Many Virginia Baptists have watched the struggle within the ranks of the Southern Baptist Convention and our own Virginia Baptist Convention from a distance. For a long time the battle seemed to be distant, only visited annually during the SBC June meeting, but covered quite extensively by the Religious Herald. It was only after many Virginia Baptist churches found themselves disfranchised (to varying degrees) as a result of conviction dictating where their monies would be spent that the battle got much closer to home. Then, this past fall, Virginia Baptists were given the opportunity (or rather, the responsibility) to make a choice between remaining a member of our old state convention, or joining the new one. Now, many churches are wishing that they had followed the debate more closely so that they could make a reasonable, rational, spiritual decision concerning their state Baptist affiliation. And make no mistake, not making a decision is making a decision.

My purpose in this article is not to give you a history of the SBC over the last twenty years. For that I commend to you a book, The Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention by Dr. James C. Hefley, published by Hannibal Books, Hannibal MO.   Rather, this article is my personal testimony, what I have seen and heard during the last twenty years. I hope that in what l have to say you and your church will find helpful information about what decision to make concerning alignment with one of our two state conventions.

In 1978 I completed a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia. A large part of that degree program was devoted to what is called "Christian theology". However, to a conservative Christian, it was liberal theology at best, heretical theology at worst. The details are outside the scope of this article but, put very plainly, liberals do not see the Bible as a God-breathed document filled with the complete revelation of God to man. To them, the Bible is a collection of man-made books that are worthy of study. As a result, liberals feel free to deny every major doctrine of Christianity, including the resurrection of Christ. My point is to establish that I am well acquainted and schooled in the theology of the Christian left.

On the other hand, I do not believe that we all have to believe the same things about every issue before us. There are some issues that would seem to be fundamental (there, I've used that dreadful word!) and there are some issues that are not. But, whatever we care to assert about one issue or another, our starting point has to be the Bible. That is the common ground upon which any and all of our theological discussions must be held.

I like to say (tongue only partly in cheek) that I was born a Southern Baptist and later came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I had been reared in a Southern Baptist church, baptized in a Southern Baptist church, and married a Southern Baptist girl in a Southern Baptist church. My postgraduate plans included attending a Southern Baptist seminary. Being unclear on which seminary to attend I decided to visit a couple of them prior to making a decision. I had already ruled out Southeastern because of its reputation as a liberal school. I flew out to Southern Seminary and proceeded directly to the admissions office where I was told that Southern had a "smorgasbord approach" to Christian education. Students were encouraged to pick and choose from the variety of viewpoints and positions that they were exposed to. I didn't recall reading about that approach in the New Testament, but early the next morning I set out for class. I attended classes that entire day, sampling as much as I could. Imagine my shock when in class after class I found the same texts used at Southern that had been used at U.Va. Even more disturbing was what I heard coming from the mouths of some of our Southern Baptist professors. One stated that there was no such thing as the Devil; he was just the personification of all that is bad in the world. Another professor stated that after 2000 years it was a little ridiculous to talk about the imminent return of Christ. He continued to talk about how Christ's return wasn't important anyway. Another professor held up a chart of conservative theology with both hands. He sneered and laughed at anyone who could believe such things. Then he led the class in several loud rounds of laughter about such people and their beliefs. The liberals would like for you to believe that they are in favor of academic freedom. I had been exposed to the idea of academic freedom while at the University of Virginia. Frankly, I found more academic freedom and acceptance of other viewpoints there than I did at Southern Seminary in 1978. At the end of the day I was deeply disturbed. I fully expected to be exposed to a variety of theological viewpoints. What I did not expect to find was that any and all of these viewpoints would be taught as legitimate options for future Southern Baptist ministers.

To press the point further: Who would want a pastor who does not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His second coming, etc.? From where I sit, I firmly believe that you would be just as well off staying home as sitting under the authority of such a preacher. Or to put it in New Testament terms: such a one would be pastoring without any real authority, like the scribes and Pharisees. At the end of that day I had learned about the smorgasbord approach to Christian education. I had also learned that I could not in good conscience attend Southern Seminary.

The next day l flew from Louisville to Forth Worth to spend two days at Southwestern Seminary. Thankfully, I did not find the radical liberalism there that I had found at Southern, but neither did I find any real excitement about the Scriptures. I had been snake bitten by my Southern experience, and I was distrustful of what I did NOT hear at Southwestern. I began to feel that the Southern Baptist Convention had abandoned me. The end result was that in the fall of 1978 I enrolled at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Imagine trying to explain to members of my home church why I wasn't going to a Southern Baptist seminary. Imagine the expressions of disbelief when I told them what I had seen and heard. Imagine telling people that the Southern Baptist Convention they supported was supplying pastors to the ministry who don't even believe the Bible. My own pastor (a Southern graduate) told me that I must have misunderstood what was being taught.

My wife and I visited many Spirit-filled churches in Dallas before we settled upon First Baptist Church, Dallas. We found a very vibrant Sunday School program, and how could you beat the preaching of W.A. Criswell! But, it was still hard trying to explain to our new church friends why I was in seminary in Dallas, and not over in Ft. Worth at Southwestern.

