Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism

What an incredibly sobering and detailed examination of denominations and their future role! The authors of this volume challenge us to evaluate the reasons for the ongoing existence of denominations, exploring whether they still serve a purpose. Ultimately, this book is a call to priorities: We must keep our denominations focused on the ministry of rebirth and redemption, not on the business of enforcing rules and rituals. An honest reading will help churches and denominations strive to do more than just survive, but, rather, to play a transformational role in a world that needs Christ.

—Kevin Ezell, President, North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention

There can be little doubt that the two great movements that have shaped American religious life are evangelicalism and denominationalism. And the largest and most influential American denomination is, without a doubt, the Southern Baptist Convention. Understand these two movements, and you understand much of the heart of American religious life. Together they form the Rocky Mountains, so to miss them would be to miss the landscape of our nation. Any exploration of the relationship between these two movements, and particularly one as informed and incisive as what is found in this volume, is worth the time and investment to read. Particularly when the future of both, in light of the ever-changing cultural landscape, is very much in question. Which means the future of American religious life rests significantly in this discussion.

—James Emery White (www.churchandculture.org) Founding and Senior Pastor, Mecklenburg Community Church Charlotte, North Carolina

"Every once in a while a book comes along that is a must read. This is one of them. Edited by David Dockery, Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism helps us to understand better not only the history and present state of the Southern Baptist Convention but the future of denominationalism. It throws helpful light upon the various ways Southern Baptists and 'Evangelicals' have interacted with each other. Its authors possess an unfailing confidence in the power of Christ's gospel, a belief in the truthfulness of Scripture and a conviction that Christ is building His church. This book neither glosses over present problems, nor despairs that these problems are insuperable. It calls upon believers to follow Christ faithfully, to think biblically and to spread the marvelous gospel of Christ.In a word, this is an instructive, encouraging, and inspiring book—one not to miss."

—John Woodbridge, Professor of Church History and Christian Thought, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Southern Baptists, Evangelicals,

and the Future of Denominationalism

Copyright © 2011 by David S. Dockery

ISBN: 978-1-4336-7120-3

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 280

Subject Heading: Southern Baptists\Protestant Churches\ Evangelicals

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible. © The Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 • 16 15 14 13 12 11

To the Next Generation

of Southern Baptist and Evangelical Leaders:

May God grant you wisdom and grace

to care for that which

has been entrusted to you (1 Tim 6:20).

Contents

List of Contributors

Preface

Denominationalism: Historical Trends, Future Challenges

1. So Many Denominations: The Rise, Decline, and Future of Denominationalism — David S. Dockery

2. Denominationalism: Is There a Future? — Ed Stetzer

3. Denominationalism and the Changing Religious Landscape — D. Michael Lindsay

4. The Faith, My Faith, and the Church's Faith — Timothy George

Evangelicals and Southern Baptists: Identity, Beliefs, and Ministry

5. The Future of Evangelicalism (and Southern Baptists) — Duane Litfin

6. The Care for Souls: Reconsidering Pastoral Ministry in Southern Baptist and Evangelical Contexts — Ray Van Neste

7. Awakenings and Their Impact on Baptists and Evangelicals: Sorting Out the Myths in the History of Missions and Evangelism — Jerry N. Tidwell

8. Recovering the Gospel for the Twenty-first Century — Harry L. Poe

9. Emergent or Emerging? Questions for Southern Baptists and American Evangelicals — Mark DeVine

Southern Baptists: Understanding the Past in Order to Explore the Future

10. Reflections on 400 Years of the Baptist Movement: Who We Are, What We Believe — James A. Patterson

11. Southern Baptists and Evangelicals: Passing on the Faith to the Next Generation — Nathan A. Finn

12. The Future of the Southern Baptist Convention — Daniel Akin

13. Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism — R. Albert Mohler Jr.

Name/Subject Index

Scripture Index

List of Contributors

Daniel L. Akin (PhD, University of Texas System) serves as president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. A much-sought-after speaker, he is a respected theologian, preacher, and evangelical leader. He is the editor of A Theology for the Church (2007) and author of God on Sex: The Creator's Ideas About Love, Intimacy, and Marriage (2003), and 1, 2, 3 John in the New American Commentary.

