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According to Jonathan Merritt: Evangelicals risk everything to reclaim cultural and political control—even if that means defying their own beliefs

I started to respond only briefly to Jonathan Merritt's piece entitled, "The Awkward Love Story of Trump and American Evangelicals" and post it on Facebook. My commentary grew larger, however; much too large to be effective on that platform. Thus, below are my initial thoughts to Merritt's piece: @jonathanmerritt writes a stinging critique on 1K evangelicals meeting with Trump this week. There exist several weaknesses in his critique, however. Among them, some are listed below (Merritt's words and contextual quotes are embolden with my response following): 1) "Many evangelicals who... Read more →

Inerrancy: Will the battle over biblical inspiration never be settled even among evangelicals?

While newbies in the Southern Baptist Convention might not remember the denominational explosion in 1979 when Adrian Rogers was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the senior generation of Southern Baptists surely does. A cataclysmic shift took place within the infrastructure of power in the convention ultimately leading to the “takeover” of America’s largest evangelical denomination by theologically conservative representatives. The theological notion at stake—according to most grassroots Southern Baptists at the time—was the full inspiration and total truthfulness of Scripture, a notion captured by the single word inerrancy.... Read more →

Did Jesus tell Nicodemus he must be born again so he can believe the gospel?

I recently posted F.H. Kerfoot's editorial correction to James P. Boyce's teaching that regeneration precedes faith in the Ordo salutis published in Boyce's first edition of the Abstract of Systematic Theology (1887). Kerfoot was recommended to the trustees by Boyce himself to take over the theology chair at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. At first, Kerfoot became co-professor of theology alongside Boyce. However, that lasted only a short time due to Boyce's declining health. Thus, Kerfoot became the head of the theology department and served the chair of theology upon Boyce's... Read more →

Scholarly skepticism continues toward the "Jesus' Wife Fragment" even as Smithsonian plans to air positive documentary May 5

In the latest edition of The Weekly Standard, Charlotte Allen, author of The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus, queries whether the investigation into the so-called "Jesus' Wife Fragment" has after all raised more questions concerning the fragment's authenticity than it's answered. Entitled "The Wife of Jesus Tale," Allen writes of the scientific tests on the papyrus itself: [T]he scientific results have raised more questions than they’ve answered, especially within the cohort of scholars who were already convinced that the fragment was a modern forgery. For one thing,... Read more →

Bullseye: Perceptive Reflections on a Collapsing Culture: Free Church Press New Release

Click on image to enlarge Free Church Press is excited to announce a new title by William F. Harrell: Bullseye: Perceptive Reflections on a Collapsing Culture. Dr. Harrell is Pastor Emeritus of the historic Abilene Baptist Church, Martinez, Georgia. Bullseye is Harrell's second book. In Bullseye, Dr. Harrell aims his bead for cultural issues facing the church today. Those who purchased Harrell's first volume--Straight Shooting: Pastoral Reflections for Today's Church--will note in Bullseye the very same folksy literary style Dr. Harrell commands. Below are a few of the targets onto... Read more →

Interview with Christian author Candise Farmer

I recently had an opportunity to interact with Bible teacher and Christian author, Candise Farmer, concerning her ministry and book Green Pastures in a Barren Land: finding contentment in life's desolate seasons (Free Church Press, Carrollton. 2012 $14.95). Her folksy style and gentle aura complement her deep Christian convictions making chats with Candise a mesmerizing experience. God surely blesses this young Christian lady with tremendous communicating abilities. More significantly, however, is Candise's encouraging message birthed from difficulties she and her husband faced for several years. I pray He chooses to... Read more →

David Allen: Regeneration can hardly precede faith...at least not according to Scripture...

SBC Today posts a great summary of Dr. David Allen's presentation and The 2013 John 3:16 Conference. Of Ephesians 2:1-10, Allen says, “Part of what is driving the ‘regeneration precedes faith’ issue is a flawed anthropology drawn partly from Ephesians 2. With respect to Ephesians 2:1-10, when Paul speaks of the unregenerate as being ‘dead in sins’ there is no question that ‘dead’ is being used metaphorically. In Scripture, ‘death’ is often used metaphorically to express alienation from God and ‘life’ is used to express union with God via salvation... Read more →

Louisiana's Message republishes "The Calvinists are here" by Georgia's Christian Index editor, Gerald Harris

The Baptist Message recently posted a series of articles on the purported issue over Calvinism at Louisiana College. I received permission from The Message editor to re-post the four articles in full on my site since many Southern Baptists outside Louisiana are watching with concerned interest the fiasco taking place on the Baptist campus. Yet since so few of us outside Louisiana subscribe to The Message, we were left completely in the dark as to the content of the articles. You may find the first and second articles linked after... Read more →

"Vines left speechless by book in his honor" says a Southwestern seminary news release

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary posted a news release entitled "Vines left speechless by book in his honor." The article states: "Moments before standing to preach a sermon in a Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary chapel service, well-known Southern Baptist preacher and former SBC president Jerry Vines was presented with a book written in his honor by prominent SBC pastors and theologians. The unexpected recognition left Vines in an unfamiliar state—speechless." Entitled Preach the Word! A Collection of Essays on Biblical Preaching in Honor of Jerry Vines (Free Church Press, 2013: David... Read more →

