Never Too Late for Grace; Never Too Old to Change

The old saying "you can't teach old dogs new tricks"--though possibly challenged as to its veracity by The Dog Whisperer--is a common assumption by most.

Many feel that the older a person becomes, the less likely he will ever change. Cynicism only deepens when an older person faces imminent death and "comes to Christ."

 Many Christians feel that "jailhouse" or "fox-hole" conversions can't be real. Professed changes of character late in life, or minutes from death, seem to create cynicism.

But we who believe that the grace of God is often given in different seasons of life point to "the thief on the cross." Just hours before his death, he was converted to faith in Christ. However, even we who believe it's never too late to change don't fully understand the dramatic change that occurred in the thief within the last few hours of his death.

We often point out that of the two thieves crucified beside Christ, one mocked Him and was condemned, and the other one believed on Him and was taken to paradise upon death. But we don't see how bad off both were in the last hours of their lives.

When both thieves were initially hung on the crosses beside Christ, BOTH mocked him. Mark 15:32 says:

"And they that were crucified with him reviled him"

Something happened to one of the thieves. He who had mocked Christ at the 9:00 a.m. hour (Mark 15:32) came to the place by the afternoon where he rebuked the other thief for his mocking of Christ, saying:

Do you not fear God, seeing that you are experiencing the same condemnation? And we deserve our sentence of condemnation, a just punishment for our actions. But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he turned to Jesus and said, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

The story of the TWO thieves on the cross, who both mocked Christ at the beginning of the crucifixion, is testimony to us all that one is never too old, nor is it ever too late, to change.

In His Grace,

Wade

Tracking Sexual Predators in the SBC and the Multiple Allegations against Judge Paul Pressler

Paul Pressler's Stained Glass Window at SWBTS Chapel

The Houston Chronicle reported last month that multiple men have filed sexual assault allegations against Judge Paul Pressler.

Paul Pressler and Paige Patterson are the two major architects of the 1979 Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention.

One of the men suing Pressler is Duane Rollins Jr, and the Houston Chronicle reports that Rollins accuses Judge Pressler in the lawsuit of raping him multiple times, beginning when Rollins was 14-years-old.

Normally, one would give an accused man like Judge Paul Pressler the benefit of the doubt.

However, there are three reasons why messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention should be shaken to the core by these allegations against a man whose image is in stained glass at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

1. In 2004, Judge Pressler paid $450,000 in what was to be a "secret settlement" to Duane Rollins. All copies of the settlement were destroyed, except for one copy kept at the law office of Pressler's personal lawyer and former business partner. 

2.  In 2016, a young attorney named Brooks Schott worked in that same law office and was also allegedly "sexually propositioned" by then retired Judge Paul Pressler. Disgusted, the young attorney quit the law firm. The Houston Chronicle reports Brooks Schott accused "Jared Woodfill, Pressler’s longtime law partner and the head of the Harris County Republican Party until 2014, of failing to prevent Pressler’s sexual advances toward him and others, which Schott says were well-known among the firm."  

3. Another man named Toby Twining, now 59 and living in New York, claims in an affidavit that Judge Pressler propositioned him at the River Oaks Country Club in Houston when Twining was a young man.

I would encourage every Southern Baptist to follow closely the excellent reporting of Robert Downen of the Houston Chronicle on this matter. Paige Patterson is also a party to this lawsuit. Duane Rollins claims Patterson had knowledge of the sexual assaults and covered them up.

I have friends who are members of the River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas. I've been told that "it was common knowledge that Pressler had a thing for young men." It was seen by other members in the clubhouse.

Years ago, I also heard that the San Francisco Chronicle was about to release a story on the allegations against Pressler. The editors of the paper reportedly backed down after receiving some phone calls from some very powerful people.

In 1989, after the FBI ran a "background check" on Judge Pressler, his name was "withdrawn" as President George Bush's choice to head the Office of Government Ethics. Public statements at the time declared the withdrawal to be about issues other than allegations of sexually predatory behavior,  but one wonders if there was more to the story.

Because...

In 1978, Judge Pressler was terminated from his position as "youth worker" at Bethel Church in Houston.  Frank Sommerville, pastor at Bethel at the time, confirmed that the church “received information about an alleged incident involving Mr. Pressler in 1978.”

“Upon learning of the alleged incident, the church immediately terminated Mr. Pressler’s involvement with the youth group and its activities,” Sommerville wrote. “The Presslers subsequently left the church sometime in late 1978.”

Judge Pressler shows how easy to is for someone to cover up allegations of sexual misconduct through his personal memoir. In his autobiography, A Hill on Which to Die, Judge Pressler goes into great detail on the timeline of his departure from Bethel Church. 

He doesn't mention "the incident." He doesn't tell that he was "terminated." 

Judge Pressler writes that he and his wife, Nancy, resigned in 1979 after realizing they could not dedicate themselves to work in the Southern Baptist Convention while at Bethel. In fact, the only statement he makes about Bethel was what a pastor told him at the time:

“Are you going to minister to 250 high-school students or 13 million Southern Baptists?”

In light of recent revelations, I think there are about 500 parents who were glad Bethel terminated him. Unfortunately, many Southern Baptists have no clue that the architects of the Conservative Resurgence are parties in a lawsuit that alleges predatory sexual behavior as well as a cover-up.

In 2007, I recommended that the Southern Baptist Convention establish a Sex-Offender Database so that people who are credibly accused or convicted of sexual abuse of children or women could be tracked and not passed off from one church to another by covering-up the allegations of abuse. 

In 2008, the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention denied my motion. 

One wonders if men with things to hide helped kill that motion.

What is being reported in the Houston Chronicle these last few weeks leads me to ask a very specific question:

"Had a database tracking sexual predators been in place in 1979, would that database have prevented Judge Paul Pressler and Paige Patterson from ever having influence in the Southern Baptist Convention?"

If you don't care, or worse, if you think the good these two did in the SBC rises above any allegations of predatory behavior or alleged cover-up, then you need to look at yourself carefully in the mirror and see if the gospel has indeed made a difference in your own life.

Stained-glass windows at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary may actually be more stained than Southern Baptists realize.

"Throw Off the View of Women that Denigrates and Objectifies Them," Dr. Sheri Klouda's Story, Part III

Sheri Klouda was the Professor of Hebrew at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's School of Theology. She lost her job because the newly hired President of the SWBTS, Paige Patterson, believed that a woman should never "indulge in the exposition of Scripture," and no woman "should ever be in a position of leadership over men."

Patterson's unbiblical view of a man's inherent authority over a woman and a woman's unconditional submission to a man is a toxic belief system that harms women.

Sheri Klouda is evidence of this harm.

The Southern Baptist Convention which proclaims belief in the inerrancy and infallibility of the Scriptures, must begin comprehending that Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant and made it disappear (Hebrews 8:13) and He inaugurate a New Covenant (Agreement) with the world where leadership comes from humble service, not hubris status; from giftings of the Holy Spirit, not gender of the human race; and from God's appointment, not man's ambition.

