Prominent SBC Leader Albert Mohler Talks ‘Drama And Decision’ At Annual Meeting
“I think there is no way that IVF can be performed without huge moral error."
Hell has long had a hold on the Western imagination.
Middle Age scribes rendered depictions of hell strikingly similar both to those painted centuries later by Renaissance greats and to those photoshopped nearly a millennium later by keyboard-bound game designers. It has served as an unnerving backdrop in Hollywood features, medieval passion plays, early modern poetry, and graphic novels alike.
Despite hell's sustained cultural influence, its hold has slipped in the way of belief among Americans. Meanwhile, others, religious and secular alike, maintain that it is a thing of cruel fantasy or, alternatively, a kindness misunderstood.
In Parts I and II, a number of faith leaders and scholars shared with Blaze News their views on hell. These perspectives ranged from the Roman Catholic belief that hell is a place of eternal torment inhabited by those resistive to God's love and grace, to a Jewish perspective that hell is a kind of "spiritual washing machine" that prepares most souls for paradise.
In what follows are two contrastive views on the matter: the first from a conservative Presbyterian who believes there indeed exists a place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, and the second from a progressive liberal who does not believe in hell but maintains that the truly wicked run the risk of being forgotten or possibly stricken from existence.
While they each have emphasized different consequences in and beyond the land of the living, both individuals noted the importance of taking action in the here and now.
Erick Erickson is a writer, a columnist, and the host of "The Erick Erickson Show" on 95.5 WSB. Erickson received his law degree from Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law and practiced for six years, primarily at Sell & Melton LLP. Erickson subsequently served as editor in chief at RedState.com for a decade, as a political contributor at both CNN and Fox News for several years, and as a city councilman for Macon, Georgia.
Erickson, a proud member of the Presbyterian Church in America who has started on a theology degree at Reformed Theological Seminary, has a book out later this month entitled, "You Shall Be as Gods: Pagans, Progressives, and the Rise of the Woke Gnostic Left," which explores the longstanding conflict between the Christian church today and paganism.
In his phone interview with Blaze News, Erickson minced no words about the reality of hell and the torments that await those who have rejected Christ. However, he emphasized that it is not by the cruelty of God that some men are damned but by His love and mercy that they could ever be saved.
Erickson indicated at the outset that the Presbyterian Church of America follows the Westminster Confession of Faith, which was produced by the Westminster Assembly during the English Civil War and completed in 1646.
The Westminster Confession affirms that the Bible in its original languages is pure and remains the infallible source of doctrinal authority for Christian faith. The document is also unmistakably clear about Presbyterian beliefs in the afterlife — as was Erickson.
'Those who are separated from God will be there eternally.'
"Yes, hell is real, and it is eternal," said Erickson. "It is a physical place" where the devil, the demons, and the damned all ultimately go.
The conservative host noted that after the day of judgment, "Those who are separated from God will be there eternally" immediately upon dying. There is no transitional period or purgatorial state getting in the way of damned souls' encounter with final consequence.
In terms of its relation in time and space to heaven, Erickson noted that "whether we view it as inside or outside the gates of heaven, there is some physical location outside the realm of God where those who are not of the kingdom of God will go."
The Westminster Confession states, "By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others fore-ordained to everlasting death."
When asked about this belief that God predestines some souls to hell, Erickson indicated that Presbyterians and Calvinists believe "there are those God elected to save and all others not to save."
'God clearly wants a relationship with us.'
Erickson indicated that "if you desire to be with God, then you're among the elect. If you have no interest or desire, then you're not."
"God clearly wants a relationship with us. He sent Jesus to live a perfect life in this world, to try to call everyone to Him," said Erickson. "I definitely think there is a portion of the people who reject God who, through their own stubbornness, wind up there."
While some Christians might find the idea of predestination difficult to digest, Erickson alternatively indicated, "I have a hard time understanding why we get to heaven. I mean, I'm amazed by God's love to allow us, knowing all of the sins of my life."
To avoid hell, actions aren't going to cut it. After all, no one is good enough on their own merit — either for heaven or to pay back the sacrifice at Golgotha. The key, stressed Erickson, is faith in Jesus Christ. Such is the way of salvation.
Blaze News asked Erickson whether people who genuinely have faith in Christ could jeopardize their salvation and guarantee a fast-track to hell through some misstep in word or deed.