Mark DeVine (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School.  Dr. DeVine teaches church history and doctrine. He is the author of Bonhoeffer Speaks Today: Following Jesus at All Costs, and has written extensively for theological journals and contributed to The Disciple's Study Bible. He writes and speaks regularly on the emerging and emergent church movements.

David S. Dockery (PhD, University of Texas system) is president of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, where he has served since December 1995. Dockery is the author or editor of more than 30 books including Southern Baptist Consensus and Renewal, Renewing Minds, Biblical Interpretation Then and Now, Interpreting the New Testament, Theologians of the Baptist Tradition, Shaping a Christian Worldview, Holman Bible Handbook, Foundations for Biblical Interpretation, Southern Baptists and American Evangelicals, New Dimensions in Evangelical Thought, and Christian Scripture: An Evangelical Perspective on Inspiration, Authority and Interpretation. He is a consulting editor for Christianity Today and serves on editorial boards for a variety of periodicals and publishing houses. Dockery has served as chair of the board of directors for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, as well as the Consortium for Global Education.

Nathan A. Finn (PhD, Southeastern Seminary) serves as assistant professor of church history and Baptist studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Finn is coeditor of Domestic Slavery Considered as a Scriptural Institution (2008) and has contributed to Calvinism: A Southern Baptist Dialog (2008) and Southern Baptist Identity: An Evangelical Denomination Faces the Future (2009). He also serves as associate editor of The Journal for Baptist Studies.

Timothy George (ThD, Harvard University) is founding dean at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University. Dr. George serves as executive editor for Christianity Today and on the editorial advisory boards of The Harvard Theological Review, Christian History, and Books & Culture. He serves as general editor of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture. Dr. George has written more than 20 books and regularly contributes to scholarly journals.

Duane Litfin served for seventeen years as president of Wheaton College. He holds an undergraduate degree in biblical studies and a master's degree in theology. His two doctorates are from Purdue University (PhD, Communication) and Oxford University (DPhil, New Testament). Dr. Litfin is the author of several books, most recently Conceiving the Christian College (2004), and his writings have appeared in numerous journals and periodicals.

D. Michael Lindsay (PhD, Princeton University) is the author of Faith in the Halls of Power, which was named one of the best books of 2007 by Publishers Weekly. Dr. Lindsay has worked for the Gallup Institute as a researcher, author, public speaker, and consultant. He has cowritten two books with George Gallup. A member of the sociology faculty at Rice University, Dr. Lindsay is the faculty associate of Leadership Rice and assistant director of the Center on Race, Religion, and Urban Life.

R. Albert Mohler Jr. (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world. Dr. Mohler has been recognized by such influential publications as Time and Christianity Today as a leader among American evangelicals. In fact, Time.com called him the reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the U.S. He is the author of eight books and a contributor to several others.

James A. Patterson (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) serves as university professor of theology and missions and associate dean of the School of Theology and Missions at Union University. A native of New Jersey, Dr. Patterson previously taught at Toccoa Falls College and Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. The author of several articles, chapters in books, and 25-year institutional histories of Mid-America and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, he is completing a volume on the patriarch of Landmarkism, J. R. Graves.

Harry L. Poe (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), serves as Charles Colson Professor of Faith and Culture at Union University. Dr. Poe has published over 100 articles and reviews and has written or contributed to over twenty-five books, including The Inklings of Oxford (2008), What God Knows (2005), See No Evil: The Existence of Sin in an Age of Relativism (2004), Christianity in the Academy: Teaching at the Intersection of Faith and Learning (2004), Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (2001), The Gospel and Its Meaning (1996), The Fruit of Christ's Presence (1990), and three books on science and religion with Dr. Jimmy H. Davis: Chance or Dance (2008), Designer Universe (2002) and Science and Faith (2000). He is coeditor with his daughter, Rebecca, of a book of recollections by former students of C. S. Lewis, C. S. Lewis Remembered (2006). Dr. Poe serves on several boards, including the Edgar Allan Poe Foundation and Museum of Richmond, Virginia, where he serves as president. He also is president of the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education and the C. S. Lewis Foundation of Redlands, California, and Oxford, England.