Part One of Sheri's story  - "Deep Down I Was Scared" - can be read here.

Part Two of Sheri's story - "Patterson Must Apologise to Those He's Harmed"  - can be read here.

Part Three of Sheri's story - "Throw Off the View of Women that Denigrates and Objectifies Them" in her own words is found below.

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Written by Sheri Klouda

In December of 2014, my husband passed away from esophageal cancer. My daughter graduated from Taylor University the following May, and was offered an incredible job with a new company starting up in Dallas. 

Despite the fact that I was a tenured professor at Taylor University, I made the difficult decision to move to Dallas with her and my grandson, who was 20 months old. My elderly grandmother was experiencing a lot of difficulty living alone in her house, so we moved in with her temporarily so we could help her and get established in the area. 

At the time, we had no idea that the job Abigail was offered would never materialize, and I had no idea it would be so difficult for me to find a job, essentially doing anything. After a month of living with my grandmother, she found it too stressful to have a toddler and two dogs living with her. We moved to a hotel, then some old family friends offered their home to us until we could find a place to live. After staying with them for three weeks, and spending hours applying for jobs and looking for a home to rent, it came time to move again and we settled into another hotel. 

Part of the problem centered on the fact that we did not have jobs, and could not show current income, so no one would rent to us, even though I had quite a bit of savings. After a week at another hotel, we decided that if we could not find a home in the next few days, that we would move back to Indiana. 

After taking a loan on my retirement, and agreeing to pay a year’s rent in advance, we finally found a place to live. Little did I know that I would be unable to find a full-time job for the next year and a half. 

I applied for every faculty job I could find anywhere in the United States. I called every connection I knew, and worked as an adjunct at a community college as well as taught part-time online. 

I served as a Regional Director for Museum of the Bible’s Scholar’s Initiative, and applied for secretarial positions all over the Metroplex. I even taught a seminar at Oxford during June of 2016. Abigail picked up jobs in the service industry. I could not even find a secretarial job. 

By December of 2016, I knew we didn’t have enough money to get through more than one more month. Two weeks before we ran out of money, I interviewed for a position as an Administrative Assistant at a Dallas church, where I continue to serve today.

I also continue to teach online occasionally, I am working on a few writing projects, and present papers when I have the opportunity and can afford to attend the professional meetings. But more importantly, I deal with the church’s people and their concerns daily, and that keeps me grounded in my faith.

I believe that I think the SBC is on the cusp of change. 

How they respond will speak volumes about where they go in the future. It can be a time of growth for them as they seek to meet the challenges of their faith in light of biblical teaching.

I will be disappointed in the Southern Baptist Convention if they cannot finally throw off the mantle of an arrogant leader who has historically espoused a view of women that denigrates them and objectifies them, who seems to reinforce the notion that they serve as a major source of wickedness and sin, and who dismisses their concerns as nonsense. 

I think that the Southern Baptist Convention has an opportunity here to separate themselves from Paige Patterson and his position, to stand firm, acknowledge and clarify their position regarding the respect and dignity of women, and spousal abuse in a clear and biblical manner so that there is no longer a question of tolerance in abusive relationships. 

This is the moment to define themselves and put away the assumptions concerning women that they appear to support by allowing Paige to represent them in a significant way.

I would also like to see the SBC actively support women in academic roles in their colleges and universities, particularly in biblical studies and theology. 

The difference between a local church and a university or seminary is very clear. I would like to see them elect more women to decision-making boards in order to give balance. There are many competent women in the SBC who would be an asset as a trustee of a seminary or Baptist university, women who hold doctorates and serve in ministry or corporate leadership positions.

 While I hold a complementarian view, I believe that the Southern Baptist Convention would serve its constituency well by carefully considering the roles of women in ministry, and seek to expand those roles in whatever way possible to meet contemporary needs. 

While I appreciate the recent statement of Steve Gaines, I would also like to see an official SBC statement on marriage and spousal abuse, biblically based and focused on the protection of women and children. Finally, I believe the Convention must emphasize transparency in cases of child abuse and insist on discipline and legal consequences for those who protect or conceal this behavior.

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The Whiteshirts Came to Know Him Only After They Knew How Much I Cared to Know Them

(In light of recent writings, those new to this blog may wrongly assume I'm most interested in the SBC. My greatest joy comes from leading people to faith in Jesus Christ. This article first published Oct. 2017)
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Some moments move me in ways difficult to express. One such moment occurred on Sunday, October 15, 2017.

As I walked through an area where we set out tables and chairs for people to eat breakfast and visit between worship services, I saw a Chinese family sitting by themselves. I sat down and had an enjoyable conversation with recent emigrants from China who now live and work in Enid. They've been coming to Emmanuel Enid for several weeks.

As I got up to leave, I noticed two young ladies seated at the next table. They looked to be Native American.

Both girls shyly glanced my way as I approached, and then they hurriedly looked back down at their breakfast. I was sure they'd overheard my conversation with the family one table over, and I wondered if the girls were thinking, "Will he stop and talk to us too?"

Many Native Americans experience racial prejudice, even in Oklahoma. It's hard for American Caucasians to understand the feeling of being ignored or overlooked because of the color of one's skin or ethnic background. I did not want to convey to these girls that they were unimportant to me.

People blindness is a dreaded disease I fight hard to never catch.

So I stopped and greeted the girls. Both of them looked up and smiled. 

"Ladies, do you mind if I pull up a chair and join you?"

They smiled again and said no.  I pulled up a chair at the end of their table.

"What's your names?"

Francesca introduced herself first. She told me she was sixteen and had been coming to Emmanuel for a few weeks. She then introduced her sister, Alice, age twenty-four. Alice said this was her first time to come to Emmanuel.

"You two girls are beautiful. Do you mind me asking, 'Are you Native American?'"

Alice blushed, and said, "Yes. We are full-blooded."

"What tribe?"

They told me they were Cheyenne/Arapaho. They explained that their mother is Cheyenne and that their father, now deceased, was Arapaho.

"Are you girls interested in your Cheyenne/Arapaho heritage?"

"Of course!" they said, with what now seemed a perpetual smile.

For the next ten minutes, I sat with Francesca and Alice and told them the story of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the little two-year-old Arapaho boy who had survived it.

The boy, the son of an Arapaho chief, was left an orphan when his entire family was massacred at Sand Creek. He was plucked from the carnage by a United States militia soldier from Colorado named Lemuel Graham.

Graham, with the help of his friend and fellow soldier Jesse Wilson, hid the Arapaho toddler in a stove for their journey back to Denver, Colorado. They hid the boy because their commander, Col. John Chivington, had issued the order, "No captives, no survivors."

"The soldiers mistakenly thought the boy was Cheyenne, which is easy to do," I told the girls. "For as you know, Cheyenne and Arapaho people have similar heritage and customs."

Upon arriving in Denver with their hidden captive, the militia soldiers Lemuel Graham and Jesse Wilson gave their Arapaho captive his new name - Wilson R. Graham.

