A Hard Literalism Proposed changes to the Baptist credo are authoritarian. by TONY W. CARTLEDGE While the secular press trumpets the stated opposition to women pastors found in proposed revisions to the Baptist Faith and Message, more fundamental changes go unnoticed. The most striking shift of emphasis is found not in the revisions themselves, but in the tone-setting introductory prologue. The existing prologue, prepared in 1963, asserts that the living faith of Baptists "is rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever" and that "the sole authority for faith and practice among Baptists is Jesus Christ whose will is revealed in the Holy Scriptures." The new prologue reflects a greater dependence on the Scriptures as the first source of truth. "As a committee, we have been charged to address the 'certain needs' of our own generation. In an age increasingly hostile to Christian truth, our challenge is to express the truth as revealed in Scripture, and to bear witness to Jesus Christ, who is 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life.'" This shift is also reflected in Article I, "The Scriptures." The 1963 statement concluded Article I with the often-quoted Baptist precept "The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ." The new proposal deletes that statement, substituting "All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation." The changes reflect concern that the postmodern age has rendered truth to be relative, and a fear that believers might move beyond the literal words of Scripture. The changes put into writing a shift from the Living Word to the written word as the Christian's supreme authority, diminishing the role of a believer's personal experience with Christ as a guide for faith and practice. The report also takes a significantly different approach to how the BF&M is to be understood within Baptist life. Introductions to both the 1963 and 2000 reports include a five-point quotation from the 1925 statement that asserts, among other things, that Baptist confessions are not to be regarded as complete or infallible statements of faith, and that "confessions are only guides to interpretation, having no authority over the conscience." However, the new prologue speaks in the next paragraph of such confessions as "instruments of doctrinal accountability," adding, "we are not embarrassed to state before the world that these are doctrines we hold precious and as essential to the Baptist tradition of faith and practice." It also suggests an increasingly authoritarian stance, restricting the parameters of belief that are permissible in Baptist circles. This stated view of the BF&M as a repository of essential beliefs greases the wheels for any future SBC moves to exclude churches, convention employees, or convention messengers that do not affirm the increasingly specific statements of belief described in the BF&M articles. The most obvious and dismaying shift in focus from the 1963 to the 2000 statements is the omission of a sentence that has often been cited as a safeguard against creedalism and as a protector of historic Baptist freedoms. The prologue to the 1963 BF&M concluded with this statement: "Baptists emphasize the soul's competency before God, freedom in religion, and the priesthood of the believer. However, this emphasis should not be interpreted to mean that there is an absence of certain definite doctrines that Baptists believe, cherish, and with which they have been and are now closely identified." The new proposal pointedly omits any reference to soul competency, freedom in religion, or the priesthood of the believer. Baptists who value freedom in Christ above conformity to denominational orthodoxy will find little to cherish in the new BF&M. n The Rev. Tony W. Cartledge is the editor of The Biblical Recorder, a Baptist publication based in North Carolina.