Calvinists and Evangelism

[John Sneed]

[Tony]

[Ed Pettibone]

[David Flick]

[Ed Pettibone]

[David Flick]

[Guest]

David: If you are really convinced that Calvinists are "passionate" about evangelism, I challenge you to do the research and come up with an article that supports your claim with documentation. It's one thing to make a bold claim that Calvinists are passionate about evangelism. It's quite another thing to support your views with documentation. Why not write an article to support your claim?

<b>I grew up in the Calvinistic SBC, as probably did some others here, and remember the fervency with which the matter of evangelism was approached, and during which time the SBC grew steadily to the point of becoming the largest non-Catholic denomination in the country. Doctrine was mentioned but not as very important. The thing of pressing importance was the "saving" of souls (evangelism?), never mind that the doctrines of Calvinism dictated that to be a non-starter. The SBC has left me in the doctrinal fighting, but I believe its adherents are still passionate about evangelism, however misguided I think they are about the <I>fundamentals</I> of the faith. To claim they are dispassionate paints with too broad a brush, especially in light of what's happening in other denominations. I daresay they are as passionate about evangelism as at least 90 percent of the forum members.</b>

[Sandy]

What evidence exists that proves the SBC is passionate about evangelism, or that it is Calvinistic? Calvinism is certainly a theological influence among Southern Baptists, perhaps more so in recent years, but the vast majority of Southern Baptists aren't Calvininst.

As far as passion about evangelism, the evangelistic outreach of the SBC is declining. In spite of all of the bluster of the so-called conservative resurgence, the number of baptisms is declining annually, and when you remove the figures that represent the children of members, and those who are re-baptized because they didn't feel secure the first time, there's very little real evangelism going on. Half of the total church membership is "non-resident" and out of 16 million plus reported as members of SBC churches, only 5.4 million attend church on a weekly basis, of which about half are senior adults. Now, whether that is due to Calvinism, I don't know, but it certainly shows that the SBC lines up with the mainline Protestant denominations in the area of decline.

[Keith]

[Ed Pettibone]

[Keith]

[Sandy]

[David Flick]

[John Sneed]

[David Flick]

[Tony]

[David Flick]