"What the soldiers did next with the Arapaho toddler was unconscionable," I said.

The girls looked at me, wide-eyed, anticipating what would be said next.

I recounted how the soldiers placed the toddler Wilson Graham in a traveling circus for their personal financial gain.

The circus went to small frontier towns throughout eastern Colorado, Nebraska, and even Missouri.  Americans would pay a penny to see the "Indian savage" who'd survived Sand Creek.

Wilson Graham was a circus-captive sideshow in the Wilson and Graham circus for three years, from 1864 to 1867.

"The United States and the Plains Indians were at war during the entire time Wilson Graham was held captive," I told the girls. "But in 1867, when Wilson was five-years-old, this Arapaho circus boy became instrumental in bringing peace to the frontier."

I told the girls how in 1867, the President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, sent the United States Indian Peace Commission, composed of high-ranking army generals and politicians, to negotiate peace with the Plainsmen Indians who'd been on the warpath since Sand Creek.

The Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and Kiowa finally all agreed to meet the Peace Commission at an Indian holy site called Medicine Lodge (Kansas) with one condition:

"You must bring the circus boy with you." 

U.S. Army General William T. Sherman was commissioned by the President to use all resources at his disposal to find the circus boy and bring him to Medicine Lodge. The General who was well-known for scorching the earth in his March to the Sea at the end of the Civil War was now searching the earth to find the little five-year-old boy Indian boy.

Sherman's troops found the boy in the traveling in a frontier city town and had the boy taken to Medicine Lodge on October 15, 1867, accompanied by the Peace Commissioners.

"Girls," I said, drawing my story to a close, "As a result of this five-year-old Cheyenne/Arapaho boy being brought to Medicine Lodge  exactly 150 years ago today (October 15, 1867)  the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty was signed."

The Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty, October 1867 (Harper's Weekly)

I thought it was remarkable that I was telling this story to two Cheyenne/Arapaho girls on the anniversary of the Cheyenne/Arapaho circus boy being united with his tribe.

I also thought I was finished with the story, but the girls had one question for me.

"What happened to the boy?" 

"He reverted to his Arapaho name Tom Whiteshirt and...."

I stopped talked talking when I heard the girls gasp.

"We are Whiteshirts," they said. 

I was stunned.

I knew that all Cheyenne/Arapaho Whiteshirts in Oklahoma descended from the lone Whiteshirt survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre. 

Francesca and Alice explained to me that their deceased father was an Arapaho Indian named Alfred Whiteshirt. When they'd introduced themselves to me, they'd not given me their surname.

I told them that they were definitely related to the Whiteshirt who was the circus boy. Their eyes were wide, and they had more questions. They'd never heard this story before. 

I told them to wait right there, and I'd go print off an article for them that I'd written about it. 

When I came back five minutes later, the girls' mother, Mona, was standing with them. She confirmed that she was full-blooded Cheyenne and that she'd been married to their father, Mr. Alfred Whiteshirt. Mr. Whiteshirt had died a few years ago. Mona had never heard the story either, but she was ecstatic that her girls were learning about their heritage. 

I gave them the papers I'd printed off and told the girls that I'd really enjoyed getting to know them and looked forward to visiting with them again.

I didn't have to wait very long. 

Francesca and Alice on the day of their baptism

After the final worship service on that Sunday morning, about two hours after I first met Francesca and Alice, the sisters came to see me.

 I noticed their eyes were filled with tears. 

Both Alice and Francesca told me that they wanted Jesus Christ to be the King of their lives. They desired Jesus to make His home in their hearts. They wanted their hearts to be God's House. 

As we spoke, the tears that were welling up began trickling down their cheeks. I reminded them of God's love, and how through surrendering their lives to Jesus Christ, everything they'd ever done wrong - past/present/future - would be forgiven by the work of Christ. I explained that with Jesus as the Lord of their lives, He would lovingly and patiently care for them and watch over them forever. 

I assured them that there was "no ritual" nor "chant" to ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. It was just a matter of opening their hearts to Him and receiving Him into their lives as King.

Then, as we prayed, I stretched out my hands and placed them on the crowns of their bowed heads as these two descendants of Tom Whiteshirt asked Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior. 

Francesca and Alice were saved.

Tom Whiteshirt was saved from temporal death by a U.S. soldier at the Sand Creek Massacre. 

Tom Whiteshirt's great-great-granddaughters were saved from eternal death by Jesus Christ 150 years later. 

Francesca and Alice were both baptized on Sunday, October 29, 2017, testifying publicly of their faith in Jesus Christ. We've purchased for them Bibles and will personally encourage them as they learn what it means to walk in the grace and love of God in a fallen world where people are still being massacred. 

I know that Jesus saves His people (see Matthew 1:21).

But last Sunday was a reminder to me that Theodore Roosevelt was right. 

"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

Tweet It, Read It, Understand It: The Biblical Basis for Believing Men and Women Are Always Equal

I wrote an article ten years ago (September 2008), which is relevant today due to the current debacle being played out in the Southern Baptist Convention.

If you are a Christian who believes the Bible, take your time to read through this article to familiarize yourself with the reasons why men like Paige Patterson, Wayne Grudem, Bruce Ware,  Al Mohler, and organizations like the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood believe that a man should always lead, and a woman should always submit.

These men teach that if the "roles" of men and women are ever reversed, it's a sign that we are living in a wicked society  It's the reason they fight hard to ignore the giftings of highly educated women and remove them from teaching men Hebrew in a seminary. It's the reason they will tell a woman to return to her abusive husband, submit to him, and pray for him.

This false belief that males have inherent, God-given authority over women is an unbiblical, harmful, and heretical teaching (as I will show below). Yet, these Southern Baptist leaders say they are being "biblical" and those who disagree with them are people who don't believe the Bible or simply pagans.

That's just not so.

Ironically, these Southern Baptists who have promoted the inherent and eternal authority of males over females, may, in fact, be the Christian liberals among us. They seem to deny the clear teachings of Jesus Christ, act contrary to the pattern of behavior for all Christians as outlined out in the New Covenant Scriptures, and are subtly but dangerously falling short in their understanding of the Trinity.

Southern Baptists fought one alleged "battle for the Bible" years ago,  but this modern controversy is over believing and practicing some very important truths about gender equality which are in the Bible, the Bible which we Southern Baptists loudly proclaim we believe.

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(Written by Wade Burleson, September 25, 2008)


Growing Semi-Arianism in the SBC and the Consequences for Women If Left Unchallenged


Periodically I will offer a doctrinal post for debate and discussion. Many Christians have little endurance when it comes to doctrinal reading and even less comprehension of how doctrine affects behavior.

This apathy for doctrine has far-reaching harmful consequences.

For this reason, I challenge you to carefully read the following article as it reveals a doctrinal debate within the Southern Baptist Convention that has direct consequences on our Convention’s attitude and behavior towards women.

