peterlumpkins.com

Does voter suppression in 2021 look like voter suppression in 1961? An Answer to Bill Leonard

Last week, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary research professor, Karen Swallow Prior, made a socio-cultural analogy between the systemic social consequences of the 1960s sexual revolution in the United States and the systemic racism in the United States we allegedly observe today according to Critical Race theorists. As I showed in my reply, Prior's analogy simply collapses in on itself making it far more difficult to accept her claim of systemic racism (via CRT) rather than easier. This week, a reputable Baptist historian makes yet another analogy from almost the same... Read more →

Systemic Racism & Sexual Revolution: Replying to Karen Swallow Prior

Formerly teaching English at Liberty University for over 20 years, Karen Swallow Prior presently serves as Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Prior is author of a number of books including Jane Eyre: A Guide to Reading and Reflecting; On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books; Heart of Darkness, and Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me not to mention her prolific online literary presence and numerous magazine articles published in Christianity Today and other major Christian publications. Prior's... Read more →

Faith and Healthy Democracy: A Research Report on Civility in the Public Square: A Brief Critical Review

Recently, The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention (ERLC, SBC) released a 72 page written report of a research project commissioned and supported by The Fetzer Institute, a non-Christian religious organization devoted to "helping build the spiritual foundation for a loving world." Entitled "Faith and Healthy Democracy" (FHD), the report has been widely distributed online through social media and the ERLC website. According to the author(s), the report results from a compilation of an evangelical survey poll commissioned by LifeWay Research, dozens of interviews with evangelical... Read more →

Is Racism embedded all over the Southern Baptist Convention?

I've been trying to stay away from denominational politics. Honest! At times, however, it's impossible to stay on the wagon. Indeed as my good friend, Chris Gilliam, indicated in the Facebook thread (see below), one gets tired of the simplistic rhetoric. Below is a brief commentary I pecked out on my cell phone in response to an article detailing Russell Moore's indictment of widespread racism allegedly embedded within the Southern Baptist Convention. A Facebook friend asked me to post it on my blog so he could point his friends to... Read more →

A final but hopeful plea for the healing of the Ergun Caner family by Bucky Kennedy

I would like to offer a final address toward the current circumstances regarding Ergun Caner specifically and then another issue generally. Ergun Caner had spoken with me several times after Braxton's death about lacking the energy or the will to get beyond the grief of Braxton's suicide. In early November, Ergun spent several days in ICU suffering from congestive heart failure and since then has been diagnosed with a heart condition that would have prevented him from continuing as the president of Brewton Parker C ollege. I was in the... Read more →

Looking Back:Southern Baptist seminaries desegregated before desegregation

Not until the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education (1969) was racial segregation put to a complete end "now and hereafter."1 Below, however, is a short headline piece in The Christian Centtury concerning Southern Baptists' progressive action favoring racial desegration in 1950. Our seminaries apparently were the first institutions of higher theological education to tear down the racial divide. Southern Baptists Open Seminaries to Negroes* The boards of three Southern Baptist theological seminaries have opened the way for the admission of Negro students next... Read more →

Everything You Know about Evangelicals is Wrong (Well Almost Everything): A Book-Look by Peter Lumpkins

Beginning in the last quarter of the 20th century, evangelicals rode their white horses to religious stardom. As Liberal and mainline denominational colleges and seminaries shrunk, evangelical student bodies swelled fat and prosperous. Fame was short-lived, however. While Newsweek proclaimed 1976 as “the year of the evangelical,” church historian Martin E. Marty predicted rough days ahead for evangelicals as early as 1989. Indeed, some theologians now question whether the term “evangelical” has not expended itself completely. For example, >>> Westminster Theological Seminary professor, D. A. Hart, suggested in his book,... Read more →

Greg Boyd Concerning Professor Gates's Arrest & the President's Comments by Peter Lumpkins

Greg Boyd is sympathetic toward President Obama's scourge on a local Connecticut police officer (//link). Boyd writes: "This arrest of an African American man in his own home raised the charge of racial profiling which quickly erupted into a national controversy when President Obama commented on the matter, saying the policeman acted “stupidly.”" No, Dr. Boyd. That's not hardly correct. You left out the three times President Obama explicitly said: "I don't know the facts of the case." And, then he went right ahead and publicly called the police action... Read more →

Southern Baptists and Racial Diversity by Peter Lumpkins

Here is something rarely heard, and concerning which mainline church leaders may struggle to accept. The most ethnically diverse churches in America are found in these three bodies---the Roman Catholic Church, the Assemblies of God and... The Southern Baptist Convention Hence, when it comes to racial diversity, Southern Baptists are seeing a healthy amount of success. From 1998 to 2007, racial diversity doubled in the SBC (//link). It goes without saying, there is more to do. Nonetheless, we thank God for what He's done and doing in ethnic diversity in... Read more →

One Great Post on Racism: SelahV is a Must-Read by Peter Lumpkins

Pertaining to the recent debacle surrounding Dr. Dwight McKissic and the charge of racism, SelahV has one profound post...>>> While the trustee issue is subtly in the background, her confessional tone is both humble and much needed during this tragic breakdown of mutual support among the Trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Do yourself a favor and reflect on her post. With that, I am... Peter Read more →

Is An Apology Enough?

Below is a comment I made on another Baptist blog. Some desire this particular issue to simply vanish. Dr. McKissic, after all, has apologized. I am not one to bolster vengeance nor harbor an unforgiving spirit...>>> Nevertheless, some actions seem so unconscionable that to drop them too quickly fosters moral irresponsibility. For me, what one of the Trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary recently said toward other Trustees needs more than a “that’s o.k., Dr. McKissic; We understand” response. By the way, you should know that if you disagree with... Read more →