David Dockery on Denominations and Decline
Dr. David Dockery, president of Union University and leading statesman in the SBC, recently spoke at California Baptist University in their “Christ & Culture” Lecture Series. CBU has recently provided two of Dockery’s lectures from this past week from their chapel podcast. The first lecture focuses on how denominations have been broken down and where they should go from here. In the second lecture, Dr. Dockery shares his view of where denominations should be today and whether or not they should even matter at this point in our culture.
I encourage you, especially if you are a Southern Baptist (or a part of a declining denomination), to listen to these two podcasts. A couple of years ago, I interviewed Dr. Dockery, asking some pointed questions and was given some excellent responses. You can find that interview series by clicking here.
Here’s the audio (MP3) from CBU:
Tags: David Dockery, Denominations, SBC
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March 10, 2009 at 9:06 am
Dockery thinks of himself “first as a Christian, second as an evangelical, thirdly as a Baptist and then as a Southern Baptist”???? Some would judge this attitude as clear evidence of an “identity” crisis. He should prepare to be analyzed and diagnosed as being infected with the deadly virus of ecumenism by certain self-styled “Baptist Identity” doctors.
March 10, 2009 at 12:28 pm
[...] Audio: David Dockery on the denominations, present and future California Baptist University Chapel Podcast page (HT: Timmy Brister) [...]
March 10, 2009 at 11:41 pm
<Begin Analysis & Diagnosis>
“first as a Christian”: Yes. I agree. I’m a Christian first.
“second as an evangelical”: Hmmm…Do I agree or disagree? I guess first I’ll have to wonder what Dockery means by that. A Frank Beckwith, let’s-affirm-Roman-Catholic-indulgences-this-week-but-I-think-I’m-an-evangelical-anyway evangelical? An Evangelical Theological Society, let’s-avoid-theological-definitions-like-Denny-Burk’s kind of evangelical? If we’re talking about the Bebbington quadrilateral, then I’m content to say that I’m an evangelical second. I’m not like Francis Beckwith first, second, fortieth, or last. And as far as ETS goes, you can paste that kind of evangelicalism on whatever you like, because it means nothing.
“thirdly as a Baptist”: Absolutely. All that “Baptist Identity” doctors wish to do with their patients is to get them to be Baptists third. It is simply that everyone needs to be Baptist third, without exception. So, for those out there who are more of an “I’m Baptist third because that works for me, but you be whatever you like and it doesn’t really matter” kind of person, yes, a “Baptist Identity” person tends to rub them the wrong way.
“and then as a Southern Baptist”: Without a doubt. I can easily imagine scenarios in which I would be a Baptist not affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. I’m thankful for the SBC. I love the SBC. I want the SBC to become healthier and more faithful. But God is bigger than the SBC. “Southern Baptist” in its best sense merely means “Baptist who sends missionaries through the SBC.” It has come to mean more than that because, regrettably, the label “Baptist” still applies to things like (Heaven help us) the ABC and the CBF.
<Begin Analysis & Diagnosis>
<Resume Vitriol & Misconstruals of “‘Baptist Identity’ doctors”>