What I saw as a weakness in Mohler’s reflection was that while he acknowledged the racism of Boyce, and admitted that Southern Baptists “bear a particular responsibility” to combat racism, his arguments around “orthodoxy” and “heresy” were abstracted from real…
Inerrancy, racism and theological education: Responding to Al Mohler
Note: Portions of this reflection are based on a paper I wrote about inerrancy, slavery, and Reformed heritage in the United States for an independent study. I read Al Mohler’s article “The Heresy of Racial Superiority – Confronting the Past,…
Mohler won’t remove slaveholder names from seminary buildings
By Bob Allen The president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s oldest seminary says he agrees with the denomination’s ethicist that it’s time to take down the Confederate flag, but he has no plans to remove the names of slaveholders from…
Mohler: ‘Confessional’ faith safeguards against error
By Bob Allen A member of the committee that revised the Baptist Faith and Message in 2000 says the growing acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex marriage in moderate and liberal denominations vindicates the wisdom of including a statement on the…
Proud/Ashamed of the Southern Baptist Convention
The 2015 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention is scheduled for June 16-17 in Columbus, Ohio. The business will be conducted by Ronnie Floyd, the SBC president whom I recently mentioned. For many years it was a thrill to…
Mohler says Campolo’s reversal on homosexuality abandons Scripture
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist leader expressed sadness but not surprise at Tony Campolo’s announcement June 8 that he supports full inclusion of gays and lesbians into the life of the church. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological…
Must we choose between fundamentalism and ‘belief-less Christianity’?
John Shuck is a Presbyterian pastor in good standing who doesn’t believe a single thing you learned in Sunday school. In a recent Patheos post, Reverend Shuck issued a list of six affirmations designed to boil the blood of every right-thinking American:…
SBC leader: Baptists, don’t let your babies grow up to be Catholics
By Bob Allen A recent Wall Street Journal story profiling twin brothers who followed separate spiritual paths — one to become an Anglican bishop, the other a Catholic priest — represents failure by the Southern Baptist church in which they were raised,…
Can the church ever be united?
Last Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at the Rosedale Congregational United Church of Christ (RCC) in Kansas City, Kansas. As RCC is currently without a pastor, I was asked to preach each Sunday this month, and I much…