The Washington Post’s Sarah Pulliam Bailey called it a “fascinating read.”
To which I say: Amen!
I’m talking about Wall Street Journal national religion writer Ian Lovett’s story this week on a generational divide shaking Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
The recent turmoil (recent as in the last year and a half) at that seminary is not breaking news, of course. But Lovett explores an angle that does seem fresh, especially for a major secular newspaper such as the Journal.
The lede sets the scene by outlining the news that has captured headlines and then putting it in a larger context:
FORT WORTH, Texas — After the Rev. Adam W. Greenway stepped to the lectern during his inauguration as the ninth president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he acknowledged the tumult that had engulfed the school in recent years.
The previous president was fired. Enrollment plummeted, and the training ground for many of the nation’s most famous pastors found itself at the center of a debate over the treatment of women in the church.
“I cannot change the past,” he said. “For any way in which we have fallen short, I am sorry.”
A generational gulf is threatening to split evangelical Christianity.
While older evangelicals have become a political force preaching traditional values, younger ones are deviating from their parents on issues like same-sex marriage, Israel, the role of women, and support for President Trump.
And then the Godbeat pro offers his nut graf:
For Southwestern to thrive again, Dr. Greenway must attract more young people without alienating their parents. At stake: not only the health of the 111-year-old school but also of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest, most powerful Protestant denomination, whose membership has been falling for more than a decade.
After a bit more background on Patterson and his theological signposts, the Journal gets to the real heart of the matter.
See if you can spot the single-most important word in the story here:
Dr. Greenway said he is committed to all of the Southern Baptist Convention’s conservative principles but argued that a change in tone from the past administration was necessary.
“My immediate predecessor envisioned this being more like Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show,” he said in an interview. “I want people to think more like Southwest Airlines. A happy place. A national brand.”
What word am I talking about?
That word would be “tone.”
Although the Journal story doesn’t go into as much doctrinal detail as it possibly could, it seems evident that not a whole lot has changed as far as Southwestern’s theology (although certainly there are matters where there seem to be different theological approaches).
But the tone? That definitely is different.
For a bit more on that, veteran Texas Baptist journalist Ken Camp had a story recently where Greenway talked about the doctrinal issues and, yes, tone.
This big chunk of text from Camp’s Baptist Standard story is long but crucial:
Greenway affirmed the Baptist Faith & Message—most recently revised in 2000—as a doctrinal guide for the seminary. The most recently adopted version of the confession limited the role of pastor to men. It also deleted a sentence from the 1963 version’s statement on Scripture: “The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.”
“Every iteration of the BFM since 1925 has been the doctrinal position of Southwestern Seminary,” he said. “We are in lockstep solidarity with our convention of churches in terms of where the convention has said we are going to stand theologically.”
However, he added, SBC confessions of faith historically have focused on areas of agreement, while remaining silent on issues where Southern Baptists have disagreed, such as details regarding the End Times or adherence at all points to Calvinist theology.
“For example, on issues related to Calvinism and Reformed theology, the Baptist Faith and Message does not take a position on the extent or the intent of the atonement or on the irresistibility or resistibility of grace,” he said, noting the seminary should “not be defined by” those matters.
Greenway personally embraces the term “inerrancy” to describe his view of the Bible, and he noted the seminary’s board of trustees have affirmed the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy as an interpretive guide.
However, he acknowledged the history associated with that term in Southern Baptist Convention life—particularly during divisive times beginning 40 years ago when it was used as a rallying cry by one group.
“For some, that language became politically weaponized and personally problematic,” he said.
A faculty member’s adherence to the ideas about biblical authority in the Chicago Statement and a willingness to affirm the high view of Scripture it expresses are more important than the use of the terms “inerrant” or “inerrancy,” he noted.
Back to the Journal story: It’s definitely a must read for the reasons mentioned above and also because it quotes Patterson himself, who claims he has no idea why he was fired.
And there’s more.