Ed Stetzer (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the vice president of Research and Ministry and president of LifeWay Research. Dr. Stetzer has planted churches in New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, and has transitioned declining churches in Indiana and Georgia. He has trained pastors and church planters on five continents, and has written dozens of articles and books. Recognized as a leader in church planting and church trends, Dr. Stetzer is the author of Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age (2003), Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church (with Elmer Towns, 2004), Strategic Outreach (with Eric Ramsey, 2005), Breaking the Missional Code (with David Putman, 2006), Planting Missional Churches (2006), Comeback Churches (with Mike Dodson, 2007), and 11 Innovations in the Local Church (with Elmer Towns and Warren Bird, 2007).

Jerry N. Tidwell (DMin, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is senior vice president for university relations and assistant professor of pastoral ministry at Union University. Dr. Tidwell is best known across the Southern Baptist Convention as the author of Outreach Teams that Win: GROW! which has been used in over 8,000 churches in the United States as well as in foreign countries. Dr. Tidwell served as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention from 1999–2000, and was chairman of the board of trustees of Union University from 2001–02. He has served on the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, and serves on the board of the Southern Baptist Foundation.

Ray Van Neste (PhD, University of Aberdeen) serves as associate professor of theology and missions and director of the Ryan Center for Biblical Studies at Union University. His published works include a monograph and various articles on the Pastoral letters, including the study notes on these letters in the ESV Study Bible. He also serves as one of the pastors at a local Southern Baptist congregation and writes a regular blog on pastoral ministry titled, Oversight of Souls.

Preface

The twenty-first century has ushered in cultural, societal, and structural changes at an exponential rate. We are watching as organizational systems designed for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are being pushed to their limits. Some are collapsing. New paradigms are being introduced, creating much anxiety about the future. The world is much different than it was 50 years ago. Unfortunately, most denominations reached their peak 50 or so years ago and have been struggling in recent years to envision a new course to chart as we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century.

Change is not new to the church, nor is it new to most fields of study. Thomas Kuhn brought to our attention almost 40 years ago the importance of paradigmatic shifts in science and other areas, which helped us understand how change is perceived and interpreted generation after generation. Peter Toon and Jaroslav Pelikan have provided brilliant analyses of theological development and its impact on the church through the years.¹ Pelikan has reminded us that development includes not only change and diversity, but also continuity. Thus our recognition of change, paradigmatic shifts, and development is not the equivalent of a biological concept of evolution. Our recognition of change and development includes broader ideas than movement from the simple to the complex, or the basic to the advanced. Nevertheless, change is all about us and it has significant implications for Southern Baptists, for Evangelicals, and for the future of denominationalism in general.

The contributors to this volume are not pessimistic about the future; we are hopeful, largely because of Christ's promise to His church (Matt 16:18). Yet, we recognize that we find ourselves at a propitious moment when important questions about change, continuity, unity, and diversity need to be raised in light of the challenges around us. We not only want to raise the questions but look for answers that are faithful to our confession and our heritage. Many of the chapters take a long look at history in order to shape proposals for the future. Winston Churchill is credited with saying, The farther back you look, the farther forward you are likely to see. We trust that will be the case for our readers as they work through the chapters that follow.

What is obvious at this time in Southern Baptist life, and in that of many other denominations, is a numerical decline in membership and a seeming disconnect from the denominational traditions for the generation of younger leaders. The disconnect has been created by rapid changes in our culture, which have been understood by a younger generation of leaders who desire greatly to engage these cultural shifts and respond to them in a gospel-focused manner. Times have changed. The contributors to this volume seek to advance the conversation with a recognition of this reality. We want to listen and invite others into the conversation to dream of a preferred future, with God's providential enablement, for Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and churches around the globe. To the degree that we can embrace change while remaining faithful to Christ and His kingdom (Matt 6:33), we believe we can move forward together in faith and with hope toward the challenges and opportunities that await.

In doing so we acknowledge our limitations in seeing the present challenges clearly, much less their implications for the future. We do, however, recognize that we have been given a sacred trust. We have been entrusted with God's work (Titus 1:7 NIV). We have been entrusted with the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3 ESV). We have been entrusted with the glorious gospel of the blessed God (1 Tim 1:11 HCSB). And we have, therefore, been exhorted to guard what has been entrusted to our care (1 Tim 6:20). In many ways, it is this exhortation that serves as the motivation for putting together this volume of essays. We want to encourage the next generation of Baptist and Evangelical leaders toward wise stewardship of that which has been entrusted to them. We pray that God would favor them with great wisdom and abundant grace. We offer this volume in that hope.

