Associated Baptist Press - 10/21/2008

Associated Baptist Press
October 21, 2008 · (08-100)

David Wilkinson, Executive Director
Robert Marus, Acting Managing Editor/Washington Bureau Chief
Bob Allen, Senior Writer

In this issue
Poll: Latino Protestants switching back to Democrats this election (705 words)
Evolution critics added to panel that sets Texas school standards (545 words)
Book proposes 'triage' amid lukewarm church giving (987 words)
Baptism remains Baptists' symbol, but 'problems' must be answered (1307 words)
Although Bible says it, Baptists haven't settled it (669 words)

Poll: Latino Protestants switching back to Democrats this election
By Bob Allen(705 words)

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- According to a new survey, Latino Protestants view immigration reform as a moral issue on par with abortion and -- even after overwhelmingly voting for President Bush four years ago -- now lean toward Barack Obama in the upcoming presidential election.

The study of Hispanic Protestants, the vast majority of whom consider themselves "born-again" or evangelical, was released Oct. 16. It found that Latino Protestant voters, who comprise about 25 percent of the total Hispanic vote, favor Obama over the Republican candidate John McCain by a 17-point margin -- 50 percent to 33 percent.

That is a significant shift from a post-election survey in 2004, when 63 percent of Latino Protestants said they voted for President Bush over his Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.

Among Latino Protestant voters, 77 percent said their religious beliefs are important in influencing their views on immigration. Nearly 83 percent said a candidate's position on immigration is important in determining their vote this year. Twice as many trust Democrats to pass immigration reform that reflects their values (42 percent) than trust Republicans (20 percent.)

That doesn't mean the demographic is sewn up for Democrats, though. Support for Obama is 18 points lower than the percentage of the Protestant Latino vote that went for Democratic candidate Al Gore in 2000.

In the latest poll, Sixty-two percent of Hispanic Protestants said they have heard public officials speak negatively about immigrants, and 43 percent of those said they associated such negative rhetoric with both parties. A significant number -- 31 percent -- said they would leave their political party if it did not find a more positive way to address immigration reform and welcome immigrants.

Samuel Rodriguez, president of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, termed Latino Protestants "the quintessential swing vote." His group was one of five that commissioned the survey.

"The biblical mandate to welcome the immigrant could not be clearer, and we draw our values from our Bibles," Rodriguez said in conference call with reporters. "This poll powerfully demonstrates that immigration is a profoundly religious issue for Hispanic evangelicals. We will vote our faith, and we will vote our values. It's time that all candidates take notice."

Jesse Miranda of the Jesse Miranda Center for Hispanic Leadership said Latinos are expected to vote in record numbers this year. "To many in this community, we see an awakening of this giant," he said.

With large Hispanic populations in key swing states like Florida, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado, Rodriguez said the Latino vote this year could be decisive.

Social issues on which many Anglo Protestants base their votes appeared less important to their Hispanic brethren than immigration. Three-fourths of Latino Protestants ranked abortion as extremely or very important in their voting decisions, and about 55 percent said the same for gay marriage. Rodriguez said while conservative Hispanics are comfortable with the Republican positions on those issues, many feel like the Republican Party doesn't want them because of their ethnicity.

The Democrats, meanwhile, appear more multicultural and have tried to move toward a more centrist stance on abortion and gay marriage. "Elections are won around the margins," Rodriguez said, offering a possible explanation for the pendulum swing toward Obama.

Miranda described the Hispanic conservative as "a political paradox in the United States," conservative in matters of faith and national security but more liberal toward immigration. He described those voters as "uncomfortable with either/or thinking" and said they cannot be taken for granted by either party.

"We are dreamers," he said. "We are the sons and daughters of Don Quixote, seeking the American dream."

Rodriguez said immigration reform "is not a second-tier issue to be considered post facto after abortion and gay marriage," but rather "a Kingdom issue" high on the moral agenda for Latino Protestants.

Miranda said the survey should be "a clarion call" to the next president.
The survey, conducted a month before the Nov. 4 election, polled 500 Latino Protestant registered voters by telephone. More than 80 percent of Latino Protestants self-identified as being born-again or attending an evangelical denomination.

The other sponsors were Faith in Public Life, America's Choice Education Fund and Gaston Espinoza, associate professor of religious studies at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif.

