The conservative resurgence that we have witnessed in the SBC will not last without ongoing spiritual and theological renewal. When noted inerrantists make statements that condemn the teaching of God’s Word as expressed in confessions of faith long esteemed by Southern Baptists (and I am not talking about the Philadelphia or Charleston Confessions here, the Abstract of Pinciples and even the Baptist Faith and Message will do), then they demonstrate that something other than true reverence for God’s Holy Word is driving their agenda. I am not suggesting that Jack Graham and others like him need to be Calvinists in order to prove their commitment to Scripture’s authority, but I am saying that when such guys say that the battle in the SBC was strictly over the Bible and yet they go on to castigate fellow inerrantists and the teachings of confessions of faith that seminary professors have signed saying that they believe and will teach “in accordance with and not contrary to,” then the evidence indicates this sad truth: something other than inerrancy is their real concern.
If this kind of mentality obtains in the leadership of the SBC and spreads to others, then the gains for the cause of biblical authority will be short-lived.
We need to have conversations about conserving the conservative resurgence. Perhaps the attacks on the doctrines of grace will provide such an occasion. I certainly have further thoughts on this subject.
I am currently in the great Pacific Northwest for the Alpha-Omega Conference on Scripture. I hope to blog while here, but given all the travel and communication challenges of the last 2 days, I hesitate to say that it should be easy to do.
