The President’s Corner: Ground Work for Diminishing the Seminary?

In our previous articles we have discussed Central Baptist Theological Seminary’s participation at John Piper’s Desiring God conference. See, Non-Fundamentalists to Critique Fundamentalism and What Does Central Seminary & John Piper’s Desiring God Have in Common? Each other!

At the time of that writing I also read Central Baptist Theological Seminary (CBTS) president Dr. Sam Horn’s letter, The Road Forward: For the Church, For the Gospel.1 His letter relates to the future of CBTS. It is a “handwriting on the wall” kind of letter. Letters like that tend to give the impression that supporters should brace themselves for a diminishing of the institution. If all things were good and growing at Central, this particular letter would (IMO) never have been written. Dr. Horn notes that the changes for CBTS will be “finalized and announced this fall.”

In Dr. Horn’s letter he asserts that there are other good “evangelical” seminaries. As the president of a seminary, I would think it wise to promote Central’s distinctions and strengths—not assure prospective students there are many other good choices available to them. Dr. Clearwaters always emphasized the differences between Central Seminary and the New Evangelical schools. He didn’t view New Evangelical schools as competing for the same students, because Central had a Biblicist philosophy. If Central’s distinctive doctrinal and separatist positions are not significant, why maintain the diminishing institution? In other words,

Central Seminary used to offer something distinct from the Evangelical schools.

Many are saddened by the ongoing downgrade trajectory and demise of formerly great institutions. Saddened by schools that once took an uncompromising stand for the whole counsel of God, but not anymore. Schools that once would not cooperate with, condone or tolerate doctrinal aberrations, worldliness and ecumenical compromises have turned the corner. The days of fundamental Baptist, separatist distinctives are gone for CBTS as well as Calvary Baptist Seminary (Lansdale)2 and the former Northland Baptist Bible College (Northland International University).3 These schools and their leadership are the originators of and/or advocates for the new wave New Evangelicalism plaguing the New Testament church.

We can be greatly heartened, however, in that the Lord has given us a new generation of Biblicist schools to take their place, schools that have not surrendered the high ground. We are grateful for schools that take a sound stand for the Bible and its mandates for separatism, that are enjoying increased enrollment and expanding programs.


LM

Footnotes:
1) Dr. Sam Horn, The President’s Corner: The Road Forward: For the Church, For the Gospel

2) Kevin Bauder & Dave Doran to Join Mark Dever at Lansdale: Is this a Fundamentalism Worth Saving? ... CBS (Lansdale) To Host Haddon Robinson

3) Is Northland “Unchanged?”  ... Is Northland Opposed to the Modern Charismatic Movement?

Related Reading:
Dr. Ernest Pickering: “A Mood of Broadmindedness,” The NEW New Evangelicalism

Central Seminary Ten Years (1966) by Dr. Warren Vanhetloo

Cogitations Stemming From the Central/Bauder Ethos Statement

On Tuesday I published, Do Fundamentalists & Evangelicals, “Believe, Preach and Defend the [Same] Gospel?” There have been over 600 reads of that article to date. In the article, which is likely to have a sequel, I called upon Dr. Kevin Bauder to be honest and transparent on the true nature of the relationship between fundamentalists and evangelicals in regard to the gospel. For example,

IMO it is disingenuous and irresponsible for Kevin Bauder to speak of the Gospel in his [Differences, Part 12] article as if there is wide spread unanimity in all of Fundamentalism for agreement with evangelicals on what constitutes the Gospel, the nature of saving faith. His failure to disclose the well-known, demonstrable division in Fundamentalism over the LS interpretation of the Gospel, the open rejection of the LS gospel of the evangelicals, is in fact the practice censorship by omission. I am calling on Kevin Bauder to be honest with his readers. To publicly recognize that many men in Fundamentalism reject Calvinistic soteriology and especially the Lordship Salvation interpretation of the Gospel, which the evangelicals “believe, preach and defend.”

This morning the pseudo-Fundamentalist Sharper Iron1, whose leadership is a willing ally and conduit for the push to sweep aside significant doctrinal differences for the sake of unity between fundamentalists and evangelicals, has published Central Baptist Seminary’s Ethos Statement on Fundamentalism & Evangelicalism, which was written by Kevin Bauder. This article contains trace elements on the theme, which we have identified as a misrepresentation of the relationship on the gospel between fundamentalism and evangelicalism.

You will also note trace elements of Bauder’s departure from his predecessor Dr. Ernest Pickering’s position who, in his classic Biblical Separation taught us that separation is the struggle for a pure church. That is what Kevin Bauder is pushing aside for his new paradigm, of fellowship around his so-called “pure gospel,” or as Dave Doran references as a “gospel-driven separation.”

