by Wade Burleson » Sun Jul 23, 2006 7:34 pm
(1). Ed: Are you saying that until you started getting E-mails about this incident with references to BaptistLife.com you had no other feed back from any one in CBF about your action ?
(2). Ed: Are you saying that That although you usualykeep every thing it its appropriate file you did not do so with the 95 theses? That is what your statement seems like to me but it is less than clear.
(3). Ed: Respectfully Wade, I would suggest that you where attempting to lock the barn door after the horses had be put out to pasture.
BGCO like every other state convention was already being fragmentized in response to the right wing take over of the SBC. Many of us who where involved with CBF stayed with the SBC for a number of years before we left My wife and I did not leave until 1998 ( at that time I had been a southern Baptist as long as you are old), and saw friends, colleagues and mentors in CBF being systematically marginalized by SBC leadership. Even then, we did not plan our departure. We moved to a new city (Cincinnati) and visited several SBC churches and heard people making comments about CBF that demonstrated that we would not be welcome. Then we attended a church close to home, at first I thought it was SBC the pastor was a graduate of SBTS and although they had new generic hymn books in the sanctuary there where several well worn Broadman Hymnals in the Sunday school rooms. Soon I had a one on one visit with the pastor and discovered that the church was affiliated with the ABC-USA. And in fact was the remnant of the oldest ABC-Church in Cincinnati having moved to the suburbs about 8 years before we discovered it. For several months we attended faith fully but I resisted joining be cause I did not want to leave the SBC. Eventually I woke up to the fact that the SBC for most practical purposes had left me. And that was even before my wife was called to Preach. Or perhaps it was that move that freed her to hear the call. We now live in the Adirondacks where she is pasor of a two church ABC parish.
If you stay around this board you will see me say, not infrequently, there are tons of good people, including many pastors still in the SBC, but I am not sure why. Some folk are impressed with the size but although it is the largest non Catholic denomination in the US. It does not represent the majority of Baptist in this country.
It is my studied opinion that you lay the fragmenting of the SBC at the wrong feet. It seem that your own experiance in recent history is a hint to that.
Ed,
(1). Nobody from CBF ever called me about the 95 Theses --- ever. The first time I heard from anyone was when I read the official history of the CBF in Oklahoma and then received the emails referencing this chat room and then read David Flick's comments about it.
(2). I think I may have a copy somewhere, but I have not looked for it. This was a time before I had experience with files on computers and Word Documents.
(3). I don't know that I would disagree with you on this point.
I'm sorry for posting on Tom's post, but I don't know how to work this site to post a new thread
The world is too dangerous to live in - not because of the people who do evil but because of the people who sit and let it happen.
Albert Einstein