Baptist HistoryLesson 32

A Report Card:Baptists in the 21st Century

GREAT BRITAIN

Baptist Union

“Downgrade Controversy”

1891-Merger of General & Particular Baptists

20th century: highly secularized society

J.H. Shakespeare (1857-1928)

25 % of Baptist Churches independent from Baptist Union !

Strict and Particular Baptist or Gospel Standard Baptist

The Gospel AdvocateThe Gospel Herald

J.C. Philpot(1802-1869)

William Gadsby(1773-1844)

The Reformed Evangelical Baptists

Dr Peter Masters

London Reformed Baptist Seminary

BAPTISTS IN EUROPE

“In the year of Waterloo (1815) there was no Baptist church on mainland Europe, and, in the year 1850 there were only about 4,000 church members. In 1900 the number had increased to 220,000.” J.H. Rushbrooke The Baptist Movement on the Continent of Europe

Where did they come from?

Anabaptists - No

English Baptists - No

Pietist Awakenings

Philip Spener (1635-1705)

Augustus Francke(

•Intense personal bible study•Intense seasons of prayer•Intense spirit of missions

Count Nicholas Von Zinzendorf(1700-1760)

GERMANY

Johann Gerhard Oncken (1800-1880)

1823 –returns as Bible ambassador1828 – Edinburg Bible Society

April 22, 1834 Baptized in Elbe River

Organized Baptist Church in Hamburg

“Jeder Baptist ein Missionar”(every Baptist a Missionary)

Julius Wilhelm Kobner(1806+1884) Gottfried Wilhelm Lehmann

(1799-1882)

SWEDEN

Frederick Nilsson (1809-1891)

Gustaf Palmquist

What about America?

2005: Non SBC34, 412 churches 15,399,000

44,223 churches 16,306,000

78,635 churches 31,705,000

Mainline ProtestantAmerican Baptist Churches of the U.S. A.

•Liberal theology•Social change•Ordination of women/recognition of homosexual unions

Independent, FundamentalBaptist Bible Fellowship (1950) 4,500 churches

G. Beauchamp Vick (1901-1975) 1,200,000 membersSpringfield, MO

Independent Fundamental Fellowship 659 churches61,655 members

General Association Regular Baptists Churches 1383 churches132,300 members

American Baptist Association 1760 churches275,000 members

Baptist Missionary Association of America 1254 churches225,000 members

Shared Characteristics: Premillennial Dispensational

Militant in stance

Some of the predominately black groups

National Assoc. of Free Will Baptists 2425 churches 198,000 members

Ecclesiastical Separation

Evangelical

Predominately black groups:National Baptist Association 2500 churches/3,500,000 membersNat. Baptist Assoc in USA 9,000 churches/5,000,000Progressive Nat Bapt. Assoc 2,000 churches/2,500,000National Primitive Bapt. Assoc 1565 churches/ 600,000

CBAmerica 1200 churches / 200,000

National Assoc of Baptist (Swedish) 902 churches / 145,000

North American Bapt. Conference (German) 272 churches / 47,000

Southern Baptist Convention 44,223 churches16,306,000 members

Today: A somewhat recovered denomination

Epistemology: the Bible is true

Theologically: conservative

Methodology: how do you ‘do’ the gospel?

The Era of the Conservative Resurgence: 1979-2000

The ‘Truth’ Party

The ‘Liberty’ Party

The ‘Compromise’ Party

New Conservative Coalition

Paige Patterson(1942-)

Paul Pressler (1932 - )

Leaders Strategy

•Elect conservative Convention Presidents

They would appoint only conservatives to open trustee positions on various agencies and institutions

•Focus on inerrancy of Scripture

What was the motivation for the takeover?

•Theological purification of agencies & boards

•Particularly concerned about 6 seminaries

1979 Houston Convention

W. A.Criswell (1909-2002)

Adrian Rogers (1931-2005)

1980 Birth of the Moderate Movement

“Gatlinburg Gang”

Cecil Sherman (1927-2010)

L. Russ Bush (1944-2008)

Tom Nettles

“we’re going for the jugular” of the convention

Soul Freedom – We believe in the priesthood of all believers. We affirm the freedom and responsibility of every person to relate directly to God without the imposition of creed or the control of clergy or government.Bible Freedom – We believe in the authority of Scripture. We believe the Bible, under the Lordship of Christ, is central to the life of the individual and the church. We affirm the freedom and right of every Christian to interpret and apply scripture under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.Church Freedom – We believe in the autonomy of every local church. We believe Baptist churches are free, under the Lordship of Christ, to determine their membership and leadership, to order their worship and work, to ordain whomever they perceive as gifted for ministry, and to participate as they deem appropriate in the larger Body of Christ.Religious Freedom – We believe in freedom of religion, freedom for religion, and freedom from religion. We support the separation of church and state.

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

1991 Richmond, Virginia

Where is the SBC now?

Covenant for a New Century proposed 1995, adopted 1997

Changes to the Baptist Faith & Message

“One Faith, One Task, One Sacred Trust”

All convention employees required to sign this

Where is the SBC going?

Great Commission Resurgence

Daniel Akin (1957 -)

R. Albert Mohler (1959 - )

Great Commission Resurgence Task Force