Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism

David S. Dockery, Ray Van Neste, Jerry Tidwell, David S. Dockery, Ray Van Neste, Jerry Tidwell

• Publisher: B&H Academic
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781433671203
• eBook ISBN: 9781433673429
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

Are church denominations necessary; do they even have a future? Such questions are explored in Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism, based on a conference of the same name held at Union University where Evangelical and Southern Baptist scholars addressed challenging issues of theology, polity, and practice. Contributors include:

Ed Stetzer ("Denominationalism: Is There a Future?")

James Patterson ("Reflections on 400 Years of the Baptist Movement")

Harry L. Poe ("The Gospel and Its Meaning")

Timothy George ("Baptists and Their Relations with Other Christians")

Duane Liftin ("The Future of American Evangelicalism")

Ray Van Neste ("Pastoral Ministry in Southern Baptist and Evangelical Life")

Mark DeVine ("Emergent or Emerging")

Daniel Akin ("The Future of the Southern Baptist Convention")

Michael Lindsay ("The Changing Religious Landscape in North America")

Jerry Tidwell ("Missions and Evangelism")

David S. Dockery ("So Many Denominations")

Nathan Finn ("Passing on the Faith to the Next Generation")

R. Albert Mohler Jr. (title essay)

Chapter 1

So Many Denominations: The Rise, Decline, and Future of Denominationalism

DAVID S. DOCKERY, PRESIDENT, UNION UNIVERSITY

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In this initial chapter we are going to explore the issues associated with the rise and decline of denominationalism, the shaping of American Evangelicalism, and what these shifts might mean for the future of Southern Baptists and Evangelicals around the world. We are going to begin by providing a sociological and historical overview of the development of denominations before we look ahead to what might be coming down the pike in the twenty-first century. I invite you to join me as we attempt to think together about these important matters. First, however, a hermeneutical caveat: I am both a Baptist Evangelical and an Evangelical Baptist, and I affirm both of these descriptions simultaneously. At times, however, the noun selected seems more important than the adjective. This chapter is shaped by my convictions as a Baptist Evangelical, more so than as an Evangelical Baptist, which would have resulted in a slightly different emphasis to and for this chapter. Yet, in the conclusion, you will see in some of the implications that I can't altogether avoid the "Evangelical Baptist" lens.

Let's begin by looking at Eph 4:1–6 as background for our reflections in this chapter.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you are called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (NIV)

Introduction: An In-house Conversation

A Gallup Poll in January of 2010 asked about the importance of religious and denominational identity for Americans. It seems that fewer Americans than ever think that religious or denominational identity is important for them. Denominational identity and religious identity are seemingly on the decline in this country. I'm going to try to paint with a broad brush in this chapter so we will not get bogged down in details, but I want to help us see how we have arrived at this situation and where we might be able to go from here.

On the Christianity Today website in the middle of 2009 was a story that claimed that in 1990 there were about 200,000 people in the United States who classified themselves as "nondenominational." By 2009 that number exceeded 8 million.

Most people today think that denominationalism is on the decline. Some things about that decline may be good; other aspects may not be. The question is this: if the denominational structures that have carried Protestant Christianity since the sixteenth century are on the decline, what will carry the Christian faith forward in the twenty-first century? How are we going to respond to the changes all around us? But, before rushing to answer that question, we need to review our denominational history to see where various traditions originated. In doing so, we will try to connect the links of history to see how we arrived at this point.

In the 1987 publication by neurologist Oliver Sacks called The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Dr. Sacks wrote about patients with a neurological illness characterized by profound amnesia, a syndrome that describes those who do not know what they are doing at any given time; therapists do not know why these patients wander around in a state of profound disorientation. In losing their memories, these people have lost themselves. I fear that American Christianity is on the verge of losing its hope and its identity in a similar kind of disorientation. The problem for many is not so much doubt, but loss of memory. The history of Christianity is best understood as a chain of memory, and we need to reconnect some aspects of that chain.

Going back to the eighteenth century, at the time of the First Great Awakening, there was already a movement toward a non-denominational identity. A forerunner in that century of what is happening in our day was George Whitefield, the great preacher of the First Great Awakening. While preaching in Philadelphia in 1740, Whitefield—who was known for theatrics—called out, "Father Abraham, who have you in heaven? Any Episcopalians?" The answer came back "No." "Any Presbyterians?" "No." "Any Independents?" "Any Baptists?" "Any Methodists?" "No, no, no." "Then who have you in heaven?" The answer came back, "We don't know those names here. All here are Christians." "Then God help us to forget party names and to become Christians in deed and in truth."

Whitefield's message is very similar to the statement of a century ago by one of the key editors of the volumes known as The Fundamentals, R. A. Torrey, who described himself as an "Episcopresbygationalaptist." That description may still typify many. C. S. Lewis, in describing denominational issues, said that our divisions should never be discussed except in the presence of those who have come to believe there is one God, and that Jesus Christ is His only Son. Therefore, the discussions in this book are best understood as in-house, intramural family conversations.

History of Denominationalism

The idea of a denomination, which comes from the Latin word meaning "to name," is a negative concept for some people. Granted that there is no biblical mandate to establish denominations, they have, however, been important for the history of Christianity as the structures, the organization to carry forward the work of those who come together around shared beliefs and practices. Denominations have historically provided accountability, connection, coherence, structure, and organization to support churches, benevolent work, missions, and educational institutions.

In the history of Christianity there have been three major branches: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. The contributors to this volume come from the Protestant tradition, which began in 1517 with the posting on the Wittenberg Castle church door of 95 theses penned by Martin Luther.