'If you put your faith in Christ and trust Him, you can't be snatched away from Him.'
"So, the 'once saved, always saved,' is something a lot of evangelicals would say; that if you are saved, you can't be snatched away from Christ," said Erickson. "Whether or not you are saved — you may think you are and you're not — that's between you and God, not for me to decide. But the general rule is, if you put your faith in Christ and trust Him, you can't be snatched away from Him."
Whereas other denominations might be less committal in their responses, Erickson indicated that those who do not accept Christ, including nonbelievers, are precluded from going to heaven and thereby consigned to hell. This is cause, he acknowledged, for Christians to proselytize.
"I think a lot of denominations that believe in predestination and the doctrine of election are asked, 'Well, why bother doing these things if God's got it and the Holy Spirit's in charge?'" said Erickson. "We are instruments of God's will, and we are called to evangelize, and Christ tells us in the Great Commission to preach, teach, and baptize in His name."
Erickson suggested that hell is likely not egalitarian in the way of the punishments. Accordingly, those unfortunate enough to wind up there having never before heard of Christ won't suffer to the extent of a truly wicked person for all time.
"I don't know that I would say it's PCA because we don't get into it a lot," said Erickson, "[but] I do think that there are levels of separation from God. Those who do terrible things are punished more than those who just never knew Christ."
Just as Dante figured the great minds of antiquity would be stuck in the first circle of Dante's hell, Erickson suggested that there may be gradations of suffering and that such people may just experience "an absence of God as opposed to active punishment."
Blaze News asked Erickson about the efforts by some denominations to downplay the existence of hell. The conservative host indicated that in doing so, they effectively water down Christ's own teachings.
'Christ Himself didn't speak in red letters.'
"I think Jesus Himself spoke more about hell than anyone else in Scripture and for any denomination to downplay hell is downplaying a significant portion of the things Christ talked about," said Erickson.
"I mean, there is an aspect of some Christian denominations that take a red-letter view — that they only pay attention to the red letters in the New Testament, which some editor centuries ago put in," continued Erickson. "Christ Himself didn't speak in red letters, but within those red letters are a lot of discussions of hell, damnation, and judgment. So, to be dismissive of that is to be dismissive of a whole lot of what Christ talked about."
Erickson acknowledged a possible correlation between the narrative elimination of the possibility of hell and the laxation of morals, noting that "'secular, secularism,' translated actually means 'nowism'; that only the here and now matters. And there is a lot of that, I think, that even creeps into the church to be so focused on the here and now that we forget about eternity."
Besides possibly impacting public morality, the effort to discount the existence of hell also has theological implications.
"You know Tim Keller, one of the more famous PCA pastors, before he passed away said, 'Unless you accept that the devil and hell were real, a lot of Scripture doesn't make sense.'"
The story of salvation, too, would be undercut by the notion there is no hell.
"Why do we need to be saved if there is no eternal punishment?" said Erickson.
Additionally, there is a comfort in recognizing hell's existence. After all, oftentimes evildoers escape justice in the temporal realm.
"The doctrine of hell gives me comfort that there are those who are terrible people who will get away with terrible things in this lifetime, but they'll never escape judgment," Erickson told Blaze News. "I wouldn't want to believe in a God that could look on the horrors of this world and say, 'Well, that guy gets in too.'"
While Erickson expressed uncertainty about whether a broader belief in hell might yield social benefits today, he said it certainly helps people of faith, affording them "some level of calibration to, I think, be empathetic to those who are not saved; to understand that this is the best they're going to have; and to be relational and perhaps save those who otherwise would not be with you in heaven."
Rabbi Shana Goldstein Mackler has been serving for 20 years as a rabbi at the Temple, Congregation Ohabai Sholom in Nashville, where she is now also a senior scholar.
Rabbi Mackler, a teacher at the Hebrew Day School of Central Florida, was voted one of America's Most Inspiring Rabbis in 2016 and is both a founding member of the West Nashville Interfaith Clergy Group and president of the Nashville Board of Rabbis. She and her husband, Army veteran Lt. Col. James Mackler, are the proud parents of two daughters.
At the outset, Rabbi Mackler clarified to Blaze News over the phone that a distinguishing feature of Reform Judaism, of which she is an exponent, when it comes to ritual laws, "Reformed Judaism feels guided by the ritual commandments and the more orthodox feels governed by them."