I am grateful to all the contributors for their partnership in this work. I am deeply appreciative of the collaborative colleagueship of Jerry Tidwell and Ray Van Neste, who coordinated the conference on the Union campus, from which most of the chapters in this book originated. I am incredibly appreciative of the excellent work provided by Cindy Meredith and Melanie Rickman in the preparation of this book. It has been a delight to work with Brad Waggoner, Jim Baird, and Dean Richardson. For their friendship and invaluable support, I am certainly grateful. For the prayerful and loving encouragement that my wife Lanese has provided throughout this process, I am most thankful. May God's blessings rest on this effort. We pray that this volume will be used for good in the lives of many in the months and years to come.

Soli Deo Gloria

David S. Dockery

1. See Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970); Jaroslav Pelikan, Development of Christian Doctrine (New York: Yale University Press, 1969); and Peter Toon, The Development of Doctrine in the Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979).

Denominationalism:

Historical Trends, Future Challenges

Chapter 1

So Many Denominations: The Rise, Decline, and Future of Denominationalism

DAVID S. DOCKERY, PRESIDENT, UNION UNIVERSITY

In this initial chapter we are going to explore the issues associated with the rise and decline of denominationalism, the shaping of American Evangelicalism, and what these shifts might mean for the future of Southern Baptists and Evangelicals around the world. We are going to begin by providing a sociological and historical overview of the development of denominations before we look ahead to what might be coming down the pike in the twenty-first century. I invite you to join me as we attempt to think together about these important matters. First, however, a hermeneutical caveat: I am both a Baptist Evangelical and an Evangelical Baptist, and I affirm both of these descriptions simultaneously. At times, however, the noun selected seems more important than the adjective. This chapter is shaped by my convictions as a Baptist Evangelical, more so than as an Evangelical Baptist, which would have resulted in a slightly different emphasis to and for this chapter. Yet, in the conclusion, you will see in some of the implications that I can't altogether avoid the Evangelical Baptist lens.

Let's begin by looking at Eph 4:1–6 as background for our reflections in this chapter.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you are called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (NIV)

Introduction: An In-house Conversation

A Gallup Poll in January of 2010 asked about the importance of religious and denominational identity for Americans. It seems that fewer Americans than ever think that religious or denominational identity is important for them. Denominational identity and religious identity are seemingly on the decline in this country. I'm going to try to paint with a broad brush in this chapter so we will not get bogged down in details, but I want to help us see how we have arrived at this situation and where we might be able to go from here.

On the Christianity Today website in the middle of 2009 was a story that claimed that in 1990 there were about 200,000 people in the United States who classified themselves as nondenominational. By 2009 that number exceeded 8 million.

Most people today think that denominationalism is on the decline. Some things about that decline may be good; other aspects may not be. The question is this: if the denominational structures that have carried Protestant Christianity since the sixteenth century are on the decline, what will carry the Christian faith forward in the twenty-first century? How are we going to respond to the changes all around us? But, before rushing to answer that question, we need to review our denominational history to see where various traditions originated. In doing so, we will try to connect the links of history to see how we arrived at this point.

In the 1987 publication by neurologist Oliver Sacks called The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Dr. Sacks wrote about patients with a neurological illness characterized by profound amnesia, a syndrome that describes those who do not know what they are doing at any given time; therapists do not know why these patients wander around in a state of profound disorientation. In losing their memories, these people have lost themselves. I fear that American Christianity is on the verge of losing its hope and its identity in a similar kind of disorientation. The problem for many is not so much doubt, but loss of memory. The history of Christianity is best understood as a chain of memory, and we need to reconnect some aspects of that chain.

Going back to the eighteenth century, at the time of the First Great Awakening, there was already a movement toward a non-denominational identity. A forerunner in that century of what is happening in our day was George Whitefield, the great preacher of the First Great Awakening. While preaching in Philadelphia in 1740, Whitefield—who was known for theatrics—called out, Father Abraham, who have you in heaven? Any Episcopalians? The answer came back No. Any Presbyterians? No. Any Independents? Any Baptists? Any Methodists? No, no, no. Then who have you in heaven? The answer came back, We don't know those names here. All here are Christians. Then God help us to forget party names and to become Christians in deed and in truth.

