Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 22, 1993 TAG: 9308190174
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The conservative faction has long since won the war for power in the denomination, yet many of those who call themselves "moderates" still aren't quite sure how they lost control.
A recently published book attempts to explain it.
Grady Cothen has written "What Happened to the Southern Baptist Convention? A Memoir of the Controversy" (Smyth and Helwys Publishing, 1400 Coleman Ave., Macon, Ga. 31207).
Cothen is a 40-year denominational insider and bona fide moderate. He is a former president of the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board, former president of a Southern Baptist seminary and a former Baptist university president.
The book provides a historical overview of the split in the denomination and an insider's analysis of the power shift.
For the majority of Southern Baptists in Virginia - where "moderates" continue to control the state association - the book is likely to be a welcome addition to the literature of what has become know simply as "the controversy."
One of Cothen's more astute observations is that, early on, "most of the more moderate faction of the convention did not understand what was happening."
He sums it up: "All the time, we [moderates] thought they [conservatives] were complaining about a few teachers they wanted to fire."
Indeed, it was a broadly held fear that the denomination's seminaries were teaching the next generation of ministers to reject the authority of Scripture. More than once in the last 40 years, a seminary professor had been disciplined or fired for straying too far left of the Baptist center.
Cothen's contention, however, is that the offenders had always been taken care of and that the seminaries themselves had never made a wholesale turn away from Baptist orthodoxy.
Another key element in misunderstanding, Cothen contends, is that "the fundamentalists held that the issue was theology. The centrists held that the issue was power. From their different perspectives, they were both right."
That meant the more conservative faction was operating from a position of inherent strength - defending the faith; while moderates were in an inherently weak position, resistant to the idea of getting involved in what they thought was a "dirty" power struggle.
Cothen tackles one of the most squishy areas of the controversy by attempting to clarify what "inerrancy" means to different Southern Baptists and why the issue was so important.
At its root, he reminds us, is the fear by some that admitting there is any kind of error or inconsistency in the Bible will lead to the "complete denial of Christ" including "the virgin birth or the bodily resurrection."
Cothen - and millions of other Christians - reject that "slippery slope" theory, but it is a real enough fear for millions of others.
What has happened, Cothen says, is that the denomination is now trying to enforce a confessional statement written in 1963 - the Baptist Faith and Message - which said Scripture is "truth without any mixture of error."
What's more, Cothen says, there is now an official interpretation of that confession - one articulated by the convention's 1987 Peace Committee report - that is the one all Southern Baptist institutions are expected to abide by.
The Peace Committee was led by Roanoke minister Charles Fuller in what was ultimately an unsuccessful attempt to heal the rift in the convention. It concluded specifically that the confession meant "most Southern Baptists" believe Adam and Eve were real people, that the books of the Bible were written by those who have traditionally been listed as their authors, that the miracles were actual supernatural events, and that the historical narratives of the Bible are accurate.
While Cothen agrees that most Southern Baptists would believe those four statements, he insists that "no room was left for anyone to differ and remain in the new Baptist mainstream."
Thus, he and others feel left out.
A full chapter is devoted to the Peace Committee, and Fuller is one of the few original sources Cothen quotes - from an interview in June 1991.
Despite his dismay over the denomination's new course, Cothen believes it will survive - though in a weakened, fragmented state.
While the book is generally well-written and attempts to keep a semblance of balance in its coverage, it does have weaknesses.
Primary among them is its lack of objectivity. That is a weakness, at least, for those of us outside the fray.
There is no interview with Texas judge Paul Pressler or seminary President Paige Patterson - acknowledged architects of the change in leadership and considered the chief villains by moderates. There is no chapter in which they or other conservative leaders give their views.
Perhaps that is acceptable in a "memoir" but would not be acceptable in a true history. In fact, the conservative point of view has been published in "The Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention," by conservative journalist James Hefley.
Though Cothen makes an effort to give his opponents their due on some issues, he insists on calling them "fundamentalists" - a label they abjure as pejorative and that he defines that way: rigid, militant, exclusive, negative.
Cothen writes off any criticism of the "fundamentalist" label by saying that "moderate" is likewise objectionable to some who are tarred with it. That is true, but at least the world doesn't think of terrorists when it things of religious "moderates."
These weaknesses are far outweighed by the book's strengths, however. It will continue to be valuable for the background it provides in the ongoing struggle among Southern Baptists over the issues that divide them.
Though the war may be won, skirmishes continue over many issues. Southern Baptists just this summer gave final approval to a by-law that excludes from its fellowship churches that ordain homosexuals. There are moves to extend that exclusion to churches that ordain women.
In Virginia, the conservative minority has formed its own organization that will meet Sept. 2 to adopt a constitution and bylaws. Donations to the denomination's missions organizations continue to decline.
Sadly, Southern Baptists may not yet have seen the worst of "the controversy."
The 374-page book may be ordered through Roanoke's Baptist Book Store or by calling the publisher at (800) 747-3016. The hardback version is $29.95, and a paperback is available at $18.95.
Cody Lowe reports on issues of religion and ethics for this newspaper.\
by CNB