SPECIAL SERIES:  BAPTIST HERITAGE AND THE 21ST CENTURY
Published by the Baptist History and Heritage Society

Baptist World Congress Freedom Themes
by Charles W. Deweese
 

The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) turns 100 years old in 2005. To celebrate, Baptists worldwide will convene in London on July 27-31 for the Centennial Congress. From one tiny congregation in 1609 to tens of millions of Baptists in tens of thousands of churches today, Baptists have made significant contributions to the Believers' Church and to world civilization.
            When the Centennial Congress gathers, the Southern Baptist Convention will be conspicuously absent as a member body. The SBC, a dynamic component of the BWA and its Congresses for ninety-nine years and the leading source of funds for BWA ministries, rejected and defunded the BWA in 2004 because the BWA’s historic freedom emphases did not match the SBC’s control orientation.
            The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that worldwide liberty thrusts in Baptist history have not functioned as aberrations in Baptist development; rather, they have served as integrating factors around which Baptist self-understanding has flourished. Most Baptists, though not all, have routinely injected liberty themes into their characterizations of Baptist identity and their lists of Baptist convictions, principles, distinctives, ideals, and values.
            Elements of freedom saturate such Baptist concepts as soul competency, liberty of conscience, voluntarism, redemption and salvation, believer’s baptism, priesthood of all believers, religious freedom, separation of church and state, congregationalism, individual interpretation of Scripture, and freedom of the pulpit and of the press.
            Many factors account for these freedom emphases. God’s freedom-driven creation of all persons in his own image plainly affirms the creative potential of individuals whom he creates. Commitment to the Lordship of Christ demands a spirit of emancipation. Reliance on the life and teachings of Christ and on biblical authority inevitably results in powerful defenses of basic human rights.
            At times, Baptists have failed miserably to live up to their freedom standards. That has not negated the ongoing importance of liberty for Baptist identity.
            This article will describe freedom themes contained in addresses to and documents adopted by Baptist World Congress meetings in 1905-1955. This was the formative period for the Baptist World Alliance and its Congresses, beginning in London in 1905 and culminating in the Golden Jubilee Congress in London in 1955.
            These addresses and documents show that the historical and theological record is clear: Baptists worldwide prefer freedom, not control. The breadth and value of the following international insights on the role of freedom in Baptist life provides indisputable evidence that freedom is a highly influential motif of the Baptist experience.
            In 1905, John Clifford (England) asserted at length that there should be no barriers between the soul and God. And Augustus H. Strong (USA) advocated absolute liberty of conscience.
            In 1911, J. Moffat Logan (England) opposed creedalism in 1911. And J. H. Rushbrooke (England) urged a new commitment to Baptist individualism.
            In 1923, G. Teofilo Vickman (Spain) urged the priesthood of all believers. E. Y. Mullins (USA) hammered home the importance of religious liberty. And Helen Barrett Montgomery (USA) described Jesus as "the great Emancipator of women."
            In 1928, N. J. Nordstrom (Sweden) advocated the non-binding nature of confessions of faith. And E. Y. Mullins (USA) defended the right of private judgment.
            In 1934, James Scott (Scotland) emphasized the equality of all believers. Maurice A. Levy (USA) discussed the voluntary character of faith. And A. W. Beaven (USA) wrote against man-made creeds.
            In 1939, J. N. Tennent (Scotland) asserted the priesthood of all believers in the New Testament. George W. Truett (USA) highlighted soul competency as a Baptist ideal. And Gordon Palmer (USA) described Christ's ministry of liberation.
            In 1947, Mrs. Edgar Bates (Canada) pinpointed the role of freedom in the Baptist world mission. Gunnar Westin (Sweden) talked about freedom of thought. And Edward Hughes Pruden (USA) put forward the necessity of nonconformity in Baptist life.
            In 1950, Arnold T. Ohrn (Norway) discussed the role of Christ as the anchor of freedom. Edwin McNeill Poteat (USA) advocated the basic freedom of the soul. And Culbert G. Rutenber (USA) urged the importance of the individual conscience in the context of a totalitarian state.
            In 1955, Santiago Canclini (Argentina) assessed the risks of liberty and called upon world Baptists to take such risks. Herbert Gezork (USA) opposed the imposition of creeds upon the conscience. Arnold T. Ohrn (Norway) included as one of the most important BWA achievements in 1905-1955 the fact that it "has lifted high the banner of religious liberty." Walter Pope Binns (USA) stated the positive implications of soul competency. And Gunnar Westin (Sweden) presented key reasons why Baptists should fight for religious liberty.
            In addition to reflections by individuals at Congress meetings, entire Congresses adopted key documents relating to freedom: "A Declaration on Religious Liberty" (1939), "Manifesto on Religious Freedom" (1947), "Mid-Century Call to Religious Freedom" (1950), and "Golden Jubilee Declaration on Religious Liberty" (1955).
            God placed Baptists in history in the early 1600s for at least one reason: to inject new liberty thrusts into the Christian experience and, more broadly, into the human experience. That is Baptists' essential gift to human civilization. And it must remain the defining characteristic of Baptists in the future if they expect to stay true to their origins and biblical foundation. 
            The implications of the preceding slices of world Baptist history are as plain as day for contemporary Baptists who favor theological conformity, separation from Baptists who refuse to buy into their party line, a gradual fusing of church and state, and a hearty oppression of women in ministry. Christ is the great emancipator. The apostle Paul claimed there is no difference between male and female. Baptists worldwide through the BWA have made freedom the Baptist calling card. Baptists at their best appreciate the right to free faith—as individuals and congregations.
            Freedom is right. Inherent in creation, authorized by Christ, mandated by scripture, central to Baptist principles, freedom rests on solid rock. BWA Congresses have taught us that Jesus meant what he said when he launched his ministry in Nazareth in the synagogue on the Sabbath by reading from the book of Isaiah that the Spirit of the Lord had sent him to proclaim release to the captives and to set free those who were oppressed (Luke 4:18).

Charles W. Deweese is executive director-treasurer, Baptist History and Heritage Society, Brentwood, Tennessee.