Southern Baptist Theology in the Late Twentieth Century
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 54, No. 2 – Spring 2012
Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
The Challenge of Being Baptist: Owning a Scandalous Past and an Uncertain Future. By Bill J. Leonard. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2010. 162 pages. Paperback, $24.95.
Baptist Questions, Baptist Answers: Exploring Christian Faith. By Bill J. Leonard. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009. 112 pages. Paperback, $13.00.
Respected moderate historian and dean of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University Bill Leonard has never been shy to print his perspective on Baptist self-identity, particularly with respect to the Southern Baptist Convention. Having written God’s Last and Only Hope: The Fragmentation of the Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Ways: A History, and Baptists in America (as well as co-edited the new and interesting The Acts of the Apostles: Four Centuries of Baptist Interpretation with Beth Barr, Mikeal Parsons, and Doug Weaver), Leonard is a popular speaker on issues related to Baptist identity. Indeed, his lectures sponsored by Baylor University, the Associated Baptist Press, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship were the genesis for The Challenge of Being Baptist, which in turn helped give shape to Baptist Questions, Baptist Answers. These two books overlap in so many ways that they should be treated in the same review.
The Challenge of Being Baptist, while suffering from a few critical flaws, is a very interesting read in that it offers Leonard’s answer to the question, “Why would anyone want to be a Baptist?” After finishing the book, the reader may not know, but he or she will know Leonard’s agenda for future generations of Baptists—his re-vision of Baptist identity. Leonard’s pessimism is understandable but disappointing in that it obscures some valuable insights. He identifies five central concepts that Baptists cannot ignore: Baptist self-consciousness, trends in Baptist polity, Baptist hermeneutics, a theology of conversion, and cooperation. Squished between his overgeneralizations and underdemonstrations are valid concerns that readers should not miss.
Leonard bases this book on his observation that many Baptist churches today “are historically Baptist, but few of their younger members know why or really care” (12). He goes on to say that the basic Baptist principles of Biblicism, conversionism, baptism by immersion, and congregationalism may be uniquely situated to answering the challenges of twenty-first century religion and culture. But he worries that Baptists are losing these principles without knowing it. First, he argues that many Baptists’ self-consciousness is based on either their regional identity, their denominational structure, their separatist/independent attitude, or their revivalist culture. Unfortunately, none of these are uniquely Baptist. He encourages individual churches to explore their Baptist heritage for themselves. Second, he worries about structural trends among Baptists that he cannot reconcile with Baptist trends, particularly megachurches and Baptist “bishops.” To Leonard, basic Baptist polity consists of radical congregationalism and associational cooperationalism, and he insists that the societal model better reflects this than the denominational model (more on this to follow). Third, he accuses Baptists of forgetting their hermeneutic, based largely on the observation that Baptists hold to contradictory systems of Calvinism and Arminianism which has led to subsequent contradictions, the most reprehensible of which being the concurrent hermeneutics of slavery and liberation. He summarizes his argument with the memorable line, “From a historical perspective, Baptists are Biblicists except when they are not. Then they often split” (72). Fourth, Leonard accuses Baptists of being silent about a clear theology of conversion, baptism, and re-baptism. Modern conversionist individualism combined with propositional evangelism has disintegrated Baptist community and confused countless church members about the meaning and purpose of their baptism. Because believers’ baptism by immersion is so important to the idea of a believers’ church, and consequently Baptist identity, churches cripple themselves by ignoring issues of alien immersion and child baptism. Finally, he encourages churches to return to a societal model, which means that they choose how and with whom to cooperate on any and all ministries. He hopes this will lead to more interdenominationalism and ecumenism, as well as social involvement.
Leonard’s keen, if cynical, eye has certainly identified massive concerns for Baptists. If Baptist churches are basing their identity on anything other than Baptist principles, their identity will be generationally conditioned. Furthermore, it is very difficult to see how Baptists can have bishops. Most importantly, the lack of a unifying hermeneutic or theology of conversion is a tremendous obstacle to cooperation and growth. Leonard even blames current polity on exacerbating the problem, including the lack of effective moderators, clergy/laity power blocs, divisions and polarization, and a growing emphasis on individualism. So why would anyone want to be a Baptist? Leonard himself may not even be sure.