Let me repeat the last sentence for clarity: There is a current doctrinal debate within the SBC that directly affects our Convention’s attitude and behavior toward women in general.

The Arian Controversy

Arius was a Christian who lived and taught in Alexandria, Egypt (250-336 AD). He became the leading proponent of heretical teaching that would later be identified with his name. Arianism is the belief that God the Father and the Son did not exist together equally and eternally, but that Jesus was created by God the Father and is eternally subordinate to the Father.

In plain English, Arianism teaches Jesus is inherently inferior to God the Father.

Some Christians wrongly confuse Arianism with Aryanism. The latter is the belief that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive, superior race. Hitler was an Aryan, but not an Arian. Aryanism is a belief in human racial superiority. Arianism is a belief in divine patriarchal hierarchy.

In 325 AD, Christian leaders gathered in the city of Nicaea (modern-day Iznik, Turkey) and debated the doctrine of the Trinity. The Council of Nicaea convened on May 20, 325 AD with around 300 pastors present to discuss the Arian Controversy.

After meeting for a solid month, these pastors issued on June 20, 325 AD what we now call The Nicene Creed.

The Nicene Creed is the clearest and most accepted statement on the divinity of Christ in the history of the church.

The Council declared that the Father and the Son are of the same substance and are co-eternal, believing this to be the biblical and traditional Christian teaching handed down from the Apostles.

The Nicaea Council believed that Arianism destroys the unity of the Godhead, and makes the Son unequal to the Father, in contravention of the Scriptures ("The Father and I are one" John 10:30).

The Council of Nicaea ended with the Christian pastors declaring Arius and his follower's heretics.

A Resurging Semi-Arianism in the Southern Baptist Convention

The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood is composed of many Southern Baptists who are introducing to evangelicalism a novel, if not peculiar, view of Christ which has more in common with Arianism than the historic, orthodox view of Christ’s person.

The theologians and teachers who write for the CBMW are teaching what they call “the eternal subordination of the Son to the Father” as a basis for their anti-New Testament and patriarchal view that the female is always to be subordinate to the male.

Women’s subordination to men, according to the teachings of CBMW, is established because it reflects the truth of Trinity. Women will always be subordinate to men and wives will always be subordinate to husbands because Jesus is eternally subordinate to the Father.

That is the scary doctrine being promoted by leading Southern Baptists, onr deemed heresy by the church nearly two millennia ago, and a doctrine that has disastrous consequences for women in the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Bible calls man's desire to "rule over a woman" a sin. The notion that God designed leaders to be males, and that He designed women in the role of submissive servants to men, is a direct contradiction of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

"Jesus called His disciples together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord their power over people, and their high officials exercise authority over others. It shall not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must serve." (Matthew 20:25-27) 

The false doctrine of men's hierarchal authority of women 

Some Southern Baptists, like Paige Patterson, Al Mohler,  and Wayne Grudem, believe and teach that the man is equated to God the Father in hierarchical authority. The woman can be equated to God the Son in humble submission. Just as the Son is eternally subordinate to the Father, so the woman is to be eternally subordinate to the man.

For this reason, the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood proposes that God’s unchanging ideal is the permanent subordination of women.

Their teaching is in error, and it contradicts the teaching of the New Testament.

The New Testament teaches that followers of Jesus Christ - regardless of gender - are to submit "one to another" (Ephesians 5:21). It is as natural in a Christian home for a man to submit to his wife in selfless, humble service as it is for the woman to submit to her husband in selfless, humble service. In fact, the great leaders in the Kingdom - male and female - are those who are servants to all (Matthew 5:27).

There is no denying the physical differences between men and women, but to base the spiritual or emotional “subordination” of women to men on the alleged eternal subordination of the Son to God the Father borders on an Arian view of the nature of Christ.

The very word “ordination means “to order by virtue of superior authority.”

To say Christ is “subordinate” to the Father means he has lesser (sub) authority, lesser (sub) superiority, lesser (sub) ordination.

There is a great deal that will be said in the Southern Baptist Convention and the evangelical world as a whole in the coming months and years about the role of women in society, the church, and the home. Sadly, there is a tendency for those who hold to the hierarchical view of a man’s authority over women to label those who disagree with them as liberal.

But it seems to me that some Southern Baptists follow Arian's teachings more than Christ's teachings.

A Southern Baptist leader has refused to let a woman teach Hebrew to men because of her lesser "spiritual authority" Southern Baptist male trustees conspired to remove a woman from a supervisor’s position in the International Mission Board because she was violating her God-given role of "receiving orders" and was sinfully "giving orders. Southern Baptist pastors will advocate that women staying out of the workforce because their role is to be subordinate to men in society.  In fact, some will go as far as to say any society where "women rule" is an evil, wicked society. To these Southern Baptist Arians, women are “the lesser” regarding “authority” when compared to men, and anyone who dares disagree with them is considered a "liberal" Christian or a pagan.

It’s time for conservative, evangelical Bible-believing Christians who believe in the equality of men and women to realize that the great error in this debate is not a denial of the sufficiency, the authority, and the infallibility of God's Word by those who hold to gender equality.

Rather, the great error in this modern debate is the promotion of semi-Arianism - and a denial of Christ's clear teaching in the New Covenant - by those who wish to force their hierarchical views of male authority upon the church, the home, and society.

Peter Schemm, a member of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, argues that there is room within Christian orthodoxy for the belief in "the eternal subordination of Christ." He argues that people like Giles (and me) who oppose "eternal subordination" and view it as semi-Arianism are simply speaking too harshly for "there is room for both views within evangelicalism."

It is ironic that those who have an affinity for calling themselves conservative evangelicals and label "liberal" those who disagree with them are now proposing tolerance and acceptance of their unique views of the Trinity.

We should accept our brothers (and a few sisters) in Christ who are arguing for "eternal subordination," and we should always treat them with Christian love and respect, but we should never shy away from unchallenging their unorthodox views of the Trinity.

Arius lost the debate in 325 AD, and I predict semi-Arianism will eventually be on the losing side of this current debate.

Patterson Must Apologize to Those He's Harmed: Part II of Sheri Klouda's Story in Her Own Words

This is Part II of Dr. Sheri Klouda, former Professor of Hebrew at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Part I can be read here. Dr. Patterson, when you apologize to Dr. Sheri Klouda personally, as well as other women whom you've harmed with your unbiblical beliefs about women and your patriarchal behavior toward women, your apology for your insensitivity toward women will be deemed genuine.

Part II of Sheri Klouda’s story in her own words.

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Written by Sheri Klouda

It wasn’t until the end of the academic year (May, 2004) that anything significant happened. I did my best not to wear bright colors or clothing that would draw attention. I attended faculty meetings and events, but remained quiet.

I spent most of my time teaching and working with my students, and actually, taught 6 credit hours over my contract requirement. I finished a book length manuscript, contributed to publications, garnered a number of doctoral students interested in writing about biblical intertextuality, wrote for an Apologetics study Bible, worked on a translation and commentary of Psalms for another Bible, continued my studies with Stephen Geller at Jewish Theological Seminary, gave papers at SBL, and taught 7th grade Sunday School. 

