Expert: Bruce Gourley - 6/12/2007

Question
QUESTION: Dear Mr Gourley,
For a School Assignment, my Religious Studies teacher asked us to review some of the "major issues confronting the Baptist Church in today's society." She asked us to go out and interview some people and get their views. So, I would like to ask yours..
What do you think?
Please and Thankyou
-Jackie

ANSWER: Hello Jackie,

First of all, it would be much more accurate to refer to "the Baptist denomination," rather than "the Baptist Church." Baptists believe in congregational autonomy, which means that there is no church hierarchy that makes decisions for Baptists at the local church level.

As to "major issues confronting Baptists today," I would list the following:

* Theological division: Baptists range from fundamentalist (the leadership and many individual churches within the Southern Baptist Convention, and most independent Baptists) to conservative to moderate to liberal

* Women in church leadership: fundamentalist Baptists are very much opposed to ordained women ministers of any type, while other Baptists welcome women ministers

* Separation of Church and State: historically, all Baptists were for the separation of Church and state, but since the 1970s, some fundamentalist Baptists have opposed church/state separation

* Worship styles: some Baptist churches retain traditional worship styles (hymns), while others have embraced contemporary music styles similar to that which is found in popular culture today

* Denominational agencies: more and more Baptist churches are distancing themselves from their denominational agencies, and instead are doing missions and even education on their own

For more information on Baptists today, go to one or more of the following:

www.centerforbaptiststudies.org
www.baptiststoday.org
www.baptisthistory.org
www.baptistlife.com

I hope this helps,

Bruce Gourley
www.brucegourley.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Mr Gourley,
Is there any chance you would be able to elaborate on the following points with your views?
* Women in church leadership: fundamentalist Baptists are very much opposed to ordained women ministers of any type, while other Baptists welcome women ministers
* Worship styles: some Baptist churches retain traditional worship styles (hymns), while others have embraced contemporary music styles similar to that which is found in popular culture today

Any help would be much appreciated.
Please and thankyou
-Jackie

Answer
Regarding women in ministry in Baptist life, fundamentalist Baptists interpret the Apostle Paul (who speaks about women in church several times, including Ephesians 5 and 1 Timothy 3) and conclude that women should be allowed to be ordained ministers (do note, however, that Baptist ordination, even in terms of men, is a practice that arose after the Bible).

Some fundamentalists go so far as to not allow women to teach boys about the third grade, much less men (see 1 Corinthians 14:34).

However, most theologians and New Testament scholars argue that Paul's injunctions against women in the New Testament were literally intended for the 1st century Roman world culture. For example, in 1 Timothy 2:9 Paul clearly tells women not to wear gold, pearls and expensive clothing into church ... but no Baptist church follows this command. Why did Paul make such a statement? Because many prostitutes in that day and time were wearing gold, pearl and expensive clothing, and Paul (most likely) was telling Christian women  not to dress like prostitutes (of that day). Many Baptists would say all of Paul's discussions about women should be understood in the cultural context of the 1st century Roman empire ... which is different than today's cultural context (in other words, Paul, if he were writing today, would not have told women not to wear gold, pearls and expensive clothing in church).

Furthermore, in the New Testament, some women were apostles (see Romans 16, in the list of names are several women), a position similar to preacher/pastor, and others were deaconesses.  In Baptist history, in some churches (even in the South) women have served as deacons and eldresses (an old title similar to a pastor/teacher today) since at least the early 1700s. Today, many if not most Baptists in the world (there are about 60 million worldwide) are open to women as ordained ministers.

As to worship styles, Baptists have long argued over this issue. From their founding in 1609 until the 1700s, music was not used in Baptist worship services. In the 1700s, Baptists debated over music, and some started using music. By the 1800s, most Baptists believed in music in worship.

In the late 1900s, some Baptist churches started using choruses or praise music in worship services, but many from the older generations did not (and do not) approve. Some churches today do both: they mix traditional hymns and contemporary praises choruses, or have two worship services,  one with hymns and one with praise choruses. The issue is not theological as much as it is music preference, although some Baptists argue that the old hymns do contain more theology than modern choruses (which often repeat similar or the same words over and over).

Musical styles in Baptist churches will continue to evolve in the coming years, and the controversy will likely continue on.

I hope this helps.

Bruce Gourley
www.brucegourley.com