Several Southern Baptist theologians, historians and denominational leaders examine those and other questions pertinent to the current and future state of the SBC in a new book from Crossway, “Southern Baptist Identity: An Evangelical Denomination Faces the Future.”
Edited by Union University President David S. Dockery, the volume contains a number of essays on Baptist identity from conferences on the topic held at the Jackson, Tenn., school. Contributors include three Southern Seminary leaders: President R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Theology School Dean Russell D. Moore and church history professor Gregory A. Wills.
In his essay, Mohler seeks to answer the question: “Is there a future?” for the SBC. He answers with a resounding “yes,” while calling Southern Baptists to tread the the biblical paths upon which they have always sought to walk. Mohler calls upon Baptists to remember their non-conformist heritage.
“For all the challenges we will face in the future, this is a great time to be a Baptist,” Mohler writes in his conclusion.
“We now have the opportunity to recover our nonconformist roots. That is where we began. We were outsiders, not insiders. When Baptist are forced to be nonconformists, we are forced to go back home. We have an opportunity now to think more clearly about what it means to be a Baptist, to be a covenanted community, and to be a Christian in communion with like-minded, Christ-professing, mutually-accountable leaders.”
Moore contributes an essay on lessons from the life and ministry of T.T. Eaton, a 19th century SBC leader and Wills provides a historical overview of Southern Baptist identity.
Other contributors include Danny Akin, James Leo Garrett, Timothy George, Richard Land, Paige Patterson, Thom Rainer among others.