Rabbi Mackler emphasized that Jewish views on the afterlife and the possibility of hell differ wildly: "For as many Jews as there are in the world, there's probably that many opinions on the afterlife."
"The texts in virtually every era of Jewish life have some sort of concept of a world where people go when they die. In the Bible, there is this concept of Sheol. It's not very specific," said Rabbi Mackler. "It takes on different names through our rabbinic tradition (e.g., 'Shamayim'), which comes about after the Hebrew Bible was closed."
'We don't focus as much on the next life as we do on this life.'
A lack of textual specificity and the emergence of various interpretations have apparently all but guaranteed the impossibility of consensus, but there appears to be little urgency given the Jewish focus on the here and now as opposed to the hereafter, suggested Rabbi Mackler.
"We don't focus as much on the next life as we do on this life so the concept of that as a reward or punishment is not really the focus of Jewish practice," said the rabbi. "Most of us focus on trying to make whatever our concept of paradise is here on earth."
As for hell, individuals may try to generate pockets of it on earth, but Rabbi Mackler indicated there's no such place awaiting us after death.
'We don't have fire and brimstone.'
"We do not have a concept of hell," said Rabbi Mackler. "We don't have the devil. We don't have fire and brimstone. We don't have any of that. That's not our concept at all. So, I think that's a big difference for us: We just don't have that form of punishment."
There is, however, a minority of Reform Jews — perhaps even among her congregation — who believe otherwise.
Rabbi Mackler indicated that over time and through acculturation, particularly when living in diaspora, some Jews have adopted views on the afterlife that may be more recognizable to mainstream Christians.
"Everywhere we went, we were influenced by the people among whom we lived. And so some of the concepts like the Hellenistic concept of Hades — those kind of things you can see finding their way into some literature at some point in time," Rabbi Mackler told Blaze News. "I would say that because hell is very much a [popular] concept in our modern life ... it makes its way into someone's psyche, regardless of their religious focus."
Rabbi Mackler noted that these views also resonated with concepts already in Judaism, particularly in Deuteronomy, which advances the understanding that the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will be punished. Bereft of a sense of justice in this world, the rabbi noted that the desire for an afterlife became all the more appealing.
"We see lots of things where the wicked people get success or they get elevated or they get famous or whatever the benefit is that they're seeking, and righteous people suffer. So, I think there was a question, and Job actually ultimately asked the question, 'Why do righteous people suffer?'" said Rabbi Mackler. "I think the idea of the world to come was an avenue for that to be worked out."
"So, if it didn't happen in our lifetime for the righteous to be rewarded and the wicked to be punished, I think that was really where it was a need for people to see that for following the rules and keeping all of the commandments that we're supposed to do, it will eventually happen, even though we may not see it in our own lifetime," added the rabbi.
The influence of other cultures' views on hell, the biblically grounded promise of justice, and the human desire to see the haughty fall have apparently prompted some Jews to believe in the existence of hell.
Rabbi Mackler told Blaze News that while souls may not ultimately face the possibility of hell, some Jews believe in a "sort of waiting period" that souls must endure after death — a "transitional period between the death and maybe the ultimate."
"You know, there is a view of resurrection — not everybody believes in that, but it's collective, it's not an individual resurrection; it's going to be a collective, communal thing at the end of days," said the rabbi. "If that is part of their belief system, there is sort of a waiting period to get there."
The belief in the existence in such a waiting period corresponds with the practice of praying over the course of the year following the death of a loved one, "which is thought to be one of those ways that we can elevate that soul."
Truly reprehensible individuals could be altogether precluded from joining the posthumous waiting room, speculated the rabbi. At the very least, their immorality could mean their temporal erasure.
Concerning the person who renounces God or faith or morality in this world, Rabbi Mackler said, "There is a thought that they would be cut off from their kin. The idea of not being part of a community, of alienating yourself like that; like that's the punishment itself. The worst thing that we could have is not leaving a mark in this world, right."
In Reform Judaism — and perhaps Judaism more broadly — memory, morality, and the afterlife appear to be strongly linked.
Alienation from the community could mean annihilation in, at the very least, the worldly sense. After all, the memories of the faithful departed are alternatively kept alive in regular prayers.
