Abstract
In most societies, and especially in the United States, a proliferation of polarization exists. The monikers of “us” and “them” are in abundant supply as people divide themselves based on race, gender, class, socio-economic status, political beliefs, and loyalties to various entities, and the list of possible categories continues. This polarization is also evident in the church as believers are sharply divided over matters of biblical interpretation, theology, and practice. Contributions to this issue of Review & Expositor, entitled “A polarized church in a polarized world,” explore the polarization of both the church and the world and how those two realms intersect, particularly for Baptists.
To begin this issue, Mark E. Biddle offers “First words …” in his article “Civility: Reconciliation ‘lite’.” Through an examination of the disunity in the Corinthian church, Biddle argues that contemporary Christian calls to civility are insufficient and that the church’s vocation is the more profound work of reconciliation. He offers several components that must characterize the work of ministers of reconciliation.
In the first thematic article of this issue, “Congregations respond to divisive issues: Finding paths past polarity,” Marv Knox presents case studies on navigating polarizing issues in the church, which he compiled from interviews with seven US Baptist pastors. With honesty and humility, the pastors describe the process and the resulting consequences of how they and their churches made decisions about important matters, such as the inclusion of LGBTQ persons, race relations, baptism, finances, generational divides, and sexism. Knox’s article illustrates the varying contexts within US Baptist churches, providing an illuminating backdrop for the subsequent articles in the issue.
In “Practicing civility in an uncivil age,” James Kelsey examines the concept of and need for civility, offering short case studies to illustrate how civility functions. Kelsey differentiates between manners, which are societal codes, and civility, which requires self-sacrifice and seeks the welfare of the community. Kelsey’s discussion of the importance of language, with a case study from Rwanda, is especially informative in considering how to weaken the magnetic forces which pull people away from each other.
The following two articles examine instances of polarization among Baptists in the past, with an intent to inform the present. In “Baptists and their polarizing ways: Transnational polarization between Southern Baptist missionaries and Brazilian Baptists,” Joao Chaves and C. Douglas Weaver provide an excellent introduction to the inevitability of polarization among Baptists in light of Baptist distinctives such as freedom of conscience and local church independence. Then, Chaves and Weaver disclose how racism and white supremacy affected the way US missionaries to Brazil attempted to colonize native Brazilian Christians with Southern US culture. The second historical article, “West of Eden with B. H. Carroll, George W. Truett, and J. Frank Norris: The lifelong feud between the First Baptist pastors of Dallas and Fort Worth,” by Kelly Pigott, recounts the early twentieth-century feud between Baptist pastors, J. Frank Norris and George W. Truett, both spiritual descendants of B. H. Carroll. Between Pigott’s exposition of events ranging from angry hand-delivered letters to battles through and over the state denominational newspaper of Texas, the Baptist Standard, he concludes that the feud between the two men illustrates the “sectarian side” or polarizing tendencies of Baptists—tendencies which continue in the present day.
After these two historical articles, Brian Kaylor’s article, “Likes, retweets, and polarization,” moves the focus to a present-day challenge polarizing the world and church: social media. Kaylor explores the ways in which social media uniquely contributes to polarization through balkanization, the results of the fast-moving communication, such as inaccuracies and heightened emotional demonstrations, and social media’s enabling of anonymity and depersonalization through flaming.
The final two thematic articles offer distinctive takes on polarization in the world and the church. In “Martin Luther King Jr.’s white moderates and moderate Baptists: Moderateness as betrayal of the gospel,” Kate Hanch uses King’s “Letter from a Birmingham jail” and its critique of white moderates as a guide, through which she encourages white moderate Baptists to move toward a more polarizing stance of becoming “extremists for love,” especially in relation to polarizing issues among Baptists today. Finally, Matthew S. Beal, in “Practical anatheology: A kenotic and perichoretic navigation of binaries,” offers Richard Kearney’s anatheism, a return to God after an atheistic departure, as a model for how people can begin humbly to embrace hospitality as an alternative option to binaries and differentiation. Beal’s article eloquently weaves intricate theological concepts with insightful moves toward practical theology and discipleship.
K. W. Bodenhamer’s “Dwelling together: Psalm 133 and the Songs of Ascents” is the first of three expository articles. Considering especially the dimensions of community worship in the psalms, Bodenhamer presents its idyllic picture of dwelling and journeying together in community as a model for polarized communities.
Employing interpretations of 1 Kings 10 and Solomon as an example, Ron Serino, in “Solomon, Sheba, and the haunting of race in the Church and biblical interpretation,” describes how the ideological privilege of whiteness has affected biblical interpretation. With poignant and timely directives, Serino implores white interpreters of the Bible to remember, confess, and repent of traditions of racialized biblical interpretation that have been complicit with gender, race, and class divisions within society. Serino advocates for critical biblical interpretation that emphasizes justice and works to counteract the oppressive polarization in US society.
Jennifer Garcia Bashaw’s article, “Finding common ground in God’s story: Experiencing Luke 7:36–50 with the first-century hearers,” concludes the expository section. Garcia Bashaw presents an expository retelling of Luke 7:36–50 that invites present day readers to experience the story as the original hearers would—a story in which the polarized atmosphere around a shared meal provides a space for common ground.
The articles of this issue present various perspectives from different disciplines, and, as such, are an astute representation of how scholars and practitioners approach the complex, yet overwhelmingly tangible, obstacles and opportunities which polarization presents. We commend these articles to you and hope that you find them informative, inspiring, and challenging as you navigate your own polarized church and world.