Richard Land and his new job

[Dave Roberts]

Interesting shift today for Richard Land who appears to be leaving the SBC fold for folks more suited to his ideas.



I couldn't find much on this school. I lived in NC when it was founded, but I never heard of it.

[Tom Parker]

[Neil Heath]

Perhaps in his mind he needs a title, and a platform from which to speak, lest he disappear from the public sphere and be ignored. For many who are used to having the spotlight, obscurity would be a kind of living death.

As for me, I can continue ignoring him, as I have for a long time.

[Blake]

They appear to be a TRACS accredited reformed conservative evangelical apologetics school. Maybe he'll convince them to cooperate with SB state conventions and add another piece to the board in the coming Calvinist/non-Calvinist battle for the convention.

[Big Daddy Weaver]

Well, he basically got fired.

Land obviously didn't want to retire. His retirement was quite clearly not what he wanted.

There must not have been anything for him in the SBC world, no grand high paying emeritus gig at a seminary.

I'm guessing Norman Geisler is going to pay Land well though...

[TrudyU]

Ed still on Trudy's computer: Also Al Mohler isn't ready to retire and Russ Moore felt a need for a new, wider platform. My question is who will be Al's new yes man?

[Sandy]

[William Thornton]

I would note for my mod/lib/ex-SBC friends that there is a generational change underway in the SBC among top leadership. While that doesn't preclude a sinecure being created for long-in-the-tooth top dogs forced out, I suspect we will not be seeing that soon.

[Blake]

[Sandy]

[Blake]

[William Thornton]

I am afraid we are already in a bit of a Calvinist/traditionalist fight. I suspect it will get worse but not to the level of the CR.

[Tom Parker]

[Sandy]

[William Thornton]

A few signs of rancor: Some churches have defunded seminaries they consider too Calvinistic. Some associational missionarys steer churches away from grads from those seminaries. Some state schools are thought to be purging calvinists from faculty and not hiring the same. Some voices are calling for less Calvinistic writers, appointees, and hires.

Early rumblings over the horizon may be heard if one is listening.

[Big Daddy Weaver]

The Calvinism-Non-Calvinism divide is not insignficant in Southern Baptist life. William can surely attest to that.

The debacle at Louisiana College is but one very public expression of that divide.

And I agree that there will not be a split. I'm not sure how realistic a huge denominational split is in our increasingly post-denominational world. A big brouhaha would likely result in a decline in giving and changing giving patterns, etc. People don't care enough about denominations like they did in the 1980s.

Sandy writes: "Land is neither as popular, or as in-demand in the SBC as many of the board members here might tend to think."

I guess we'd have to unpack that and debate it. There's alot of truth there but you can make a similar statement about other Southern Baptist leaders. I'm not sure Al Mohler is really as popular as many thing. Alot of top leaders, of course, have been successful at gaining more power than their popularity has earned them.

[Sandy]

[Blake]

Sandy, I would be inclined to agree with you if the context of present day America were going to remain static for the next three decades or so, but the US is not a static entity. Changes are coming and those changes will work their way into the life, attitudes and actions of Southern Baptists. Until we know what those changes are and how they will be reacted to by important SBC demographics it's hard to say no splits or church sheddings are on the horizon.

[William Thornton]

While I am not up for another resurgence type conflict, my opinion is that there is more to the Calvinist/traditionalist divide in SB life than sandy realizes.

[Sandy]