Religion: Baptist Split

Officially, Southern Baptists take their Bible straight—as the literal message of God. But in the denomination’s seminaries, many teachers accept the evidence of modern scholarship that the Bible, while spiritually as valid as ever, is historically of mixed accuracy. This view is hardly shocking to 20th century Presbyterians or Episcopalians, but to the arch-conservative literalists who control the Southern Baptist Convention it is about as welcome as incense at Wednesday evening prayer meeting.

Last June, alarmed at the cautiously nonfundamentalist approach of a book called The Message of Genesis by Baptist Ralph Elliott, the Southern Baptist Convention reaffirmed the church’s faith in “the entire Bible as the authoritative, authentic, infallible Word of God” and urged seminaries to stamp out “theological views which would undermine such faith in the historical accuracy and doctrinal integrity of the Bible.” A fortnight ago, carrying out that mandate, the trustees of Kansas City’s Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary “reluctantly and regretfully” fired Ralph Elliott from his professorship there.

Sense of Shame. The Baptist-owned Broadman Press had interpreted the conference’s resolutions as an order not to publish a second edition of the book, and the immediate reason for dismissal was Elliott’s refusal to promise that he would not seek another publisher. But the real disagreement was over the right of seminaries to question doctrine if serious scholarship makes it questionable. A Midwestern faculty member remarked: “There is a very low morale as a result of what has happened. I would call it a sense of shame. This kind of thing gives another professor nowhere to stand.”

Last week a hundred Midwestern students met in protest over the dismissal of their most respected professor. The faculty and students of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., said President Sydnor L. Stealey, were “deeply disturbed by the news and deeply sympathetic toward Dr. Elliott.” A faculty member at Louisville’s Southern Baptist Seminary reported the faculty “almost one hundred percent” in sympathy with Elliott’s views.

Golden String. What worries many professors in Baptist seminaries is that they are as far from the conference’s stated position on the Bible as Elliott is. Yet, says one seminarian, “officially we still believe the Bible was let down on a golden string.” Like Elliott, they are disturbed that Baptists “say we’re completely free, yet insist on conformity.”

Southern Baptist President Herschel Hobbs insists, “We are a people who grant to every individual the right to interpret the Scriptures as he is led by the Holy Spirit. We have no creed. The trustees thought the book was the center of the problem, and simply wanted it withheld until everything died down.” In the seminaries, everything is not likely to die down. “Many of our lay people and our students are hungering to grapple with some of the deeper issues of our existence,” says Elliott. “We just can’t deny the validity of the quest any longer.”