LOOKING FORWARD

                      Vol. IX, No. 1, January 1996

Southern Baptists must hold fast to their historic affirmations of biblical authority or risk losing the ability to even talk about theological issues, say the authors of Baptists and the Bible.

"If we are unable to affirm the doctrine of inerrancy, we lack the foundation to affirm the sinfulness of man, to affirm the necessity of preaching the gospel to every creature and the truthfulness of the Great Commission;' says Tom Nettles, church history chairman at Trinity Evangelical Seminary. "We don't have a foundation for affirming the unity of the race in Adam, and we don't have a foundation for ethical decision-making. The whole epistemological structure that governs the Christian faith falls to the ground if you lose the doctrine of inerrancy."

Noting Baptists, as a people, are somewhat "historically illiterate;' L. Russ Bush, faculty dean at Southeastern Seminary says, however, the Convention's leadership is not. He says, in the past, leaders may have tolerated diversity in the foundational doctrines of the faith, especially by those in academic circles who embraced tenets of modernity, but the Convention itself has never denied nor excused the denial of any of these truths in any of its formal actions.

"Not all of the issues are resolved, but the crisis is over;' Bush says. He adds, "New leadership is in place that is more sensitive to the foundational concerns,” suggesting that Broadman Press turned Baptists and the Bible down 15 years ago because the powers-that-be in the SBC did not want to see the book published.

While believing the SBC will have several years of "peace and restoration and rebuilding;' Bush' warns there are those who still desire to turn the Convention away from its theological roots. "We must still struggle to guard our heritage and teach it to the next generation.”

Others agree a watchful eye is required:

"Those whom God has called to be leaders in the churches must have instilled in them a high view of Scripture, and that must become their conviction. It has to begin in our potential leaders, in our colleges and seminaries, and then the effort must be made for this to be the conviction of the people in the pews. We find our unity first of all in Jesus Christ. However, the clear and perfect revelation of Jesus Christ is found in the Word of God. Our essential unity is in the Scripture and in the Christ that Scripture reveals.”

Fred Wolfe, pastor, Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile, AL

"Only continued vigilance, and the providential help of God will prevent the same kind of doctrinal apathy and doctrinal slippage which brought us to the point we were in the past.”

Mark DeVine, professor, Midwestern Seminary

"Unless Southern Baptists maintain a correctional course that keeps them 'lashed to the Word of God,’ the convention will merely succeed at keeping the denominational entities going without the passion and purpose for which they were created. I believe that was the danger we faced 15 years ago. We were moving toward denominationalism instead of missions and evangelism, all the time foregoing the passion that gave birth to this great denomination.”

John Yarborough, president, Georgia Baptist Convention