Friday, December 7, 2007

SBC BECOMING MORE CALVINISTIC


I am always encouraged when I hear about the growth of Reformed Theology in many Christian cirlces, no matter what the primary race or region of the church or denomination.
With that said, I was overjoyed to hear that Lifeway Research has recently completed a study in which they report that 34 % of current Southen Baptist Seminarians, who go into ministry or pastoral offices after graduation, are holding to the teachings of Calvinism.
Equally, the survey reports the following statistics as well:
****Souther Baptist Seminary graduates who identify themselves as Calvinist conduct personal evangelism at a slightly higher rate than their peers who are not Calvinist.
****That although these Calvinist baptized fewer people each year, their number of baptisms are virtually identical each year with non-Calvinist churches.
Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, states that if the numbers increase in this way, Calvinism will continue to be a major influence in the denomination.
This is an encouraging number to see within the SBC, and it is my prayer that the number of African-Americans will rise--who are in the SBC, PCA, and other Reformed-based Seminaries--so that we can witness similar effects in regards to Reformed teaching and the Black Church.
To read the article, click here

4 comments:

Rev. said...

I was surfing the net and came across your site. Nice to come across your blog!

James

Ebony Puritan said...

Nice to meet you rev!

I see that you're a chaplain. Is it in the prison or jail system. I have done this work for 5 years!!

Anonymous said...

Good post brother. I see it as a battle of sorts, because there are guys like Jerry Vines that are hostile, but it is good to see this movement on the rise.

Ebony Puritan said...

I agree soul theologian!

But to be real, I have noticed that just about every denomination that holds Reformed beliefs have this battle. I work as a youth pastor at a Primitive Baptist church, and I have seen very early that there are very few ministers in our district that adhere to the Articles of the Church. All we can do is just pray that the LORD will start a revival as we stay faithful to the accurate preaching of His Word.