1 FALL 2017 • VOLUME 14, NUMBER 2 NOBTS Centennial Fall 2017 • Vol. 14, No. 2 The Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Editor-in-Chief 2017 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Charles S. Kelley, ThD Bart Barber, PhD Executive Editor First Baptist Church of Farmersville, Texas Steve W. Lemke, PhD Rex Butler, PhD Editor & BCTM Director New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Adam Harwood, PhD Research Assistant Nathan Finn, PhD Hoyt Denton Union University Book Review Editors Eric Hankins, PhD Archie England, PhD First Baptist Fairhope, Fairhope, Alabama Dennis Phelps, PhD Malcolm Yarnell, PhD Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary The Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry is a research institute of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The seminary is located at 3939 Gentilly Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70126. BCTM exists to provide theological and ministerial resources to enrich and energize ministry in Baptist churches. Our goal is to bring together professor and practitioner to produce and apply these resources to Baptist life, polity, and ministry. The mission of the BCTM is to develop, preserve, and communicate the distinctive theological identity of Baptists. The Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry is published semiannually by the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry. Copyright ©2017 The Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. All Rights Reserved. This peridiocal is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database® (ATLA RDB®), http://www.atla.com. CONTACT BCTM (800) 662-8701, ext. 8074 [email protected] www.baptistcenter.com SUBMISSIONS Visit the Baptist Center website for submission guidelines. TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial Introduction 1 Adam Harwood The "Bible Evangelism" of William Wistar Hamilton 2 Bo Rice The Life and Preaching of James David Grey 10 Scott Moody The Cross and the School of Providence and Prayer: Atonement Controversies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary 23 Mark Rathel A History of Social Work at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary 33 Jeanine Bozeman & Loretta Rivers Book Reviews 42 1 Editorial Introduction Adam Harwood, PhD Adam Harwood is Associate Professor of Theology, occupying the McFarland Chair of Theology; Director of the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry; Editor, Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. he articles in present issue of JBTM were authored to commemorate the centennial of Tthe founding of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Bo Rice (PhD, NOBTS), assistant professor of evangelism and preaching and associate dean of Supervised Ministry and Mentoring Programs at NOBTS, writes in the first article about the evangelistic emphasis of the seminary’s second president, W. W. Hamilton (served 1928–1942). Evangelism is a significant part of the heritage and history of the seminary, as evidenced by the contributions of Hamilton at the institution as well his work among the convention of Southern Baptist churches. In the second article, Scott Moody, assistant professor of preaching at Luther Rice College and Seminary in Lithonia, Georgia, highlights the life and preaching of J. D. Grey, the colorful First Baptist New Orleans Baptist Church pastor (served 1937–1972) and SBC statesman. The third article was penned by Mark A. Rathel (PhD, NOBTS), professor of theology and philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville, Florida. Rathel recounts the controversies surrounding the teachings on the atonement by three of its professors: Frank Stagg (served 1945–1964), Theodore Clark (dismissed in 1960), and Fisher Humphreys (served 1970–1990). The final article was co-authored by two NOBTS faculty members, Jeanine Cannon Bozeman, senior professor of social work, and Loretta G. Rivers, professor of social work. In the article, the authors trace the history of social work at NOBTS from the inception of the program in 1954 to the present. The essays concern the history of NOBTS and New Orleans in the fields of evangelism, preaching, theology, and social work. May these articles and the accompanying book reviews be useful for equipping the saints for works of service (Eph 4:11–13), and may its readers be faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ in New Orleans, in the United States, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). JBTM 14.2 (Fall 2017) 2 The "Bible Evangelism" of William Wistar Hamilton Bo Rice, PhD Bo Rice is assistant professor of evangelism and preaching and associate dean of Supervised Ministry and Mentoring Programs at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. he Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is comprised of churches which focus on Tthe Great Commission. Throughout its history, the convention has given priority to evangelism. Due to declines in baptisms, the SBC is giving renewed emphasis to the work. Differing opinions abound but one thing remains, a commitment