Despite Diversity, Southern Baptists Find Unity in the Authority of the Bible

B Y TOBIN PERRY

If you looked closely at the Montgomery Baptist Association in Montgomery, Alabama, you would see a diverse group of churches. Among the 75 churches that partner together for the sake of the Gospel in Montgomery are ones with long established histories, along with brandnew congregations. There are Spanish-speaking churches and English-speaking churches.

The Bible stands at the heart of that diverse cooperation.

“We’re diverse, but we have a huge respect for one another, and a high degree of honor and respect for the Bible. That’s what holds us together,” said Neal Hughes, the executive director of the Montgomery Baptist Association. “I think I could speak on behalf of our family of churches that we all begin with the authority of God. It was God who created the heavens and earth. It was

Holy Scripture was taken to be God’s infallible revelation in words. What God said, Baptists believed. No creed held them together, though Baptists never hesitated to write and affirm their doctrinal confessions. No church covenant was mandatory for all Baptist churches; yet hardly a church has not adopted strongly worded covenants. Scripture has been the cornerstone, the common ground, the point of unity.”

Tom Nettles, author Baptists and the Bible

Him who created us in His image. It was God who inspired the Bible.”

What’s true in Montgomery is true of Southern Baptists throughout the United States. As Southern Baptists have grown more diverse in recent decades, a commitment to the authority of Scripture and the Great Commission has unified the convention.

In The Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Southern Baptists overwhelmingly affirmed a confession of faith that says: “Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.”

What Authority Of The Bible Means To Southern Baptists

Baptist convictions about biblical authority drove its earliest churches. Many broke with established churches in Europe because they sided with the Bible over church traditions on topics like believer’s baptism.

Other than the Bible, it’s possible no book has had a bigger impact on Baptist understanding of the authority of scripture than Tom Nettles’ Baptists and the Bible, which provided a historical and theological defense for the high view of Scripture at the center of the Conservative Resurgence in the 1980s and 1990s.

“Historically, Baptists have built their theology from a solid foundation,” Nettles wrote in the book’s 1999 reprinting. “Holy Scripture was taken to be God’s infallible revelation in words. What God said, Baptists believed. No creed held them together, though Baptists never hesitated to write and affirm their doctrinal confessions. No church covenant was mandatory for all Baptist churches; yet hardly a church has not adopted strongly worded covenants. Scripture has been the cornerstone, the common ground, the point of unity.”

Ken Keathley, the senior professor of theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, notes that Baptist beliefs on biblical authority line up squarely with historic Protestant beliefs, namely that the Bible alone is sufficient in all matters of faith and practice.

“We affirm sola scriptura,” Keathley said. “That is that the Bible alone is sufficient in all matters of faith and practice. So therefore, we affirm the authority of Scripture in relationship to the other claims of authority and other realms of authority, such as tradition, reason, experience and community or culture. All these areas of knowledge do inform us, so we don’t say it’s the Bible only. We say it’s the Bible ultimately.”

Making The Case For Biblical Authority

In their introductory chapter to The Authority and Sufficiency and Scripture by Seminary Hill Press, David Dockery and Malcolm Yarnell say that a commitment to the Bible’s authority begins with God Himself.

“The key to God’s authority is His revelation,” Yarnell and Dockery write. “In this manner, revelation and authority are seen as two sides of the same reality. God thus declares His authority in His revelation, and He alone is the ultimate source of authority for all other lesser authorities.”

Keathley says that making the case for the authority of Scripture is different for believers than unbelievers. For believers, it’s based upon who Jesus is—and how He viewed the Bible.

“It was Jesus who endorsed the Old Testament and promised the New Testament would be delivered through the apostles,” Keathley said. “As Christians, we are all obliged to follow Jesus in every aspect of life, as He is our Lord. Thus, His views on the Bible inform the appropriate stance we should adopt. Since Jesus confirms the Old Testament as the Word of God and promises the New Testament through the apostles, I choose to follow Jesus in recognizing both the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God.”

For someone who doesn’t have a relationship with Christ, Keathley wants him or her to read the Bible. If the person refuses, he says, progress will be limited.

“While there are numerous books discussing the Bible’s origins and providing reasons to have confidence in it, ultimately, convincing someone of its authority requires the work of the Holy Spirit,” Keathley said. “After presenting the best historical arguments, it is the Holy Spirit who does the convincing.”

Alan Bandy, a professor of New Testament and Greek at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, believes the authority of the Bible means more than just affirming Scripture’s truth. It’s possible for Baptists to have the right beliefs about the Bible and not firmly sit under its authority.

“Submitting to Scripture is essential, even when there are parts we wish it didn’t say,” Bandy said. “In today’s culture, it might be easier to follow the status quo or rely on personal opinions. However, since Scripture governs our conscience and convictions, we must acknowledge its authority. As we wrestle with theological issues, there may be times when we prefer to believe something else, but we must ultimately affirm what Scripture says. Adopting an attitude of submission, we are obliged to conform our lives, beliefs and practices to its teachings.”