"I don't know if you know but there is a concept called the 'minyan,' like not the little yellow guys," said Rabbi Mackler. "It's a quorum, a number of people that's needed for a prayer. So, when Jews get together to pray, we need that quorum for certain prayers to be said. They can pray alone, but the ideal is to pray in community or to read the Torah, the sacred Scriptures, in community or to grieve in community."
"So, that's how memory gets passed on, whether it's out of collective peoples' memory or our individual memories of people," continued the rabbi. "We to this day will read the names of people that none of us knows, but every Friday night when we have our Sabbath prayer, we have what's called Kaddish."
"So, we will recite their names on the anniversary of their passing, and when someone dies, we also have not just on their anniversary, but four times throughout the year on certain holidays, we have a memorial service. So, people are constantly being remembered," added Rabbi Mackler.
Extra to working against the establishment of a better world, the truly wicked person all but guarantees he will not be remembered in this manner.
"So, the idea that we wouldn't be positively furthering the world — that, in and of itself, not being remembered for our blessing — would be the punishment that we would get," added the rabbi.
Blaze News pressed the issue of what would happen to a truly evil soul. Rabbi Mackler replied, "A lot of people really think about that, but because they don't really have a formed concept of hell, all we could say is that they will not have a share in the world to come. It's like nothingness, right. They'll cease to be, perhaps. I mean, this is conjecture."
"The only time that we really know about an afterlife is that people are remembered," added Mackler. "And we say, 'remembered for our blessing,' and so that's the legacy we leave and is how people will remember you. For us, that's the worst of the worst, right."
Rabbi Mackler noted there is a concept of acting out of fear of retribution and punishment "in the Bible, the Torah itself, where there are blessings and curses; if you do these things, if you don't do these things."
While Judaism contains within it a sense that good deeds will be rewarded and bad deeds will be punished, the trouble, according to Rabbi Mackler, is that behavior shaped by external threats of final rewards and punishments is "not the way that a free person behaves."
"That's not the ideal of a free person, a person that's created in the image of God, a person that has agency in this world," said the rabbi. "We're supposed to choose it for ourselves to do right, to do good, instead out of fear of something else coming at the end of our life."
Rabbi Mackler did highlight, however, that moral choices nevertheless have real consequences.
"The punishment itself I think comes from when we don't have a world we want to live in if we create the curses ourselves by the choices that we make collectively," said the rabbi. "So, I think there's that collective responsibility piece that might be more challenging for me to have this idea of each person having a tally, you know: things that will get them into heaven or things that will send them to hell."
In Part I, Archbishop Emeritus Cardinal Thomas Collins details the Roman Catholic views on hell and mortal sin, and Rabbi Aron Moss discusses the "kindness" of hell and the nature of Gehinnom.
In Part II, Rev. Fr. Calvin Robinson discusses the reality of hell from a British Old Catholic perspective; Rev. Dr. Lance Haverkamp discusses the Christian Universalist belief that all souls will ultimately be saved, possibly negating the need for hell; Bishop Stephen Andrews provides an Anglican perspective on the darker side of the afterlife; and Dr. Kenneth Green provides historical insights into Jewish views on Gehenna.
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Messengers met this week in Indianapolis for the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting, electing Clint Pressley their new president. They also took up the controversial matter of female pastors.
While the Executive Committee recently affirmed Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, which limits the office of pastor to men "as qualified by Scripture," a 2023 estimate put the number of female pastors in cooperating Southern Baptist churches at over 1,840.
The disfellowship of such churches continues apace the emergence of new female pastors, but some Southern Baptists sought to simplify matters with a vote at the annual meeting.
The effort did not ultimately go their way.
Arlington Baptist Church Pastor Mike Law's proposed constitutional amendment to the SBC Constitution, which would have formally prohibited the affirmation, appointment, or employment of a woman "as a pastor of any kind," failed in a close vote on Wednesday.
The amendment needed a 66.7% majority vote to pass — which messengers managed last year in New Orleans. In Indianapolis, it fell short, capturing only 61%.
'We are just as complementarian as we were before that vote ever came into play.'
After noting he supported the amendment, the newly elected president made abundantly clear the SBC's view on female pastors.
"The constitutional amendment, what is known as the Law Amendment, was there to provide some clarity," said Clint Pressley, reported the Baptist Press. "That's what it was given to us for, what it was voted on about. But it's not necessary [in order] for our convention of churches to maintain a real sense of complementarianism. We are just as complementarian as we were before that vote ever came into play."
