Progressive Baptist Feed by IPC

I've been getting e-mails all day from people who saw clips of yours truly on TV or heard audio of me on the radio from coverage of the Press Conference yesterday. It made all four TV news...

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Sometimes the media — or anyone with a platform including a Facebook page or blog — can give attention-seekers the attention they seek.

Which raises the question: Should religious nutcases be condemned publicly or simply ignored?

In some cases, public condemnation helps separate the nutcases from the faith tradition they falsely claim to represent.

For example it is helpful when respected Muslim leaders assure the public that the attitudes and actions of Islamic extremists do not represent them or their faith. Or when Christian leaders are quick to do the same when someone claims that Jesus led them to say and do things Jesus would never say and do.

On the other hand, continuous public outcry can accomplish what the nutcases desired: their 15 minutes or longer of fame — with TV crews showing up on their lawns and counter-demonstrations being organized.

After years of strong public denouncements, surely few would associate the hate-filled actions of Fred Phelps and his tiny, mostly related Independent Baptist congregation in Kansas with other Baptists or Christians.

His little group's bizarre protests at funerals for U.S. soldiers — which Phelps somehow ties to his hatred of homosexuals — is so far out of bounds. Even mentioning him here makes me feel like an accomplice to his attention-seeking ways.

Therefore, the current public outcry against a nutcase preacher in Florida who would insult millions of another faith tradition, harm interfaith relationships and put Americans abroad in greater danger is warranted. But giving him national and international attention is probably playing well in his ignorant head.

It might be better to ignore him — and others who do no good.

With a new surge of anti-Muslim feeling breaking across the United States, goodwill Christians, especially clergy, must end their ambiguous silence to counter the hateful rhetoric against Islam.

The "woman's place" in church and home has long been an issue for societies. Al though patriarchy continues to flourish, Jesus helps us understand what God really intended for human relationships.

If Terry Jones truly is the pastor of a New Testament church, as his website claims, he would do well to recall the words of Jesus to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" before burning the Quran.

A story posted on today's Boise Weekly offers some insight into the connection Baylor President Ken Starr has with the judiciary in Uganda -- a country where active homosexuals face the death...

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The Interfaith Community held a press conference at the Church of the Open Arms in Oklahoma City this morning to show solidarity with Muslims at this time of unprecedented Islamophobia. Here's what...

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The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina has proposed a new Foundational Statement. Removed from this new, proposed statement is any affirmation of soul freedom and the right of the individual to read and interpret scripture for herself/himself.  Whereas the current foundational documents of both the CBF (National) and CBF (North Carolina) stress role of the individual, this proposed statement completely abandons that term - individual.

Apparently the purpose of the new statement was to articulate what CBF-NC is for rather than what they are against. That’s a point which was clearly conveyed in this statement:

The current CBF-NC Foundational Statement lists under a section titled OUR PRINCIPLES:

Priesthood of All Believers - We affirm the freedom and right of every Christian to interpret and apply scripture under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  We affirm the freedom and responsibility of every person to relate directly to God without the imposition of creed, the control of clergy or the interference of government.

The Foundational Statement of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (National) states under OUR CORE VALUES also emphasized Soul freedom ["We believe in the priesthood of all believers..."] and Bible Freedom ["We affirm the freedom and right of every Christian to interpret and apply scripture under the leadership of the Holy Spirit."]

Sadly, the new proposed Foundational Statement of CBF-NC has abandoned these cherished, historic Baptist principles.  The language of individual freedom (and responsibility) has been completely scrubbed. It’s gone.

The Priesthood of All Believers section has been replaced with this:

3.  We confess that the Christian faith is best understood and experienced within the community of God’s people who are called to be priests to one another.

4.  We confess that under the Lordship of Christ each congregation is free and responsible to discern the mind of Christ and to order its common life accordingly.

Big change here.  The current CBF-NC and CBF (National) statements affirm the right of the individual to read and interpret Scripture.  However, the new proposed statement - which allows the right to “study” scripture “communally and personally” - leaves the right of interpretation in the hands of the “congregation” not the individual.

This new statement proposes a radical “reenvisioning” of the Baptist identity that has been embraced by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship for two decades now. Freedom takes a huge hit with this statement.

Without a doubt this document shares much in common with the controversial Baptist Manifesto of 1997 which declared:  ”Scripture wisely forbids and we reject every form of private interpretation that makes Bible reading a practice which can be carried out according to the dictates of individual conscience.”  Curtis Freeman- an outspoken opponent of soul freedom -  was one of the authors of the 1997 Baptist Manifesto.  Freeman also helped draft this proposed Foundational Statement.

Following the Manifesto/Baptist-Catholic agenda, this statement has created a false bifurcation of the individual and community, solely emphasizing the community to the neglect of the individual.  That’s a shame.

The proposed Foundational Statement of CBF-NC will be discussed in various locations over the next few months.  See the list of dates here.

If you’re a Fellowship Baptist who holds Baptist principles such as soul freedom and the priesthood of all believers near and dear, if you value the emphasis on individual conscience embodied in the witness of Baptists from Thomas Helwys to Roger Williams to John Leland to G.W. Truett to E.Y. Mullins to T.B. Maston to James Dunn, now is the time to speak out.  Don’t be a silent people.

Related posts:

1. BJC’s Brent Walker on Soul Freedom Brent Walker, Executive-Director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious...
2. The Golden Hour To Save Soul Freedom This is the sixth post in the Recovering E.Y. Mullins...
3. 2009 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Preview The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a renewal movement among Baptists comprised...

