Southern Baptists OK New Faith Standards

Conservative Leaders Call New Measure Confusing, Moderates Worry Over Denomination's Rightward Shift

(AP)  Southern Baptists concerned about a rightward shift in the denomination claimed a significant victory Wednesday with the passage of a motion centered on Baptist identity. Some conservatives downplayed the vote's importance and called the measure confusing.

In results announced Wednesday morning, "messengers," or delegates, to the denomination's annual meeting voted 58 percent to 42 percent to support a statement calling the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 the sufficient standard for establishing what makes a good Southern Baptist.

Backers of the statement said some conservatives have been setting additional litmus tests, in effect narrowing who is considered a Baptist in good standing. At stake is the direction of the SBC nearly three decades after its "conservative resurgence" purged liberals over the issue of biblical infallibility.

"This would reaffirm the parameters of doctrinal cooperation for our denomination," the Rev. Benjamin Cole of Arlington, Texas, who supported the motion said Tuesday after the vote on the measure was taken.

Another architect of the measure, the Rev. Wade Burleson of Enid, Okla., called the result perhaps the most significant in the last decade at an annual meeting.

Baptists such as Cole and Burleson, pressing their case on blogs, have argued that some SBC conservatives have gone beyond the Baptist Faith and Message, overstepping that document's reach to exclude some Southern Baptists — most recently, those who worship through the traditional Pentecostal practice of speaking in tongues. Some Baptists denounce the practice, and believe seminaries and other agencies should set standards that prevent the hiring of people who advocate speaking in tongues.

The denomination's International Mission Board has enacted guidelines against allowing future missionaries to use "private prayer language," or to speak in tongues in private.

Burleson acknowledged that the vote still leaves hiring decisions in the hands of the trustees of SBC entities. But he said it could place pressure on those making hiring decisions.

But the Rev. Bill Harrell, chairman of the SBC executive committee, countered that the Baptist Faith and Message "has always been our guide," and trustees will "still be able to answer the questions about whether to hire somebody or not."

"I don't think it will have a lot of significance, and I really don't think it is going to change much," he said.

Malcolm Yarnell, a professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, called the motion confusing and unclear. Yarnell said he interpreted the vote as a vindication of the Baptist Faith and Message as setting the minimal standard for Baptist beliefs, and rejected the argument that it will restrict trustees of Baptist groups from laying down additional rules.

He said most people walking out of the hall after Tuesday's vote were "good conservative pastors" who thought they were affirming the Baptist Faith and Message and reaffirming trustees' discretion in setting standards for hiring people.

"Ultimately, what you've got here is mass confusion," Yarnell said. "I think we have this year to try to discuss this theologically to try to clarify how we're going to respond to this."

He pointed out that another key vote, on the convention's first vice president, could be read as a confidence vote in support of "a clear Baptist identity." Jim Richards, who heads a conservative state Baptist convention in Texas, easily defeated missionary David Rogers, the choice of younger, more centrist Baptists. Richards won with more than two-thirds of the ballots cast.

[bannerislove]

I want to apologize to anyone who has been hurt by the Church. It seems there's a lot of frustration and anger directed toward people who claim to be Christians. If you have seen any behavior that is questionable or if you've experienced anything but love and compassion from anyone in the Church, especially Southern Baptists, I apologize on their behalf. (I am a follower of Jesus Christ and a member of a Southern Baptist Church.)

That's not what God, who is the full embodiment of holiness and love, is all about. Christians, I prefer Christ-followers, are to be on the front lines caring for the poor, the sick, the abandoned, the hopeless. It's not out of duty; it's because God's grace has been experienced in our lives so much. I pray that each of you would visit your local church and engage in a dialogue with the pastor and/or members. Express your concerns and outrage, and give them the opportunity to grow from the exchange and share with you the full grace of God and his son, Jesus, who died and now lives in heaven so that you could have abundant, eternal life.

[smirk5]

I love God. I love his rules. Thou Shall Not Kill, Turn the Other Cheeck, etc. My favorite song? Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran.

[jolsonbear]

Wanna see what Baptist do in thier spare time? Come to Shreveport, LA any sunday about 2pm and go to the local casinos. The entire Baptist population from east Texas is there---drinking, smoking and spinning those reels!!!

[randalds]

L. Ron Hubbard was a fairly successful science fiction writer. He has been quoted as saying that he wasn't satisfied earning 10 cents a word for writing fiction. That if you wanted to be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams, you needed to start a religion. He founded Scientology, and the rest is history.
Posted by barbaraf4 at 10:55 PM : Jun 13, 2007

My wife and I often eat brunch at a small restaurant that's right across the street from the Scientology "church" here in Los Angeles. It's really an old hospital that's been repainted a really ugly blue. Anyway it's bizarre to watch them all run (yes run) around the hospital between whatever function they have going. Even by L.A. terms they are really really really strange and cult-like.

[jimfinster]

The news sites yesterday had a story that said that a recent study revealed that 58% of Republishit Party members DID NOT believe in Darwin's theory of evolution.
Posted by JackSteen1 at 08:08 PM : Jun 13, 2007

Actually, it was 68% as I recall. Funny stuff...

[gunownerdan]

Christians sure do have a lot of work to do!

"And these signs shall follow follow those that believe;
In my name shall they cast out devils;
They shall speak in new tongues;
They shall take up serpents;
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;
They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
- St. Mark 16:17-18

[j-whitman]

These radical militant Baptists better do alot more than change thier standards.

In the meantime,, This administration is replacing Civil Rights with Religious Rights. -- Elimination of Seperation of Church & State & America's Constitution.

[j-whitman]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Violent Muslim, Christian and Jewish extremists invoke the same rhetoric of "good" and "evil" and the best way to fight them is to tackle the problems that drive people to extremism, according to a report obtained by Reuters.
It said extremists from each of the three faiths often have tangible grievances -- social, economic or political -- but they invoke religion to recruit followers and to justify breaking the law, including killing civilians and members of their own faith.
----- EastWest Institute, security think tank
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070613/us_nm/security_usa_extremism_dc;_ylt=ArIHZBD2FzdSJaO7xnxSrXHMWM0F

[j-whitman]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Violent Muslim, Christian and Jewish extremists invoke the same rhetoric of "good" and "evil" and the best way to fight them is to tackle the problems that drive people to extremism, according to a report obtained by Reuters.
It said extremists from each of the three faiths often have tangible grievances -- social, economic or political -- but they invoke religion to recruit followers and to justify breaking the law, including killing civilians and members of their own faith.
----- EastWest Institute, security think tank
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070613/us_nm/security_usa_extremism_dc;_ylt=ArIHZBD2FzdSJaO7xnxSrXHMWM0F

[barbaraf4]

L. Ron Hubbard was a fairly successful science fiction writer. He has been quoted as saying that he wasn't satisfied earning 10 cents a word for writing fiction. That if you wanted to be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams, you needed to start a religion. He founded Scientology, and the rest is history.