Bonhoeffer Moment No. 1: Claiming Christ But Losing the Gospel
Bill Leonard responds to Tom Nettles's defense of the slavery of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's enslaver founders. Read full piece
Birmingham Church Bombed in ‘63 Planning Virtual Remembrance
Crowds gather every year at 16th Street Baptist Church to mark the anniversary of the horrific day when a bomb planted by Ku Klux Klansmen went off just before worship, killing four Black girls. This year’s 57th observance will be virtual because of the coronavirus
Understanding the Gray/Green Divide in American Church Life
While electoral maps in the United States are often colored red and blue, aerial imagery of the country suggests that the real colors of our political spectrum are gray and green. And a Baptist school controversy from the 1800s demonstrates this. Read full piece
Nettles: Celebrate ‘Providence’ that Brought Gospel Through Slavery
A prominent Southern Baptist theologian who sparked controversy for defending the slavery of the founders of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary doubled-down in another essay praising “the wisdom of Providence” that saw the evangelization of enslaved persons through the institution of slavery.
Search for Roots of Historic First Baptist Church in Williamsburg Begins with Song & Prayer
The prayer vigil Sunday served to bless an archaeological project that hopes to unearth signs of that building — First Baptist’s first physical home. The church was organized in 1776 as a congregation of free and enslaved Blacks. Read full piece
White Christians Grapple With Their Faith’s Racist Past — & Present
How are white supremacy and white Christianity entangled? And what work is being done today, by Christians inside and outside the church, to break those ties? Listen to the conversation on 1A — including comment by Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor (at the 14:12 mark) Listen to
Records Reveal Buckner was a Slaveholder
Buckner International, a Baptist charitable organization based in Texas, recently learned 160-year-old records show its long-revered namesake founder, R.C. Buckner, was a slaveholder. The 1860 “slave schedule” for Lamar County, Texas, revealed Buckner as the owner of an enslaved 16-year-old Black female.
The Baptist Socialist Who Left God Out of the Pledge
President Donald Trump falsely claimed that “the Democrats took the word God out of the Pledge of Allegiance” at the Democratic National Convention. But while the DNC did include the phrase “under God” in the Pledge, the socialist Baptist minister who wrote the Pledge left
The Christian Citizen: Gospel, Conscience, & Dissent
Bill J. Leonard reflects on Christian conscience and the role it plays in national citizenship. The best of early Baptist history in America, he argues, reflected the belief that citizenship in this new society should be open to all, whether they were Christian or not.
Lament on 401st Anniversary of Black Enslavement in the U.S.
On the 401st anniversary of the start of Black enslavement in the American colonies, Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor offered a time of confession and lament at the tombstone of the first pastor of his Baptist church, a man who enslaved three persons while serving as