Complementarianism maintains that men and women are equal in personhood, but that God created them for different roles.
"I was for the Law Amendment. I thought it provided really great clarity. I have brothers that are just as theologically robust as I would like to be myself, that were against it," continued Pressley. "Then we have maintained a real sense of God’s good design, not only in marriage, but how He's given us to live as men and women."
Pressley underscored that while messengers walk away with the amendment not passing, the SBC has "not abandoned biblical truth. At all. So, you can be confident as a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, as a member of a church within the Convention that holds to the BF&M that they are doctrinally robust."
Former SBC president J.D. Grear said of the decision, "We made the right call on this amendment, since passing it would have too rigidly enforced uniformity in ways that are out of character with our principles of cooperation. A friend of mine compared getting the right balance on this issue to putting together a piece of furniture. The IKEA instructions always warn you, 'Don't overtighten the screws.'"
Those unconvinced the Law amendment would have been redundant or ruinous — as Great previously suggested — were not the only ones miffed over the result.
Leftists outside the SBC suggested Southern Baptists need to do more than simply kill such an amendment: They must give in to the egalitarian creep.
'Even without a 66% vote, the Southern Baptist Church has attempted to devalue the very women who God has called to further the Gospel.'
The progressive organization Baptist Women in Ministry said in a statement, "Baptist Women in Ministry offers appreciation to all the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) who voted against the Law amendment BECAUSE of their commitment to support and affirm women serving as pastors of all kinds in the SBC."
The group added, "Decades ago, the SBC codified its ideological position of disregarding God's call on women in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. Therefore, the amendment considered today was not constructed on its own merit since the basis for it was already decided. Instead, women in ministry were used as props for the display of extreme conservativism (sic) in order to advance the power of a faction within the SBC."
Molly Shoulta Tucker, the pronoun-providing pastor of the progressive Ridgewood Baptist Church, noted in the Courier Journal, "Even without a 66% vote, the Southern Baptist Church has attempted to devalue the very women who God has called to further the Gospel. Instead of believing women, or even offering a humble 'I don't know,' the Southern Baptist Church has said, 'We know. (And it's not you.)'"
Messengers signaled to Tucker and other progressives that despite the result, SBC is far from caving on the issue.
On Tuesday, messengers voted 6,759 to 563 to remove the First Baptist Church of Alexandria over its support for female pastors, reported the Associated Press.
The now-disfellowed church is home to a female pastor for children and women.
"We find no joy in making this recommendation, but have formed the opinion that the church's egalitarian beliefs regarding the office of pastor do not closely identify with the convention's adopted statement of faith," said Jonathan Sams, chair of the SBC's Credentials Committee.
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The Southern Baptist Convention is holding its annual meeting in Indianapolis this week. Messengers will vote on an enumerated sixth item to Article III, Paragraph 1 of the SBC Constitution effectively banning female pastors and "disfellowshipping" churches that have them.
While many Southern Baptists regard the amendment as biblically justified and a means to maximize unity among member churches, others have expressed concern about the possibility of alienating minority members.
Among those in the latter camp is former SBC President J.D. Greear, who warned Thursday that the proposed amendment "rewrites the rules of our cooperation and attempts to fix, with a sledge hammer, something that isn't really broken."
According to the Baptist Press, a June 2023 report alleged with "99% confidence level and a 2% margin of error" that there are 1,844 female pastors serving in 1,225 SBC churches.
Volunteer investigators examined an allegedly randomized sample of 3,847 churches and found that there were 99 Southern Baptist churches with female pastors and a total of 149 female pastors. They then extrapolated that figure to the total number of cooperating Southern Baptist churches, now over 46,900.
Hoping to arrest this trend — having previously observed signs of it at five nearby churches — Pastor Mike Law of Arlington Baptist Church introduced a motion at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim seeking that Article III, Paragraph 1 of the SBC Constitution be amended to state that churches would "not affirm, appoint, or employ a woman as a pastor of any kind."
Law stressed in a letter to the Executive Committee that "ushering women into the pastoral office in Southern Baptist churches unsettles our Convention's unity."
Extra to his appeal to SBC unity, Law cited several biblical passages to justify precluding women from becoming pastors.