To my surprise I found dozens of other Southern Baptist students at Dallas Theological Seminary who were just like me: disillusioned with the course that our Convention had apparently taken and glad to be at a seminary that had as its starting point the acknowledgment that the Bible is the Word of God. W e formed a Southern Baptist Student Fellowship that met on a monthly basis to pray, fellowship, and mutually encourage one another. At one of our meetings we were visited by an associate pastor of First Church, Dallas. He expressed his thanks to us for wanting to study where the Bible was the Bible. He told us not to lose faith in the SBC. More importantly, he laid out a plan to us that, if carried out, was designed to restore the Biblical integrity of the SBC. I left that meeting with a rekindled sense of hope for our SBC. As the years came and went I watched the plan come to fruition. The SBC was restored to its traditional roots. Conservative trustees were appointed to the seminary boards. Conservative presidents were elected at the seminaries. That young pastor from First Church, Dallas has since gone on to become the President of Southeastern Seminary. His name is Paige Patterson.

The bad news was that Virginia Baptists did not welcome the changes in the SBC. For years, Virginia pulpits, and the hierarchy of our Virginia state convention had been filled primarily by individuals brought up in the liberal approach of Southern and Southeastern Seminary. They didn't care for the return to the traditional Biblical values. They cried out for toleration of all viewpoints when they themselves tolerated no other views. This was made painfully evident to me as I personally observed a long string of pulpit supply pastors/officials from the Baptist office in Richmond at my previous church home. Many made it clear that their minds were set upon just finishing up their careers, collecting their retirement, and not getting involved in any debate about the Bible. There seemed to be a real fear that to go against the status quo could be detrimental to their retirements. Many seemed to be fearful that any change at the state level might wreak havoc with their long term plans.

What was even more disturbing was the fact that both sides of the story were not being presented. From my personal experience it was obvious that the major issue at stake was whether or not Southern Baptists would accept and acknowledge the Bible as the Word of God. Liberals tried to divert attention from scriptural authority to other issues. Many of us sat in on meetings and seminars that raised the specter of the loss of local church autonomy. Books were published (and pushed upon our local congregations) that put a whole new and incorrect spin on the Priesthood of Believers.

I got so tired of reading this same misinformation over and over in the Religious Herald that finally I wrote a lengthy letter to the Herald and explained what I had seen and heard at our seminaries, and what I perceived the issues to be. The editor, Mr. Julian Pentecost, wrote back and said he would not print undocumented allegations. I responded and told him that I could document date, professor, and course for every allegation that I made. He wrote back and said that he was not interested in printing what I had to say, that I must be mistaken. From my standpoint, truth was being ignored and silenced.

W hen conservative churches voiced their concerns at our Virginia Baptist conventions the rules were changed to limit their voting power. I have seen the jeers and boos of liberals at our state convention when conservatives got up to speak. I have felt the arrogance of the liberals at our state convention as they knew that they controlled all critical or controversial votes. I have seen the liberals at our state convention vote to send our contributions to causes that none of us would support individually. And it grieves me to realize that many of the people that opposed the conservative resurgence in our state really did so out of a state of ignorance. I probably would have gone right along with the rest if I had not seen this whole story unfold, and if the only information that I had been exposed to was what I found in the Religious Herald.

After conservatives had been virtually disfranchised at the state level, they had no choice but to form a new state convention. Last year I had the opportunity to attend a unique and historic meeting: one where a spirit of Christian love was evident, one where the Bible was proclaimed and preached as the Word of God, one which seems to mirror the position of our Southern Baptist Convention

This assembly of Virginia Baptists met at Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond and voted unanimously to form a new Virginia convention for Southern Baptists, a new state convention that stands for what Southern Baptists have always stood for, a new state convention committed to Christ through biblical doctrine and loyally supporting the programs of the Southern Baptist Convention.

And now, every Baptist church within our commonwealth has the responsibility to choose with whom they will stand. The choice was easy for me to make. And in writing this article I have nothing to gain. My only hope is that you, the reader, will consider my words if your church has not made a choice.

For too long we Virginia Baptists have been able to coast along with our heads in the sand. Most of us are proud of the stand that our forebears took in the name of the Gospel and religious freedom. (Baptists were jailed not two blocks from my place of business.) We know of the historical stands that Baptists have taken even when the results were personally damaging. Well, now it is our turn. We can either coast along with the status quo, or we can consciously make the decision to align ourselves with like-minded Virginia Baptists who have no other agenda except proclaiming the Christ of the Bible and making disciples in His name.

[Editorial Note: Readers wishing to discuss these matters with Jeff Burke may write him at P.O. Box 1775, Culpeper, 22701. Those wanting more information about the need for and purposes of the new Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia may order a copy of the 130 page The Banner Files by calling 757-363-0153. Suggested donation $9.00. Finally, we should praise the Lord for the wonderful changes He has wrought at Southeastern and Southern seminaries. From the theological miasma described in this article, both are now vibrant centers of scripturally orthodox belief, teaching, and practice. TCP]