David P. Nelson is senior vice president for academic administration and dean of the faculty at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in systematic theology and worship. He is a contributor to the Between the Times blog. Dr. Nelson has served on church staffs in Texas, Oklahoma, and North Carolina. He has contributed to A Theology of the Church, Authentic Worship, and Calvinism: A Southern Baptist Dialogue. He is currently working on editing “A Biblical Theology of Mission” in a series called The Mission of God and He is authoring “40 Questions about Worship.”
Baptist21 is grateful to have had the opportunity to interview Dr. Nelson for the Baptist21 Podcast.
In this interview, Dr. Nelson covers some of the controversial topics surrounding the GCR. He answers the claims by Bart Barber that he has sold his Baptist birthright by calling for a “good ecumenism.” He addresses why those who are calling for a more sectarian Baptist outlook need to listen to those that are calling for some types of Ecumenism. In addition, he speaks to those who say there should be no theological triage. He addresses what he considers a major problem in our convention. This major problem is that we preach a message that the gospel is about saving us from “hell” but never draw out that the gospel is for all of life, and he believes this is just as dangerous as a “self-help” gospel. You will want to hear his thoughts on the Gospel and Southern Baptists. Finally, he addresses the controversial 9th commitment of the Great Commission Resurgence.
If you are not familiar with David Nelson, you need to become familiar with him. This interview is a must listen.
In part two, he will say some controversial things in the context of if “he were king for a day in the SBC,” Stay tuned.
Questions:
- Why are you a Southern Baptist?
- What do you think about those who are saying that you want to sell your “Baptist birthright”?
- Are you committed to Baptist Distinctives?
- At the recent panel discussion, you said “it is not as much an age divide, but the root is there is a different understanding of the gospel.” Can you speak to why you think that it is not an age divide? And so, what is the Gospel?
- Some say if you believe in a theological triage that means that you do not want to teach full obedience to all of Christ’s commands in the Great Commission, What is your response to that?
- Why do you think that article 9 in the GCR about considering restructure for more efficiency and how do we put the GCR into action?
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