and worker to actively enroll their members to receive and read the Standard.
___Thanks for telling the story of the BGCT.
___I am thrilled with everything I hear about the world missions network. God is about to do something great and glorious through this missions program.
___
Robert Pinder
___
Georgetown
Don't get away from Maston tradition
___My grandfather was a Southern Baptist pastor and baptized me when I was 11. I have served in volunteer and paid positions in the church from custodian to the pulpit—teaching, administration, directing choirs, leading worship services. I am an ordained deacon and have a degree from Southwestern Seminary.
___But this is not about me, but to qualify my astonishment that an insecure authority at Southwestern can say, "We want a Christian ethics teacher who can help us get away from the Maston tradition."
___I was not privileged to have a class with T.B. Maston, but I knew him personally. How can the seminary diminish the legacy and Christianity of such a wonderful man?
___ Don Phillips
___ Fort Worth
Ethics course was just another Bible class
___ In regard to Joe Trull's letter (Jan. 13), I studied ethics under C.W. Scudder, who was a protege of T.B. Maston, and any significant point in my notes is backed up with Scripture.
___In fact, I thought several times in my ethics course that this is just another Bible course, which moves from one subject to another that has to do with horizontal relationships. Also, I just wonder if there really is anyone around who is dumb enough to believe that there was liberalism and lack of Bible teaching under Southwestern Seminary presidents such as Robert Naylor and L.R. Scarborough.
___ I grew up in the shadow of Southwestern, and all of our pastors were either professors who were interims or students who were studying at Southwestern. For the life of me, I don't remember a liberal, non-biblical statement coming out of any of their mouths.
___Dennis Roberts
___Kansas City, Mo.
___What do you think? Submit letters for Texas Baptist Forum via e-mail to marvknox@baptiststandard.com or regular mail at Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267. Letters must be no longer than 250 words. They may be edited to accommodate space.
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