On his always stimulating blog Euangelion, Mike Bird has posted a nice summary of what characterizes both fundamentalists and liberals. These words get thrown around a lot, and Prof. Dr. Bird insightfully clarifies 12 major characteristics of each tendency. Check out Fundamentalist versus Liberal.
Category Archives: History
Southern Baptist Ghosts
Back in 1999 Timothy George wrote an insightful piece on three controversies among Southern Baptists: the Stone-Campbell movement, the Landmarkists, and the hyper-Calvinists. Dr. George gives a fascinating look into the historical development of these three problems that Southern Baptists faced. The issues provoked by these disputes are still with us, and George's essay, Southern …
Baptists and Elders
Someone recently asked me for evidence of a plurality of elders in SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCHES, and I did not have an answer for that person. I can’t remember who asked me, but the evidence is beautifully summarized in a piece by Mark Dever available at the 9 Marks site called Baptists and Elders. In view …
Thanksgiving Hymn: We Gather Together
The Wall Street Journal has a great piece on the history of a hymn that has come to be associated with Thanksgiving, We Gather Together. Those of us not blessed to have this melody woven into the fabric of our minds can remedy the deficiency by listening to it at the Cyber Hymnal. And, if …
Elders in Baptist Churches
Two recent books have taken up the question of how churches ought to be led, Who Runs the Church and Perspectives on Church Government. I’m a Baptist, so my main interest is in the arguments in these books as to whether congregational churches ought to be led by a single elder or a plurality of …
Oxford Study Tour Video
For the last 19 years Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has taken students on an Oxford Study Tour. This year I was one of the chaperoning faculty. We take SWBTS students to Oxford, teach them there, spend loads of time together at meals and on buses, and tour major Baptist history sites. You can view our …
Where the Battle Rages
Justin Taylor recently posted this famous quote from Martin Luther: "If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. …
How the Lord Provided for Me in Seminary
A friend asked me this morning how I arranged to pay for my seminary studies. I am grateful for this question because it gave me an opportunity to reflect on the steadfast faithfulness of the Lord. The truth is that I didn’t arrange anything, but God did. I moved to Dallas in August of 1996 …