In his article There is a Difference and It’s a Name Changer Evangelist Gordon Phillips addressed this paradigm shift. For example he wrote,

“What are the implications of changing Fundamentalism ecclesiastical separation from the purity of the church to the purity of the Gospel and forging strategic alliances with Conservative Evangelicals around that Gospel?2 At least one Fundamentalist suggests that to do that should only come with a change of labels as one is no longer in accord with historic Fundamentalism....If you are going to change your stance on ecclesiastical separation, please do not forget to change your name, as the two go hand-in-hand.... what he [Kevin Bauder] is presently doing appears to be giving the new life-filled movement of his ‘ideal’ Fundamentalism the compromised thinking of Neo Evangelicalism rather than a greater degree of Biblical fidelity.”

In the ethos statement we also read,

“Because of these differences, we do not believe that complete cooperation with conservative evangelicalism is desirable.... For this reason, we believe that careful, limited forms of fellowship are possible.”

Last month that excerpt was dealt with in the article, Faith Baptist-Central Seminary Merger Talks Shelved… I encourage you to read that commentary, which includes the following,

For many what should come immediately to mind is the camel’s nose in the tent. “Careful, limited forms of fellowship” now. Sure, but it never ends there; does it? Later there will be unfettered, full cooperation. If you crack the door open, even a little, it will eventually be found wide open. Much could be said here, it is probably enough to say that elements from the institutional ethos/culture statements of each school would have yielded contributing factors for the cessation of merger talks. (edited 8/27 @ 3:35pm)

We’ll watch with great interest how these issues develop in the coming days beginning tomorrow with Kevin Bauder’s 13th installment in his series Now, About Those Differences. Kevin Bauder is well aware there is no universal “mutuality, allegiance” or agreement across the whole of fundamentalism with the evangelicals who believe, preach and defend the Lordship Salvation gospel. I am hopeful and confident he will publish a sorely needed retraction and clarification of his current misrepresentation of the relationship between fundamentalists and evangelicals on the nature of the gospel.

Yours faithfully,


LM

Addendum: (8/27/10)
Just heard from a friend who wrote, “How odd it is for 2 staunch Calvinists (Bauder/Doran) to react against the Faith/Central non-merger, which in their thinking should be accepted as Sovereignly ordained.”

For an excellent related read see Don Johnson's a new-fundamentalist manifesto at an ox goad, eh?

For important related discussion, in which the Central/Bauder ethos statement was challenged please see, SI Playing Favorites: Again???
Kevin Bauder is beginning to realize there is a growing number of persons and blogs willing to challenge his assertions. By his sharp reaction(s) at SI it is apparent he does not like this very much at all. Of course, the SI team lines up to defend him from legitimate inquires and once again gang-tackles those who dare question their star contributor.

1) SI Gang-Tackles “Doc” Clearwaters, a companion article to, A Letter from Dr. Richard V. Clearwaters to Kevin Bauder by Evangelist Dwight Smith.

2) “That Gospel,” is Calvinistic soteriology in the form of Lordship Salvation.

Faith Baptist-Central Merger Talks Shelved: An Opinion Piece

Dear Guests of IDOTG:

Just a few days ago it was jointly announced by Faith Baptist Bible College & Seminary and Central Baptist Seminary that merger talks have ceased. There will be no merger.

“As the deliberations have progressed, it has become apparent to both institutions that, for the time being, Central and Faith should minister collaboratively rather than as a single, merged institution.” (FBTS: Statement on Proposed Faith/Central Merger)

With one exception from a wide circle of men who communicate with me there is wide-spread relief the merger is not going forward. IMO, Faith had nothing to gain and everything to lose. A merger was doomed from the start for reasons we now see in the light of day.

Each institution has an ethos/culture statement. These include convictions, priorities, and what one will tolerate or not tolerate. They exposed significant differences that apparently became major factors for the merger not going forward. Divergent tolerate and not-tolerate stands made it certain and I didn’t ever think the merger ever had a chance because of this more than any other reason.

Central’s faculty produced their ethos statements. Judging by the content of the Fundamentalism & Evangelicalism statement I initially believed and confirmed it was written by Kevin Bauder. The ninth paragraph is very telling. It opens with this statement,

“Because of these differences we do not believe that complete cooperation with conservative evangelicalism is desirable.”

May I?

The paragraph closes with this statement,

“For this reason, we believe that careful, limited forms of fellowship are possible.”

For many what should come immediately to mind is the camel’s nose in the tent. “Careful, limited forms of fellowship” now. Sure, but it never ends there; does it? Later there will be unfettered, full cooperation. If you crack the door open, even a little, it will eventually be found wide open.

Much could be said here, it is probably enough to say that elements from the institutional ethos/culture statements of each school would have yielded contributing factors for the cessation of merger talks.