"Devaluing our doctrine will not lead to faithfulness or fruitfulness. Rather, if we learn anything from history, embracing empty doctrines will soon empty our Convention too," wrote Law. "Consider the exodus among the liberal and mainline denominations. They abided with women as pastors for a time, then they embraced the practice — thereby abandoning sound doctrine — and so began their rapid decline."
While the Executive Committee indicated it affirmed Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, which limits the office of pastor to men "as qualified by Scripture," it suggested the amendment was redundant, reported the Baptist Press.
"Our beliefs are most appropriately stated in our adopted statement of faith rather than in our constitution and therefore opposes a suggested amendment to SBC Constitution, Article III, which would unnecessarily restate the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, Article VI," said the EC.
Nevertheless, the EC put the motion to messengers at last year's meeting in New Orleans.
After Texas Pastor Juan Sanchez of the High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin clarified that "we can say only men are to be pastors" but that women nevertheless "have a vital place in the life of the church," Law's motion received the necessary two-thirds vote by messengers, making the next step the securing of another two-thirds vote at the 2024 annual meeting.
If the so-called "Law Amendment" passes this week, then the convention will only deem a church to be in friendly cooperation and sympathetic with its purposes and work if, extra to its satisfaction of the pre-existing criteria, it has only male pastors and elders.
Responses to the proposed Law Amendment have been mixed.
SBC Pastor Brett Maragni, founding pastor of Harvest Jacksonville, opposes the the Law Amendment, stressing that if it passes, "the SBC will, in effect, take on a new form as a denomination. And not for the better. We will officially abandon our historical identity and become a creedal people."
Rob Collingsworth, the director of strategic relationships for Criswell College, who served on the SBC Resolutions Committee in 2023, recently blasted the Law Amendment, claiming it inconsistently prioritizes title; it is exclusionary; and it signals a transformation of the SBC into an "enforcement mechanism for our churches" as opposed to its traditional role as a "guardrail for the work of our entities."
Dr. Heath Lambert, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, was initially uncertain about the amendment but changed his mind after taking into account the apparent lack of institutional clarity about who is eligible for the office of pastor; the populist revolt in the SBC against what is perceived to be an egalitarian creep; and the "biblical answer" to the question of whether women can serve as pastors.
The website for the Law Amendment warns that "once a denomination has female pastors, it's usually just a matter of time until they ordain homosexual pastors."
"The American Baptist Churches USA allowed female pastors in 1985 and then homosexual pastors in 1999," said the Law Amendment site. "The Episcopal Church USA went from having female pastors in 1976 to homosexual pastors in 1996. For the ELCA, it was 1988 to 2009. For the PCUSA, it was 1956 to 2011. And after the United Methodists allowed female pastors in 1956, they are now hemorrhaging over homosexual ordination, and it’s the conservatives who are leaving."
"If we cannot be clear and unashamed about what the Bible says a pastor is now, then there is little hope that we will stand firm on other teachings of God’s Word that are out of step with the standards of the world," added the site.
Last year, Greear noted that "some churches have chosen to appoint women as lead pastors, which appears to be a clear denial of complementarianism. For churches like this, perhaps we should recognize that they are not closely identified with us."
He noted, however, that in certain cases, at issue is not a violation of complementarianism but rather "nomenclature," as in the case of a church calling a Sunday school teacher a "children's pastor."
In addition his attempt to introduce some nuance, Greear downplayed the issue, suggesting that the "reality is that even the largest estimates of churches with female pastors on staff make for a very small — and, in fact, shrinking — fraction of our Convention."
With the vote imminent, Greear reiterated his sense last week that the "Law Amendment is unwise, unnecessary, and will have significant negative ramifications."
"The church I pastor practices and celebrates complementarianism — in this context this means that as we believe pastor, elder, and overseer are the same office, every person called 'pastor' in our church is, and always will be, a man," wrote Greear. "My objection is that it rewrites the rules of our cooperation and attempts to fix, with a sledge hammer, something that isn’t really broken."
According to Greear, Southern Baptist messengers already have the means to oust wayward churches that have female senior pastors from the convention, as they did with Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, and a handful of other churches last year. The Christian Post reported that 88% of messengers voted to remove Saddleback Church and 92% voted to remove Fern Creek Baptish Church for similarly having a female pastor.
