The Making of the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message

Smith

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2008
• eBook ISBN: 9781498273756
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Questions regarding the orthodoxy of Dale Moody and Ralph Elliott propelled the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) toward a re-evaluation of its doctrinal statement, the Baptist Faith and Message (BFM). The SBC adopted this document in 1925 under the leadership of E. Y. Mullins when faced by the challenge of modernism. This dissertation argues that the 1962 Committee on Baptist Faith and Message produced a document that expressed subtle shifts in Baptist theology. This shift had the effect of assuring the conservative base while allowing enough latitude in interpretation for those serving in the academy to teach more progressive views.After a first, introductory chapter, chapters 2 and 3 trace the historical developments leading to the formation of the Committee. Biblical inspiration and interpretation were key concerns, but as chapter 3 demonstrates, other concerns drew the attention of the Committee. Chapters 4 and 5 deal with the ever-sensitive issue of the relationship between Baptist confessionalism, soul liberty, and soul competency. Each chapter examines how Baptist confessionalism functioned in relation to these concepts.Chapter 6 examines in detail the work of the Committee itself and looks at those persons or groups who influenced the outcome of the Committee's work. Of special note are the contributions made by Wayne Ward, Leo Garrett, the religion faculty of Mercer University, and the theology faculty of Southern Seminary.Chapter 7 examines four areas where the 1963 BFM altered the confessional expression of Baptist doctrines: (1) Scripture; (2) Man; (3) Salvation; (4) The Church. Chapter 8 is the conclusion. Four appendices contain early drafts of the Committee's work.

1

Introduction

Herschel H. Hobbs stands out as one of the most prolific writers in Southern Baptist history. He wrote a vast amount of Sunday School literature and many commentaries for the laity. He also wrote several works on Baptist doctrine, including a commentary on the BFM 1963. During Hobbs’s presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention, the publication of Ralph Elliott’s The Message of Genesis and questions about Dale Moody’s teaching on apostasy rocked the SBC. These incidents caused many in the churches to question the doctrinal soundness of the seminaries of the Convention. Other concerns also in play within the Convention included the civil rights movement, socialism, materialism, and Catholicism. Some feared that the Convention would either be taken over by theological liberals or fragment along doctrinal lines. In this context the Convention called for a committee to revisit the Statement on Baptist Faith and Message the Convention adopted in 1925. As President of the Convention, Hobbs chaired this historic Committee. Mark Coppenger wrote of Hobbs’s role in framing the revised document:

In some sections Hobbs introduced concepts and phrases. In others he coordinated the thinking of the committee. Throughout, he was the writer, presenting successive drafts for committee approval. His enthusiasm for the document in whole and in part is obvious in his explanation and defense of the text in a widely used study course book.1

According to David Dockery, Hobbs considered his work on the 1963 BFM his most enduring achievement for the cause of the kingdom.2 Dockery also noted that

he nevertheless was hesitant to acknowledge the place of doctrinal confessions as normative for the Christian community. His emphasis on individualism and the competency of the soul in each believer moved him to a false dichotomy between a “living faith” and a “confessional or creedal faith.”3

What emerges from Coppenger’s and Dockery’s articles on Hobbs is the impression that he was, in many respects, the determining factor in the revised form of the document.

Thesis

This work will argue that Herschel Hobbs through his work on the BFM sought to avert an immediate denominational split through the reformulation of key historic Baptist doctrines, wording some broadly to allow for widely divergent interpretations without sacrificing the Convention’s conservative base.4 Hobbs did this by a consistent application of the accepted views of soul competency and the role of Baptist confessions as a “consensus of opinion” outlined in the Preamble to the 1925 BFM.5 In pursuit of this goal this dissertation will demonstrate what influences shaped the final form of the document, examine key theological shifts, explore the Baptist confessional heritage, and the principles of soul liberty and soul competency as these issues related to the Committee’s work.

In order to accomplish this it will be necessary to explore the wealth of available primary source documents, mostly in the form of letters, pertaining to the Committee on Statement of Faith and Message that was organized in 1962 and charged with the task of reviewing the 1925 Statement with a possible view to revising or replacing it. The Millard Berquist Files, housed at the library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Missouri, contain valuable materials related specifically to the Genesis Controversy and Ralph Elliott and will be examined in regard to this controversy.

What will come to the fore is the fact that the Committee went about its work very conscious that it was acting on behalf of the entire Convention. A select subcommittee prepared a preliminary draft, solicited comments, and the whole Committee made further revisions, all the while soliciting more comments from Southern Baptists until the final draft was prepared for release to BP in February 1963.