New Release by Free Church Press! The Secrets of a Great Church by Jerry Vines

Just in time for The John 3:16 Conference, The Secrets of a Great Church by Jerry Vines will be given free of charge to all registered participants. In addition, through the generosity of friends of Free Church Press and Jerry Vines Ministries, a complimentary copy will be available to messengers who drop by the booth at the 2013 Southern Baptist Convention in Houston, TX. Read more →

Born Guilty? A Southern Baptist View of Original Sin by Adam Harwood

Free Church Press announces a new and exclusive teaching series on biblical, theological, ethical, and ecclesial themes significant for Southern Baptists. The series will target people in the pew rather than those who have a theological background. While we believe all church leaders--including pastors and other staff leaders--will benefit from the series, the goal is to educate the millions of Southern Baptists who neither have theological or biblical degrees nor desire to wade through long, technical works to gain a reasonable grip on the essence of a particular subject. Thus,... Read more →

Augustine and Southern Baptists: Part 6B: Augustine's Critics and Legacy by Dr. Jim Gifford

Dr. Jim Gifford This is the final installment of Dr. Gifford's series on Augustine and Southern Baptists. I want to thank him for lending us his scholarship and pursuing this series at SBC Tomorrow. Be assured that the engagement in the comments did not accurately reflect either the number of readers Gifford's series had nor the significance of the series for future discussions about Original Sin, imputed guilt, original guilt, total depravity, free will, divine sovereignty, determinism, or any number of other subjects usually under the head of philosophy of... Read more →

Augustine and Southern Baptists: Part 6A: Augustine's Critics and Legacy by Dr. Jim Gifford

Dr. Jim Gifford This is the last installment of my series on Augustine. I wanted to say at the outset of this post that I really appreciate all of you who took the time to read it. A great big thank you to Peter for graciously posting it on his blog. I also want to thank Ben Simpson, Ken Hamrick, and David Allen for helpful suggestions and feedback. Thanks to Christiane and Lydia for insights and links. Thanks also to Eric Hankins, Malcolm Yarnell, and Adam Harwood for kind words... Read more →

Young Truett-McConnell scholar drops a bombshell on Southern Baptist academia

When Karl Barth's classic commentary on Paul's Epistle to the Romans was first published in 1919, a biblical monograph which effectively delivered Old Liberalism its first mortal blow, one German reviewer described Barth's neo-orthodox innovation revealed in his Romans exposition as falling "like a bombshell on the playground of the theologians" >>> And, while one cannot place Adam Harwood's modest theological reflection at SBC Today on such a profoundly global ecclesial scale as was Barth, the Assistant Professor of Christian Studies at Truett-McConnell College just dropped a theological bombshell on... Read more →

A brief discussion on Dr. Mark Devine's chapter--"Total Depravity" Part 3 by Peter Lumpkins

We continue below with Part 3 in a series on Dr. Mark DeVine's chapter in Whomever He Wills 1 >>> 1I apologize for both the audio and standard definition. I tried four times to upload the HD version but it stubbornly refused to take... Read more →

Whomever He Wills: a brief introduction by Peter Lumpkins

I spoke with a friend on my way to Indy last week. He mentioned the amazing success he's had doing video book-notes posted on his site. I decided to give it a try. While I won't bind myself using this form of media, I hope to add it to the writing I do on SBC Tomorrow. It's actually a lot quicker than pecking out my thoughts on the keyboard. Whatever the case, I intend to continue communicating mainly through the written word >>> Whomever He Wills: a brief introduction from... Read more →

Al Mohler and Hyper-Calvinism vs.The Traditional Statement and Semi-Pelagianism by Peter Lumpkins

I’m told one of the high-lights of the 2006 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina was the formal exchange between Drs. Al Mohler and Paige Patterson on the biblical doctrine of election. Entitled “Reaching Today's World Through Differing Views of Election” each speaker took a different perspective on biblical election, Calvinistic and non-Calvinistic respectively. Especially enlightening are Al Mohler’s words defending Five Point Calvinism against the charge of Hyper-Calvinism >>> Some Background First Some billed the exchange between Mohler and Patterson as a dream come true while... Read more →

Reformed Theology coming under more published scrutiny by Peter Lumpkins

The publication of Whosoever Will (edted by Drs. David Allen and Steve Lemke) was the result of The John 3:16 Conference held at the Woodstock First Baptist Church November 6-7, 2008. Contra some Southern Baptist Calvinists' unwavering confidence, the scholarly contributions in Whosoever Will demonstrated that Reformed theology is not the only, viable theological kid on the block. In fact, the composite thrust of the contributors to Whosoever Will makes it fairly clear that strict Calvinism as a system must be abandoned for a more robust biblicism >>> Since the... Read more →

Authentic: The Case for Mark 16:9-20 by guest contributor James Snapp, Jr.

A fairly hot topic of discussion when I was in seminary (1980s) was whether the longer ending of Mark's gospel was authentic or a later scribal addition >>> Perhaps the discussion escalated among Southern Baptists during the 1980s because of the flag under which the Conservative Resurgence marched ahead to battle--inerrancy. Whatever the reason for the arisen interest, there has been continual discussion among textual critics concerning many passages in the New Testament. And to be quite honest, perhaps no passage of Holy Writ draws more unity from the broadest... Read more →