Two of the most popular items on this blog over the last several weeks have been the debate surrounding the John 3.16 Conference and Calvinism in the SBC, and the post I did last week entitled “Dirty Words and Beer” which addressed some issues of possible narrowness which in my opinion may affect the SBC as it continues it pursuit of the Great Commission. Interestingly enough, both of these topics have also received some consideration in recent months over at Between the Times, a blog run by members of the faculty at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, including seminary President Dr. Danny Akin.
To begin, Dr. Akin himself makes a contribution during his series on “God’s Guidelines for the ‘Gray Areas’ of Life” to the debate on SBC narrowness when he uses consumption of alcohol as a test case for biblically wise decision making (part 7 and part 8 of the series). As with many other debates, I find the advice of Danny Akin to be some of the most astute within the SBC today. (It is my firm belief that the SBC is truly blessed to have him at the helm of one of their seminaries and, for what it’s worth, I think he would make an excellent future choice for convention president). The words Dr. Akin shares in these posts echo almost identically with what I would want to say on the issue, though at times I think he leans a little more conservative than I do on it (more conservative with God’s law is not a bad thing until it becomes legalism, which this is far from).
One bit I did find intriguing is, though these posts are quite similar to an article he placed in the Baptist Press a couple of years ago, there was one notable difference: in this most recent posting Dr. Akin left out his previous charge that he would demand abstinence among church leadership. This may or may not be significant, but it is at least noteworthy in the fact that this is where I think the SBC is in most need of taking a deeper look at the issue. Irregardless, this is an excellent assessment and should be beneficial to all who read it.
The second related posting was by Dr. Nathan Finn, Assistant Professor of Church History at SEBTS, entitled “Some Thoughts on Calvinism and Cooperation.” In this post Dr. Finn relates an earlier post he had made concerning the four different types of Calvinists and non-Calvinists inside the SBC (the cooperative and non-cooperative varieties of each) and discusses what each type brings to the table and is seeking in the debate about Calvinism in the Convention. He notes that this post was made prior to J316C and so the views expressed are not necessarily a response to anyone in particular, which, in my opinion, makes it even more telling due to its prophetic nature (At one point Dr. Finn says of non-cooperative non-Calvinists that they “tend to misrepresent the convictions of Calvinists (Calvinists aren’t evangelistic) and use incorrect labels when discussing Calvinism (‘hyper-Calvinism,’ ‘militant Calvinism’)”).
What I find of greatest interest in his post is Dr. Finn’s assessment of whether the Calvinism debate will cause a plit in the SBC or not. Here’s what he says:
I do not think the SBC will divide over Calvinism, though it is possible if the extremes do not tone it down or move on. Think about the trend: As many as one-third of the SBC pastors and staff members who are recent seminary graduates are consistent Calvinists. That is not counting younger church leaders who did not graduate from seminary or have only a college education. That is not counting foreign missionaries, North American church planters, or professors, ministries toward which a disproportionately high number of Calvinists seem to gravitate. And that is not counting Amyraldians and other types of “four-point” Calvinists. In other words, Calvinism is becoming more influential in the SBC, which is why it is critical that Convention Calvinists be willing to cooperate and non-Calvinists be willing to let them do so. If this does not happen, then yes, we will divide over Calvinism. There will be no Great Commission Resurgence. And that will be a shame.
This is an excellent assessment and is worth the time it takes to read.
As always, I hope these resources will be helpful to you guys and please, feel free to comment and interact here with these discussions as you feel necessary.