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It's well before full daylight when Samuel walks down to the bus stop each morning about 6:20 a.m. When I follow a little later, giving the dog a morning romp, Samuel and his compatriots are quite a sight. Three boys wait at the same bus stop, all high school freshmen, but they rarely say a word. Rather, each one stands or sits apart, earbuds in place, with faces glowing in the light of their respective iPods as they play games or search for favorite tunes.

During the first eight days of school, they had three different bus drivers who arrived on different buses, before the school system finally found driver who is capable of following the route correctly and arriving at somewhere near the expected time. Samuel is fortunate: this is only his third school, as he was able to go the distance at both his elementary and middle schools. This is his first year riding the bus.

Times have changed. Back in the day and the place where I grew up, we went to the same school for all 12 grades (no kindergarten then) and had the same bus driver (Mr. Jinks Goldman) for the entire stretch. My first grade year (1956), the bus looked like something out of a cartoon. It was short and rounded, with big black fenders surrounding the narrow nose. It was No. 6. A few years later, we got a new bus (No. 21), and shortly before I graduated, yet another one (No. 26).

We didn't have to meet the bus until 8:00 a.m., as school for all 12 grades started at 8:25 a.m. and let out at 3:15 p.m. If we were late getting out of the house in the morning, we could count on Mr. Jinks blowing the horn as he came down the hill well before reaching our driveway. I started out alone at the stop, with my younger brothers joining me three and five years later. We tended to banter while waiting, usually in good-natured fashion. In cold weather, we admired the ice crystals growing from the red clay, then stepped on them. Small transistor radios had come out before I finished high school, but it would never have occurred to me to plug in the earphone and take it to school.

Samuel and his friends carry giant backpacks, but for some reason the notion of a backpack or bookbag was unknown in our county. We stacked up our books and carried them under one arm, if they would fit, or in both hands. I remember using a green rubber strap to keep mine together (it fit right in with my nerdy glasses and pocket protector).

When homework time comes, Samuel pulls out a slick TI-83 Plus calculator that has more computing power than the entire University of Georgia had when I started there in 1969. I considered myself technologically advanced because I got a slick yellow Pickett slide rule my senior year.

Times change -- but fortunately the basic rules of algebra and the classic authors remain the same, so I'm not yet useless when it comes to homework. Give me a challenging word problem, and the smell of chalk and purple spirit masters comes rushing back.

If only the equations came as easily ...

Our political leaders must address immigration issues in a fair and compassionate manner. Tens of thousands of members of American Baptist Churches are among those affected.

Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally was an example of American civil religion on parade. Whatever civil religion's value to the common good, it tends to favor the nation over religious faith.

The National Affairs Briefing, held 30 years ago, marked the spiritual deterioration of American evangelicalism. Going forward, ideological commitment to propositions advanced by the Christian Right would demonstrate one's faith.

The New York Times recently ran an interesting article entitled "Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits." It suggests that we can also forget what we've been told about children having...

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Sunday: A good day of worship and time with family and friends

Monday: A peaceful Labor Day morning along the Chattanooga Riverfront (photo) before heading home

Tuesday: A rush to get everything done in a shortened work week

Did anyone else hear the starter's pistol early this morning?

The Texas politicians who alleged an international conspiracy of "terror babies" are Southern Baptist. Far too many conservative Christians have such fringe conspiratorial views, making decisions based on fear instead of facts.

The pastor of a Florida church plans to burn the Quran on Sept. 11, claiming that many Americans have even sent him copies to burn. His plans will only perpetuate a cycle of violence.

Healthy conflict is one of the most effective means for a church to grow deeper in its understanding of spiritual truth that God sends us. But how do we respond when conflict overwhelms the mission of the church?

Islamophobia appears to be on the upswing among some American Christians, and that's a poor commentary on the state of the faith in those quarters.

In New York City, a televangelist named Bill Keller has opened a "9/11 Christian Center" in a rented hotel meeting room across from Ground Zero. I'd never heard of Keller previously, but apparently he's made quite a name for himself with his heated anti-Islamic rhetoric -- enough to get him thrown off at least one TV station for being so offensive. In a hate-filled diatribe, Keller described Islam as a religion of "violence and hatred" and "a 1400-year-old lie from hell." He claims that his purpose is to "open a place where people can come to hear the truth of the Bible and learn about the peace, love, and saving grace of Jesus Christ."

Do you hear any peace, love, and grace in Keller's comments?

Meanwhile, independent preacher Terry Jones, from Gainesville, Fla., still plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on Sept. 11.  Jones, leader of the inaptly named "Dove World Outreach Center," has written a book called Islam Is of the Devil, and his church reportedly sells T-shirts and coffee mugs bearing the same phrase.  The National Association of Evangelicals has urged the church to cancel the event, but the anti-Islamist congregation remains undeterred. The same church has promoted slur-filled protests against the mayor of Gainesville, who is gay.


Does this sound like the love of Christ in action? Jesus called his followers to spread a gospel of love and peace, even for one's perceived enemies -- a far cry from the hateful rhetoric being disseminated in his name.


There may be no tears in heaven, but the Spirit of God on earth, I'm convinced, must be weeping.

The tourism industry's code of ethics is generally well crafted and broad in scope but includes no references to employment practices. How do Christian ethics apply to one of the largest industries in the world?

They don't ask others to do what they are not already doing. They determine for themselves they will tell the truth. They seek to elevate others to achieve success. Who are they? They're true leaders.