Posted on 11/17/2001 4:23:44 PM PST by gg188
Southern Baptists shun common prayer
By Mark I. Pinsky
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 14, 2001
LAKELAND -- Despite the trauma of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Southern Baptists won't be flocking to interfaith services designed to bring the nation together. Alone among America's major religious groups, the nation's largest Protestant denomination holds fast to its long-standing policy of not praying with others.
For the 15.7 million members of the Southern Baptist Convention, this means not only Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus, but also Christian denominations they do not consider legitimate, including Roman Catholics, Mormons, Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. "We believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven," said the Rev. Dwayne Mercer, pastor of First Baptist Church of Oviedo, explaining why he would not participate in interfaith gatherings, including one scheduled early next year for Central Florida congregations.
Mercer was elected president of the 1 million-member Florida Baptist Convention on Tuesday, at the group's annual meeting in Lakeland. He was unopposed.
Mercer, 47, said if he attended events with leaders of other faiths, members of his congregation might assume he believes "that all these faiths are legitimate," which he does not.
Even in a time of crisis, praying with Charismatic and Pentecostal Protestants is as far as most Southern Baptists are prepared to go.
In Jacksonville, the Rev. Ted Corley, pastor of Mayfair Baptist Church, organized a citywide service after the tragedy, limiting those invited to Southern Baptists, mainline Protestants and Pentecostals.
"I draw the line with those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as their messiah," he said.
"I tend to shy away from that. . . . As a pastor, I would not feel comfortable with someone praying to Allah or Buddha in my presence. That would go against my position concerning my faith about salvation and Jesus Christ."
Locally, the Rev. James Fortinberry, executive director of the Greater Orlando Baptist Association, said he would be willing to participate in an interfaith panel, but that he also drew the line at common prayer. Refusing to join such prayer gatherings "might be misunderstood," he said. "That's just a risk I take."
The Southern Baptists' course might be self-destructive, said Leo Sandon, distinguished professor of religion and American studies at Florida State University. By refusing to join in religious gatherings in a time of crisis, he said, "they're alienating themselves from the broader community."
"I am very sorry and disappointed that we have not had the presence of our brothers and sisters of the Southern Baptist faith," said the Rev. Fred Morris, executive director of the Florida Council of Churches, who has been active in organizing interfaith gatherings in Central Florida. "It has been deeply rewarding to be sharing in prayers for peace and harmony with persons of a wide variety of faith traditions, and it is disappointing not having such an important group as the Southern Baptists sharing in this very rich experience."
Besides alienating themselves from other faiths, Sandon said, the Southern Baptists "are driving the wedge deeper between themselves and progressive members of the denomination."
Already there are hundreds of such dissident, moderate congregations across the South and Midwest that no longer send delegates to the annual Southern Baptist Convention or to statewide gatherings such as the one in Lakeland. Many of these congregations do not agree with the national denomination's position on interfaith gatherings, Sandon said.
For example, representatives of Sweetwater Baptist Church and College Park Baptist Church joined members of other religions at an Altamonte Springs hotel in the weeks after the terrorist attacks. "Interfaith gatherings build an enormous amount of understanding and respect for different faith traditions," said the Rev. Ron Crawford of College Park Baptist Church. "We have so much to learn from one another. To refuse to participate is nothing more than arrogant and truly unbecoming a Christian."
Attacks offered opportunity
In contrast with other religious denominations, which in the days after Sept. 11 emphasized understanding, tolerance and respect for the American Muslim community, Southern Baptist missionaries declared that the attacks offered an ideal opportunity to evangelize American Muslims.
The Rev. Peter Shadid -- pastor of the Arabic Evangelical Church a ministry of First Baptist Church of Kissimmee -- said the attacks spurred his conviction that the Gospel should be shared with Arab-Americans. During a tragedy, he said, it is human nature to feel closer to God.
"Muslims are more receptive to know about Jesus Christ than at any other time," he said.
A prominent Southern Baptist leader took another approach, denouncing all of Islam as a religion.
The Rev. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said Islam worships a false god with a false faith. Speaking at his seminary's chapel on Oct. 17, Mohler said, "I want to say as a Christian theologian, the biggest problem with Islamic theology is that it kills the soul."
It is a faith that "lies about God" and "presents a false gospel," said Mohler, a rising leader in the denomination. He said "these are difficult things to say. This is not polite."
Mohler, who regularly condemns religious pluralism and its notion that all faiths are equally legitimate, also said in his chapel talk that Jews and Muslims do not serve the same God as Christians.
On CNN's Larry King Live last year, Mohler used some of the same language to describe the Catholic Church.
"As an evangelical, I believe that the Roman church is a false church and it teaches a false gospel," Mohler told King.
At the same time, the Southern Baptists have no problem making common political cause with Catholics on issues such as abortion and stem-cell research. They just won't worship with Catholics.
