Unlike other recent studies of the Southern Baptists, Southern
Baptist Politics was written after the culmination of the "Baptist
battles" of the 1980s, when Fundamentalists had effectively taken
control of the denomination. It also considers the SBC not simply
as a denomination but as an organization with characteristics
similar to other voluntary associations in American society--an
approach that promises to be useful for the study of other
religious groups in America. Arthur Farnsley concludes that the
SBC, as an American denomination, had within itself the seeds of
pragmatism and individualism that characterize most American
voluntary organizations.
Of primary interest to Farnsley are the crucial issues of
authority and power. Taking his cue from Paul Harrison's classic
study, Authority and Power in the Free Church Tradition, Farnsley
considers how authority has traditionally been exercised within the
SBC, and how Fundamentalists maneuvered within this existing
authority structure to seize power. According to Farnsley,
disgruntled Fundamentalists soon discovered that they could exploit
the democratic elements within the SBC polity to their advantage.
So successful were they in their efforts that by 1990 all
significant leadership positions within the denomination were
filled by Fundamentalists, thus enabling them to take, and hold,
institutional power.
The lessons of Southern Baptist Politics extend beyond this one
denomination. By using the Southern Baptists as a case study,
Farnsley asks what the SBC controversy can tell us about religious
organizations in America, about dealing with cultural pluralism,
and about institutional means for creating change.
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