|
Showing 1 - 5 of
5 matches in All Departments
What makes a Baptist a Baptist? Shurden chisels a Baptist profile
by identifying four freedoms commonly found in Baptist sermons,
addresses, and confessions of faith -- Bible freedom, soul freedom,
church freedom and religious freedom.
"The historian", Henry James said, "essentially wants more
documents than he can really use". Indeed, the documents provide
context and content, without which meaningful recounting of history
may be impossible. Where documents are lacking, history becomes the
telling of educated guesses and informed theories based on the mute
testimony of whatever artifacts, if any, are available. There is,
however, no lack of documentation for the ongoing
"Fundamentalist-Moderate Controversy" in the Southern Baptist
Convention. In fact, disciplined selection is necessary to keep
this collection within manageable limits. The present selection is
excellent: all sides are represented and the events of the ongoing
SBC "holy war" are replayed by the news releases, sermons and
addresses, motions and resolutions through which those events
originally were played out. The documents have been changed only to
fit these pages. This is not all the story, but it is a good part
of the story of a people called Southern Baptists. It is a story we
all need to know and remember. We cannot undo or redo what has been
done. We can learn from what has happened. What is history for? Not
just for the historian, but for all of us, these primary and key
"documents of the controversy" tell the story. Walter Shurden's
overview and introductions along with his annotated chronology set
the stage, reminding us where we were when. Then the reporters and
preachers, the movers and shakers, the principals and sometimes
even pawns go to "Action!" and tell the story in their own words,
which, after all, is the way it happened.
Taking significant events in Baptist history, the writers tell the
amazing Baptist story of the voluntary approach to the Christian
faith in popluar, nontechnical but appealing ways. The
intentionally brief chapters are, for the most part, void of heavy,
historical notes. Designed as an introductory study for students,
laity, and parish ministers, more advanced students will also
benefit from a close reading of this text. The book is arranged in
chronological order so that the Baptist saga can be understood as a
continuous narrative. Written to honor the important historical
writing of H. Leon McBeth, the book celebrates many of the themes
that occupied Professor McBeth throughout his career.
Shurden on Baptists: Assessments, Appreciations, Apologies contains
articles, essays, and speeches given by Walter Shurden on Baptists.
Walter Shurden is a longtime champion of the role of freedom in the
Baptist tradition. Recognizing that freedom alone does not tell the
whole story, Shurden also speaks to and from other cardinal Baptist
convictions. Some of the materials in this volume appear for the
first time and consist of speeches and addresses that Shurden has
made at crucial points in recent Baptist life in America in the
latter part of the twentieth century. Especially concerned with the
fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention and the
resulting lack of emphasis on historic Baptist principles, Shurden
addresses directly and indirectly the SBC controversy in several of
the chapters of this book. More, Shurden emphasizes what makes
Baptists distinctive in American religious life.
|
You may like...
It: Chapter 1
Bill Skarsgård
Blu-ray disc
R111
Discovery Miles 1 110
|