Though Leonard does make these strong points in The Challenge of Being Baptist, the reader comes away from this book wondering why he chose to publish it. To use the phrase “fish or cut bait,” Leonard seems to be quite clearly cutting bait with most Baptists in America, especially those in the South. It very well could be that his accusations are justified, but his associated condescending tone is a barrier to his potential audience. Furthermore, he assumes that his reader has a reasonable familiarity with Baptist history and Reformation history (considering that he believes most young Baptists are ignorant of these very things, to whom exactly is he writing?). But his lack of citations and documentation for many of his generalizations will turn away a more scholarly readership, as well. His historical surveys are useful and engaging, but too brief and limited for scholarly use and too laden with jargon for introductory use. He tries to remain historically neutral, but his biases trickle into his interpretations. Ultimately, The Challenge of Being Baptist suffers from overgeneralizing, under-demonstrating, and not having an audience.
Those three concerns are not a problem for Baptist Questions, Baptist Answers, a format designed for generalizations and with a built-in readership. In it, he follows volumes written by Donald McKim (Presbyterian Questions, Presbyterian Answers; incidentally, McKim has recently released a second volume) and F. Belton Joyner, Jr. (United Methodist Questions, United Methodist Answers). In some places, he even follows their order of questions. In a simple question-and-answer format that is too vague to be confessional but too broad to be catechetical, he describes who Baptists are, what they believe about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, man, salvation, the church, the Bible, and theology. His primary resources are confessions of faith printed in Lumpkin’s famous compilation and hymns sung in Baptist churches. In the process, he shares the gospel with his readers, stands on the soapboxes clarified in The Challenge of Being Baptist, and takes great concern with his readers’ salvation.
Baptist Questions, Baptist Answers is a very suitable format for Leonard’s tone and purposes because he can only gloss over the various Baptist views. This is something Leonard does well, fairly, and consistently, highlighting shared views on congregationalism, believers’ baptism, the authority of Christ, conversionism, and religious liberty. Unfortunately, where Baptists do not agree, Leonard must speak vaguely (as with respect to biblical authority) or universally (as with respect to Baptist views on Calvinism and Arminianism), and the format is too short to allow sufficient explanation.
Indeed, this format leads to a number of significant limitations. Most importantly, it attracts an introductory readership. These readers are not interested in footnotes or documentation, and Leonard does not burden them therewith. Unfortunately, this means that the readers are taking Leonard’s word that he is accurately portraying Baptist beliefs. For example, he says, “Debates over the virgin birth continue among certain Baptists, although with perhaps less intensity than in the twentieth century” (22). That seems reasonable, but Leonard offers no data in support. Furthermore, introductory readers are not terribly interested in historic Baptist confessions, which are the only documents Leonard cites (which makes sense considering his profession). They are interested in who Baptists are, not who they were; considering Leonard’s frequent lament that Baptists are historically ignorant, his approach is quite curious. The much more valuable—and significantly more timeconsuming—approach would be to survey current confessions of faith with the same purpose. The same is true of his use of hymns, which may or may not be known by many Baptists today, but the reader would certainly not know because Leonard does not identify any of these hymns or define their usage.
Leonard also steps away from his introductory purposes in subtle ways. Every once in a while, he speaks prescriptively instead of descriptively, using words such as “should” and “would do well.” He also can speak rather strongly for an introductory audience, saying for example that re-baptism is “surely” taking the Lord’s name in vain (69). There are also some places where he chooses odd wording, saying for example, “Some Baptist groups and individuals, no doubt a majority, oppose any homosexual behavior” (91), instead of “A majority of Baptists oppose any homosexual behavior.” These subtle elements tend to muddy an otherwise straightforward project.
In summary, Leonard has fired two more literary shots across the bow of Baptists in these two books. Readers should be very concerned with his generalizations and lack of documentary support (or even a helpful list of further resources), but they should not question his Baptist heart. Leonard believes in multiple Baptist traditions—“many ways to be a Baptist” (The Challenge of Being Baptist, 38), and the reader does not have to agree with his “way” to appreciate his concern for a Baptist believers’ church. However, the introductory readership for which Leonard seems to writing may not know this.