The Rev. Paige Patterson, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and head of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., frequently boasts, "I do not have an ecumenical bone in my body."
Patterson was one of the architects of the conservative takeover of the denomination.
Mark Pinsky may be reached at mpinsky@orlandosentinel.com or at 407-420-5589.
Copyright © 2001, Orlando Sentinel
If you believe that in the Mass, when the priest has spoken the words of consecration and elevates the host, and then proclaims that this is now the body and blood of Christ, you are not Christian. This is the idolatry of the Mass. If you believe this, that man has created God, you cannot be saved; you are not a Christian.
Thank you for explicitly saying what others have been skirting. I pray for you.
Are you listening whey?
It seems as if the Methodists broke from the Episcopal Church (which itself broke from the Catholic Church) during 1738. And the Presbyterian Church broke from the Lutheran Church (which broke from the Catholic Church) at about 1560.
And the Orthodox Church broke from the Catholic Church during 1054. It would seem that those religions that broke off from the Catholic Church all have one thing in common, the New Testament; however, it seems to me that no one religion or leader could accuse the Catholic Church of not being Christian as there is about a 2,000 year unbroken tradition and it would seem to me that if they all agree on the New Testament, the Gospels would have been written before any of the breakaway Christian religions.
Consequently, I don't see how anyone could accuse the Catholic Church of not being Christian.
Apparently, if one would do serious research on the New Testament, the researcher would run out of history unless the work included the work written prior to the breakaway religions, which would mean the scriptures of the Church when it was one Church.
Looks like you're surely a Catholic Christian, Katie. And according to the Almanac, the Gospels were writen during the time when there was not yet a Protestant Church, so if all Christians, as I believe, believe in the New Testament, they must include Catholics as Christians. Otherwise, someone better come up with a different origin of the New Testament.
(I am not Pentecostal btw.)
The bad-guys in this scenario are those who JUDGE anyone else. If you ACCEPT anything and everything, then you are ok. You pass the diversity test.
Baptists are eeeveeel for having doctrinal differences with Catholics, so says the author of the article and many posters joining in the bashing.
That's ok: this author and his ilk will next condemn CATHOLICS just as hatefully because they will not allow women to be priests.
Then the author and his leftist ilk will attack Presbyterians for not embracing homosexuality and allowing "I have two mommies" to be included as a chapter in their Bible.....etc etc etc.
What you will NOT hear these leftists attack is:
The left will not attack islams for slaughtering Christians in the Phillipines or in Indonesia. The left will not take to task the REAL hate preached as liturgy within the so-called "religion" of Islam.
The left will attack Christians and Jews for believing SODOMY is an abomination, but the left will not attack ISLAMS for whacking off the hands and feet of those who decline mohamedanism in favor of Christ. The left will not attack ISLAMS for believing that conversion, death and slavery are the only options.
The left assaults Christians continuously for proselytyzing, carrying on about how mean Christians are to Buddhists and Hindus and other idol-worshipers and cultists because Christians seek to TALK to them (about Christ.) YET, the left says nothing about the fact that CONVERSION, SUBJEGATION, or DEATH are the ONLY options with Mohammedans: they don't want to TALK to us about THEIR god. They wish to kill, enslave or convert us.
Yes. I agree.
I think you fit right in with all the other good people in Memphis. My son lives there now, and I always enjoy going back for a visit.
Good point about FreeRepublic too!
I agree wholeheartedly with that statement. I was just pointing out that not everyone here believes that. As a matter of fact they believe that if you don't believe their doctrine you are not Christian.
Mercer says: "I draw the line with those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as their messiah," he said.
Actually Reverend Ted Corley said that
We have too much compromise today..all religious faiths have the right to worship as they please in this country..but there is no law (yet) that forces prayer with groups that are not Christian..and God's word is clear.He does not hear the prayer of those that are not His.
It may not be PC..but it is correct!
Man, this is getting positively scary, Mom. First the Harry Potter thing, now this! Once again I totally and completely agree with the Southern Baptists (and RnMomof7).
Of course, as a Roman Catholic, I believe that the So. Baptists and all the other Protestant churches are false churches. And, particularly when it comes to their unbiblical doctrine of "once saved, always saved", they are leading millions to Hell.
Nonetheless, I continue to admire the SB's and other fundamentalists who at least understand logic: someone is wrong and someone is right and if we believe the words of the Gospel, not everyone is going to Heaven.
I wish I knew what the falling out is between 7DA and the SBC. 7DA has distinctive Sabbath doctrines that the SBC emphatically disagrees with, and there are the 7DA food and drug taboos that SBC thinks are nonsense, but their "fundamental" (pun intended) view of Christ and salvation is, as far as I can understand, virtually equivalent. If 7DA doctrine ascribes salvational significance to their Sabbath and health practices, that would be different... but I've never heard that.
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