Baptist Press: Recent [SBC] grads 3 times more likely to be Calvinists
Nov 29th, 2007 by Nathan White
“Nearly 30 percent of recent SBC seminary graduates now serving as church pastors identify themselves as Calvinists, according to data presented during the opening session of a conference on Reformed theology and the Southern Baptist Convention.” - Article found here
The Southern Baptist (SBC) news website Baptist Press posted and article today detailing the resurgence of Calvinism in the SBC. Although this information is probably no surprise to most, I can only imagine how the more anti-Calvinist/anti-Reformed SBC churches would like to keep this information under wraps. It certainly will *not* be well received on all SBC fronts.
I also found it interesting that the article states,
“Calvinistic recent graduates report that they conduct personal evangelism at a slightly higher rate than their non-Calvinistic peers.”
With the many big-name SBC pastors who rant and rave about Calvinism killing evangelism and what not, one sure has to wonder where their research is coming from.
But the fact is clear that there has been a resurgence in Calvinistic/Reformed thought over the last 15 years or so, especially with younger believers who just simply refuse to blindly accept the recent traditions of the denomination without Biblical warrant. Although I am critical of the SBC at times, I found this article very encouraging. This means that the Lord is in the midst of reforming, and it means that maybe the SBC is not completely dead just yet.
So there is a resurgence of pure, scriptural, solid doctrine, particularly in the gospel message itself, and we are seeing its evidence with these statistics. It is very encouraging to see Christ’s work of sanctifying in this regard. Yes, as Spurgeon said, “Calvinism *is* the gospel”, and rather ironically I am reminded of Jesus when He said, “the wind [Spirit] blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.”
Let us continue to pray that the Spirit of our Lord will continue to move in this convention, and other denominations, and indeed the entire land, as we wait patiently for His appearing.
Now, with Calvinism making headway in the SBC, let’s start praying for other areas where the SBC needs serious reform as well…
re: “Now, with Calvinism making headway in the SBC, let’s start praying for other areas where the SBC needs serious reform as well…”
-Amen. I think that this is a serious problem with many young “Calvinists” today. They view Reformed Theology as being entirely composed of “the five points,” while failing to grasp the conviction of semper reformanda- that the Church must always be reforming (in all areas) according to the Scripture.
Andrew,
I couldn’t agree more. While Calvinism certainly gets our focus back on God instead of ourselves, it’s easy to try and convert the world (SBC world particularly) to this and then disappear as if that is the ‘end all’. However, I trust that beginning with these small steps, the SBC will continue to examine areas of their faith and practice that are not in accord with scripture. I am encouraged.
It’s encouraging to see that they included the evangelism rates among Calvinists vs. non-Calvinists. As far as reasons why the attendance is less, that should be clear: Calvinists [should] tend to not compromise the methods of reaching the lost by appealing to the flesh. they should be preaching the truth of Scripture and letting the Sovereign God do the work of “bringin ‘em in.”
And as for any Baptist who just looks for large numbers of baptisms: look to the history of your own denomination. In times past, we were very careful not to baptize anyone without due process of confirming their conversion.
[Oh look, a rabbit!] This is one area in which we Baptists need repentance. Baptism used to be sacred. It used to be a necessary part of conversion [Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38]. Now it seems that baptism is either so un-sacred that anyone can and should be baptized, or that it’s just not important to conversion at all.
One last note: I am NOT an advocate of baptismal regeneration. Only the Spirit can regenerate a man to salvation. But baptism is obviously more than just a routine ceremony, at least that’s the way Scriptures present it [1 Peter 3:21].