WHO ARE WE SOUTHERN BAPTISTS?
A Short History and Doctrines
That Historically Formed Our Beliefs And Practices
By
Pastor Ron Flurry
2009
OVERVIEW
Through these 43 years God has called me to ministry, It has been my observation we as Southern Baptist are not growing more committed to the truths of Scripture Baptists have held, but are allowing them to fade into non-importance in our personal lives as well as our church lives and practices. A marked difference began when churches stopped using Convention published Church Training material. It was in this study, Baptist youth and adults were exposed, on set schedules, to Baptist History, Polity/Organization, Doctrine, Ethics, and Discipleship. Today, the average Southern Baptist does not know why Baptists became who we are, nor do we know what beliefs we hold and why, or how we organize ourselves for the ministry of the Holy Spirit in us. Far less do we even care today if it is ethical or not. We generally follow the axiom of the Israelites in the days of the judges when it is said of them; everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 7:6; 21:25 NKJV). This is not the fault of the people alone, but of pastors and the denomination. Of pastors, because of the lack of Biblical Instruction and in religious history we have as our heritage. Of the denomination, because it seems we are more interested in pleasing all churches of all denominations rather than staying centered upon providing materials that strengthen our beliefs and practices.
In this study, I will attempt to lay a background in three of the above disciplines that were the five points of Southern Baptist’s curriculum design during the 50's – 80's; namely: Baptist History, Doctrines, and Polity. There are some important words Southern Baptists need to know and understand. Not understanding them, is why we have many of the doctrinal and polity problems in which we are finding ourselves embroiled.
Glossary
1. Anabaptist – a large group of people in different countries, of different languages, and different backgrounds who believed a person had not been truly baptized unless they professed a personal faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord. Hence, their name: re-baptizer, for most came out of state churches. Many groups existed, some say, back to John the Baptist. Some of these practiced different forms of baptism.
2. General Baptist – term given to the first Baptists--called "General Baptists" because of their confession of a "general" or unlimited atonement; “holding that the death of Christ made salvation possible for any persons who voluntarily exercise faith in Christ. These churches were Arminian in tendency and held the possibility of falling from grace.”
3. Particular Baptist – “were so-called because they held the Particular Atonement. The Particular view of the atonement is that Christ in His death undertook to save particular individuals, usually referred to as the elect. . . .The majority of early Particular Baptists rejected open membership and open communion.”
4. Arminianism –A theological and political movement which grew in opposition to Calvinism, now called "Arminianism", was founded by Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius and revised and pursued by the Remonstrants. Arminius rejected several tenets of the Calvinist doctrines of salvation — namely, the latter four of what would later be known as the five points of Calvinism. The term "Arminianism" today often serves as an umbrella term for both Arminius's doctrine and the Remonstrants', but Arminius's followers sometimes distinguish themselves as "Reformed Arminians."
“The Remonstrants' doctrine was condemned at the Synod of Dort held in Dordrecht, Holland, in 1618/1619, . . . Many Evangelical Christians adopted the position advocated by the Remonstrants, and Arminius's system was revived by evangelist John Wesley and is common today, particularly in Methodism.”
5. Calvinism – “Calvinism (also called the Reformed tradition, the Reformed faith, or Reformed theology) is a theological system and an approach to the Christian life. . . . Broadly speaking, Calvinism stresses the sovereignty or rule of God in all things — in salvation but also in all of life. . . .Calvinism is sometimes identified with "Augustinianism" because the central issues of Calvinistic soteriology were articulated by St. Augustine in his dispute with the British monk Pelagius. In contrast to the free-will position advocated by Charles Finney and other dissenters, Calvinism places strong emphasis on both the abiding goodness of the original creation and the total ruin of human accomplishments and the frustration of the whole creation caused by sin. It therefore views salvation as a new work of creation by God, rather than an achievement of those who are saved from sin and death.”
6. Augustinianism – biblical belief’s formulated by Augustin of Hippo (354-430). “Augustinianism holds that, after the Fall, mankind is unable to not sin. In other words, due to the corruption of human nature in the Fall, one's will is not free, but rather a slave to sin. As such, every person is born sinful and justly under the condemnation of God. In order for a person to be delivered from this dreadful state (i.e. saved), God must intervene. This view of the natural state of humanity is often referred to as the doctrine of total depravity.
