Historian challenges Baptists to converse
By Dave Munday
The Post and Courier, Charleston, SC

Baptists need to engage in more conversations and fewer debates, one of the most quoted experts on American religion said in Charleston last weekend.

A conversation centers around a question, while a debate centers around a preconceived answer, the Rev. Martin Marty said at First Baptist Church of Charleston. Marty, a Lutheran and the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, was the keynote speaker for First Baptist’s annual John A. Hamrick Lectureship.

Marty gave Baptists a lot to talk about with two 50-minute lectures. The first one, which happened to start at the same time as the Super Bowl last Sunday, was called “When Baptists Are Baptists” and dealt with some of the ironies between Baptist distinctives and practices. The second one, which Marty delivered Monday morning, was a talk on what Baptists and other Christians can learn from each other.

Marty is retired but still exudes a lot of energy. He talks fast and keeps the audience amused with frequent quips and anecdotes. With white hair around the sides and silver-rimmed glasses, he looks the part of the professor, especially with his penchant for bow ties.

Standing on the turf of the mother church of the Southern Baptist Convention, he was sometimes critical of the convention’s recent conservative direction. But he said he was speaking ironically (when something turns out opposite of what might be expected, such as a firehouse burning). He acknowledged that he was an outside observer, and that irony is in the eye of the beholder.

BAPTIST IRONY

Marty outlined nine beliefs that characterize Baptists and made some observations on several of them.

— The authority and sufficiency of Scripture: All Baptists agree with that but differ on what it means. He called inerrancy, the belief that the Bible contains absolutely no mistakes or contradictions other than copying errors, “a philosophy and logic imposed on the Bible.” He said he agrees with a man who said the Bible was “sufficiently inspired for all practical purposes,” which Marty believes is what Paul told Timothy when he said “all Scripture is inspired.”

Confessions are fine, since you have to condense the message of the Bible, but Baptists should not use a confession as a creed to say who’s in and who’s out, he said. A confession is something you should be able to sing, he said.

In discussion with the audience after the talk, Marty said it’s illogical that Baptists say they support independent churches and then set up a hierarchy that says a church is out if it ordains a woman. He also didn’t think it was consistent with the historic Baptist emphasis on soul liberty to require missionaries to sign the revised Baptist Faith and Message.

He called literalism a recent reaction to modernism. He also said dispensationalism is not a historic Baptist belief. (Dispensationalism includes the belief that Jesus will rapture his church out of the world before the Great Tribulation, such as popularized in the recent “Left Behind” series.)

— The priesthood of the believer: Baptists believe in the supremacy of individual conscience and don’t put a lot of stock in clergy. Given that belief, it would be ironic to let the Southern Baptist Convention become a powerful bureaucracy, Marty said.

— Salvation as a gift of grace received by faith: That message is marred when people go to church and hear sermons about what Christians should do instead of what Christians get to do, he said.

— Regenerated church membership: Baptists believe people should join the church after they are born again.

— Believers’ baptism by immersion: Baptists believe only those who have been born again through a profession of faith should be baptized, and they should be immersed rather than sprinkled.

— Lord’s supper a symbol and reminder: When Jesus said of the bread, “This is my body,” he was speaking symbolically rather than literally, Baptists believe.

— Independent local church: Baptists accept no authority above the officers of the local church. So it’s ironic when the public hears statements from the national convention as if it’s a big power structure, Marty said.

— Religious liberty for all.

— Separation of church and state: It seems Baptists would oppose school prayer amendments because they impose Christian religion on Jews and Muslims, Marty said. Baptists, more than any others, historically fought for separation. Baptists should always be first to sound the warning against the power of government, he said.

There’s a danger in government entanglement with faith-based endeavors, Marty said. As one Baptist leader said, “When you get the king’s shekels, you get the king’s shackles.”

TIME FOR TALK

Marty’s second talk was about what Baptists and other Christians can learn from each other. He outlined seven points that Baptists and other Christians should be talking about.

— Evangelism and proselytizing: America has moved into an era of “drastic pluralism,” Marty said. Christians can respond in one of three ways. Under the model of the church aggressive, Christians can view other people merely as potential converts and demonize those who resist. In that category, Marty rapped Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Franklin Graham for trashing Islam. You can’t lump a billion Muslims together, Marty said. It’s not Christian charity, and it’s counterproductive, he said.

Under the model of the church acquiescent, Christians can minimize differences and act as if all religions are the same. That not only deflates incentive for evangelism, it’s not accurate, since each religion has particular stories and particular details, he said.

Under the model of the church fumbling, Christians can pool resources where possible. While religions can’t be reduced to a lowest common denominator, Christians can still be hospitable and learn from other religions, he said.

— Relationship with Israel: The same Baptists who try to convert Jews also aggressively support Israel’s actions, Marty said. This comes from a dispensational theology, which is not historic Baptist thinking, he said. The result is that Christians ignore Palestinian rights and a concern for justice by always supporting the Israeli government.

— American civil religion: Christians should always beware of equating America and Christianity, he said. “Baptists were born to call into question,” he said.

Americans need a kind of civil religion after a crisis, such as the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, or the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. But Christians also need to be prophetic, he said.

— Dominion and freedom: Christians were persecuted for four centuries, then got into power and started persecuting minorities. Traditionally, Baptists have always been nervous about power. It’s particularly irritating to hear Christians quote 2 Chronicles 7:14, where God said he would bless Israel if the Jews would repent and pray, as if that were a special promise to America, he said.

— Public relations and media: Christians need to be sure the scandal (offense) of Christianity is the message of the cross and not something else, he said. When people read a headline like “Southern Baptists want women to submit,” it makes outsiders think Baptists believe women exist simply to be put down, like in some Muslim countries, he said.

— Environment.

— Market.

Marty didn’t say much about the last two points, probably because of time, but said they were issues Christians need to talk about.

Marty’s name came up as a potential speaker nine years ago, said Mitch Carnell, chairman of the lectureship committee. His talk was set five years ago, he said. About 120 people turned out Sunday.

This article is reprinted with permission of the Post and Courier in Charleston, SC.

April 2003