A couple more things I forgot to say, one of the causes of the rise of Calvinism in the SBC was the installment of a Calvinist, Al Mohler, at the helm of Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville. That happened because of the Conservative resurgence lead in part by Adrian Rogers. It’s my understanding that Dr. Mohler would not have been chosen if not for Adrian Rogers direct involvment. Today Southern has many Calvinists teaching and they turn out scores of Calvinists each year.
But Southern isn’t the only seminary turning out Calvinists. Two of the strongest Calvinist preachers in the entire SBC graduated from Mid-America Seminary—Jeff Noblit and Roy Hargrave. God used men like Adrian Rogers and Gray Allison to raise up a new generation of Baptists who hold to the historic baptist theology of men like John Bunyan, John Gill, William Carey (considered the “Founder of Modern Missions”), Charles Spurgeon (the “Prince of Preachers”) and the founders of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The week Adrian Rogers died, WCRV interviewed John MacArthur, a Calvinist, and his tribute to Adrian Rogers was quite moving.
I know a local Presbyterian pastor who was a friend of Adrian Rogers. He still speaks lovingly and often of Adrian Rogers. I once met Dr. D. James Kennedy, a staunch Presbyterian Calvinist to be sure. He got excited when he learned Adrian Rogers was my pastor and he raved about his love for him.
My point is that Dr. Rogers was not the enemy of Calvinism that some seem to believe. I am not the only Calvinist who loved Adrian Rogers.
The sermon linked below from 2002 was the one that finally broke through my father’s old Baptist heart on the matter of Calvinism.
Election - Pure and Simple (Jeff Noblit from Muscle Shoals)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx4BBgqokeI
Here is another interesting tid bit: I came across a book which contained memoirs and diary entries of a man who was very influential in a rural parish in So. Louisiana. These writing were from around 1870. Apparently, he at some point came under the teachings and influence of Alexander Campbell(Cambellite Church of Christ) whom he mentioned by name. It caused him to repudiate his Baptist associations and upbringing. He rejected the Baptist view of election which he spoke of as monolithic view of the Baptists of that day. Unfortunately, he fell sink line and hook for the Pelagian redux and spent a lot of time discussing mans free agency and self determination.