Grace also plays a significant role in Augustinianism. The grace of God is free, necessary, and comes before any righteous act of the sinner. Grace is usually also said to be irresistible and effectual in the sense that all who are given such grace will surely come to faith in Christ. Furthermore, Augustinianism has a distinct view of predestination. Grace is given to those whom God has predestined before the earth began, and is not based on the foreknowledge of God. The predestination in a fully Augustinian system is without any merit in the sinner themselves.”
7. Pelagianism – “Pelagianism views humanity as basically good and morally unaffected by the Fall. It denies the imputation of Adam's sin, original sin, total depravity, and substitutionary atonement. It simultaneously views man as fundamentally good and in possession of libertarian free will. With regards to salvation, it teaches that man has the ability in and of himself (apart from divine aid) to obey God and earn eternal salvation. Pelagianism is overwhelmingly incompatible with the Bible and was historically opposed by Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo, leading to its condemnation as a heresy at Council of Carthage in 418 A.D. These condemnations were summarily ratified at the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431). . . .Pelagius was a monk from Britain, whose reputation and theology came into prominence after he went to Rome sometime in the 380's A.D.”
8. Autonomous – The right of an organization or institution to govern itself. It makes its own rules, and carries out its own missions. With a church, it means that no other ecclesiastical body has the right to rule on its behalf or to make decisions for it.
9. Baptist Polity – The word polity comes from the Latin politia which carries overtones of a form of government. The root word in Latin is politus meaning polite. Politia is, also, the Latin word for police. Combining them gives the idea that one’s (or a groups) polity is a self-governing and self-policing of the way they take care of business with politeness toward one-another. When we combine the word Baptist and Polity, we describe a specific belief system with the idea of being a self-governing group of people who govern and police their beliefs in a Godly and Christian manner.
Historical Beliefs
There have been some through the centuries who have endeavored to link Baptists all the way back to John the Baptist through baptismal records found in the Early Church Fathers until today. They make much about the linage ignoring what some of the groups believed. Such was the case in the little booklet, The Trail of Blood. Better to trace our belief’s through the Bible and the creeds and statements of faith recorded in history than through baptisms. A clearer statement might be made that we hold to the teachings of the Apostles who got their teachings from the Lord Jesus Christ and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
One of the major players in our historical beliefs was Augustine of Hippo.
"Urelius Augustinus (354 - 430) is often simply referred to as St. Augustine or Augustine Bishop of Hippo (the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba in Algeria). He is the pre-eminent "Doctor of the Church" according to Roman Catholicism, and is considered by Evangelical Protestants to be in the tradition of the Apostle Paul as the theological fountainhead of the Reformation teaching on salvation and grace."
"Augustinianism holds that, after the Fall, mankind is unable to not sin. In other words, due to the corruption of human nature in the Fall, one's will is not free, but rather a slave to sin. As such, every person is born sinful and justly under the condemnation of God. In order for a person to be delivered from this dreadful state (i.e. saved), God must intervene. This view of the natural state of humanity is often referred to as the doctrine of total depravity. Grace also plays a significant role in Augustinianism. The grace of God is free, necessary, and comes before any righteous act of the sinner. Grace is usually also said to be irresistible and effectual in the sense that all who are given such grace will surely come to faith in Christ. Furthermore, Augustinianism has a distinct view of predestination. Grace is given to those whom God has predestined before the earth began, and is not based on the foreknowledge of God. The predestination in a fully Augustinian system is without any merit in the sinner themselves."
“ 'Pelagius was a monk from Britain, whose reputation and theology came into prominence after he went to Rome sometime in the 380's A.D.' " 'The historic Pelagian theological controversy involved the nature of man and the doctrine of original sin.” He denied Adam’s sin affected those who came after the Fall. Man, he taught, is born in innocence and his nature is as pure as Adam’s at his creation. He was the first to teach that man has a free will to choose to live spiritually good and that the result of his efforts or good works, would be saved by the free will of choosing to follow the precepts of God.' "
One can immediately see the conflict which arose when Pelagius went to Rome and confronted Augustinian beliefs.
"Augustine did not deny that man had a will and that he could make choices. But, Augustine recognized that man did not have a free will in moral issues related to God, asserting that the effects of original sin were passed to the children of Adam and Eve and that mankind’s nature was thereby corrupted. Man could choose what he desired, but those desires were influenced by his sinful nature and he was unable to refrain from sinning.
"Pelagius cleared himself of charges, primarily by hiding his real beliefs; however, at the Council of Carthage in 418 A.D., his teachings were branded as heresy [my emphasis] . The Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D., again condemned Pelagian doctrine and it was banished in the Greek portion of the church. However, in the West, the teachings held on, primarily in Britain and Gaul [France].
