This week I enjoyed following the events at the SBC and SBTS from a distance and wish I would have been in Louisville to experience it. I’m encouraged by what I’ve heard. (Cf. summaries by Danny Akin, Tom Ascol, Timmy Brister, Denny Burk, Greg Gilbert, Owen Strachan, and the many articles by Southern Seminary’s news service.)
In the midst of many reasons for rejoicing in the positive advances made in the convention this year, one event stands out as confusing to Protestant fundamentalists: SBTS dedicated a building (cf. audio and video) to former president Duke McCall, a theological moderate who tolerated theological liberalism and opposed the Conservative Resurgence.
Doran’s Objection
Dave Doran (a graduate of TEDS, senior pastor of Inter-City Baptist Church, and president of Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary) reflects on this in these short articles:
- “Honor to Whom Dishonor Is Due” (He concludes, “I just don’t get it.”)
- “Is This an Application of Loving Your Enemies?“
- “We Report, You Decide” (a response to Greg Gilbert’s post)
- “Some (Final, I hope) Thoughts on the McCall Pavilion and Objections to My Questioning It” (a response to Mark Rogers’s post)
- “Missions, Pavilions, and Wives” (paragraph two responds to Owen Strachan’s post)
- “Seeing the Difference between Ideas and Individuals” (an implied response to Gilbert, Rogers, and Strachan)
- “Ideas and Individuals (Again)“
- “Sticking to the Point . . .“
Reponses to Doran
- Greg Gilbert (a graduate of SBTS, former assistant to Al Mohler, and assistant pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church) respectfully responds to Doran’s first article: “Mohler, McCall, Truth, and History.”
- Mark Rogers (a graduate of SBTS, son of a pastor in the SBC, current PhD student in historical theology at TEDS, and D. A. Carson’s administrative assistant) also respectfully responds to Doran’s first article: “Southern Seminary’s Anniversary and a Question of Honor.”
- Owen Strachan (a graduate of SBTS, former research assistant to Al Mohler, current PhD student in historical theology at TEDS, and managing director of the Henry Center) also respectfully responds to Doran: “At SBTS, Fidelity Matters: A Friendly Response to Dave Doran.”
I agree with Dr. Doran here. After leaving Presbyterianism last year, we eventually joined a Southern Baptist church. My “not getting it” along with Dr. Doran no doubt goes a long way in explaining why after less than a year I determined that I could not be a Southern Baptist.
Thanks for the summary of discussions on this point, Andy. I hope that everyone involved–whether fundamentalists, Southern Baptists, or other evangelicals–will realize that this is a family dispute before the rhetoric reaches uncivilized levels.