This research project is intended to foster an advance in knowledge with regard to the functional role of confessions within the Baptist tradition, how theological trends shaped the confessional expression of the Southern Baptist Convention, and how the 1963 Committee on Baptist Faith and Message carried on its work under the leadership of Herschel H. Hobbs.

Background

Recent events, culminating in the third edition of the BFM, as well as the need for a historical analysis of how the second edition was prepared, prompted this study.

Development of the Confession

An exploration of electronic databases cataloging journal articles and dissertations has shown that some academic work has been done on the content and influence of the BFM1963 (three dissertations have been written on various aspects of the statement);6 however, to date there has been no extensive research done on the Committee’s work or the formative influences that helped determine the final shape of the document.

David Downs, in his fourth chapter, viewed the use made of the 1963 BFM as a further move toward creedalism in the Convention.7 In his second chapter he traced the nature and uses of confessions in Baptist life. He noted that confessions functioned as voluntary statements that reflect historic Baptist beliefs.8 Further, he observed that, pragmatically, confessions have been used to settle doctrinal disputes, but that they derive their authority from the voluntary consent of those who embrace them. Baptist confessions always point back to the Scriptures as the final authority in religious disputes.9

Steve Gaines, in his dissertation, first examined the impact that Hobbs had on Baptist preaching and theology.10 In chapters 2 through 4 Gaines traced out Hobbs’s Baptist Hour preaching on the doctrines of Christ, man and the fall, and salvation.

Thorough research requires an investigation of the Committee’s records and related documents. These records are housed in the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, in Nashville, Tennessee. Other records are privately owned or are archived in the James P. Boyce Centennial Library at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.11 The needed journal materials and state papers are accessible, as is one dissertation written at Southern Seminary in the 1980s. Other dissertations are available via inter-library loan.

That there were outside influences that shaped the final form of the document can be illustrated by a letter from Wayne Ward to Dick Hall Jr., Committee secretary, dated 20 October 1962.12 In this letter Ward commended the subcommittee for certain aspects of its work, but he also pointed out significant weaknesses in the first draft, suggesting several areas that needed further clarification, even suggesting a complete re-write of the article on Christ. Later drafts indicate that the Committee heeded his advice. In an interview Ward said that Hobbs made a deliberate choice to solicit input from a broad cross-section of the Convention. Letters to and from the Committee support this contention.13

Hobbs organized a select subcommittee to make an initial draft document. After they completed their work (sometime before 3 December 1962),14 subcommittees of two members each were appointed to meet with representatives of each of the seminaries to gather input from their faculties.15 The subcommittees to the seminaries were assigned as follows: Golden Gate—Doug Hudgins and Jimmy Landes; Midwestern—C. Z. Holland and Robert Woodward; New Orleans—Howard Reaves and David G. Anderson; Southwestern—Warren Rust and Paul Weber Jr.; Southern—Verlin Kruschwitz and R. P. Downey; Southeastern—Dick Hall Jr. and Nane Starnes.16 The Committee produced the final draft of the document and distributed it to state papers for publication in February, 1963.

Soul Competency and Confessionalism

Both the 1925 and 1963 Committees had to grapple with how a confession adopted on behalf of and in the name of the Convention should be used in relation to the principle of soul competency. In the debate over the 1925 confession W. O. Carver accused E. Y. Mullins of “presbyterianizing” the Convention, and others in state papers raised a loud cry against “creeds” in the name of soul liberty and soul competency.17 Indeed, even before the 1925 Convention the question of Baptist confessionalism had become a growing concern. W. B. Johnson, first president of the Convention, was decidedly anti-confessional and wrote of Baptists, “The Bible is their only standard of doctr...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Historical Crises Leading to the Formation of the Committee on Baptist Faith and Message
• Chapter 3: Concerns Faced by the Committee
• Chapter 4: Confessional Accountability and Soul Liberty
• Chapter 5: Confessional Accountability and Soul Competency
• Chapter 6: The Work of the Committee on Baptist Faith and Message
• Chapter 7: Substantive Changes in the Baptist Faith and Message
• Chapter 8: Conclusion
• Appendix One: Baptist Faith and Message
• Appendix Two: Baptist Faith and Message
• Appendix Three: Comparison of Drafts as Received
• Appendix Four: A Declaration of Basic Beliefs
• Bibliography