The Protestant Reformation often referred to itself as a return to a full-fledged Augustinianism. Luther, Calvin, and other reformers often enlisted the works of Augustine in the defense of their theology. In particular, John Calvin incorporated Augustine's teachings on predestination, sovereign grace, and the depravity of man into his theology. Thus, Calvinism and Augustinianism are sometimes used synonymously."
The major emphases of Arminianism are closely related to Calvinism or Augustinianism. “The Five articles of Remonstrance that Arminius' followers formulated in 1610 state [their] beliefs regarding (I) conditional election, (II) unlimited atonement, (III) total depravity, (IV) total depravity and resistible grace, and (V) possibility of apostasy.” Their core beliefs are summarized by theologian Stephen Ashby:
"Prior to being drawn and enabled, one is unable to believe… able only to resist.
Having been drawn and enabled, but prior to regeneration, one is able to believe… able also to resist.
After one believes, God then regenerates; one is able to continue believing… able also to resist.
Upon resisting to the point of unbelief, one is unable again to believe… able only to resist."
One can understand their theology is close but not biblical from Particular Baptist views. The first point is close but not the same. Both agree man is totally depraved. The second point reveals a small influence of Pelagianism by exercising the fallen will. The third point reveals a lack of understanding of eternal salvation, giving importance in the belief of “falling from grace.” The fourth point is full blown heresy relating to falling from grace into eternal damnation.
Through the years after Pelagius was condemned, his teachings continued to influence European thought. It influenced the Anabaptist, causing much disagreement and divisions. When Arminius began to attack Calvinistic and Augustinian teaching, most of those following him leaned toward including Pelagius’ teaching concerning Free Will, and a works mentality of faith. Denominations which follow the Arminian and Pelagian theology are: Methodists, Free Will Baptists, General Baptists, Churches of Christ, Disciples of Christ, Church of the Nazarene, Seventh-day Adventists, The Salvation Army, Mennonites, Pentecostals, and Charismatics. Many Southern Baptists lean more to this view today than we historically did at the beginning of our formation. Southern Baptists view from the formation of the Convention in 1845, was from the Particular/Augustinian/Calvinistic point of view. We easily ascertain this from the fact of Southern Baptists adopting the New Hampshire Statement of Faith in 1925. (See Appendix A). Also, Southern Baptists expressed Particular Baptists Beliefs when the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was begun. In their Charter, they even state the seriousness of their intent very emphatically.
"When the original charter of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was adopted in 1858 it contained the following statement which continues as a part of the "fundamental laws." "Every professor of the institution shall be a member of a regular Baptist Church; and all persons accepting professorships in this Seminary shall be considered, by such acceptance, as engaging to teach in accordance with, and not contrary to, the Abstract of Principles hereinafter laid down, a departure from which principles on his part shall be grounds for his resignation or removal by the Trustees." (See Appendix B).
Dr. Al Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Nashville, Tennessee, identifies the institutions fourth president, E. Y. Mullins, with the turn from Calvinistic/Augustinian heritage to an Arminian belief. This taking place in 1921 through 1924. The liberal, Russel Dilday, former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; dismissed, and now Distinguished Professor at Baylor University, argues that Mohler is wrong in his assessment of Mullins.
"Mohler is part of a growing network of Southern Baptist Calvinists who want the Southern Baptist Convention to return to five-point Calvinism, which they cite as the doctrinal moorings of Southern Seminary's founders and some of the founders of the SBC itself. Southern Seminary founders James Petigru Boyce and John Broadus embraced Calvinism, also known as Reformed theology or "the doctrines of grace."
"While Mohler wants Southern Baptists to return to the theology of Boyce and Broadus, Southern Baptists largely turned away from this theology for good reason, said Bill Leonard, a Baptist historian who previously taught at Southern Seminary and now is dean of the new divinity school at Wake Forest University. "For one thing, they could not accept the damnation of infants," Leonard said. "They could not accept the idea of election. They rejected the Boyce/Broadus tradition of election and limited atonement. They turned away on the question of limited atonement toward general atonement."
"General atonement is the belief that Christ's death on the cross was effective for all who would believe in him for salvation, with the implication that all people have equal opportunity to accept or reject Christ. Limited atonement is the belief that Christ's death on the cross was effective only for the elect, those predestined to salvation."
