Congratulations on the United States congress and executive running the show like some Southern Baptist Churches. Clowns.
John Stott, RIP. He was known to have participated in many a sermon in the churches I have pastored.
I read that data shows that more recent seminary graduates are calvinistic these days, the percentage of these freshly minted MDivs and the like being around 30% whereas only 10% of SBC pastors in the SBC at large are five-pointers. Since recent grads are as a group less mature and experienced, may we expect a greater number of calvinist/church conflicts in the near future? I hope not.
Occasionally, I wonder if the SBC would have been as well or better off if former SBC moderates were still around and involved, then I read about some of that group like C. Welton Gaddy (here) and get over it. Thank God for the CR.
I recently have taken a liking to Czech composer Bedrich Smetana and along comes a Czech who gets saved and I baptize him. How about that? I've always liked Tchaikovsky, even have a cyrillic Bible, and am on the lookout for a Russian to get saved.
7 comments:
I read the article that had Gaddy in it. What is his connection to moderate baptists?
Tim
Gaddy was for a long-time the pastor of a strong moderate-turned-progressive church in Louisiana. Northminster?
He was at one point a staffer with the Christian Life Commission under Foy Valentine. His tenure there would have been in his early days following his PHD work (at either Southern or Southwestern?). He may have been employed by the Sunday School Board for a while too.
Gaddy was involved in denominational affairs in the 70s and I assume in the 80s. He wasn't what I'd call a SBC denominational leader though.
I never dreamed that 30% of seminary grads are Calvinists since all I seem to hear is how bad a Calvinist is. I'm not a 5.0 Calvinist--but I'm close so I'm glad to see them coming out of our seminaries. Just imagine what comes out of Truett Seminary in Waco if you want to speculate.
Truett: quite a few Arminians I would imagine given the influence of theologian Roger Olson (who is widely respected by many of the strongest non-Calvinist/anti-Calvinist voices in SBC life)
Lumping all moderates in with Gaddy is like saying that Wiley Drake fairly represents all conservatives.
@ Anon - Truett is not the only Baptist seminary whose students are not predominantly Calvinist.
Didn't lump all mods, Matt. Didn't say he represented all mods.
Would anyone dispute that folks like him would be in prominent SBC positions had the CR not occurred? We would be paying for this stuff.
William
Maybe you are right, I am too young to remember the resurgence, takeover, or whatever you want to call it. But the leadership I encountered at Truett was a far cry from the likes of Gaddy.
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