Do They Even Hear Themselves When They Speak? (Part 2)

 Josh Buice writes, 

In 2024, the SBC spent much time and energy debating the issue only to fail in passing the Law Amendment. This failure comes at a time when there are more than 1,000 churches in the SBC that have female pastors serving on their staff. Not only is this practice in direct opposition to the governing documents of the SBC, but it’s in clear violation of God’s Word on the matter which is abundantly clear (1 Tim 2:12–13; 1 Tim 3:1–7; Titus 1:6–9).

By way of reply, the Church is failing women. Whether or not it is failing the Word of God depends on the basis of the argument for or against female teaching & governing elders.   Pay attention to the way Buice & Associates argue their position.  It’s riddled with misogyny & exegetical fallacies.   If someone argues from the Bible alone, doing their best to avoid logical, epistemic, & exegetical fallacies opposes them & professes to be an Inerrantist, that doesn’t seem to be enough.  Instead they are accused of progressive liberalism, & those who are progressive liberals ought to be shunned and/or disfellowshipped. 

With the decline of the SBC and fractures that are currently taking place — is this decline caused by a rise of fundamentalism or is it precipitated by a rise of progressive liberalism?

The cause seems to be Fundamentalists who are going out of the way to root out the Compromised, & this year’s vote on the Law Amendment & the nomination of Jared Moore who is the favorite of hate mongers like Publisher@Reformation CLT proved they are willing to vote for the most “conservative” candidate & to torch a up to 1000 local churches, many of whom are predominantly African-American churches.   

It should be plain and clear that the current downgrade of the SBC is not based on a fundamentalist drift, but rather a clear liberal drift of the SBC.

That statement is a classic case of gaslighting his opponents in favor of his preferred protectorate.

As evidence, consider the way Buice frames the issue.   I am old enough to remember when Al Mohler & Wade Burleson talked about the need for unity when it came to theological matters considered intramural debates within the  SBC.  

The resurgence of Calvinism was held by many to be one such debate - until Ergun Caner decided to throw rhetorical buckshot into Founders Ministry’s blog.  About the same time, Wade Burleson began exposing information about the inner workings of the SBC’s International Missions Board, within which a party of board members were misbehaving.  

In those days, Drs Ergun & Emir Caner became part of a campaign to root out Calvinists & Calvinism. The IMB members Dr. Burleson exposed had, among other things (like secret meetings), asserted that in order to serve as a Southern Baptist missionary, a missions candidate who has been baptized in a church in which the church confessed Conditional Security (the doctrine that, if true, one can lose one’s salvation), they must be rebaptized by an administrating church who affirms the opposite (that it is impossible to lose one’s salvation).  

Anyone on the opposite side of these people became targets to be shunned over time or severely criticized.  In those days, as I recall, people on Dr. Burleson’s side risked being treated the same way SBC Moderates had been treated.  I was also a student @ SEBTS in the early 90’s. I remember Lewis Drummond’s replacement by a similar party on their Board.   Rather than choose a unifying figure like Frank Pollard at NOBTS, they chose to remove Dr. Drummond in favor of a polarizing candidate, Paige Patterson. 

Fast-forward to today, & now the issue is, once again, Women in Ministry.  Those who want discussion to remain intramural are at times treated like Moderates by the most shrill among the SBC’s ecclesiastical class.  As they do with critiquing Calvinism, they prooftext their way though the discussion with the same Liturgical Philosophy while accusing their opponents of progressive liberalism, which really just codespeak for “We own you—we know we do,” & now like Iran lobbing 300 WMDs at Israel & failing to win the day, they have now lost a major pitched battle with their adversaries & exposed themeselves as people willing to jettison over 1000 churches if need be while claiming to be concerned about declining membership.

No, it’s not Fundamentalists who are at fault for the problems in the SBC, it’s clearly progressive liberalism.  If only the SBC would root them out, its decline would not be playing out before our eyes. 

O LORD, hear our (& their) prayers.