-30-

Evolution critics added to panel that sets Texas school standards
By Bob Allen (545 words)

AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) -- Three of six members of a panel appointed to review proposed curriculum standards for science classes in Texas public schools have criticized evolution.

And the additions could have an impact far beyond the 4.6 million students in the Lone Star State's public schools.

Because Texas is one of the largest markets for textbook sales in the United States, publishers will use the standards in creating new textbooks, and then sell those books in other states as well. The Texas Freedom Network -- an organization that counters the Religious Right -- says the addition could have negative consequences for science education across the nation.

A conservative bloc on the Texas State Board of Education banded together to appoint three curriculum-review panelists critical of Darwinism. One of them, Stephen Meyer, is vice president of the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based group that advocates balancing evolution with teaching about "intelligent design."

The theory promotes the conclusion that life is too complex to have evolved by chance, but that it shows the hand of a powerful master designer. Critics call it a pseudo-science and an excuse to bring religion into the classroom -- simply an updated form of what used to be called "creation science."

Meyer and another panel member, Ralph Seelke at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, co-wrote a textbook that questions tenets of Charles Darwin's theory of how humans and other life forms evolved. Critics say that is a conflict of interest, because the book, Explore Evolution, could be on the list of approved textbooks when the state board finalizes its decision in 2011.

"It's simply stunning that any state board members would even consider appointing authors of an anti-evolution textbook to a panel of scientists," said Kathy Miller, president and executive director of the Texas Freedom Network. "Are they coming here to help write good science standards or to drum up a market for their lousy textbook?"

Casey Luskin, program officer for public policy and legal affairs at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, said textbook authors are precisely the type of experts who should have input into curriculum standards. He accused the Texas Freedom Network of "manufacturing a controversy."

"We think the [Texas] Board of Education should be applauded for choosing a diverse group of scientific reviewers," he said. "Getting honest input from science experts with diverse views is imperative if we're going to build a world-class educational system."

Also joining the review panel is Charles Garner, a Baylor University chemistry professor who, along with Meyer and a Seelke, signed a Discovery Institute-sponsored declaration, "Scientific Dissent from Darwinism," that says: "We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged."

Veteran science professors from the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University and Southern Methodist University round out the six-member panel. Two of them, David Hillis at UT Austin and Gerald Skoog at Texas Tech, have signed a "Scientists for a Responsible Curriculum in Texas Public Schools" statement that says "instruction on evolution is vital to understanding all the biological sciences" and "students are best served when matters of faith are left to families and houses of worship."

-30-

Book proposes 'triage' amid lukewarm church giving
By Bob Allen (987 words)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (ABP) -- Christians in the United States could engage every "unreached" people group around the world and stop up to two-thirds of child deaths for pennies a day if only they gave, according to a new book.

Because the church is not being mobilized for either, The State of Church Giving Through 2006: Global Triage, MDG 4, and Unreached People Groups says, a strategy of global "triage" is needed to focus resources on areas of greatest need.

The 18th edition of the report, from the Christian service and research organization Empty Tomb, explores giving trends as an evidence of church members' commitments to their professed Christian beliefs.

It cites evidence pointing to a tepid U.S. church far too similar to the church in ancient Laodicea, condemned in the third chapter of Revelation for being "lukewarm" as opposed to either "hot" or "cold." The authors say the U.S. church needs to change its self-centered indifference or risk separation from the larger body of Christ and marginalization from the culture.

Giving as a percent of income has declined since the 1960s, and the portion spent beyond the local congregation through benevolences, including missions, has declined steadily.

The overall level of giving to international missions work between 2003 and 2006 was about two cents of each dollar donated to the church. That compares to an average of eight cents per dollar spent on denominational overseas missions in the 1920s.

The study proposes a strategy of "triage," not calling for elimination of other activities, but addressing needs in a priority order to maximize the number of survivors.

"In defining triage categories for the church to address, there is sufficient Scripture to support a focus on helping, in Jesus' name, to stop preventable child deaths as a top priority," say authors John and Sylvia Ronsvalle. "These missions of preventable child deaths fit both the medical category of triage -- intervention can prevent death -- as well as the moral and spiritual focus of taking care of the weakest among us (e.g. Psalm 41:1, 72:13, 82:3-4)."

The book uses the benchmark of No. 4 in the Millennium Development Goals. The objectives were established by world leaders to fight global poverty. Goal No. 4 sought to cut by two-thirds the mortality rate for children under the age of 5 by 2015.