Whitefield's message is very similar to the statement of a century ago by one of the key editors of the volumes known as The Fundamentals, R. A. Torrey, who described himself as an Episcopresbygationalaptist. That description may still typify many. C. S. Lewis, in describing denominational issues, said that our divisions should never be discussed except in the presence of those who have come to believe there is one God, and that Jesus Christ is His only Son. Therefore, the discussions in this book are best understood as in-house, intramural family conversations.

History of Denominationalism

The idea of a denomination, which comes from the Latin word meaning to name, is a negative concept for some people. Granted that there is no biblical mandate to establish denominations, they have, however, been important for the history of Christianity as the structures, the organization to carry forward the work of those who come together around shared beliefs and practices. Denominations have historically provided accountability, connection, coherence, structure, and organization to support churches, benevolent work, missions, and educational institutions.

In the history of Christianity there have been three major branches: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. The contributors to this volume come from the Protestant tradition, which began in 1517 with the posting on the Wittenberg Castle church door of 95 theses penned by Martin Luther.

We all know there are more than three groups within Christianity. There are hundreds, even thousands of denominations. Let's take a quick look at how the various movements developed.

Early Church

The early church was more unified than what we experience today, particularly as it came together following the great councils of the fourth and fifth centuries. There were four major councils from Nicea in AD 325 to Chalcedon in AD 451, and the bishops gave strong leadership and organization to bring about a sense of unity in the church. But, by 1054, there was a break between the East and the West, between Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, which had been brewing for some time, particularly divisions over the use of icons and the infallibility of popes. Protestantism made a further break from Catholicism in 1517.

The Reformation

We trace the birth of Protestantism to 1517, where we find a monk with a mallet who seemingly had no intention of starting a new denomination; yet, that is exactly what happened when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg Castle church door. From that initiative, denominations began to proliferate. As this movement began in Germany in the early sixteenth century, something similar was taking place across the border in Switzerland. Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli came together to see whether they could bring together the two movements often referred to as the German Reformation and the Swiss Reformation. They were able to agree on a number of points such as the Holy Trinity, the person of Jesus Christ, and the nature of salvation. Significant differences were uncovered, however, over their understanding of the Lord's Supper, and the groups went their separate ways. From this fracture came a proliferation of breakaway groups, not only those that followed Luther, Zwingli, and the Swiss Anabaptists, but also groups that followed John Calvin and others. A third way group developed in England, known as the Church of England or Anglicans. While there was much general agreement among all these groups, they were not able to agree on key details; new movements were spawned around the key points of their disagreement.

From these movements arose a concern regarding the growing fragmentation of the body of Christ. Philipp Melancthon and Martin Bucer, followers of Luther and Calvin, began to raise questions about this proliferating fragmentation. They issued fresh calls for unity, reminding others of their shared confession around the Nicene Creed: We believe the church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic. But their calls went largely unheeded.

Seventeenth Century: Expanding Denominational Differences

The seventeenth-century Puritan movement hurried things along rather than slowing them down. If new movements began to take off during the sixteenth century in the Protestant Reformation, they went into an accelerated pace in the seventeenth century as the Puritans sought to purify the churches with a focus on preaching and experiential Christianity, or what they called experimental religion.

From the Puritans or Separatists came other breakaway groups: Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Quakers. By the seventeenth century the church looked something like this: The apostolic church developed from NT times to 1054, with Catholicism going in one direction, Orthodox churches another; Lutheranism and Reformed groups were heading in different directions; with Anglicanism developing as a third way. The breakaway groups that developed within Anglicanism moved in multiple directions.

Eighteenth Century: Awakenings

The eighteenth century saw the awakenings springing forth in Europe and America. From these movements came the Wesleyans or Methodists; they were influenced by John and Charles Wesley, who preached thousands of sermons and wrote hundreds of hymns, many of which we sing today. John Wesley was an organizational genius, and his emphasis on methods led to use of the term Methodist.

Nineteenth Century: Revivalism

In the early nineteenth century there were great revivals, including the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky led by Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell, who started what is often called the Restoration Movement; we sometimes call the resulting denominations the Churches of Christ and Disciples of Christ. The Holiness Movement was also a breakaway renewal movement, one that made the denominational picture look even more complicated. Each group attempted to purify what had come before, with the Restorationists doing an end run around all the others