A primary reason for a personal blessing for me that the merger is shelved is that through a merger Faith Baptist Bible College & Seminary would have had the face and views of Kevin Bauder stamped on their ministry and institution. That would IMO have initiated a demise of Faith just like Bauder’s face and stamp has contributed to and is accelerating the waning ministry of and influence for balanced biblical separatist Fundamentalism of Central Baptist Seminary.

LM

Addendum: (8/27/10)
Just heard from a friend who wrote, “How odd it is for 2 staunch Calvinists (Bauder/Doran) to react against the Faith/Central non-merger, which in their thinking should be accepted as Sovereignly ordained.”

Site Publisher Note: Article edited- August 27, 2010 @ 11:50am.

The Merger of Central Seminary & Faith Baptist Bible College: “Lordship Salvation” is Big Question #2

Dear Guests of IDOTG:

Earlier this year it was announced that Central Baptist Seminary in Minneapolis, MN and Faith Baptist Bible College & Theological Seminary in Ankeny, IA had begun discussing the possibility of a merger.

Last month (May 2010) at The Church for God’s Glory Conference Dr. Kevin Bauder spoke publicly on the progress of and current events in the merger discussions. I am not certain it was in the best interest of those private discussions to have details aired publicly by one of its participants. Nevertheless, it has been done.

Today, for your consideration, I am posting a complete transcription of Dr. Bauder’s *recorded remarks from the conference in regard to the proposed merger. Following the transcription I will direct personal commentary toward one element and that will be soley on the Lordship Salvation portion of his remarks.


Before I get to the text I want to take just a couple of moments for one or two housekeeping things here. Number one, several people have asked me today when Central Seminary is merging with Faith Baptist Bible College and Seminary. Can I talk about that for just a minute?

The short answer is there have been no decisions about a merger. There is a conversation that is going on, that’s all it is right now, a conversation. There is not a concrete plan on the table we are going to follow. But I will say this, if a merger does happen it will occur in the summer of 2012, two years from now, and it will take this shape: There will be one seminary on two locations, two campuses. In other words, Faith will retain its current campus, or the merged seminary would operate on the current campus of Faith Baptist Seminary in Ankeny, Iowa and simultaneously on the present campus of Central Baptist Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Interestingly enough, once we got into the serious conversation about this Faith actually began by making the concession that whatever resources Central Seminary brings to the table and there are significant resources there, whatever resources Central Seminary brings to the table will be devoted, sequestered, I think the correct financial term is restricted for the on going operation of the Minnesota campus.

And so if you’re wondering is the Minneapolis campus of Central Seminary just going to vanish, is it going to go away, if you’re thinking, “I’m an alumnus; am I’m going to be an orphan now,” the answer is: No, the Central Seminary name will remain in play, the current campus will continue to be operated.

If there is a merger and it is far from a forgone conclusion at this point, there will be a merger, this summer actually over the next six weeks we are focusing on the two big questions. Question number one; am I telling you more than you want to know? That’s not question number one [laughter]. I carried away about things. Question number one: Will there really be enough synergy and savings in a merger to make this a worthwhile endeavor for both institutions; will it create a genuinely better institution and will it do it at substantially reduced costs than we could do separately? That’s question number one.

Question number two: How do we negotiate some of the differences between us that are minor differences, really in the big scheme of things, very small differences, but are nevertheless among us the sort of differences that can constitute land mines.

You’ve heard some remarks today, Brother Mike [Harding] about Lordship Salvation. Well, do you believe in Lordship Salvation? Well, it depends on what you mean by Lordship Salvation; right? Charles Finney believed in Lordship Salvation. He believed that in order to be saved there had to be a change of mind and a change of purpose, which is what Dr. Harding talked about. More than that Finney believed that you don’t really have Jesus as your Lord unless there is an actual change in conduct. In other words, for Finney- Finney is uber-Lordship Salvation. If you are genuinely saved you stop sinning, period. And if you haven’t stopped sinning, you’re not saved. I don’t think anybody in this room wants to endorse that version of Lordship Salvation.

So, what we are trying to do with Faith [Baptist Bible College & Seminary] is to get past some labels and to talk about what we mean, what we really believe and what we really don’t believe about certain biblical truths. I think that is a useful exercise. I’ve told the administration at Faith that this is something I wouldn’t be embarrassed to do publicly to talk about these differences publicly because these are differences that affect fundamentalism and even evangelicalism as a whole and we need to learn to get past labels and to talk about substance, which is part of what I was pleased to hear Pastor Harding doing earlier in the day, talking about substance.

I’m not saying it’s all about Lordship Salvation. Don’t get me wrong there. What I am saying is that there are wrinkles of difference between our institutions in terms of the way that we envision our theological posture.

