[Capstone Report] At the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s Annual Meeting, the Summit: The Gathering of Tennessee Baptists, the state rejected the use of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality. This is a major rebuke of the Southern Baptist Convention, which approved the use of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality as “Analytical Tools” at its Annual Meeting last June in Birmingham, Alabama.
First reports of the action of Tennessee Baptists emerged on Twitter. And thanks to an adjunct professor at Union University, we have the text of the resolution approved by Tennessee Baptists. (via Matt Stamper on Twitter.)
The resolution reads, “Whereas, Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a secular worldview used by some in social sciences to analyze marginalized populations by categorizing differences among peoples, especially race and gender, and
“Whereas, intersectionality arises from dialog regarding CRT and focuses on the overlapping categorizations within CRT, and
“Whereas, CRT and intersectionality emphasize the priority of social and scientific analyses of humanity while failing to recognize the validity of Biblical truth in understanding the sinful nature of humanity, and
“Whereas, we acknowledge the presence of structural and systemic racism, pride, greed, and lust existing in societies of a fallen world, and
“Whereas, the Messengers of the Tennessee Baptist Convention are deeply troubled that some are injecting CRT and Intersectionality into theological context, and
“Whereas, Scripture is true and trustworthy and must be the foundation of a Christian’s worldview, therefore be it
“Resolved, that ethnic, gender, cultural and racial distinctions do exist and are a gift from God that will give Him absolute glory when the entirety of sanctified humanity worships Him in perfect unity founded upon our unity in Jesus Christ, and be it further
“Resolved, that Tennessee Baptist Churches and institutions are encouraged to take a stand against all forms of biblically defined injustice and are encouraged to do so in a manner consistent with the biblical worldview rather than unbilical worldviews, and be it further
“Resolved, that the messengers of the Tennessee Baptist Convention strongly denounce CRT and intersectionality as inconsistent with the Biblical worldview and theology, and be it further
“Resolved, that we affirm Scripture as the first and only framework for evaluating the world around us including academia and social sciences.”
[Editor’s Note: This was written by Alan Atchinson and first published at Capstone Report under a different title]