We all know there are more than three groups within Christianity. There are hundreds, even thousands of denominations. Let's take a quick look at how the various movements developed.

Early Church

The early church was more unified than what we experience today, particularly as it came together following the great councils of the fourth and fifth centuries. There were four major councils from Nicea in AD 325 to Chalcedon in AD 451, and the bishops gave strong leadership and organization to bring about a sense of unity in the church. But, by 1054, there was a break between the East and the West, between Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, which had been brewing for some time, particularly divisions over the use of icons and the infallibility of popes. Protestantism made a further break from Catholicism in 1517.

The Reformation

We trace the birth of Protestantism to 1517, where we find a monk with a mallet who seemingly had no intention of starting a new denomination; yet, that is exactly what happened when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg Castle church door. From that initiative, denominations began to proliferate. As this movement began in Germany in the early sixteenth century, something similar was taking place across the border in Switzerland. Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli came together to see whether they could bring together the two movements often referred to as the German Reformation and the Swiss Reformation. They were able to agree on a number of points such as the Holy Trinity, the person of Jesus Christ, and the nature of salvation. Significant differences were uncovered, however, over their understanding of the Lord's Supper, and the groups went their separate ways. From this fracture came a proliferation of breakaway groups, not only those that followed Luther, Zwingli, and the Swiss Anabaptists, but also groups that followed John Calvin and others. A "third way" group developed in England, known as the Church of England or Anglicans. While there was much general agreement among all these groups, they were not able to agree on key details; new movements were spawned around the key points of their disagreement.

From these movements arose a concern regarding the growing fragmentation of the body of Christ. Philipp Melancthon and Martin Bucer, followers of Luther and Calvin, began to raise questions about this proliferating fragmentation. They issued fresh calls for unity, reminding others of their shared confession around the Nicene Creed: "We believe the church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic." But their calls went largely unheeded.

Seventeenth Century: Expanding Denominational Differences

The seventeenth-century Puritan movement hurried things along rather than slowing them down. If new movements began to take off during the sixteenth century in the Protestant Reformation, they went into an accelerated pace in the seventeenth century as the Puritans sought to purify the churches with a focus on preaching and experiential Christianity, or what they called experimental religion.

From the Puritans or Separatists came other breakaway groups: Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Quakers. By the seventeenth century the church looked something like this: The apostolic church developed from NT times to 1054, with Catholicism going in one direction, Orthodox churches another; Lutheranism and Reformed groups were heading in different directions; with Anglicanism developing as a "third way." The breakaway groups that developed within Anglicanism moved in multiple directions.

Eighteenth Century: Awakenings

The eighteenth century saw the awakenings springing forth in Europe and America. From these movements came the Wesleyans or Methodists; they were influenced by John and Charles Wesley, who preached thousands of sermons and wrote hundreds of hymns, many of which we sing today. John Wesley was an organizational genius, and his emphasis on methods led to use of the term "Methodist."

Nineteenth Century: Revivalism

In the early nineteenth century there were great revivals, including the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky led by Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell, who started what is often called the Restoration Movement; we sometimes call the resulting denominations the Churches of Christ and Disciples of Christ. The Holiness Movement was also a breakaway renewal movement, one that made the denominational picture look even more complicated. Each group attempted to purify what had come before, with the Restorationists doing an end run around all the others seeking to return to the ideal of NT times. They all claimed they did not come from Catholics or Lutherans or Anglicans or Reformed in any way, that their roots could be traced to something more pure, to NT times.

Twentieth Century: The Holy Spirit and Sign Gifts

In the twentieth century came yet another movement, the Pentecostals, who trace their origins to Topeka, Kansas (although something similar took place about the same time during the Azusa Street revival in Southern California). This sectarian group was not accepted by any denomination in the early twentieth century, but now they are by most accounts the fastest-growing movement in American Christianity and around the world.

Now at the beginning of the twenty-first century, Pentecostals have evolved from the Holiness Movement, and the emphasis on "distinctives" of each group has led to an unbalanced emphasis on our differences rather than our commonalities.

Denominational Distinctives

Roman Catholics emphasize both sacrament and tradition. The Orthodox highlight liturgy and mystery. Lutherans center on Word and faith. Presbyterians cling to the sovereignty of God. Anglicans focus their forms of worship around the Book of Common Prayer. Baptists place their priorities on Scripture, conversion, and baptism. Quakers appeal to the inner light, while Methodists proclaim a heartfelt religion. Holiness movements stress piety and separatism. Restorationists trace their roots to the NT church, and Pentecostals amplify on the power and manifestation of the Spirit.

So many groups, so many distinctives, so many distinctions. Can we say that these are all true to the words in Ephesians 4 that proclaim there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism? There are dozens of varieties of each of these major groups, so that today there are thousands of denominations in this country and around the world. Some have given up on how to figure out these things, weary with the questions about history and heritage.

So Many Denominations

The First Great Awakening, however, with George Whitefield's emphasis, was, as we have noted, a step toward a kind of generic Evangelicalism that came to prominence in the twentieth century. The response to an important book in the early twentieth century by H. Richard Niebuhr confirmed for many the problem of "so many denominations." It reflects the overriding thinking today that denominati...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Preface
• Denominationalism: Historical Trends, Future Challenges
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Evangelicals and Southern Baptist: Identity, Beliefs, and Ministry
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Southern Baptist: Understanding the Past in Order to Explore the Future
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Name/Subject Index
• Scripture Index