A single resolution adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention June 10 rolls together at least nine hot topics in a single statement that was adopted without notable opposition.
Resolution No. 5, titled “On Restoring Moral Clarity through God’s Design for Gender, Marriage and the Family,” flew through the approval process with more than 10,000 registered “messengers,” as voting members are called.
The 1,000-word statement was drafted by the convention’s Resolutions Committee, chaired by Andrew Walker, a scholar who works for Al Mohler at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. All nine of the social and ethical issues embodied in the omnibus resolution are frequent talking points of Mohler, who often acts as the theological frontman for the denomination.
This one resolution rolls together a theological statement on the created order, marriage, abortion, fertility, family, gender, sexual orientation, free speech and miscarriage.
This one resolution rolls together a theological statement on the created order, marriage, abortion, fertility, family, gender, sexual orientation, free speech and miscarriage.
Despite its very conservative approach, the resolution was adopted with no amendments and little, if any, opposition. It embodies a virtual wish list of conservative evangelical issues that have been thrust upon the Republican Party in national politics.
Yet, it reaches far beyond opposition to abortion to speak ill of in vitro fertilization. And it calls for the overthrow of the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage while linking that decision to a slate of other social ills. Even among Republicans, evangelicals stand alone in their steadfast opposition to same-sex marriage.
“Legal rulings like Obergefell v. Hodges and policies that deny the biological reality of male and female are legal fictions, undermine the truth of God’s design, and lead to social confusion and injustice,” the resolution declares.
It calls for “the overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges, that defy God’s design for marriage and family.”
The theological premise on which the resolutions many hooks hang is “created order,” a popular conservative evangelical concept that includes a hierarchical view of marriage, the family and the church. The resolution asserts this created order includes “universal truths that are essential for a healthy, just and free society.” It concludes that such a created order “is vital for the health of our culture, the justice of our laws, and the well-being of future generations.”
By way of explanation, it says: “God created the world with order, meaning and purpose, revealing through both Scripture and creation enduring truths about human life, marriage, sexuality and the family,” citing Genesis 1:26-28 and 2:24. “God made every person in his image as either male or female in accord with his good design for humanity, equal in worth but different by design, and this difference is not accidental or arbitrary.”
While this view is increasingly common among Southern Baptists, it is not held by a wide variety of other Christians.
Brian Henderson
“The language of this resolution suggests only the SBC understands faith, which has been made plain, according to the SBC, through nature and Scripture. The problem with this line of theologizing is that it ignores the complexity of human relations and realities reflected in ancient texts,” said Brian Henderson, an ordained Baptist minister and executive director of of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists.
“Further, it is hard to understand how anyone can read the Bible fully and completely and think human relations can be reduced to such a binary, heteronormative understanding. It is sad that the SBC is encouraging its membership to ignore the vast realities of science and human relations and is additionally perpetuating a belief system that is more interested in patriarchy rather than the expansive love of God which, according to Scripture, has no limits.”
Within the SBC, resolutions are considered nonbinding statements of the beliefs of messengers gathered in a particular year and particular place. However, there have been increasing demands to use resolutions more like doctrinal and political talking points. At this year’s annual meeting, two separate motions were made that would link the policy positions of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission to SBC resolutions.
In addition to the resolution on gender, marriage and family, messengers June 10 adopted resolutions “On the Harmful and Predatory Nature of Sports Betting” and “On Banning Pornography” and “On Standing Against the Moral Evils and Medical Dangers of Chemical Abortion Pills.”
Other highlights of the gender, marriage and family resolution include:
- “Marriage is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, designed by God for love, faithfulness, the raising of children, and as a picture of Christ’s love for the church.”
- “Human life is sacred at every stage — from conception to natural death — because all people bear the image of God and law(s) should grant equal protection for each stage of human development.”
- “God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society, prior to the state, with a divine mandate to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ and entrusted parents with the primary responsibility of raising, educating and discipling their children.
- “Our culture is increasingly rejecting and distorting these truths by redefining marriage, pursuing willful childlessness which contributes to a declining fertility rate, ignoring and suppressing the biological differences between male and female, encouraging gender confusion, undermining parental rights and denying the value and dignity of children.”
- “Commercial surrogacy often treats children as products and women as a means to an end, and may entail the destruction of embryonic life, violating the dignity of human life and distorting God’s design for procreation within marriage.”
- “The normalization of transgender ideology — especially the participation of biological males in girls’ sports and the medical transition of minors — represents a rebellion against God’s design for male and female, inflicts unjust harm on children and women, employs coercive language control, and undermines fairness, safety, and truth.”
- “Free speech is increasingly threatened by policies that compel individuals to speak against their conscience, especially on matters of sex and identity.”
- “Parents are being pushed out of essential decisions about their children’s health, education and identity, in violation of their God-given rights and responsibilities.”
- “We affirm the duty of lawmakers to pass laws that reflect the truth of creation and natural law — about marriage, sex, human life and family — and to oppose any law that denies or undermines what God has made plain through nature and Scripture.”
- “We call for laws that affirm marriage between one man and one woman, recognize the biological reality of male and female, protect children’s innocence against sexual predation, affirm and strengthen parental rights in education and health care, incentivize family formation in life-affirming ways, and ensure safety and fairness in female athletic competition.”
And then, having declared gays, lesbians, transgender people and childless couples to be working against God’s created order, the resolution says: “We call on Southern Baptists to love all of their neighbors in accordance with their God-given dignity as image bearers.”
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