Copyright © 2019 Matthew Lee Lyon All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction. JOHN R. RICE AND EVANGELISM: AN ESSENTIAL MARK OF INDEPENDENT BAPTIST FUNDAMENTALISM __________________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________________ by Matthew Lee Lyon May 2019 APPROVAL SHEET JOHN R. RICE AND EVANGELISM: AN ESSENTIAL MARK OF INDEPENDENT BAPTIST FUNDAMENTALISM Matthew Lee Lyon Read and Approved by: __________________________________________ Thomas J. Nettles (Chair) __________________________________________ John D. Wilsey __________________________________________ Shawn D. Wright Date______________________________ To Mom and Dad TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE.........................................................................................................................viii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................1 Biographical Overview.......................................................................................2 Thesis..................................................................................................................5 Personal Background..........................................................................................7 Background of Research.....................................................................................8 Methodology.....................................................................................................10 Overview...........................................................................................................10 2. EVANGELISTIC FUNDAMENTALISM...........................................................14 Intellectual Fundamentalism.............................................................................15 Separatist Fundamentalism...............................................................................19 Legacy of Rice’s Fundamentalism....................................................................27 Conclusion........................................................................................................36 3. THE PRIMACY OF EVANGELISM IN PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY..................................................................................................37 The Heart of Christ...........................................................................................38 Following Jesus.................................................................................................40 Evangelism as the Key to Discipleship....................................................40 Evangelism as the Key to Successful Christianity...................................41 Doctrinal Education a Consequence of Evangelism.................................43 Evangelism as the Key to Organizing Churches...............................................46 iv Chapter Page The Authority of the Pastor......................................................................46 Program of Evangelism............................................................................50 The Evangelist...................................................................................................51 The Role of the Evangelist.......................................................................52 The Importance of the Evangelist.............................................................55 Conclusion........................................................................................................58 4. BIBLIOLOGY......................................................................................................59 Not a “Modernist Fundamentlist”.....................................................................60 Not a “Naïve Fundamentalist”..........................................................................65 Still a Common-Sense Fundamentalist.............................................................71 Inerrancy, Perfection, and Origin.............................................................75 Rice’s Definition of Inspiration................................................................76 Conclusion........................................................................................................79 5. DISPENSATIONALISM.....................................................................................81 The Origin of Dispensationalism: John Nelson Darby.....................................83 Second Wave Dispensationalism and Rice.......................................................85 Literal Hermeneutics as Guard against Liberalism..................................86 The Imminent Return of Christ.................................................................89 The Day of Pentecost and the Beginning of the Church...................................96 Conclusion......................................................................................................100 6. REFORMED THEOLOGY................................................................................101 Rice’s Taxonomy............................................................................................101 Arminianism...........................................................................................101 Nominal Calvinism.................................................................................105 Misidentifying Hyper-Calvinism....................................................................106 v Chapter Page Rice’s Rejection of the Historical Understanding of Hyper-Calvinism........................................................................106 Rice’s Conflation of Calvinism and Hyper-Calvinism...........................108 Rice’s Critique of Calvinism...........................................................................110 Reconciling Calvinistic Evangelists................................................................125 Spurgeon as a “Paper” Calvinist.............................................................125 Conclusion......................................................................................................129 7. "THE FULLNESS OF THE SPIRIT” ...............................................................131 Orthodox Pneumatology.................................................................................132 A Distinct Work of the Spirit..........................................................................134 Fullness of the Spirit.......................................................................................141 The Problem of Pentecostalism.......................................................................145 Moody, Torrey and New Challenges......................................................145 Rice’s Defense Against Pentecostalism..................................................147 How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit............................................................151 Evangelistic Obedience..........................................................................152 Persistent Prayer.....................................................................................153 Conclusion......................................................................................................156 8. SOCIAL ISSUES...............................................................................................157 Faithful Preaching was Hard Preaching..........................................................157 Challenges to Preaching: Fear of Man....................................................159 Challenges to Preaching: Modernism.....................................................160 The Necessity of Hard Preaching for Evangelism..........................................161 Outward-focused and Optimistic............................................................162 An Effective Witness..............................................................................163 Conviction of Sin....................................................................................164 vi Chapter Page “What Is Sin?”................................................................................................167 The Preeminence of Authority................................................................168 The American Government....................................................................169 The Paradox of Civil Rights...................................................................172 Conclusion......................................................................................................182 9. METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................183 “Any Way Possible”.......................................................................................183 Personal Evangelism.......................................................................................186 Effectiveness...........................................................................................187 Individualism..........................................................................................188 Historical Appeal....................................................................................190 Multiplied Effort.....................................................................................191