peterlumpkins.com

An Old Story About My Wife & Me by Peter Lumpkins

I was searching for something else when I stumbled across this old story written about my wife and me when we transformed ourselves from the beautiful suburbs south of Atlanta to living on the railroad tracks in downtown Atlanta. And, yes, when the train came through, the glasses jingled, the floors vibrated, and, if we were in the courtyard, we simply stopped talking til the train went by. Life for us in the loft for 5 1/2 years. If you'd be interested in reading the story, here's the link. With... Read more →

Warm Endorsement for "Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence" by Peter Lumpkins

Many thanks to Dr. Brad Reynolds, Vice-president at Truett-McConnell College, Cleveland, Georgia for his warm endorsement of my book, Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence: "At a time when purity within the evangelical church is being sacrificed at the altar of unity, and holiness is asked to bow to pragmatism Peter Lumpkins delivers a clarion call for the church to behave as the pure bride of Christ with respect to the consumption of alcohol. With biblical exegesis, philosophical effectiveness and journalistic excellence Peter reveals the Biblical case for... Read more →

Dr. Malcolm Yarnell on Romans 9: "God's Electing Purpose" by Peter Lumpkins

When's the last time you either heard an exposition (mp3) or read an endorsement on a Southern Baptist blog concerning Romans 9, the contents of which were not decidedly strict Calvinism? And the answer is... Precisely. Malcolm B. Yarnell III is presently Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (//link). He is Editor for the Southwestern Journal of Theology as well Editor of BaptistTheology.org (//link). Furthermore, Dr. Yarnell directs two other educational programs at the seminary: The Oxford Study Program and The Center for Theological Research.... Read more →

Is Change for the SBC in the Air? by Peter Lumpkins

We've heard alot these days about change in the Southern Baptist Convention. And where else do we hear the choir sing the song of unqualified change?... With that, I am... Peter Read more →

Conclusion: What's in a Name? Changing the Name of the Southern Baptist Convention

As one can see by surveying the historical context of name-change for the Southern Baptist Convention (Part II), it remains more than the simplistic idea to just vote it in and change it. Nor from the evidence we have can it be reasonably argued... that Southern Baptists have been so addicted to their “southern” heritage, they stubbornly refused to change their name as a result. Those who make such accusations do themselves nor the cause of Christ honor. And, certainly they defame the history of Southern Baptists. Southern Baptists undoubtedly... Read more →

(Part II) What’s in a Name? Changing the Name of the Southern Baptist Convention by Peter Lumpkins

In Part I, I attempted to put the present call to change our official name as “The Southern Baptist Convention” into historical perspective. Great Commission Resurgence Task Force (GCRTF) members like Drs. J.D. Greear and Danny Akin who are actively soliciting support for discarding the name, “Southern Baptist Convention” are by no means the first to raise the issue1. Indeed since at least the late 1950’s, about once a decade the issue resurfaces. Let’s look at some of the more prominent ones... In 1961, an Arkansas Executive Committee (EC) member,... Read more →

Excursion: What’s in a Name? Changing the Name of the Southern Baptist Convention by Peter Lumpkins

In Part I, we considered the current call to change the name of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). While today’s thrust appears to be generationally-driven (though not exclusively so), it would be a mistake to assume the age of the name-change advocate plays a primary factor historically. To the contrary, neither age nor even the theological perspective (that is, whether conservative, moderate, or liberal) stood out as the primary motive for dropping “southern” from the official name of the Southern Baptist Convention. Therefore, as a side-note I may pick up... Read more →

What’s in a Name? Changing the Name of the Southern Baptist Convention by Peter Lumpkins

A considerable amount of attention continues concerning whether “Southern” in our official name as the “Southern Baptist Convention” should not finally experience a decent burial, presumably making sure it “dies with dignity,” so to speak. And, so far as I can tell, the voices to euthanize “southern” in “Southern Baptists” show no signs of going away. For example, last week GCRTF member, J.D. Greear, asked this question in his concluding remarks of a blog entitled “Do Denominations have a Future?”: “And how about the name of the SBC? Anybody besides... Read more →

Helpful Study Links by Peter Lumpkins

Below are some helpful study links....Maybe... Be warned, however. The content on these sites is for serious readers only. No blogger dumbing down the messy details. Nor are all papers biblically or baptistically sound. Also, some are conservative, some on the extreme theological left. Yet most represent scholarly presentations nonetheless (NOTE: some journals are now defunct but contents are still available. Also, some have only partial availability). Save them in your bookmarks or download the papers to searchable pdf files. And, the best part???............................ All content is free! Journal of... Read more →