I met regularly with students, and carefully monitored everything I said and did. I didn’t stay in the faculty lounge any longer than necessary, I didn’t meet in totally closed door settings with male colleagues; actually, I really did not spend an inordinate amount of time with any of my colleagues in the interest of appearance and discretion. In some ways, it was a bit isolating, but I really enjoyed my work so I didn’t let it bother me too much. I received high marks in my student evaluations, and I felt confident that I was making a difference in the kingdom of God.

In May, as soon as classes were over, I was summoned to the Associate Dean’s office. He told me that Paige Patterson wanted me to actively seek a new academic community as soon as possible. I asked him what I had done, and if there wasn’tsomething I could do to stay at the seminary. I expressed to him that I had done everything to stay below the radar, and that finding another job is not that easy. I asked how long I had to find another job, and the dean told me that there was no specified time limit, but he indicated that I needed to leave before it was time for me to come up for tenure. (Dr. Patterson, by the way, does not believe in tenure). The dean also told me that the seminary would do everything it could to help facilitate a transition, but that Paige did not want me to speak a word about this to anyone.

Continuing to teach at the seminary in the meantime relied on my total silence. I was also instructed that if I consulted or mentioned anything about an attorney, that the conversation would stop there. Admittedly, I was blindsided, simply because I took Paige at his word, and I wasn’t sure what to do next. There were subsequent conversations throughout the first part of the summer with the Associate Dean, and I asked him whether it would be appropriate for me to write a letter to Paige formally asking if there was some way I could continue at the seminary. I did so, and the dean took it to Paige.

Since, of course, I needed references for applications of employment, a few faculty members in positions of authority were aware of the circumstances behind my job search. During the 2004-05 semester, I began supervising doctoral dissertations and masters’ theses, teaching a doctoral reading seminar, and attended an ATS conference on research grants and writing. I continued to present at the professional meetings, write and edit, and complete my post graduate courses with Dr. Geller, combined with teaching a full schedule. 

On occasion, I was asked to report on my progress of finding another job. The Associate Dean conveyed to me that Paige was impatient and disturbed that I had not yet moved on. I was asked to keep a log concerning when and where I applied for positions. There were just not that many open positions in Evangelical institutions for biblical language professors and the field was very competitive.When I managed to interview for a position, I had to explain “why” I was looking for another job. In some cases, the fact that Paige was dismissing me because of my gender presented a disadvantage, since I believe some institutions did not want to get in the middle of a gender dispute, and others wanted to avoid crossing Paige. 

In other cases, more progressive institutions shied away from candidates with degrees from religiously conservative institutions, regardless of the applicant’s qualifications. It was also at this time that Dr. Terri Stovall contacted me, asking if I was interested in teaching Biblical Hebrew to the ladies. I explained that I would be happy to, but that she needed to check with Paige and Dorothy because I did not think they would approve the idea. I never heard anything else about it.

During the 2005-2006 academic year, I saw a great deal of professional growth. The student projects I supervised were well under way, and I was awarded a Theological Scholar’s Grant of $10,000 by the Association of Theological Schools for a book project. I had completed my additional work with Dr. Geller, and I was involved in a number of research projects. I began attending interview panels for potential doctoral students, and participated in interviews for new positions. 

I spoke at the opening of what at the time was the Institute for Biblical Literature Library on the Southwestern campus. I met with Paige in the Fall of 2005, asking once again if there wasn’t some way I could continue to work there, even in the College. I explained to him that I worked hard at finding another job, and asked if there was something he could do to help. I also explained the position he was putting my family in. He did not have a response at that time other than to thank me for coming in and reinforcing his opposition to my teaching at Southwestern.

In the early spring of 2006, the Associate Dean came to my office. He told me that Paige Patterson would no longer allow me to teach, and that I would not be on the class schedule for the next academic year. I could remain in my office, and come in each day, but that I would not be teaching at all. I made an appointment with Paige and went to see him. He allowed that they would continue paying me for the time being, but that there were no guarantees beyond the Fall of 2006. I also met with the Dean, who counseled me that I should explain to all my classes why I would no longer be able to teach at the seminary.

In some ways, this was a humbling experience; in other instances, there were questions I could not answer, and some students expressed incredulity at the idea that I was being asked to step down, thinking surely, I could appeal.

In the meantime, Taylor University contacted me in April of 2006 as the result of a recommendation by a colleague, and eventually, I accepted a job there. We had only lived in our house two years, and the recession began shortly after we moved to Upland, so we lost money on our home in Texas when we sold it 9 months later, and were unable to buy another home in Indiana for years.

The employment situation in rural Indiana made it difficult for my husband to find a job paying more than $7 an hour. I accepted a large cut in salary, and while we had medical coverage, I had to wait to invest in my retirement account. I am, however, eternally grateful to the University for their confidence in me. I was always treated fairly and everyone, including the administration, was very supportive.

 One thing worth mentioning: I worked in a department that was dividedregarding the roles of women in teaching biblical studies and theology; nevertheless, we were all able to acknowledge our differences and work together for the benefit of the school and our students. The school provided a safe place for my family to live and work, and I appreciate all they did for us.

__________________________________________________________

Part III to come...

"Deep Down I Was Scared." Dr. Sheri Klouda about Her Time at SWBTS under Dr. Paige Patterson

Dr. Sheri Klouda (Tom Strattman, Associated Press)

Dr. Sheri Klouda served as Professor of Hebrew at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas from 2002 to 2006.  In 2003, Paige Patterson became President of Southwestern Theological Seminary.  Patterson eventually released Dr. Klouda from her faculty position at the seminary because she was a woman.

I've written extensively on Dr. Klouda and the dark days she endured. Shortly after her termination, Sheri's husband had his leg amputated, and then in 2014, he died from his heart condition. Dr. Klouda relocated away from the south and from her family of origin to find work. There are not many jobs for a woman trained to teach Hebrew.

Sheri has rarely spoken publicly about what happened at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary during her tenure. Because of my knowledge of her situation, and my firm belief that the Southern Baptist Convention has been going down the wrong path in its views and treatment of women, I made a promise to do all I could to move the Southern Baptist Convention toward a more New Testament understanding of the equality of women. Christians who believe the Bible should be on the cutting edge of encouraging and empowering women.

I reached out to Dr. Klouda to ask if she would write her thoughts about the current Patterson controversy and her time at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. It took some cajoling, but I finally convinced Dr. Klouda that her voice needs to be heard. On today's blog, I present Sheri Klouda in her own words. Shari is transparent, humble, and respectful. I've learned a great deal from reading her story. 

You will too.

This is Part One.

Part Two of Sheri's story in her own words can be accessed here.

____________________________________________________________________

Written by Dr. Sheri Klouda

You might wonder what motivates me to talk about this now.

