Wednesday, March 07, 2018

The Baptist Blogger Calls Upon Guidestone to Help SWBTS Professors with Their Retirement Needs

When Charles Spurgeon picked up his quill and wrote for The Sword and the Trowel Magazine in 1887, the Baptist evangelical world read every word Spurgeon published. Spurgeon blistered the English Baptist pastors and theologians of his day for their departure from orthodox, biblical Christianity.

Spurgeon's very public fight with liberals came to be known as The Down-Grade Controversy.

Another Baptist writer is picking up the proverbial pen 130 years later, and Southern Baptist pastors, trustees, and theologians who have departed from orthodox business practices or others who have been harmed by such practices are guaranteed to be reading every word this Baptist Blogger writes from now until the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, Texas (June 2018).

The modern writings should be called The Sword and Throw in the Towel because each word is a blistering indictment of what is happening at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and I predict that trustee leadership at SWBTS will eventually "throw in the towel" and reverse themselves.

We'll see.

Until then, you can read the Sword and Throw in the Towel for yourself.


Incredible.

13 comments:

Former SWBTS Student said...

I have little faith that the trustees will throw in the towel and change course. Doing what's objectively right matters little in the upper echelons of SBC life. The trustees got there positions by being bobble-headed "yes men/women". Why would that change now?
For the most part, the ones that know do not care and the ones that care do not know.
The enrollment is not down due to personal evangelism. The enrollment is down due to gross hypocrisy. The money is all that matters.

Student said...

I don't buy that enrollment is down because of the emphasis on evangelism. Any evidence for that? From experience, there are a lot of students enrolled at SWBTS, but most of us are part time students because we cannot afford to do full time studies and must work to pay for expenses. That cuts down on the Full Time Enrollment numbers needed for Cooperative Program giving.

Rex Ray said...

Wade,

“Spurgeon’s very public fight with liberals...”

I believe today, Burleson is a name that fights liberals.

Liberals today stole the name ‘Conservative’ and true Conservatives got stuck with the name ‘Moderate’.

It’s easy to see why Patterson’s 15 friends changed “Priesthood of the believer” to “Priesthood of believers” so that majority ruled in their 2000 BFM. This agreed with the SBC of 1988 that condemned ‘Priesthood of the Believer’:

http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/872/resolution-on-the-priesthood-of-the-believer

One of the reasons for the condemnation: “WHEREAS, The doctrine of the priesthood of the believer can be used to justify the undermining of pastoral authority in the local church.”

I believe pastors with this “authority” think they’re preaching to dumb sheep.

David T said...

Will Dr. Patterson be sending Mr. Cole some flowers?

Rex Ray said...

Wade,

At one time were you and Cole friends, but got to arguing about something so much that he quit commenting on your blog for the sake of your families or was that someone else?

After Patterson got the majority of the SWBTS board members to fire president Russell Dilday, Kenneth Hemphill took his place, but he was too soft hearted to remove professors that were considered ‘Moderates’.

After Patterson became president, he explained how he removed ‘moderate professors’ without any firing.

“I called them to my office one at a time and said they had a choice of retiring with benefits and a recommendation, or they could choose to be fired with no benefits or recommendation.”

Wade Burleson said...

Rex,

I'm not sure to what you may be referring. Ben has always been a friend - but has withdrawn from Baptist life until fairly recently.

Scott Shaver said...

The 2000 BFM was the most shocking in removing Christ as the ultimate criterion of biblical interpretation. They can label themselves "inerrantists" but the position is a foul one when THE believer is no longer a priest save collectively, and Christ is no longer the primary standard for biblical interpretation. Has all been smoke, mirrors and shell games since SBC adoption of 2000 BFM. Right dodgey document by a right dodgey crowd.

Rex Ray said...

Scott Shaver,

You nailed it about the 2000 BFM. Our church disregards it, and adheres to the 1963 BFM.

Wade’s post on September 13, 2009 states: “The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.” This statement, tragically, is left out of the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message.”

I like to paraphrase: ‘The Bible is to be interpreted through the eyes of Jesus.’

President of the SBC, Paige Patterson, appointed 15 friends to write the 2000 BFM in secret. Max Barnett, Steve Gaines, Susie Hawkins, Rudy Hernandez, Charles Kelley, Jr., Heather King, Richard Land, Fred Luter, Albert Mohler, T. C. Pinckney, Nelson Price, Adrian Rogers, Roger Spradlin, Simon Tsoi, and Jerry Vines.

[They met behind closed doors in secret. “We can’t tell you, but you will like it” was all that the churches and their messengers heard.]

http://www.baptiststart.com/print/1963_baptist_faith_message.html

The 1962 session of the SBC adopted the following motion: [how the 1963 BFM to be written]
"We recommend…the presidents of the various state Conventions…to present to the Convention in Kansas City [1963] some similar statement which shall serve as information to the churches, and which may serve as guidelines to the various agencies of the SBC. It is understood that any group or individuals may approach this committee to be of service.”



March 15, 2018

Rex Ray said...

Wade,

Baptist Blogger strikes again!
https://baptistblog.wordpress.com/

In a letter, March 15, 2018, to Steve Gaines, President of SBC, Benjamin Cole asked him “If dogs were dying in Southern Baptist churches, why would you ask a veterinarian with a track record of killing dogs to help identify and administer the antidote?”

Cole was upset with Paige Patterson being the chairman of a task force to bring recommendations to this years SBC meeting.

A photograph of the Evangelism Task Force shows men with their heads bowed, but Patterson has his head up with one hand holding his chin displaying boredom.

Rex Ray said...

Wade,

This morning I’ll hand out in our church 40 copies of Cole’s letter (and the picture of the SBC Evangelism Task Force praying) to Steve Gaines, President of the SBC.

Maybe we should all write Gaines a letter?

Rex Ray said...

Wade,

I replied this to Ben Cole on:
October 19, 2007
Ben Cole,
Let’s see now, Dr. Klouda was hired in 2002, fired in 2004, and chairman of SWBTS trustees, Van McCain, stated the reason she was hired represented a “momentary lax of the parameters.”
Since that “momentary” lasted two years, how do we know their latest statement of praising Patterson is not a “momentary lax of the parameters”?

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Anonymous said...

The problem here is that Patterson is not really a liberal but rather a neoconservative legalist. Something like that of what Jesus would describe as "they tie up heavy cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them." Patterson's tithing doctrine incriminates him in doing this. You can't teach tithing unless you are going to challenge debt holders to forgive debts every seven years and at least commit to sanctioning the part of the budget to "widows and orphans" every three years. Such a maligning of the Scriptures Patterson does in several areas. Brunson and Gaines are guilty of this as well. But he boasts that he gives 20% of his income from a teaching that he gets his income from. That's exploitation of the Scriptures and the congregation my friends. Anyone in the Baptist leadership needs to be fired to maligning the Scriptures like this and given no title like Emeritus. It should be President exploiti-us instead.