Analysis of Baptist Ecclesiology, Eschatology, and the Remobilization of Conservative Baptists in the Moral Majority

The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Honors Theses Honors College Spring 5-2018 Managing Church, Politics, and the End of the World: Analysis of Baptist Ecclesiology, Eschatology, and the Remobilization of Conservative Baptists in the Moral Majority Nathan Taylor Barron University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses Part of the American Politics Commons Recommended Citation Barron, Nathan Taylor, "Managing Church, Politics, and the End of the World: Analysis of Baptist Ecclesiology, Eschatology, and the Remobilization of Conservative Baptists in the Moral Majority" (2018). Honors Theses. 581. https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/581 This Honors College Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College at The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. 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The University of Southern Mississippi Managing Church, Politics, and the End of the World: Analysis of Baptist Ecclesiology, Eschatology, and the Remobilization of Conservative Baptists in the Moral Majority by Nathan Taylor Barron A Thesis Submitted to the Honors College of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in the Department of Political Science May 2018 ii Approved by __________________________________ Troy Gibson, Ph.D., Thesis Adviser Associate Professor of Political Science __________________________________ Edward Sayre, Ph.D., Department Chair Department of Political Science __________________________________ Ellen Weinauer, Ph.D., Dean Honors College iii Abstract The sudden and formidable political mobilization of fundamentalist Christians in the mid-to-late 1970’s quickly garnered the attention of politicians, pastors, and political scientists alike. Since the success of the Moral Majority in the 1980s, social science researchers have dedicated special attention to the intersection of religion and social life; however, such considerations have largely neglected to sufficiently discover why fundamentalist Christians were seemingly predisposed for the high levels of political activity characteristic of the Moral Majority. Building on a historical analysis of Baptist ecclesiological and eschatological development, the purpose of this research is to consider the theological framework behind the emergence of the Moral Majority from 1979 to 1981 by investigating the development of the Baptist political theology of political activity. Historical and textual analyses are conducted, exploring relevant theological developments from 1533 to 1989 in ecclesiological and eschatological teaching. Initial findings signal that Baptists have a well-documented history of political activity in America and that the emergence and popularity of the Moral Majority likely paralleled the ecclesiological “Conservative Resurgence” in the SBC. Further, the role of the SBC as an alternative body politic is explored and ecclesiastical socialization is discussed. The final results of this research could be used to more precisely tailor methodologies for studies in the field of religion and politics for any religious or political group. Keywords: political theology, religion and politics, church and state, political involvement, alternative body politic, Southern Baptist Convention iv Dedication This thesis is dedicated to Pascal Warren Barron, Sr., for his inexhaustible kindness, uplifting wit, imparted wisdom, and lingering encouragement. Few people could meet him and not be magnetically drawn to his humor, character, integrity, and love. Although this thesis is insufficient to afford him the honor that is due him, it is my pleasure to dedicate this research to my grandfather and fellow Southern Miss alumnus. v Acknowledgements Foremost, I would like to knowledge my thesis advisor Dr. Troy Gibson for his incessant patience, direction, and redirection throughout this entire process. I will never forget where and when he agreed to be my thesis advisor: in downtown New Orleans only hours before Southern Miss won the 2016 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. This perhaps might have been my favorite memory of the thesis process. In addition, I would like to thank the entire political science faculty at the University of Southern Mississippi for their invaluable instruction and guidance throughout my undergraduate career that has helped develop me as a student, as a researcher, and as a person. It would be impossible to not recognize my good friend Ross Burkhart for his invaluable contributions to my thesis-writing endeavor. Without his gentle steering hand, it is quite possible that I may not have graduated at all. Finally, and possibly most importantly, I would like to acknowledge the Swedish pop band ABBA for the countless hours of mentally-rejuvenating jam sessions that we shared in Cook Library. So, I say thank you for the music because, if it wasn’t for the night, my thesis writing would have gone on and on and on. When I couldn’t decide should I laugh or cry, you convinced me that, when all is said and done, the winner takes it all. vi Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 Chapter Two: Literature Review ...................................................................................... 3 English Baptists .................................................................................................... 6 Colonial Baptists .................................................................................................. 11 Early SBC Baptists .............................................................................................. 17 Moral Majority Baptists ....................................................................................... 22 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 29 Methodology..................................................................................................................... 30 Data .................................................................................................................................. 35 Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 37 A Practical Problem with the Reluctant Warrior Thesis ...................................... 38 Alternative Thesis: Conservative Resurgence and the SBC as an Alternative Body Politic .......................................................................... 41 Explaining the Liberal Southern Baptists ............................................................ 45 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 47 vii List of Tables Table 2-A Five Views on Church-State Relations pg. 4 Table 2-B Ecclesiological Typology of Baptist Eras pg. 29 Table 2-C Eschatological Typology of Baptist Eras pg. 29 Table 3-A Selected Texts by Baptist Era pg. 31 Table 3-B Ordinal Value Rubric pg. 34 Table 4-A Ordinal Value Assignment, General Set pg. 36 Table 4-B Ordinal Value Assignment, Conservative Set pg. 36 Table 4-C Ordinal Value Assignment, Liberal Set pg. 36 viii Chapter One: Introduction Much research has been conducted on the socio-political and behavioral foundations of the Moral Majority. Studies have shown the strong relationship between the Moral Majority and fundamentalists and evangelicals, social conservatives, and those who watch televangelists (Buell and Sigelman 1985; Wilcox 1987b; Wilcox 1991), with fundamentalist and evangelical identification emerging as the single greatest indicator of support. Increasingly, research on the Moral Majority began to consider the explicitly religious dimension of the Moral Majority political phenomenon (Wilcox 1987c, 1989b); evidence of the religious dimension was largely considered in terms of religiosity (Buell and Sigelman, 1985; Sigelman et al., 1987; Wilcox 1989c) and doctrinal beliefs (Wilcox 1987a, 1989c; Segleman et al. 1987). However, the examined doctrinal beliefs mostly remained either based on religious identification—such as self-identification as fundamentalist/evangelical or denominational identity—or religious behavior—such as church attendance. Although some theological considerations have been researched (Wilcox et al. 1991, on eschatology; Turner and Guth 1989, on eschatology; and Swatos (1988), on the role of Satan in worldly affairs), little meaningful research has been conducted to provide a historical theological perspective on why the Moral Majority suddenly achieved such a high level of support among Baptists. This thesis will endeavor to contribute an explanation as to why conservative Baptists re-emerged from relative political inactivity to suddenly mobilize in support of the Moral Majority. Especially in the largest protestant denomination in the United States, the Southern Baptist Convention’s own theological development should be expected to have wide-ranging political effects (Lewis 2014), which would be most evident in Christian 1 political advocacy and attempts to gain political influence. In order for such development to be relevant, the historical lineage of Baptist political theology since its earliest roots is considered,

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