“Many colleges and seminaries were brought into existence by the prayers and sacrificial giving of fundamental Baptist people. There has developed in some of these schools an ‘itch’ to distance themselves as far as possible from their Baptist roots (the ‘denominational walls’ as some have called them), become more broadly ‘evangelical’ in their posture, while retaining, insofar as possible, the support of their Baptist constituency. One such school, long part of the Baptist movement in the United States, embarked on a course to change its name. While publicly asserting they were not really changing anything essential, and while ‘pushing the right buttons’ so as to assure their long-time constituents that everything was all right, the president of this institution had a definite agenda in mind which did not coincide with the historic position of the college. It was the president’s intent to move the school away from the separatist Baptist position it had historically occupied.”Come back on Monday for more from the excerpt and discussion of the article from which it is drawn. For the weekend I encourage you to read the following articles from the archives:
Related Reading
Has Converging With Evangelicals Been a Dangerous and Failed Experiment?
Dr. Rick Arrowood: Answering Questions About the Changes We Are Seeing in Fundamentalism
I wonder if I can guess which Baptist college that was. It sure sounds familiar.
ReplyDeleteJanH