“The seminaries are Calvinistic. 99% of the butts in the pew haven’t heard of Calvin and would be shocked at “TULIP”. At least, at the “ULI” part.”
Yep. They are Calvinistic. This seems to have become more prevalent in the last 15 or so years. I keep asking them where the passage is that reads, “For God so loved SOME of the world...” is located.
You’re right...I’m guessing 99% don’t even know about Calvin. But I find the idea extremely depressing and attempts to subliminally limit the power of God.
“Oddly enough, I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a SBC church whose pastor had gone to an SBC seminary. I find ‘our’ seminaries ridiculous and out of touch.”
That’s actually a good observation. Now that I think of it, there’s a lot of SB churches “out in the sticks” where I don’t think the pastors went to seminary. And that may be a good thing. But then again, the churches are supposed to be independent and a loose collection of “theological similarities”.
The Baptist churches I’ve gone to around here have pastors who are SB Theological Seminary graduates. But then again, I’m stuck smack dab in the “nest” of them. LOL
I asked a Sunday School teacher who was a strong Calvinist if I should throw away my T-shirt that says “Jesus Loves You” and get one that says, “Jesus Probably DOESN’T Love you!”, or “Jesus MIGHT Love You!”
I’ve concluded there is a reason God has chosen to reveal Himself in the Bible and not in a Systematic Theology text. God wants us to know HIM, not theories ABOUT Him!
I talked with my pastor about how the SBC does resolutions. The resolutions put up for a vote don’t come from normal Baptists. They mostly come - and all are ‘vetted’ - by the professional Baptists, so to speak. The folks inside the convention power system, which has no power over any SBC church but a LOT of power over SBC convention meetings!
In the year he went, only about 10% of those attending even went to the sessions where the resolutions were voted on. The time between when he first saw the wording and the vote was minimal - minutes, not hours. When he raised a concern about some of the wording, he was told, “That’s interesting...now, time for a vote!”
He views the resolutions as games played by the professional SBC staff. The SBC professionals then present them to the press as reflecting the beliefs of the member churches. In reality, almost no one in the SBC votes on them. Not sure I’m remembering the numbers right, but I think he said less than 500 people voted when he was there (a few years ago). The resolution passed by a margin under 30, and it was then presented as representing the views of all the SBC!
For reference, there were 9,000 people at the Convention, and over 45,000 CHURCHES in the SBC!
The SBC professionals are a shame to the churches in the SBC. The seminaries tend to be the base of support for the professional Baptists. I’d like to see our church pull out of the SBC, but I’m the only person in the congregation (apart from the pastor) who has even READ the resolutions! The annual conventions are just a game played by a small handful. They have less value than a high school student council.
And the professional Baptists are as arrogant and self-centered as a high school student council...
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