by Sandy » Wed May 09, 2018 8:02 am
I've never seen William drop Jerry Vines' name here, and wasn't aware that he knew him personally. Have you been holding out on us, William?
Patterson was never really a unifying figure in the SBC, even among conservatives. He and Pressler came to the surface in response to years of frustration over denominational leadership being so tightly wound around an elitist, closed group of denominational bureaucrats, and used theological controversy that was always bubbling below the surface, and the natural distrust of many Baptists in the pew, to launch a movement that resonated with a majority of Southern Baptists. They were able to develop a strategy that was sustainable in terms of messenger support long enough to navigate through a system of trustee appointment that was purposefully designed around clannish exclusivity and for lack of a better way to describe it, Southern backwardness.
Patterson is, perhaps, the only true "Fundamentalist" in the leadership of the Conservative Resurgence. It wasn't so much his theology that was needed as it was his bullying and pushiness, and willingness to openly challenge opposition, go outside the accepted lines to gain support and get things to happen, and having his fingers in every pie. Pressler was a former Presbyterian, and a member of churches in Houston that are clearly conservative, but not fundamentalist in the way that Patterson is. He was only interested in the personal prominence and power necessary to orchestrate change. He might have been uncomfortable with some of the more liberal views coming out of Baylor, as he claimed, but if Baylor University was the culprit, why take over the SBC to change it, since Baylor isn't an SBC institution?
The way the SBC was structured, and still is for the most part, made their methods necessary to make changes. Patterson was always a lightning rod, always prone to open his mouth and insert both feet at times, and never unanimously popular among conservatives. When the boards had been turned, and the moderates realized they did not have the means or anywhere near the support to reverse anything, Patterson and Pressler should have backed away, instead of getting involved in the board rotation, and collecting spoils for their personal prominence. They've been given far more power and far more accolades than anything they did has deserved, and their continued presence, and the way some Southern Baptists follow them around with toilet paper and tissues, is an embarassment to the denomination. Noting that those who keep bringing these things up and who are part of the group Patterson accuses of being out to get him are also conservatives who were part of the resurgence movement says that their time to make speeches and get standing ovations was over long ago.
At an SBC meeting I attended about a decade ago, when Patterson got up to make his seminary report, which turned out to be a campaign speech against David Rogers who was running for FVP, a guy sitting next to me complained that when he was done, we'd have to stand. I said I wasn't going to, and after a glance that made me think I had horns and a tail, when the speech was over, the only people who stood were the handful of Southwestern students in the back of the room.