An estimated 9.7 million children under 5 die around the globe each year. About two-thirds of those deaths are due to preventable causes like diarrhea, measles, respiratory infections, malaria and malnutrition. The report calculates the cost to each U.S. church member for preventing those deaths: eight cents a day.

If members of Christian churches had chosen to give 10 percent of their income to their congregations in 2006, instead of the 2.5 percent actually given, it would have made an additional $170 billion available for church work. By one estimate an additional $70 billion to $80 billion a year would be enough to address basic needs of the world's poorest people. If the church had given even the same percentage of income U.S. Christians donated in 1968, the difference would have been $5 billion.

The book also says the Southern Baptist Convention has not motivated its 16.3 million members to support missionary efforts adequately.

SBC leaders say 2,800 more missionaries are needed to engage 5,900 people groups with little or no access to a Christian witness. At an estimated expense of $65,000 per cross-cultural missionary, the total cost for these missionaries would be $182 million a year. By comparison, the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV took in about $310 million in its first day of sales.

The 2008 goal for the SBC's Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, however, was only $5 million larger than the 2007 amount. Had Southern Baptist leaders included the cost of sending those additional missionaries in the goal, they would have asked for an extra $11.16 per Southern Baptist church member. The average dollar figure per member given to SBC overseas mission work in 2006 was $17.

"There is growing consensus that the resources and methods exist to alleviate the physical suffering of people around the globe," the book says. "Church leaders also consider the task of presenting the gospel to every people group on earth an increasingly attainable goal.

"In both cases the problem is not that the needs are too great. The problem is that the available resources are not being mobilized to implement the available solutions."

Americans gave more than $128 billion to charitable causes in 2006. Most of that -- 70 percent -- went to churches and religious organizations.
In order to respond to global need, the book says individuals need to feel connected to a larger body.

"When church leaders are not providing strategic direction that helps set priorities to solve, not just cope with, global word and deed need, church members feel overwhelmed," it says, using the phrase the book employs to refer to global physical and spiritual needs. "They see the great needs but do not feel connected in a broad way that can help address those needs."

"Church leaders could empower their members by helping to set priorities that give those members permission to care about the entire need," it continues. "In the same way that triage provides battlefield medical units with the ability to respond amidst the chaos around them, a broadly accepted strategy of triage for global word and deed need could help replace hopelessness with engagement among church members."

"The Christian faith teaches that, until the return of Jesus, God's work will be largely accomplished through Christ's body," the book concludes. "If the part of the body of Christ located in the United States chooses not to carry its weight, the work of God will go on. However, if the church in the United States chooses to embrace the opportunities set before it, Christians in the United States could have a great deal to contribute."

-30-

Baptism remains Baptists' symbol, but 'problems' must be answered
By Marv Knox (1307 words)

WACO, Texas (ABP) -- After four centuries, believers' baptism remains the symbol of Baptist identity, historian Bill Leonard stressed during a lecture series at Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary.

But in the 21st century, Baptists must respond to two pressing "problems" with baptism -- the widespread requirement that long-term Christians be immersed before joining a Baptist church and the rebaptism of church members, Leonard urged.

This year's Parchman Lectures contributed to the Texas Baptist school's ongoing celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Baptist movement. It began when John Smyth and Thomas Helwys led a group of English expatriates to start the first Baptist church in 1609 in Holland.

"Baptists were dissenters from the very beginning," noted Leonard, dean of Wake Forest University's Divinity School. The original Baptists first rebelled against what they saw as the corruption of the Anglican Church and its affiliation with the English government. Next, they split from the English Separatists for not distancing themselves far enough from the Anglicans.

And then they even dissented among themselves, he wryly observed. By 1610, that little Baptist church had split itself over the validity of its baptism.

"Baptists understood conscience and dissent in light of the need for sinners to be regenerated -- made new through conversion to Christ," Leonard said. "Yet in their assertion that conscience could not be compelled by either state-based or faith-based establishments, they flung the door wide for religious liberty and pluralism....

"Believers' baptism, ultimately by immersion, was thus a radical act of Christian commitment, covenantal relationships and anti-establishment dissent."

Their commitment drew from their identification with Christ, Leonard continued. Their relationships reflected the value they placed upon the gathered church. And their dissent against the establishment welled up from their insistence that God alone, not religious or government authorities, is Lord of the conscience.