to the Great Commission. The current scene is similar to the time of the early 1900s. After the Civil War, Southern Baptists placed great emphasis on church planting in order to accomplish the work of evangelism. As the SBC gradually recovered, a new emphasis on the convention’s approach to evangelism came to the forefront.1 In 1904, the SBC began to discuss its approach to evangelism when Pastor Len G. Broughton of Georgia proposed the following resolution: RESOLVED, That the Convention appoint a committee of twelve pastors, not members of any Convention Board, to be known as the Committee on Evangelism for the Needy Sections of our Convention Territory; That this Committee, in cooperation with the Secretaries of our Boards, shall employ a general evangelist, who shall also be Secretary of the Committee; That said evangelist shall, in addition to his evangelistic work, gather statistics, disseminate information and call to his aid such help and helpers as the Committee may approve; That the cooperation of the State Boards be secured as far as possible, where work is to be done in needy and destitute fields; That the salary of the general evangelist be paid by the three Boards of the Convention, and other expenses, including the salaries of special evangelists, be arranged for by the field or cooperating board; 1See Charles S. Kelley Jr., How Did They Do It? The Story of Southern Baptist Evangelism (Covington, LA: Insight, 1993), for a thorough analysis of how the Southern Baptist Convention organized for evangelism. THE "BIBLE EVANGELISM" OF WILLIAM WISTAR HAMILTON 3 That collections be taken at every meeting held by the evangelists for the work of the Evangelistic Committee; That annual reports be made to the State Boards in all the States where work has been done; That the Committee also report annually to the Convention.2 Charles S. (“Chuck”) Kelley writes, “The resolution marked a significant milestone in Southern Baptist life. The action proposed by Broughton was an attempt to have the denomination accept specific responsibility for the task of calling lost people to Christ and become involved in that task in clear, definite ways. As logical as that step may seem to Baptists today, it set off a great storm of controversy lasting two years.”3 The convention did not act on the motion. Instead, a study committee was appointed to consider the issue and report back to the convention at the next meeting. The committee reported to the 1905 convention in Kansas City, Missouri. Kelley reports, “Committee members felt the appointment of a permanent evangelism committee and the hiring of a secretary for that committee were inappropriate. Instead they recommended the formation of another committee to study further the situation and suggest a course of action.”4 The recommendation involved appointing a special committee of five members to consider the “Work of Evangelism in the several States of the Convention.”5 The committee was instructed to study “the wisest methods in the work of evangelism consistent with our church polity and our denominational policy; to ascertain as far as practicable the special needs, and what is being done in the several States, as to the number of evangelists employed, where, and how employed, and as to the general results obtained.”6 Also, the committee was tasked with carefully studying the methods of evangelists and “discreetly” recommending such men to churches if “in their view” they possessed the true gift of an evangelist. The report and recommendation were approved at the Kansas City convention. The second committee was appointed which included Len G. Broughton of Georgia, George W. Truett of Texas, W. W. Hamilton of Kentucky, W. M. Vines of Virginia, and A. J. S. Thomas of South Carolina. This committee began their work and brought its report to the 1906 convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee. What followed is well documented by Kelley: 2“Annual of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1904,” “Resolution on Evangelism,” available at http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/501/resolution-on-evangelism. 3Kelley, How Did They Do It?, 9–10. Hereafter, he will be referred to as Chuck Kelley. 4Ibid., 10. 5“Annual of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1905,” 40, available at http://digitalcollections. baylor.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ml-sbcann/id/926. 6Ibid. JBTM 14.2 (Fall 2017) 4 The new committee gave its initial report during the first evening session of the 1906 Convention. Further discussion of their recommendations was postponed until Sunday afternoon. This was a parliamentary move intended to make it impossible for the messengers to act on the motion, for business could not be conducted during a Sunday session. Later an attempt was made to move the discussion to a time period when action could be taken. After much debate and in a close vote, the time shift was denied. The failed motion to shift the time was followed by a motion to give the evangelism committee a third opportunity to address the body at a time when the messengers could take action.