SBC Calvinists Are Dead, So Claim SBC Anti-Calvinists

Echoing Frederick Nietzsche’s “God Is Dead” declaration, Eric Carpenter sarcastically reports on Nov 10, 2008 how the “John 3:16 Conference” has finally killed the evil Calvinism. Some humorous anecdotes by Carpenter:

• The arguments have been made. The debate is finally settled. There is nothing left to discuss. Calvinism is finished. The Doctrines of Grace have been de-bunked. Reformed theology is has [sic] once and for all time been banished to the trash bin of dead theologies.
• Those in attendance were thrilled with the scholarship on display. For example, pastor Bubba Swift of Good Works Baptist Church, told TBNN, “Those speakers sure did a fine job. They just kept quotin’ John 3:16 over and over again. No matter what objection was brought to them, they just kept sayin’, ‘Whosoever will…’ It was awesome.”
• Pastor Wyatt Beasley said, “All I know is Jesus died for the whole world. That means everybody. When I got saved, I could just tell Jesus was cheerin’ me on from heaven, just hopin’ I’d give myself to Him. That’s what I done.”

Carpenter then lists some notable quotes from the conference:

• “Humans are born with original sin but not original guilt.”
• “A move toward Calvinism is a move away from the gospel.”
• “Repentance and faith precede regeneration.”
• “A ‘hyper-Calvinist’ is someone who is more Calvinistic than you are.”
• “Romans 9-11 have nothing to do with eternal salvation.”

Voddie Baucham also shares his testimony of how the SBC shot him dead with the silver Arminian bullet.

I have been bombarded with questions as to where I am in this ‘fight’.  Of course, it is not much of a fight.  The SBC establishment is firmly and openly anti-Calvinist.  There is no question about that.  There is but one question.  How long before the SBC realizes that defeating Calvinism would represent a Phyrric victory at best.  Anyone paying attention sees the stark contrast between ministries like:

• T4G
• 9Marks
• Desiring God
• SBC Annual meeting

One of these groups is known for being:

1. anti-Calvinistic
2. highly politicized
3. and void of the youth and vitality needed to sustain it in the future (hence, that ubiquitous question, “Exactly why are you in the SBC?”).

Baucham continues to share:

I was ‘outed’ in 2006 when I preached at the Desiring God National Conference.  Prior to that I had preached at Alistair Begg’s conferences, but Desiring God was the fatal blow.  After that the questions began to swirl. … It was as though I had contracted AIDS.  These guys were actually mourning!  “I had him in my church!” one of them lamented.  I could have done a lot of things and been just fine.  However, the dreaded “C” word has become a death sentence in “mainstream”.

James White is also sprayed massive amounts of the same bullet. Baucham mocks the John 3:16 speakers, “[James] White gets hammered for not believing in evangelism while [he's] out doing evangelism!”

White validates Baucham’s statement in his Nov 7, 2008 blog posting by claiming that during this anti-Calvinistic conference, he was out “in London, England, preparing to do public debates with Islamic apologists, seeking to present and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and His Lordship, and the Arminians are all gathered at Johnny Hunt’s church to try to convince folks not to listen to the Calvinists. Don’t you find something just a bit ironic in that? I’m out on the front lines pressing the claims of Christ and calling Muslims to bow to His lordship while those who will falsely accuse me of being a ‘hyper-Calvinist’ are safely ensconced in the friendly environs of Georgia, sniping at Reformed folks – who, of course, were not invited to participate, debate, or discuss.”

Obviously, as Baucham points out, this John 3:16 conference lacked both theological balance and tact as that of the Building Bridges Conference.