I believe that it is time to end the tyranny, time to eliminate control through fear and intimidation, and time to work together to clarify and redefine the position of the Southern Baptist Convention leadership on the issues of women and spousal abuse, if our Convention is going to grow and flourish in the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that this is our opportunity to underscore where we stand and to demonstrate that the Convention represents all of us and that Paige Patterson does not, cannot, represent the Convention’s views on spousal abuse, the denigration and objectification of women, and the general assumption that somehow, women are inherently more wicked just by virtue of their existence.

It is time to acknowledge that while we affirm the traditional roles of women in the family, that sometimes the circumstances of life and sin require that a godly woman may be called upon to help support a family when a husband is sick and no longer able, that spousal abuse represents the breaking of a sacred covenant, that we must seek to protect our children by modeling healthy marriages and the love of Christ for one another.

I also speak out now because Paige Patterson can no longer hurt me. He has nothing left to take away from me.

First, let me say, I am a proponent of strong and permanent marriages, and I believe in a lifetime commitment between a husband and wife. After all, I was married over 30 years before I became a widow. I suffered consistent and regular abuse at the hands of my husband; most of it was verbally cruel and chipped away at my self-esteem. I struggled to find reassurance of my value through my teaching. I was blessed with encouraging and supportive mentors, all male, and I realized some marginal success in research and writing and my work in the classroom.

It was not a secret that Paige Patterson did not advocate divorce or separation in cases of spousal abuse. I heard about the recorded statement. I read the things he said. That is why I talked about the abuse with a couple of my colleagues during my time at Southwestern. They were really at a loss to advise me. How can you actually prove systematic verbal abuse?

While my husband was often violent, he rarely laid a hand on my child or me physically, although it began to escalate during the time I served at Southwestern. I had, for the first time in our marriage, managed to get family medical coverage through my job. It was the first time we had hospitalization in 18 years. I could not endanger that medical coverage, let alone put our family in financial jeopardy by losing my job. My husband had just had triple by-pass surgery. He was seriously diabetic. He had been in and out of the hospital for years. 

It was in fear of how Paige Patterson could destroy my life that I remained silent. It was also because I did not want to put the jobs of my colleagues at risk by speaking out, even after I left Southwestern. It was a weighty responsibility. I think there is something inherently wrong about giving one man so much power and influence that he could capriciously destroy the lives and careers of others without question and somehow, justify it biblically. 

I remember the day I was formally elected by the Board of Trustees as a full-time faculty member. I had been teaching at least 18 graduate credit hours that year, courses in Old Testament Survey and Biblical Hebrew. I also served as a graduate assistant to another professor and graded the majority of coursework for another 3 classes each semester. I had submitted an acceptable dissertation that spring. Some said I had the opportunity to advance the academic reputation of Southwestern, and there was a great deal of pressure to write a dissertation that made a difference academically. 

When I finally received the news that I was officially part of the faculty, I was overwhelmed with gratitude to be part of the School of Theology. I was told by my mentors that “I had no time for rejoicing” and that I should avoid all media contact. I should stay below the radar, fail to answer the phone, and make no public comment. 

My new colleague Terri Stovall, who already had an established relationship with the Pattersons, made a formal statement to the press. Later that evening, I received a call from Dr. Craig Blaising, officially informing me of the Board’s decision. However, he made very clear that I would be limited to teaching only language-related courses. In the end, this meant that I could teach Biblical Hebrew and Cognate Languages, and Hebrew Exegesis, but no courses in English Bible or Hermeneutics. 

While some may think this was very limiting, how many new faculty do not have to teach Introduction courses as part of their contract? I had already been teaching Introduction to Old Testament and individual book studies in the past at the seminary. I was blessed with teaching all upper-level courses that specialized in biblical language and exegesis.

However, what I did not find out until later was that, with my election to the faculty, all adjunct women instructors in the School of Theology were no longer permitted to teach. The Southwestern Seminary Board of Trustees though hesitant, I assume, did not find that hiring me to teach in the School of Theology contradicted the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, and thus, my hiring did not go against mainstream Baptist religious belief. Yet, other women suffered as a result of my hiring, and I felt tremendously guilty about it.

Those who knew me well also knew that I did not have a chip on my shoulder, that I was too busy trying to excel as an academician and a teacher to think about, respond, or be concerned with my gender and what that meant in my environment. I never felt I had anything to prove. I only wanted to be known for my expertise in the field, known as a good professor, not identified as the “woman” Hebrew professor.

It never crossed my mind that I would want to serve as a pastor of a local church. I never felt called in any way to that role. I knew that I was called to teach in an academic setting, and I have always been satisfied with serving in that way. I also know that I avoided groups of women from the seminary who really seemed to gather primarily to criticize the Seminary. 

In other words, I really didn’t spend any time on gender issues because I was too involved in teaching and writing, taking care of my family and serving in my local church. I was too interested in finding ways to help make Biblical Hebrew user-friendly for my students, whoever they were. I was busy writing, doing post-doctoral work in Comparative Semitics and Historical Hebrew Grammar, meeting with students, grading, and getting home in time to pick up my daughter from school.

While some of the women studying at seminary appreciated having a female role model on the faculty, I was instructed to avoid counseling women or building an entourage, a following, so that it would not appear as if I were encouraging other women to pursue my path and seek to teach at an academic institution.

I was also instructed not to speak at faculty meetings, and while I was asked to work on restructuring the curriculum and reading list for the doctoral program at the seminary, my name was officially kept off of any materials related to that restructuring. My involvement in any work related to curriculum or other seminary work was unofficial and kept quiet.

During the summer preceding my second year at Southwestern, Dr. Hemphill stepped down, and Paige Patterson was elected as the new president. I had already been warned by many that I should feel threatened concerning my job at Southwestern, and I did not know until later that there were a number of individual conversations with Paige and other Trustees in which he tried to block my hiring. 

I remember attending the announcement of his appointment and being very concerned because his words concerning women and the seminary were chilling. I remember thinking that I really needed to be afraid for my job. Then, when I introduced myself to Dorothy Patterson, she looked me square in the eye and said, “We know who you are.”

Later, Paige suggested I talk with Dorothy to ask her if there was some way I could be helpful in the women’s ministry and coursework, and I was met with the cold response: I don’t think there is anything you can do.
I was summoned to the office of the President in September of 2003. I asked Paige if I needed to be concerned about my job. He told me that he was fine with what I was doing and that he had no objection at all as long as I didn’t do anything to cause questions or concerns. He indicated he had no plans to remove me from my position. 

As I think about this, I wonder: if my teaching male students was religiously acceptable and in compliance with his religious beliefs, why later would he argue that what I was doing contradicted historically held Baptist belief and practice? 

Nevertheless, I was gullible enough to believe that my job was safe as long as I did not do or say anything that would jeopardize it. I was once again warned that I should keep my head down, that Paige would plant students in my classes to see if I did or said something that could be used to fire me. I learned very early to clarify my position on all theological and ecclesiastical matters and sought to have my students reiterate them in order to prevent any misunderstanding. 

