I’m posting a link to this article not only because it takes an incisive look at Baptist (meaning all brands, not just Southern) polity and what that means for the future of the Baptist tradition given the general tightening of the theological fist, but because I know the author and am privileged to acknowledge him as a peer and a friend. Enjoy!
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Opinion: Church-autonomy inquiries from a naïve Baptist
By Cody Sanders
… There is certainly historical precedent for Baptist churches dividing over theological issues and congregations leaving or being expelled from associational bodies. Nonetheless, it causes me to question what we lose when we put extreme limits on how far we are willing to take our commitments to soul competency and local-church autonomy.
Moreover, when we hastily decide that a certain person or a certain church has stepped too far beyond the boundaries of friendly cooperation, do we risk expelling the prophets from among us? If so, I suppose this action should come as no surprise. For just as a prophet is without honor in her or his own hometown, so too a prophetic congregation may find no welcome within its historic denominational home …
Click here for the rest of the article.
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Cody J. Sanders, a graduate of Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, is a doctoral student in pastoral theology and counseling at Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth.
