2.4 2.5 the literature of the early church  (Page 8/8)

The irony involved in holding fast to a single guide for truth while altering the interpretation of that body of material should strike a familiar chord in this nation, where we use the Constitution in much the same manner. Rather than the practice discrediting the ideological source, one could claim that such flexibility and scope insures its continuity through changing cultures and times. Biblical literalists are reluctant to admit that the New Testament contains contradictions or that the nature of truth found there is pluralistic, but even the strictest of sects emphasizes one set of doctrines over another. One honest Baptist minister who wrote in 1892 that Baptists' interpretation of scripture regarding women would change, just as it had changed on missions in the early nineteenth century, concluded that while "men are jealous of an attack upon their opinions about the Bible" and "are loth to admit [they]are wrong, . . . 'The sun do move.’” BS, June 9, 1892, p. 3.

A model for the pattern whereby biblicists accept cultural change without relinquishing their faith includes three stages: first, forces of change are introduced by society, inciting reinforcement and wide support for the traditional view; second, innovation grows and finds biblical support, forcing orthodoxy into a struggle; third, change and its textual justification become the new orthodoxy, leaving the traditional view to dissipate or to eventually reassert itself over unresolved aspects of the issue. For the transformation to occur peacefully, without splintering the group (as it did in this phase of Christian women's liberation), enough time must elapse to allow for a replacement of the leadership that strongly asserted the status quo position; change must occur gradually and circumspectly, behind the society at large; and there should be an important goal (e.g., missions and their support) facilitated by the shift. Those who, by habit, personality, and/or conviction, are committed to an ideology are careful to demonstrate that innovation does not alter the source of truth, but comes by better interpretation and greater understanding on the part of the believer. The stabilizing force--in this case, the authority of the literal Bible--with which the religious person identifies in order to overcome the unsettling and erosive effects of an uncertain world must remain authoritative and unchanged. Richard Quebedeaux, The Worldly Evangelicals (San Francisco:Harper and Row, 1978), p. 11.

During the period of change covered by this study, dedication to biblical authority did not waver. "No single word in the Bible is there without a definite purpose. Each story there told is intended as a lesson," reminded a woman speaking to the women mission workers' convention in 1901. Proceedings of the BWMW of Texas, 1901, p. 168. Approach to Bible study was thorough and uncritical, given to outlining chapters, learning characters and places, memorizing verses, etc. Aids like "Hill's 1200 Bible Questions" and "Beauchamp's Outlines" gave structure to classes. BS, July 6, 1916, p. 12. Minutes of women's meetings invariably included mention of a scripture reading. Rather than extracting doctrinal discourses from such passages, however, women used them as "watchwords" or "slogans" in support of a generalized pietism. A meeting whose theme was "If the Bible were destroyed and I could save one verse, which one would it be?" met with enthusiastic response. Proceedings of the BWMW of Texas, 1901, p. 178. Favorite chapters and verses were cited as giving comfort to women during illness and on deathbeds. Queries in "Questions Answered" columns from women, asking for the correct meaning of a passage, indicated they studied the Bible seriously even though they did not respond to doctrinal debates or write exegetical articles and speeches. An exception, Mrs. George W. Truett, wrote the weekly Sunday-school lesson in the Baptist Standard early in the twentieth century, but she was "too modest to allow her name to appear.” BS, April 3, 1902, p. 4.

The Woman's Bible , which was published in 1895 and 1898 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was never mentioned by a woman writer, but drew a number of editorial comments in the Standard . Predictably, the editor viewed Mrs. Stanton as an "atheistic woman” and her efforts to answer those portions of the Bible that denigrate women as "attempts to repeal the inspired Word of God." He expected it to cause a "revulsion of sentiment" that would restore the values of Christianity and motherhood Mrs. Stanton sought to destroy. BS, October 10, 1895, p. 1. "Higher criticism," the application of scholarly historical method to biblical texts that was embraced by many theologians in the 1890s, naturally met with the same overwhelming disapproval. Its inroads into Baptist circles remained as distant as the University of Chicago and Southern Theological Seminary of Louisville, Kentucky, Controversy over "higher criticism" in Baptist circles in the 1890s centered around the writing and teaching of W. H. Whitsitt, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., and W. R. Harper, president of the University of Chicago. but it was denounced as "a dirty little theory into which the [critic] proposes to stuff the Bible; and what he cannot force in, he rejects." BS, January 30, 1902, p. 2.

The motivations and experiences that wed Texas Baptists to biblical authority were as various as religious response—a complex entity—is in any group. Some sought a blueprint by which to order their lives; others grasped for the security of heavenly promises. For some, the Bible made sense of the human experience, while others took it for granted as an unquestioned part of their cultural heritage. Still others were no doubt convinced of its truth by their emotional response to a worship service or a personal plea. Whatever the cause, the resulting commitment sometimes took the form of smugness and self-righteousness of the sort true believers manifest. It is something of a relief to discover bits of evidence of some "whistling in the dark" amidst the Baptist claims of absolute confidence in the biblical record and in their ability to decipher its meaning. One such poignant note was found in the diary of an old minister, living out his final days with his missionary daughter in Brazil. "One of the delights of heaven," he wrote, will be a "perfect revelation of the Bible." John Hill Luther, TS of Diary, entry dated January 26, 1903, Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas (original at Mary Hardin-Baylor College, Belton, Texas).