"Leonard said Mohler is guilty of buying into a "fallacy of Baptist origins." "There is an idea that there is one kind of Baptist history, one kind of Baptist identity and if we can find it, we can be real Baptists," Leonard explained. "The moderates have that same fallacy at times, as do the conservatives. "Historians have to keep reminding Baptists that they are the only post-Reformation people who began at both ends of the theological spectrum," he added. "This idea that there's one kind of Baptist and I know which kind it is, is to miss the point of the whole Baptist identity."
"While Mohler makes much of the presumed change in direction at Southern Seminary from Broadus to Mullins, "the only true progression you see between Broadus and Mullins is the de-emphasis on Calvinism," Lefever said. This change was in keeping with the changing view of Baptists at the time, he added."
"During Mullins' tenure at Southern, Texas Baptists founded Southwestern Seminary, with B.H. Carroll as president. Carroll was a "modified Calvinist," Lefever said, who was followed in the presidency by L.R. Scarborough, a "whosoever will may come" evangelist."
"To suggest that Mullins opened the door to theological liberalism among Southern Baptists would be an "unfortunate misrepresentation," added Dilday, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on Mullins. "This man spoke an orthodox Baptist view at a time when it was being questioned," he continued. "To attack this man whom, at his death, George Truett and others said was one of the greatest men who ever lived, is a cheap shot. Mullins probably was the most important Baptist apologist of the century." Mullins must be understood in the context in which he lived and worked, Leonard said. "He was trying to come to terms with a changing world post-slavery, post-industrial revolution and new science."
"You can fault Mullins if you want to for no longer being helpful in a postmodern context, but had we continued in the Boyce/Broadus tradition, we would have remained a racist Southern sect. Mullins, for better or worse, was trying to get away from that."
"Curtis Freeman, professor of Christianity at Houston Baptist University and a sometimes critic of Mullins himself, agreed with Leonard's point. "As we assess the Mullins legacy, we may well find that soul competency has too much rugged individualism in it to reach a lonely postmodern culture of moral strangers," Freeman said. "Here we may find help in the 16th and 17th century Anabaptists and Baptists who emphasized the responsibility of each believer's priesthood within a community of disciples. "However, I am not persuaded that going 'back to the future' with the (Calvinistic) orthodoxy of Boyce and the Princeton theology which birthed it offers a viable approach of relating the gospel to our culture," he said. "It is too male, too rationalistic and too authoritarian."
I give the following quote as an answer to Dr. Dilday’s opinion. It is from an address given by Dr. Malcolm B. Yarnell, III, Dean of the Faculty of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, April 21, 2002. Dr. Yarnell speaks about himself and Dr. R. Stanton Norman, a Ph.D. graduate of Southwestern Seminary and now a professor at New Orleans Seminary:
"Stan and I, in different places but at the same time, tried to make sense out of the present turmoil and came to a radically similar conclusion about the Baptist theological heritage. At Southwestern, Dr. Norman immersed himself in the historic documents of the Southern Baptist theological heritage. While in Oxford University, I immersed myself in the most ancient documents of the Baptist tradition at the Bodleian and in the Angus Library at Regent’s Park College, and dipped somewhat into the modern Southern Baptist theological heritage. We both concluded that there are actually two traditions upon which Southern Baptists are building. I called proponents of the one tradition “Christocentric churchmen” and disciples of the other tradition “anthropocentric individualists.” Norman entitled them “the Reformation tradition” and “the Enlightenment tradition.” Both of us agreed that the one tradition began in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries while the other began in the twentieth century with E.Y. Mullins.1 [He is quoting from the following book: R. Stanton Norman, More Than Just a Name: Preserving Our Baptist Identity. (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2001), pp. 41-43; Malcolm B. Yarnell, III, “Changing Baptist Concepts of Royal Priesthood: John Smyth and Edgar Young Mullins,” The Rise of the Laity in Evangelical Protestantism. (London: Routledge, 2002), pp. 236-52.] I believe the divide that exists among Baptists today can be traced to whether a person gives priority to one tradition or the other. I also believe that if the latter tradition ultimately prevails Baptists will become less Baptistic over time; if the most radical followers of Mullins, the neo-Baptists, prevail, then Baptists will inevitably lose their doctrinal integrity and denominational vitality (Bold emphasis mine)." (See Appendix C).
HISTORY OF BAPTISTS
Baptists are believers with a great heritage. We came to America on the Mayflower in December 1620, and some have said Baptists were here before 1607; as a Baptist Church claims they were the first Baptist church in America. Historical records show a Baptist church constituted in 1639 and another in 1644. These early Baptists were still being called Anabaptists, a term of derision because of the practice of re-baptizing people who had been
baptized as infants.