I admit, though, naïve as I was in some ways, deep down inside I was scared.

_______________________________________________________________

Part II to come...

The Real Problem in the SBC Is Not Paige Patterson

In 2006, I became the first Southern Baptist entity trustee recommended for removal of service by his fellow trustees since the Southern Baptist Convention was created in 1845.

My crime?

I sought to prevent the trustees from firing International Mission Board President Jerry Rankin and removing some women from leadership at the International Mission Board.

Jerry Rankin's termination and the women's removal were orchestrated by Paige Patterson and his followers. They handpicked, vetted, and ultimately approved the trustees nominated for service to the mission board. The trustees received their marching orders from the President of Southwestern Theological Seminary.

It was at my first IMB trustee meeting in the fall of 2005 when I overheard several IMB trustees discussing how they would accomplish their goals of removing Dr. Rankin and the women. I confronted them and told them that their informal trustee meeting - a meeting outside of established times set for business and without the presence of the full board - was in clear violation of the Blue Book, the policy manual for trustee conduct and behavior.

I first went privately to the individual trustees and then to IMB trustee leadership to voice my concerns over the trustees' actions. I told them if it didn't stop, I would have no recourse but to make public what they were doing to the Southern Baptist Convention.

The little sub-group of IMB trustees (all men) didn't like this "newbie" from Oklahoma interfering with their plans. They proceeded to play a game of Hard Ball Religion.

A few of them clearly stated that their goal was to ruin my reputation, my ministry, and my family. I was told I would never speak again on a platform within the Southern Baptist Convention. They made it known they would do everything in their power to get me fired from the church where I'd been a pastor for over fifteen years. 

What happened during those difficult days made me the man I am today. 

I have no desire to get someplace else in life.  I care little what people think of me. I want what's best for the Kingdom.

Since 2005, I have probably written a couple of dozen articles that deal with Paige Patterson.

Some people wrongly think I have a vendetta against Dr. Patterson. 

I don't.

In fact, I respect the heck out of Paige Patterson. 

I'll go even further.

I like Paige Patterson.

He's consistent. Yes, I believe he's consistently wrong, but at least he's consistent.

He believes women have their rightful place. A woman should never teach a man. Women should never be in a position of authority over a man. That's why Paige Patterson fires women from positions of leadership. Women should always be quiet and submissive. That's their God-given role. That's why Paige Patterson would send a woman back to her abusive man and never apologize.

In Paige Patterson's world, only men have God-given authority. Only men can rightfully lead. 

Paige Patterson also believes tongues have ceased. Anyone who speaks in tongues is not gifted by God to speak this way, but in fact, may be under the influence of Satan. 

That's why Paige Patterson wanted to get rid of Dr. Jerry Rankin. Dr. Rankin spoke with tongues during his private prayer times. Dr. Patterson's expressed desire to one day be the President of the International Mission Board before retiring from Southern Baptist service. That may have been Patterson's ultimate goal, but it was Rankin's "doctrinal error" on the issue of tongues that became the sacred means to move forward.

Fire Rankin. Remove the women. Nothing personal; it's doctrinal.

Paige Patterson behaviors back in 2005 were consistent with his beliefs. It wasn't personal to Paige Patterson. It never is. It's always his convictions.

Paige Patterson believes he's doing God's bidding.

He is a Fundamentalist in every bad sense of the word. 

And I respect him.

The Real Problem in the Southern Baptist Convention

The real problem is Southern Baptist pastors who are just now expressing outrage about Paige Patterson's words and conduct towards women.

He's not going to apologize. In his mind, he's done nothing wrong. 

You men have been around Paige Patterson. He's consistent as heck. He's been saying these things for years.

Where were you thirteen years ago?

Where were you eighteen years ago?

Where were you twenty-five years ago?

Gentlemen, the Southern Baptist Convention has been denigrating women for decades.

When Southern Baptist pastors exclude women from leadership because of a wrong belief that the New Testament teaches "women are not to have 'authority' over men" (which is what Patterson believes), then the simple outgrowth of that belief is to send a woman back to her abusive man and tell her to pray.

Yes, that's sick, but it's the logical outcome of a false belief.

The real problem in the Southern Baptist Convention is a doctrinal problem. 

Southern Baptist pastors are infatuated with and captivated by authoritarianism.

Men have authority; women don't. 

Preachers have authority; laymen don't.

"Do what I say because of the position I hold!" these male pastors will say to anyone who will follow them. "Do what I say because I'm your husband!"  I'm a man!

We have a problem, Southern Baptists.

Jesus called His disciples together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord their power over people, and their high officials exercise authority over others. It shall not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must serve." (Matthew 20:25-27) 

Southern Baptist pastors either better correct this false doctrine about men having alleged spiritual authority over women, or Southern Baptist pastors should resign in mass with the man you call the hero of the Southern Baptist Convention.

He's a Fundamentalist. And Fundamentalism is a religion of a different ilk than the teachings of the New Testament.


As for me, I will continue to seek to reflect the New Testament teachings of Jesus Christ and be Christo-centric in my beliefs and behavior, refraining from replicating Old Covenant Temple worship in my church - and do everything in my power to make sure the SBC reflects the same Christo-centric, New Covenant view of women.

No problem believing differently than I within the Southern Baptist Convention.

The SBC believes in liberty!

Just don't tread on women. That's an order from Jesus.

Ladies, if you agree there needs to be a course correction in the Southern Baptist Convention, sign the online petition. 

Why Equality of Women in Christianity Is Critical

I am a conservative, Bible-believing, evangelical Christian.

I believe the New Testament clearly teaches that leadership in Christ's Kingdom revolves around giftings, not gender; humility, not hubris; and personal service, not powerful status.

I've served as pastor of the same large, evangelical Southern Baptist church since March 2, 1992. I live in politically conservative northwest Oklahoma. I believe in liberty. I believe in the Bible. Most importantly, I believe in Jesus and His teachings.

For all these reasons, I believe the Bible and our Lord clearly teach that women should be free to serve based upon their giftings by the Holy Spirit, and never restricted from leadership or service because of their genitalia.

This is the teaching of Jesus.

For nearly two decades I have done all I can to convince the Southern Baptist Convention that if we are to behave in the manner set forth by the Bible we all claim to believe, then we should do everything we can to empower, encourage, and exalt gifted women.

The full-orbed image of God is never comprehended and appreciated until men and women work together in harmony.

In fact, I would go so far as to say, until women are involved in Christian ministry at your local church, you'll never see the transformative power of God in changing lives.

Our focus in the SBC right now is on the abuse of women.

Truth be known, our focus is all wrong.

We should be focusing on why we are not exalting women.

Women are, indeed, the very image of God.

"It Indicates a Wicked Society When Women Rule," Paige Patterson and His Inhumane View of Women

The Southern Baptist Convention is at a crossroads.

We have four weeks to correct our course or the future will be very bleak indeed.