"It's become clear that this 'fix' will yield A LOT of collateral damage," wrote Greear. "There are churches who genuinely embrace complementarianism even as they differ in some of its applications. Several of our minority leaders (like the National African American Fellowship and California Southern Baptist Convention Executive Director Pete Ramirez) have told us as much. For Hispanics in particular, it really is an issue of nomenclature."
The Associated Press indicated that some Asian and Hispanic churches may be at risk of disfellowship, as they have women working in assistant pastor roles. Others refer to women as pastors although they are in fact operating in other faith-based capacities.
Besides suggesting that churches where women aren't effectively pastors but are nonetheless referred to as such could be ousted from the convention, Greear insinuated that this action will grease a slippery slope for further amendments.
"Who knows what that one will be? The multi-side model? Closed communion? Exroverted women teaching in a mixed Monday evening Bible study?" added Greear. "I’ve been crystal clear on complementarianism and will continue to be. I don’t have to jump through some hoop to prove it, and neither do you."
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Dr. Charles Stanley, a longtime megachurch pastor, prolific author, and pioneering evangelical broadcaster, died in his home in Atlanta Tuesday morning, First Baptist Church of Atlanta announced.
Dr. Stanley was 90 years old.
"In Touch Family, this morning, God called our beloved pastor, Dr. Charles Stanley, home to heaven. Dr. Stanley lived a life of obedience and is now receiving the joy of his soul—seeing his Savior face-to-face. Please join us in praying for the Stanley family," the ministry Dr. Stanley first launched nationwide as "The Chapel Hour" in 1978 tweeted Tuesday.
\u201cIn Touch Family, this morning, God called our beloved pastor, Dr. Charles Stanley, home to heaven. Dr. Stanley lived a life of obedience and is now receiving the joy of his soul\u2014seeing his Savior face-to-face. Please join us in praying for the Stanley family.\u201d— In Touch Ministries (@In Touch Ministries) 1681831661
Dr. Stanley ministered as a pastor, teacher, author, and broadcaster for 65 years. He retired as First Baptist Church of Atlanta's senior pastor in 2020, after 50 years of service.
Responses from the faith community and others celebrating Stanley's life quickly flooded social media.
"Our prayers are with the family of Dr. Charles Stanley, who went home to Heaven today at the age of 90. Dr. Stanley was the founder of @InTouchMin and pastored @FirstBaptistATL for 50 years. I appreciate his faithfulness in unashamedly teaching the Word of God. For many who travel, and also during Covid-19 when people couldn’t attend their own churches, Dr. Stanley’s messages on television not only inspired us but fed us spiritually," Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and president of Samaritan's Purse tweeted.
"His teaching was solid—He did not compromise on God’s Word like so many others do today. God used him to impact so many lives around the world, and he will be greatly missed. Dr. Stanley and my father @BillyGraham were together on several occasions. They’re pictured here in 1994 in Atlanta, Georgia."
\u201cOur prayers are with the family of Dr. Charles Stanley, who went home to Heaven today at the age of 90. Dr. Stanley was the founder of @InTouchMin and pastored @FirstBaptistATL for 50 years. I appreciate his faithfulness in unashamedly teaching the Word of God. For many who\u2026\u201d— Franklin Graham (@Franklin Graham) 1681842417
"Dr. Charles Stanley was a great friend and encourager to me. He was always solidly biblical and extremely practical in his preaching. He will be greatly missed by all," said Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas.
\u201cDr. Charles Stanley was a great friend and encourager to me. He was always solidly biblical and extremely practical in his preaching. He will be greatly missed by all.\u201d— Dr. Robert Jeffress (@Dr. Robert Jeffress) 1681838332
"Charles Stanley went to Heaven today. He made his mark on this world for the Gospel and his incredible teaching of God’s Word. I like so many others was blessed by hearing his messages on the radio and TV and he was a trusted voice we have all been encouraged by," wrote Harvest megachurch Pastor Greg Laurie.
"It was my privilege to meet Dr. Stanley in person in Charlotte, North Carolina at the funeral for Billy Graham. He was warm and gracious. No doubt, he has already heard Jesus say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.' Charles Stanley will be greatly missed."
\u201cCharles Stanley went to Heaven today. He made his mark on this world for the Gospel and his incredible teaching of God\u2019s Word. I like so many others was blessed by hearing his messages on the radio and TV and he was a trusted voice we have all been encouraged\u2026\u201d— Greg Laurie (@Greg Laurie) 1681835495
"My prayers are with the family of Dr. Charles Stanley as the Lord called this powerful communicator of truth to his eternal reward. It was an honor to have known him. His faithfulness to the Lord has touched the lives of countless people," wrote Family Research Council's president Tony Perkins.