Historically, "the call to uncoerced faith produced the appeal to conscience and the necessity of dissent," Leonard said. "It was the witness of the permanent minority, a group of people who never dreamed that their views would prevail this side of the Kingdom of God, but who demanded voice and conscience nonetheless."

They embodied their dissent by insisting on believers' -- adult -- baptism, refusing to baptize their infant children, he added. Their stand on baptism dissented not only from the practice of the established church, but also from the government, since at the time, English citizenship and church membership were considered the same.

"Baptism is the outward ... sign that links regenerate church membership, conscience and dissent as the central witness of Baptist identity in the world," Leonard insisted. "In short, believers' baptism does many things for the individual and community of faith."

His list included:

· "It is a biblical act, identifying the believer with Jesus and the movement he called the Kingdom of God."

· "Believers' baptism is a conversion act, demonstrating the new birth of an individual and incorporating that individual into Christ's body, the church.... For those early Baptists, baptism was public profession of faith. It still is."

· "Believers' baptism is a churchly act that marks the entry of believers into the covenantal community of the church. Baptism, while administered to individuals, is not an individualistic act. It is incorporation into Christ and his church."

· "Believers' baptism was and remains a dangerous and dissenting act that frees Christian believers to challenge the principalities and powers of church in response to the dictates of conscience." He cited the Standard Confession of 1660, in which early Baptists acknowledged the need for "civil magistrates in all nations" but pledged they would "obey God rather than men" when conscience so dictated.

The persistent significance of baptism for the Baptist movement presents a vital question, Leonard said: "What are we to do about it on the way through the 21st century?"

Specifically, he asked: "How will we deal with the two most pressing baptismal problems confronting many contemporary Baptist congregations -- rebaptism of non-immersed, long-term Christians and the rebaptism of Baptist church members?"

The requirement of rebaptism forpeople who were baptized as infants and now seek membership in a Baptist church "is perhaps the oldest and most historically divisive question in the history of the movement," Leonard said. "Baptist churches are on 'safe' historical ground if they have either open or closed baptismal policies."

Baptists have not always required rebaptism, particularly when the original baptism was part of the faith-life of the person's family and not a requirement of government, he reported.

Also, the common practice of rebaptism of church members in some congregations should lead Baptists to study issues such as "the baptism of children, the nature of conversion and the theology of baptism itself," he said.

To guide a 21st-century study of Baptist baptism, Leonard presented a set of questions for churches:

· "Do those churches that accept baptism from other traditions have a way of incorporating new members liturgically and 'covenantally' into a believers' church? Might a renewal of baptismal vows become a public profession of long-held faith in a new community of the faithful?"

· "Can churches that require immersion of non-immersed, long-time Christians articulate a clear biblical mandate for doing so, especially when 'New Testament baptism' is given to those who have made immediate profession of faith?"

· "Does immersion given to long-term Christians on the basis of a profession of faith require recipients to repudiate at least implicitly their earlier faith and the Christian tradition that nurtured them to grace?"

· "Should immersion of long-time Christians at least be distinguished from the immersion of new converts?"

· "Given that infant baptism is no longer mandated by state-based religious establishments, are Baptist churches that require immersion of all members prepared to declare that the churches from which would-be members come are 'false churches' or 'mere societies'?"

· "Given that the New Testament knows nothing of child baptism, can Baptist churches that require immersion of all members claim 'the true New Testament baptism' if they baptize children under the age of 12, when Jewish children confirm their faith?

· "Given that many Baptist churches accept children -- some even in the preschool ages -- as members, how will they define the nature of a believers' church?"

· "If Baptist churches baptize children, especially very young children, can they commit themselves to ... helping children remember their profession of faith and baptism? Can they develop clear, intentional methods for 'confirming' the faith of children once they confront the moral and spiritual dilemmas of adolescence and adulthood?"

· "What can some Baptist churches do to extricate themselves from the cycle of rebaptism given multiple times to professing Christians? If baptism is administered in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, when does rebaptism become an act of literally taking the name of God in vain?"

· "As Baptists lose their culture-dominant status, how does baptism become a renewed sign of conscience and dissent in the world?"

· "How might Baptist churches again become 'a shelter for persons distressed of conscience' and a prophetic community that distresses the consciences of members and non-members alike in response to the great issues, ideas and injustices of our times?