Dr. Jerry Vines on Cooperation by Peter Lumpkins

While our moderate-liberal Baptist brothers shockingly lift up Crawford Toy--the once Southern Baptist turned Unitarian--as a Baptist hero, there are more worthy examples to cite. Nor are all Southern Baptist heroes dead. For my money, Drs. Paige Patterson and Jerry Vines qualify nicely for such an honor. Dr. Vines has a delightful post on his blog entitled "This Independent Baptist Likes Cooperation." He wittingly writes: "I was elected president of the SBC in 1988. Some half-jokingly said I was the first independent Baptist in history elected president!" And, quite revealingly... Read more →

So, The Old Testament is Old After All, Ah? by Peter Lumpkins

Ever heard the old story portraying scientists as climbing the mountain of knowledge only to discover at the top theologians were there all along? Well, more egg on overly-confident biblical critics. Eminent Hebrew scholar, Professor Gershon Galil of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa, released his findings this week for what will become the oldest extant Hebrew script, which, in effect, pushes Hebrew writing "as early as the 10th century BCE." The professor goes on to conclude: "This stands opposed to the dating of the composition... Read more →

Southern Baptists Propose More Churches for Cuba by Peter Lumpkins

The Southern Baptist vision to reach the entire globe for Christ stands without parallel in Christian history. Neither is the vision to plant churches a more recent development of Southern Baptist life as many curiously assume. Nor have we ever considered our name as The "Southern" Baptist Convention indicative of a stunted regionalism only concerned about souls in Dixie. Indeed quite telling of the Southern Baptist heartbeat to evangelize to the ends of the earth is the little piece below. It originally appeared on January, 4th, 1900 in "The Bee,"... Read more →

Kentucky Baptist Churches: Public Distinction Between Calvinist & Non-Calvinist by Peter Lumpkins

On May 2, 1888, "The climax", a paper of Richmond, Kentucky (Madison County) printed in the "supplement" page a church "directory" listing various denominations1. Of course, the listing included the Baptist churches. Fourteen Baptist churches are listed in alphabetical order. Some of the churches pop right off the page: Cane Spring (Calvinist) Richmond Richmond (Predestinarian) Waco (United) Richmond (First United colored) The latter two churches most probably reflect the coming together of Regular Baptists (Calvinists) and Separate Baptists (motley crew mixture), in many areas referred to as "United Baptists." In... Read more →

Having a Creepy Monday by Peter Lumpkins

A new species of spider has been discovered in Israel by a team of biologists from the University of Haifa-Oranim. Since the spiders like it hot, hot , hot, praise the Lord no chance of this breed with a leg-span of a full half foot migrating to West Georgia! On a more serious reflection, our simple, finite minds will not--indeed cannot--exhaust our beloved Sovereign Creator's handiwork. Selah. Read the full story at LiveScience (//link). With that, I am... Peter Read more →

Calvinistic But Not Calvinist: A Follow-up by Peter Lumpkins

I received (via email) much encouragement from a recent post I logged (//link) which partially demonstrates, at least to my satisfaction, that the historical theory constructed by Southern Baptist Calvinists concerning Baptist roots in the south, a theory promoted by Founders Ministries advocates, along with Dr. Tom Nettles (//link).... ... remains a truncated historiography, curiously ignoring the larger body of available historical material and can be highly misleading in its portrayal of our rich Baptist heritage. Furthermore, employing a possible eccentric interpretation of historical data as the Nettles' school does... Read more →

The Preposterous Practise of Politicizing Medicine by Peter Lumpkins

In mid-November, 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force unleashed recommendations stating women need mammograms less frequently, with regular breast-cancer screening starting at age 50 rather than age 40, 40 being the recommendation of virtually all medical societies including The American Cancer Society. Furthermore, the Task Force concluded mammograms should be performed biennially, not yearly, and implied that no significant loss of life would result from breast cancer during ages 40-49. Women were just to chill until they reached the big Five-O. Another study has been just been released by... Read more →

Calvinistic But Not Calvinist by Peter Lumpkins

Last June, Dr. Morris Chapman, President of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, constructively verbalized what many believe a long, over-due public criticism toward a markedly aggressive Calvinism in the Southern Baptist Convention. Responses varied. For example, while Dr. Al Mohler twittered an epithetical line toward Dr. Chapman... Dr. Danny Akin offered an official apology to Founders Ministries for the supposed abuse they endured from Dr. Chapman. In addition, Founders Ministries advocate, Timmy Brister, logged four posts critical of Dr. Chapman not only because of what Dr. Chapman... Read more →