Anabaptists were people who believed strongly the need for a personal experience of salvation by faith and that it was not possible to be saved by declaration of a church. Historical evidence shows these early Baptists were never part of the Catholic Church, therefore, never being dissenters, but true followers of apostolic beliefs and practices. There was much hope and gladness for the Anabaptists from every country in Europe, when Martin Luther inaugurated the Reformation which began on October 1517, when he nailed his Ninety-five Thesis upon the door of Castle Church, Wittenberg, Germany.
Anabaptists formed several arms or branches because of strong leaders. One led by Meno Simons, became known as the Mennonites. Modern Mennonites do not follow their namesakes practices or teachings. Anabaptists all over Europe, from earliest times, were persecuted and martyred by both the Catholics and Protestants because they believed baptism was biblical only if practiced after one’s personal salvation experience. This slapped all Catholics and Protestants in the face for practicing infant baptism and angered these state religions to classify all Anabaptists as heretics worthy of death. Churches which believed and practiced biblical life much the same as us today, were to be found in England as early as the third century. Always remember, alongside of state churches, such as the Church of England and Catholic churches, were churches who were independent and biblical in practice and belief. These state churches persecuted the Anabaptists until well in the seventeenth century. By 1607, the nickname had stuck and like the first believers in Antioch were call “Christians or little-Christs,” those who held to a birth of regeneration by personal faith in Jesus Christ, began calling themselves, not Anabaptists (re-baptizers), but Baptists with pride for their peculiar faith and practice. The first organized church in England calling themselves Baptists was founded by John Smyth in 1607 in Amsterdam, Holland. Their earliest practice was Arminian in doctrine.
Following Smyth’s ways until he broke with his own group and attempted to join the Mennonites, was Thomas Helwys. Falling out with Smyth, he returned to England in 16ll or 1612 and began the first Baptist Church on English soil. They became known as General Baptists, holding an Arminian view which included the belief of general or unlimited atonement. His form of baptism was by pouring.
On September 12, 1633, the first Particular Baptist Church was begun. A group of members of an Independent Episcopal Church in Wapping, London, asked their church to be dismissed because they did not believe in infant baptism. Because this Episcopal Church held to a belief of the “principle of conscience,” they granted them leave and the group formed the first Particular Baptist Church (The belief in God’s complete sovereignty, especially in the area of salvation. One is saved only by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ; faith which itself is given to man by God from God). We know this church practiced immersion as the only mode of baptism, for a group of their members disagreed with this practice and withdrew to form a separate arm called Devonshire Square church in 1640. The leader of Particular Baptists the rest of the seventeenth century was Cambridge educated but left the Episcopal church and formed a Baptist church in Kent, England in 1644. His name was Frances Cornwell. By 1650, there were forty-six Baptist churches in the London area, one being over three thousand in membership, and formed themselves into what must have been the first association of Baptists. Correspondence indicates Particular Baptist churches were strong in other areas of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales at this time.
During this same time, England revolted from the King and formed their Parliament. Many of the ranking officers in Cromwell’s army were Baptists. After the victory, Cromwell began persecuting and killing people who would not practice the state religion. Over 8,000 Baptists were put to death because they would not give up their practice of baptizing only believers by immersion, and not infants. It was in this period of time religious liberty was hungered and sought, and why many of those who came over on the Mayflower were persecuted Baptists looking for freedom to not only worship, but to openly win people to the Lord Jesus Christ.
With Baptist principles being found in New England and the colonies, one would think a new day had arrived. The truth is different. As Baptists were persecuted in England, they, also, were in most areas here. In fact, there were many Baptists put to death in America for not following the State Churches. Only in Rhode Island, were Baptists free to practice their principles of faith. Roger Williams founded this state and preached and practiced these principles. Many of the first Baptist leaders were Welsh, and it is from them we have much of our history and principles. Churches sprang up in all the colonies, but were strongest in North and South Carolina, New York, and Virginia. Baptists left the Massachusetts colony for these other areas because they were beaten, shamed, and killed for their beliefs and practices. One of the things we must never forget is that many people have suffered greatly, even with their lives, for the freedom to believe and practice our faith as Baptists.
As English Baptists found need to form their churches into associations, so was true in young America. One of the first to be formed, if not first, was in 1765 at Portsmouth, Virginia. It was called The Kehukee Association. These churches were Regular (Particular) Baptists. By 1780, Baptists were numerous and outnumbered most other denominations in many cities across the nation, especially the South