Some are saying that the furor of Dr. Paige Patterson's words about an abused woman submitting to her abusive husband is unfair to him. "He didn't mean it," they say. "His words have been taken out of context," claim Patterson loyalists.

No. Dr. Paige Patterson meant exactly what he said.  Actually,  what Dr. Patterson truly believes about women is worse than what's so far been revealed in this little dust-up about abuse. 

Let me show you using Dr. Paige Patterson's own words while under oath.

In 2006, Dr. Paige Patterson terminated the highly acclaimed and brilliant Hebrew professor, Dr. Sheri Klouda, from the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, because she was a woman.

Let that sink in: Dr. Paige Patterson terminated Dr. Sheri Klouda due to her gender.

But why fire an acclaimed Hebrew scholar because she is female?

Dr. Patterson tells us under oath. The following exchange between attorney Gary Richardson and Dr. Paige Patterson during a deposition gives the reader a gut-wrenching glimpse into Dr. Patterson's view of women and a possible basis for his view that a woman should submit to her abusive man.

Question (Richardson): Well, I’m interested in whether or not you claim here under oath today, Dr. Patterson, that you mentioned to these two gentlemen (Blaising and Allen) any concern about her (Dr. Klouda) violating the stipulation that she was placed under?

Answer (Patterson): Yes, I did mention it to both of them.

Question (Richardson): And what — what is it you say you said to them?

Answer (Patterson): I don’t recall the exact conversation, of course, but I did say to them that I felt that there was violation taking place perhaps, and furthermore, that I felt that it was inappropriate ecclesiologically for her to be in this position.

Question (Richardson): And what was the violation that you claim here today that you told them that you thought was taking place?

Answer (Patterson): I believe that she was indulging in the exposition of the scripture.

Question (Richardson): Giving her own conclusions?

Answer (Patterson): Uh-huh.

Question (Richardson): Yes?

Answer (Patterson): Yes, I’m sorry.

Pay attention Southern Baptists:

Dr. Paige Patterson, according to his own words under oath, believed Sheri Klouda, a highly trained and acclaimed Hebrew professor, was "indulging in drawing her own conclusions about the Scriptures."

Dr. Patterson believes a woman should never draw her own, independent conclusions from the Scriptures and tell a man what she thinks God is saying. This was Dr. Klouda's crime. Dr. Patterson tells us this under oath.

But It Gets Worse

In his same testimony,  Paige Patterson is asked what he thinks about a society where women are in positions of leadership. I am typing for you the dialogue complete and unedited.

Question (Richardson): Would you think in regards to the issue of -- of women in the church, that you and Paul Pressler have acted responsibly for the convention?

Answer (Patterson): I certainly hope we have, we've done our very best.

Question (Richardson):  And -- and I think that you would agree that- that Wade Burleson would feel that he's done his very best, wouldn't you?

Answer (Patterson): Yes, he probably does, uh-huh. I'm not judging his heart. That's only known to God. That's something he does fairly regularly with regard to me.

Question (Richardson): On Page 1595?

Answer (Patterson): Yes.

Queston (Richardson): In view of time, I'll try to rush through this, but the third paragraph down it says, There it is. (Wade Burleson writes:) "There is the narrow, biblical interpretation that says it all and causes our convention some serious problems. No woman shall have authority over a man." Did I read that correctly -- correctly?

Answer (Patterson): Yes.

Queston (Richardson): And he (Wade Burleson) is saying that in his opinion, that you have gone far beyond the prohibition of women pastors?

Answer (Patterson): Uh-huh.

Question (Richardson): Right?

Answer (Patterson): Apparently that's what he's saying.

Answer (Richardson): And, of course, you disagree?

Answer (Patterson): Yes.

Question (Richardson): "According to Patterson's rigid and narrow interpretation of the Bible, it is wrong for a woman to serve in any position of authority over a man;" is that an accurate statement?

Answer (Patterson): In the church, yes.

Question (Richardson): How about anywhere else?

Answer (Patterson): Well I don't take a position about anything else, because the Bible is not crystal clear on it. The Bible does say in the Book of Isaiah, that it is something of an indication of a wicked society when women rule over them.

Throughout the deposition, Patterson made remarks about how society is not following the standards of God's word, but the church must follow the infallible Word of God when it comes to women not having any authority over men.

That's why Patterson recently said "a woman should never go to court with marital problems," problems that may even include physical abuse. Keep quiet. Submit.

One must conclude that in Patterson's world, an abused woman is better than an indulged woman.

In his 1988 job interview with the Christian Life Commission (now the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission) Board of Trustees, Richard Land - a close friend of Paige Patterson - said the following:

“I understand that [women’s ordination] is a problem with many [Southern Baptists] . . . and it is one that we need to be sensitive in addressing. It has been my experience and I hope I’m not being judgmental here, that many people, I suspect, use the women’s ordination issue as an excuse for having attitudes about women that aren’t Christian. I think we have to . . . make it very clear that we affirm the equality of women . . ., and be extremely cautious about extrapolating from two spheres, the home and the church. For instance, I don’t think that anything in the New Testament would prohibit a woman from being a professor or an administrator in any of our seminaries or colleges.”

In the span of 30 years, Dr. Paige Patterson has successfully managed to spread his denigrating view

Student enrollment under Paige Patterson's tenure

of women into the Southern Baptist institutions where he possesses leadership.

I have been attempting to warn the Southern Baptist Convention for decades this has been happening.

Now there are Southern Baptists who are saying, "Dr. Paige Patterson loves women!"  "Dr. Paige Patterson is being misrepresented." They declare, "Dr. Paige Patterson would never tell an abused woman to submit to her abusive husband.." "Dr. Paige Patterson was only joking when he said a man should own at least one woman." 

To Patterson loyalists, Dr. Paige Patterson is a misunderstood man.

No. he's not.

Dr. Patterson is a man who speaks what he believes.

Either too many Southern Baptists are cowards or far too many Southern Baptists believe just like Paige Patterson.

We must confront and remove leaders who propose an unbiblical, anti-Christian, inhumane, God-dishonoring view of women, and cover, hide, and excuse the sexual and physical abuse of women and not wait until society and culture shame us.

Indeed, shame on us.

Beth Moore, I've seen male leaders in our Southern Baptist Convention speak and behave shamefully around women. I've confronted the men every time I see it. I am grateful for your courage in speaking out about your horrible treatment.

We should have removed Dr. Paige Patterson years ago because Jesus demands humble, servant leadership in His Kingdom. The New Testament which unveils the Good News of the New Covenant of God's grace in Jesus Christ declares it clearly:

"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28).

So many lives have been, are being, and will continue to be wrecked by anyone who crosses Dr. Paige Patterson.

The Southern Baptist Convention has one final shot at making this right. If not, I and many other Southern Baptist pastors may very well hand the Southern Baptist Convention over to the rigidic, misogynistic, legalistic, Old Covenant Baptists who believe a society is wicked when women rule.

Jesus said His Kingdom is ruled by humble servants, regardless of their gender. 

I choose to follow Jesus.