Jon Harris of Conversations That Matter released a very important video concerning Al Mohler, President of SBTS and frontrunner for the race to become President of the Southern Baptist Convention.
There are moments when Al Mohler is very strong and then times that leave you wondering is he capitulating to the Social Justice Gospel’s infiltration of the SBC or is he blind to it? Al Mohler is a enigmatic figure while also the most powerful man in the convention. So, the need for this video was great. I didn’t want to do a reaction to it until I had watched it in its entirity, and there are concerns to be had.
Jon Harris lays out three conclusions: He’s a conservative, a liberal, or an opportunist. The history of Mohler includes going from the wrong side of the Conservative Resurgence to the right side fervently. He has bent on the issue of sexuality and to some degree flip-flopped on Critical Race Theory when words and actions are taken into account. Yet he has remained steadfast on complementarianism; however this does not include defending those outside of the SBC attacking the egalitarians within the SBC.
Perhaps the SBC is a blind spot, for Al Mohler is very good at calling out theological liberalism within other denomination, but unwilling to do so within his own camp.
At the end of the video, I, personally, am more convinced that Al Mohler is opportunistic in his actions, because there is too little consistency elsewhere.
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5 Responses
Yes, I’m lazy. I could spend hours researching Mohler’s rise to the top in the SBC, but I don’t want to make the time. I’m guessing that Mr. Fava may know Mohler’s history or at the very least would find it worthwhile to research.
My recollection is that Mohler was put in as head of the SBCTS through a “coup” of sorts to counter a “leftward” shift at the seminary. The way those that installed him worked was by slowly getting elected and appointed to various committees of the SBC. When they had gained enough control, they brought in Mohler to “drain the swamp” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) and basically tell those moving left to “sign and follow the doctrinal statement or resign.
That house cleaning has lasted for over 25 years. Now the SBC itself is seeing a leftward shift. (I’m guessing you are writing about more specific shifts, but I’ll use the broad stroke.)
I could be completely mistaken and the story was about the Dallas Theological Seminary, but I’m pretty sure it was the SBCTS. I tag over 100 articles a day as “of interest” and usually only get through a couple, so I may have created a “mash-up” in my mind.
Restoring America One County at a Time by Joel McDurmon is currently my “most referenced book that I haven’t read”. (The previous one was “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” from which we learn about “paradigm shifts”.) I suggest that the methodology for “restoring” an organization is what was used to install Mohler to the SBCTS and what is being used to “corrupt” the SBC. It could be used to “counter” the leftward shift.
I also recommend “The Marketing of Evil” and its sequel. You may not like or even know Alex Jones of Infowars fame, but he often says, “I just read what they wrote.” and that’s how he knows what is being planned. Amazingly enough, that is true of many organizations. Heck, even Jesus Christ (aka God) wrote down His exact plans. We know how it ends, (Well, we actually disagree on that, but that’s another discussion.) but we are “fighting” along the journey there.
Mr. Fava, if you know Mohler’s “backstory”, you may want to write about it. If you don’t, you may want to research it. If I happen upon any resources that I’ve downloaded I’ll pass them along.
The video does go deeper into Mohler’s background to a greater degree than many other sources, and was a more exhaustive deep dive trying to figure him out honestly than most others I’ve seen. That being said, he’s an enigmatic figure. I do believe he’s saved. I think we are in “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain” territory. Still SBTS was the last seminary to be captured, for lack of a better word, during the Resurgence, and so Mohler has outlasted the others seminary presidents. And now he’s the lone relic from an increasingly forgotten era, he’s going for gold in a sense to be President of the SBC and will likely win with little challenge.
His background is something I should write about more extensively, which is why I posted a response to the video in the first place. Alas, there are at least ten other topics I want to write about before doing a followup, including another major SBC personality that has made waves as of late, and this is before something new coming up that I feel compelled to address. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
We have adopted the 2000 Version of the Baptist Faith & Message:
The 1999 session of the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, adopted the following motion addressed to the President of the Convention:
Here is an item I found while checking my hard drive for resources. I have the whole statement if you are unable to find it.
Al Mohler article entitled “The Missing Mark” This is an article, probably from 2007 or 08, on church discipline.