\u201cMy prayers are with the family of Dr. Charles Stanley as the Lord called this powerful communicator of truth to his eternal reward. It was an honor to have known him. His faithfulness to the Lord has touched the lives of countless people.\u201d— Tony Perkins (@Tony Perkins) 1681841217
Dr. Stanley is survived by son Andy Stanley, senior pastor at North Point Ministries, daughter Becky Stanley Broderson, six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and a half-sister Susie Cox, according to an official obituary on his namesake website.
Dr. Stanley often used the phrase "now, listen," or some variation of it, when delivering a portion of a sermon he was determined to drive home. He also regularly used mnemonic devices to help churchgoers remember crucial points.
"Now listen ... ," Dr. Stanley might begin, if he were addressing people mourning his loss today. He might then follow that with a trio of biblically-backed points encouraging them to take heart, as he was now happily face-to-face with the Savior whose message of hope he shared every chance he got for 65 years.
Watch WXIA's coverage of Dr. Stanley's passing below.
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The riots in Philadelphia have caused major damage to businesses; at least 200 stores have been looted since the civil unrest erupted this week. For whatever reason, rioters targeted the Vietnam Baptist Church in Philadelphia, and set fire to the building on Tuesday night.
Vietnam Baptist Church Pastor Philip Pham told the Baptist Press, "I have no idea why they attacked our church. They burned it from the roof. They threw flammable chemicals on the roof and [flames] burned through the roof."
Despite the church being a "total loss," the pastor is grateful for a small miracle amidst the destruction.
Pham received a phone call on Tuesday night from a friend informing him that the church was on fire and there were seven fire trucks there to attempt to put out the blaze. Pham deemed that one thing in the church was irreplaceable: three hard drives containing important information.
Before the purchase of the building, the Vietnam Baptist Church served as a community center, which provided assistance with immigration paperwork, taxes, and marriage counseling. More than 15 years of notable documents were on those hard drives.
"I prayed right away: 'God, please protect the hard drives,'" Pham recalled. "Other stuff can be recovered. But those files will never be recovered."
Pham rushed to the church, which was already charred and destroyed.
A Vietnamese Baptist church was burned in Philadelphia last night. The Pastor says they poured a chemical acceleran… https://t.co/Cg8meRpEwj— Kitty Shackleford (@Kitty Shackleford)1603940166.0
The building of Vietnam Baptist Church in Philadelphia was burned Tuesday night (Oct. 27) during the second night o… https://t.co/mVGVtx8zzg— Baptist Press (@Baptist Press)1603924220.0
Despite the destruction to much of the Vietnamese Baptist church from the fire, the hard drives were unscathed – a small miracle bestowed during a time of dismaying anguish.
"I saw the routers and modems and things surrounding the hard drives all burned, melted," Pham recalled. "But that piece of hard drive, no harm. No harm at all. Just two feet above that, all melted. … That is amazing how God knows our needs and answers our prayers. He is an almighty God. He granted our prayer."
Following the burning down of the church and the looting in the city, Pham reminded everyone that rage is not the answer. Pham encouraged youth pastors to stress the words of James 1:20: "The anger of man does not bring about the righteousness of God."
"You cannot use your anger and be justified," Pham articulated. "I would like to bring this message to all the young people."
Pham had comforting words to his church members who were frightened and nervous about the turmoil in Philly.
"So many things we don't know, but God knows, so just trust God," Pham told his congregation. "Just do right. Don't copy [those who practice violence], but do what the Bible says and what He wants us to do. Love them and pray for them that they may know Christ, that the Holy Spirit may convict them and they may seek God."
The Vietnam Baptist Church had been mostly meeting online because of the city's stringent coronavirus restrictions. Pham was attempting to find a nearby school where he could host the church's livestream broadcast this Sunday.
"Remember us in your prayer in time of need like this. The church members here need encouragement," the pastor said. "The majority of us have very strong faith in Christ, but a minority, a few new believers, they need their faith to grow. Pray for their faith to take deep root in the love of God so they can be steadfast in Him. Not focus on the problem, but focus on Jesus. Please remember us in your prayers."