SBC leader says Calvinism steadily dividing church
A Southern Baptist Convention official says one of the top challenges
facing the nation's second largest faith group (after Roman Catholics)
is the increasing influence of Calvinism in churches. Frank Page, who
heads the Nashville-based SBC Executive Committee, sees the theological
divide as "a tremendous challenge for us."
Page, who served as SBC
president from 2006 to 2008, said he regularly receives communications
from congregations struggling over this issue. His remarks appeared
October 18 in a blog interview on the SBC Today website.
"Everyone
is aware of this, but few want to talk about this in public,"
elaborated Page, who assumed the post of president and CEO of the SBC
fiduciary and executive agency last year. "At some point we are going to
see the challenges which are ensuing from this divide become even more
problematic for us."
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A former South Carolina pastor, Page wrote an 80-page booklet in 2000 titled Trouble with the TULIP: A Closer Examination of the Five Points of Calvinism.
In it he termed Calvinism a "man-made" doctrine not supported by
scripture and defended what he called "the true teachings of grace."
The
book countered a common acronym for the five main points of Calvinism,
a theological model named after Protestant reformer John Calvin. They
are: total depravity, unmerited election, limited atonement,
irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints.
Page presented
an alternative acronym, GRACE: "Given through Christ, rejected through
rebellion, accepted through faith and Christ died for all" that
summarized four points of a counterview of Calvinism called
Arminianism. Page's final "E" departed from Arminian thought with
"everlasting life/security of the believer," a Calvinist doctrine held
by most Southern Baptists, often described as "once saved, always
saved."
Renewed interest in Calvinism, also known as Reformed
theology, began with influential leaders, including Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler, who view it as a healthy
return to Southern Baptists' historic roots.
Others see it as a
negative trend that threatens to take over the convention in a manner
similar to the "conservative resurgence" of the late 20th century. That
is a phrase used to describe a movement that redirected the more
moderate and mainstream theology held by many SBC leaders before the
1980s toward the biblical inerrancy stance that now holds sway.
Page,
who has a Ph.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, claims
he is neither Calvinist nor Arminian and says there needs to be honest
dialogue between the camps.
A 2007 LifeWay Research study found
that about 10 percent of rank-and-file pastors considered themselves
five-point Calvinists. Among recent seminary graduates the number grew
to 29 percent, suggesting that the small but increasing number of
Calvinist-led churches will continue to grow.
In a 2007 article in
Baptist Press, then-SBC President Page urged seminary graduates to be
honest with pastor search committees about their views on Calvinism and
for churches to be similarly honest about what teachings they will
allow.
Associated Baptist Press recently reported on a court case
stemming from efforts by two Calvinist pastors to impose elder rule on a
Florida Baptist church. Several former members claimed in a lawsuit
that the new leadership violated the church's articles of incorporation
filed with the secretary of state, but Florida's First District Court of
Appeals ruled that church governance is "an essentially religious
matter" that courts cannot enjoin due to the separation of church and
state. —ABP
