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July 21, 2006

Last month the Southern Baptist Convention elected a new president, Frank Page. Page's election comes just moments after the SBC promulgated its new position on alcohol, namely that he who toucheth the chalice drinks to his death. Page, in addressing the alcohol question, appeals to an "overall" witness of Scripture that gives a negative appraisal of strong drink. Overall, since there is no single passage in Scripture that explicitly condemns the consumption of alcohol, just drunkenness (1 Cor 6:10). But Page's full agreement with the SBC's Resolution on alcohol is not the sauciest of Southern-Baptist gossip.

Page, pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, SC, represents a new direction for the Convention. At least this is what Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School (Samford Univ.), thinks. George is a champ when it comes to SBC polity, and he believes that Page brings more than a new face to SBC's presidency. In the latest issue of First Things, George posits that Page represents a via media of sorts for the Convention, in that he appeals to both the younger Baptists (whom George calls "Baptist Bloggers") who are very interested in a deeper (dare we say sacramental?) understanding of the Lord's Supper and Baptism, and the older generation of Baptists who have little issue with the SBC founding their own colony in Macon County Georgia. The former is very willing to engage in dialogue with other Baptist bodies for purposes of mission work; for the latter it depends on whether the fellowship hall coffee was decent after the 10:30 service.

Page also brings some closure between the charismatic and neo-Calvinist camps in the Convention. Page has stated that he is a Calvinist, but waffles on Total Depravity. As he and other Baptists have suggested time and time again, it is hard to "make a decision for Christ" when the human will is completely enslaved to sin. But we all know that five-point Calvinism is really just Armenianism in drag. While Page's church does not practice glossilalia, a small number of churches in the Convention do, and in the past their presence has stood out like someone praying in a foreign tongue. Yet Page's church is every bit evangelical, with "video features" and a "praise band." So Page is just as comfortable in Geneva as in South Carolina, and this is a good thing.

I would agree with George on all of these points, and I would add one more: With Page's willingness to work with other mission groups in the orthodox Protestant camp, I wonder if we will see increased dialogue with Catholicism. We all remember the SBC's reaction to Roe, the case that stopped caesaropapism dead in it tracks. We also remember who founded the SBC in 1854. Yet SBC has publicly confessed its sin of supporting abortion, and hosted Sec. Rice (whose grandparents were born slaves) to give the opening address. Perhaps with increased dialogue between the SBC and Catholicism greater progess will ensue. And not necessarily theological. No, the progress of affirming the dignity of every unborn child at all times and all places; the progress of spreading the Gospel of Christ to even more; the progress of affirming the (sacramental) marriage of one man to one woman, for life.

If only other church bodies would wake up to the sweet aroma of the SBC tomorrow morning. Maybe then the UCC's 50% decline would take a turn for the better and catch up with the SBC's two-fold growth.

Posted by Seth Zirkle at July 21, 2006 03:32 PM

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Posted by: David at July 21, 2006 05:08 PM | permalink

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