While it greatly pains me to contradict Southern Baptist Theological President Al Mohler, an evangelical and Southern Baptist leader I have held in highest esteem for most of my adult life, I feel compelled to offer a respectful rebuttal to Mohler’s recent comments on a podcast that he no longer believes the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission has any “utility” within the Southern Baptist Convention.
It appears that despite Mohler’s pronounced cessationist pneumatological views, he has had a “revelation of convenience” regarding the ERLC due to certain political and denominational developments that have transpired among Southern Baptists in recent years.
Lee Enochs
I say this because, until very recently Mohler was a frequent participant and advocate of ERLC events and there appeared to be something akin to a symbiotic ecclesiastical and educational relationship between Mohler’s Southern Seminary and the ERLC, as evidenced by the fact that Russell Moore, prior to assuming the presidency of the ERLC, served alongside Mohler at the seminary as dean of the School of Theology, senior vice president for academic administration, and as professor of theology and ethics.
The question now must be asked: What changed for Mohler and many of the conservative Southern Baptist detractors of the ERLC who are calling for its defunding and abolition? Mohler greatly utilized the ERLC at the apex of the “conservative resurgence” and most certainly did not decry its utility when Richard Land served as its president.
What has changed is that Mohler and other very conservative leaders within the SBC no longer hold sway over America’s largest Protestant denomination like they did in their heyday and they view the ERLC with suspicion since Russell Moore turned out to be a detractor of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
Although Moore is no longer the president of the ERLC, there exists a perception in the minds of many conservative Southern Baptists that the ERLC as the primary public policy arm of the SBC has somehow “gone liberal” and is no longer beholden to the directives of Mohler and the other architects of the conservative resurgence.
However, a careful review of the current policy statements put out by current ERLC President Brent Leatherwood conclusively demonstrate the ERLC is just as socially and theologically conservative as it was during the early days of the conservative resurgence.
I personally believe Mohler is mistaken and the ERLC still serves as a useful entity within the SBC and still advocates for public policy positions that are congruent with the Baptist Faith and Message. I believe it would be a tremendous loss for the SBC and American evangelicalism if the ERLC were defunded or abolished as its detractors are now advocating.
Lee Enochs is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Gateway Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary and the University of North Texas. He also hosts a weekly podcast for KNTU Radio.
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‘As God is my witness,’ Mohler has changed his tune on ERLC | Analysis by Benjamin Cole