In the grand scheme of let’s say Bible believing theology those differences amount to less than 1% of our total theology, but that 1% can be thorny if you don’t talk through it ahead of time. What we’re trying to do is talk through it carefully.

Let me go one step further. As the result of this conversation our institution has I think developed a far deeper appreciation for the people at Faith than we have ever had before. And I think that is vice-versa. But, what’s also occurred is this: In the process of the things that lead up to this there have been conversations between us and other institutions at different levels and about different sorts of things. Some of them just at the level of what’s going on. Some of them at the level of, “would you talk to us.” I can honestly say of the institutions that are represented in this room and I’m talking educational institutions now and I’m hesitant to begin naming because I’ll miss one, but I know there are people from Maranatha who are here. People from Northland International University who are here. People, from Detroit Seminary who are here. I don’t know if I’m missing anybody, but those three in particular I know are here.

I think today we at Central Seminary view ourselves as much more committed to the well-being of all of these sister institutions because of the fact that we do have so much in common with each other and the stakes are so much higher in terms of the differences that are outside. And so we’re committed increasingly to the fraternity and prosperity of, how can I put this, of what is left of mainstream, historic Fundamentalism.

*Through this link you may listen to Dr. Bauder’s remarks on the merger. His remarks begin at :17 seconds into the recording and run for 6 minutes, 30 seconds. The middle portion speaks to the Lordship Salvation concerns.


SITE PUBLISHER’S COMMENTARY:
I. In regard to the Lordship Salvation question Dr. Bauder said, “So, what we are trying to do with Faith [Baptist Bible College] is to get past some labels…”

Dr. Bauder seems to want to brush aside the label “Lordship Salvation.” He should not be so hasty to do so. The label “Lordship Salvation” has a definite, definable theology attached to it and that label is accepted by some of Lordship Salvation’s most high-profile advocates.

“In general, both sides of the debate have come to accept the designation Lordship Salvation. On the Grace Community Church web site, (Dr. John MacArthur, Senior Pastor) under Distinctives you will find one of the distinctives of the church’s teaching is titled, ‘Lordship Salvation.’ Here the term Lordship Salvation is used without further clarification or apology to define the official theological position of Dr. MacArthur’s church in regard to the gospel. So, it does appear the frustration has ceased for most Lordship advocates over the title that defines their position.” (In Defense of the Gospel: Biblical Answers to Lordship Salvation, [Revised & Expanded Edition], p. 51.)

II. Dr. Bauder said, “Question number two: How do we negotiate some of the differences between us that are minor differences, really in the big scheme of things, very small differences, but are nevertheless among us the sort of differences that can constitute land mines.”

He was referring to Lordship Salvation. IMO, the Lordship Salvation debate is no small matter. The Gospel IS the “big scheme of things” in the New Testament church. There is a vast chasm, major differences between the theology of Lordship Salvation and the one true Gospel of the Bible, which is salvation by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9).

III. Dr. Bauder identified “Lordship Salvation” as “big question number two.” The big question in any discussion of Lordship Salvation is Lordship’s requirements FOR salvation, which is where the heart of the debate and controversy resides.

“As you read through the pages of this book please bear in mind that the Lordship Salvation controversy primarily revolves around the requirements for salvation, NOT the results of salvation. A genuine conversion should evidence itself in genuine results. New believers will vary in levels of growth, but growth should be evident to some degree. The primary focal point of controversy, however, is Lordship’s requirements for the reception of eternal life, i.e., how to become a Christian.” (In Defense of the Gospel: Biblical Answers to Lordship Salvation, [Revised & Expanded Edition], p. xvi.)

“The major issue and crux of the doctrinal controversy is over Lordship’s definition of how the lost are born again. Concerns in regard to the discipleship of genuine believers are an important discussion, but…that is not where the main controversy lies. The crux of the Lordship debate is over the requirements for salvation, not the results of salvation. One of the central questions that fuels and defines the Lordship debate is: What is required of a sinner that would constitute ‘saving faith,’ i.e. the faith that results in his being born again?” (In Defense of the Gospel: Biblical Answers to Lordship Salvation, [Revised & Expanded Edition], p. 47.)

For related reading and further discussion see any one of the following articles:

Summary of Lordship Salvation From a Single Page

The Gospel of the Christ: The “Lordship Salvation” Label

Let’s Get “CRYSTAL” Clear on This: A Response to Kevin Bauder’s “Cannonball” Cogitations, “Foremost Defenders of the Gospel Today?

Lordship’s “Turn From Sin” FOR Salvation

Is Lordship Salvation a Barter System?

Does “Final Salvation” Serve as a Cover for Works-Salvation?

John MacArthur’s Discipleship Gospel

Yours in His service,

LM