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Southern Baptist in NC

Keeping Christ central in the world of Southern Baptists

Sep 10

7

Clarification to the Calvinist/Arminian Debate in the SBC

Posted by Tim Rogers on September 7, 2010
Posted in Baptist • Calvinism • Dr. Jerry Vines • Dr. Ken Keathley • Dr. Malcom Yarnell • Dr. Paige Patterson • Dr. Steve Lemke • Reformed Doctrine • SBC Issues • Southern Baptist Convention • SWBTS • Theology  | 12 Comments

Just when one believes the Calvinist-Arminian Debate is over due to nausea induced arguments, along comes a voice of reason.  In the latest White Paper signed by Dr. Paige Patterson, Dr. David Allen, Dr. Malcolm Yarnell, Dr. Ken Keathley, Dr. Jerry Vines, Dr. Richard Land, and Dr. Steve Lemke, we have a Baptist position expressed by Baptist Theologians.  The point that appeals to this writer centers around the fact of who we are.  Whenever we modify Baptist with either Calvinist or Arminian we just left the central tenant of being a  Baptist-the Bible.  The authors of the White Paper certainly express this truth when they write;

As mission-minded and evangelistic Baptists, we are uncomfortable with moving too far beyond scriptural revelation into speculative theological models.

Dr. Vines referred to “simple biblicism” as the place we should remain with the debate.  With this in mind the White Paper reminds us there is an understanding that we have Calvinist Baptists along with Arminian Baptists within the SBC.  But, as the authors expressed:

We certainly believe that Baptists can be Calvinists and they can be Arminians, but we prefer not to allow ourselves to be defined by either of those great positions, because we see something even greater, something that deserves more attention and requires a higher allegiance. Likewise, theologians open to Molinism, such as Bruce Little and Ken Keathley, do their work with a firm commitment to evangelical Baptist convictions. What we are saying is that our own passion for God’s Word, for Christ and for His Great Commission necessarily places every desire for settling the long-running and seemingly intractable Calvinist-Arminian debate to the side. We recognize this is a debate that will continue to be held and should be held in certain restricted venues. However, the debate itself is trumped by our need to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, to proclaim Scripture, and to obey His Great Commission. Moreover, we believe our position is the mainstream Southern Baptist position, as Richard Land said in his chapter, “the Separate Baptist Sandy Creek Tradition has been the melody for Southern Baptists, with Charleston and other traditions providing harmony” (50).

This article brings us back to the central tenet that is needed in this debate.

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Jul 10

26

Age of Accountability

Posted by Tim Rogers on July 26, 2010
Posted in Baptism by Immersion • Baptist • Dr. Steve Lemke • Orthodoxy • SBC Issues • Theology  | 36 Comments

Dr. Steve W. Lemke

Dr. Steve Lemke serves as Provost of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.  He also holds the position of Professor of Philosophy and Ethics.  His article on the “Age of Accountability”  was originally published in January 7, 2010 issue of the Louisiana Baptist Message.  Dr. Lemke is a good friend and has articulated a doctrine that seems to be taken for granted in today’s younger pastors.  Dr. Lemke gives a very reasonable argument and Biblical foundation for this doctrine.

The doctrine often called the “age of accountability” is one of the most foundational Baptist beliefs, yet it is also one of the least understood beliefs.  All three Baptist Faith and Message statements (1925, 1963, and 2000) assert that children are not morally accountable until “they are capable of moral action” (Baptist Faith and Message, Article 3).   We all know that individual children mature at different rates than do others, so it is difficult to establish a specific age at which all children become morally accountable.  It is therefore more accurate to speak of a “state” of being accountable rather than an “age” of accountability.  However, apart from mentally challenged individuals, this state of accountability is normally associated with a “coming of age” sometime in adolescence.  The life transition from childhood into adolescence and early adulthood is recognized with some form of celebration in almost every culture.  In Jewish culture, this coming of age is celebrated at the age of twelve or thirteen with bar mitzvahs (for boys) and bat mitzvahs (for girls).  While this recognition is prompted by age rather than personal spiritual maturity, the term “mitzvah” literally means “one to whom the commandments apply.”  After their mitzvah, children are held to be morally responsible for their own actions and accountable to follow the Jewish law.  This coming of age is hinted at in Jesus’ life in His visit to the temple in Jerusalem at the age of twelve (Luke 2:41-50).

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