James White has an important perspective in the Paige Patterson controversy in recent days particularly because he has never been a theological or political ally of Patterson and has a troublesome history and past with the former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president. And yet, White seems “woke” (but in a good way) when it comes to what’s really happening in the SBC. His latest Dividing Line was very interesting in the last few minutes, in which he discusses these issues in the SBC from a fairy impartial perspective.
Speaking of the political motivation for the ouster of Patterson, White said…
“…There is massive politics in the SBC, massive behind-the-scenes power struggles with lots of money involved – because you’re controlling denominational structures – and it’s been documented that people who work for those denominational entities are being told ‘you shall not in the public sphere talk about these things’…that’s a fact.”
Speaking of the radical worldview shift of the SBC and SEBTS in particular, White said…
“There’s some strange stuff going on in the Southern Baptist Convention. You look at how fast and radical the shift in fundamental worldview issues; I mean, most of this stuff happened (Patterson was accused of) was while he was at Southeastern, not Southwestern. And Southeastern, you look at where they are today and you can barely see them, way off to the left out there someplace, doing this James Cone stuff and Social Justice stuff and [Critical Race Theory] stuff right down the line. How did this happen in a relatively short period of time?”
On the move toward egalitarianism in the SBC, White said…
“They’re not calling themselves egalitarians, but they are. The left knows how to do these things; you don’t identify yourself as to what you really are until you have the power to identify yourself as what you are…”
More regarding the political motivation of Patterson, White said…
“You keep your eye on what ends up happening at Southwestern. That’s going to be fascinating. You see who ends up in leadership there. If it goes the same direction as Southeastern, don’t say you didn’t know, because I told you so.”
You can listen to the pertinent clip below, or watch the full program on YouTube or the Dividing Line via SermonAudio.