· "Might the early Baptists' radical understanding of conscience encourage us to an equally radical concern for voice -- an environment in which everyone can speak even when the differences are vast and irreconcilable?"

· "Might a recovery of Baptist dissent compel Baptists to articulate ideas that inform and challenge the church and the culture, even when they will never secure approval by a majority?"

In a question-and-answer session, a participant asked Leonard about his answers to the questions. He replied that, true to Baptist heritage, they are questions to be worked out by congregations themselves.

-30-

Although Bible says it, Baptists haven't settled it, historian says
By Marv Knox (669 words)

WACO, Texas (ABP) -- Throughout their history, Baptists have uniformly revered the Bible but passionately disagreed about what it means, historian Bill Leonard told a Baylor University audience.

Leonard delivered the annual Parchman Lectures at the Texas Baptist school's George W. Truett Theological Seminary Oct. 14-16. This year, the lectures supported the university's focus on the Baptist movement's 400th anniversary.

Baptists' earliest statements of faith proclaimed their affirmation of Scripture, noted Leonard, dean of Wake Forest University Divinity School.

The London Confession, published in 1644, stated, "The rule of this knowledge, faith and obedience ... is not man's inventions, opinions, devices, laws, constitutions or traditions unwritten whatsoever, but only the word of God contained in canonical Scriptures."

The Orthodox Creed, affirmed in 1679, declared biblical authority does not rely upon "authority of any man, but only upon the authority of God."

"Early Baptists recognized the complexity of reading, using and understanding biblical content, while insisting even the 'unlearned' could comprehend the text's most basic instruction," Leonard said.

But Baptists "often painted themselves into assorted theological and cultural corners" when their avowed loyalty to biblical authority clashed with "piety and practice, culture and conflict," he added.

"When such theological and cultural dilemmas inevitably occur, many Baptists adapt, even change, their theology while clinging to the rhetoric of an uncompromised biblicism," Leonard said. "And, being Baptists, when such differences occur, they often split, creating new communities gathered around diverse interpretations of pivotal texts."

That has been true from the beginning, he said. "Baptists are really the only post-Reformation Protestant community to begin with two contradictory theological perspectives, one Arminian, the other Calvinist," he added.

Arminians championed human free will, while Calvinists emphasized God's sovereignty. Since the 17th century, Baptists have been found at points all along that theological spectrum, Leonard said.

A century later, Baptist missions pioneers William Carey and Andrew Fuller "stretched popular theology to the breaking point" by promoting what Leonard called "evangelical inclusion." The pair emphasized the biblical mandate to take the gospel to the "heathen" around the world, while other Baptists vehemently disagreed, believing God could save the "elect" without human involvement.

In time, advocates of missions carried the day for most Baptists, a victory that redefined their understanding of God's plan for salvation.

A century after that, Baptists struggled with accommodating their theology to culture, Leonard added. The primary issue was slavery, and both sides claimed the Bible supported their position. This dispute further compounded when Baptist slaves cited numerous biblical references to support their cry for liberation.

In the 20th century, the question of accommodation to Scripture and/or culture focused on the role of women in Baptist churches, and particularly ordination, Leonard said. As with previous divisions, Baptists with polar-opposite positions each claimed to have the Bible on their side.

Even more recently, some groups of Baptists in the United States have debated the use of alcohol and the practice of personal piety, Leonard said. And as before, they all cited the Bible.

All these debates illustrate the fact that biblical interpretation and application "is neither a simple nor primarily an academic pursuit," he stressed. "It is a dangerous necessity undertaken implicitly or explicitly by every Baptist congregation and individual. [It] sent Baptists to jail and to the mission field [and] to the slave auctions. Interpreting the text is terribly dangerous, then and now."

Baptist debates over the centuries also show "no theory of biblical inspiration or analysis is adequate to make 'all things in Scripture plain in themselves' or 'clear to all,'" he said. "Theories about the text cannot protect Baptists -- or anyone else -- from the power and unpredictability of the text itself."

Based on Baptists' 400-year track record, Leonard concluded with a question: "What issues are Baptists currently claiming with biblical ... certainty that they will be compelled to apologize for in a century or two?" he asked.

"You see, the Bible may say it, and Baptists may believe it, but -- historically speaking -- that does not always settle it."

-30-