Theologians past and present have used a bouquet of initials and analogies to describe Calvinist doctrine.

Historically, the Reformed Synod of Dort in the Netherlands delineated the differences between Calvinism and the teachings of James Jacobus Arminius. For the sake of simplicity—and playing on an association with the best-known Dutch flower—those teachings have been summarized through the TULIP acrostic.

• Total depravity. Human beings are dead in their sins, and they stand justly condemned before God, unable to do anything to save themselves.

• Unconditional election. From eternity, God in his sovereignty chose specific human beings to be saved. That salvation was determined entirely by God, not simply God’s foreknowledge of who would respond to his offer of grace.

• Limited atonement. Also known as “particular redemption,” the doctrine teaches the death of Jesus Christ was intended for the remission of the sins of elect human beings only; in other words, the intention of the atonement and its effects are the same.

• Irresistible grace. Many Calvinists prefer the term “effectual calling” to express this idea—God’s call to salvation will not fail to bring about the repentance and faith of the elect.

• Perseverance of the saints. This doctrine teaches all true believers in Christ will be saved because God grants them faith to persist to the end of life, and God will keep them safe.

Timothy George, founding dean of Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School, has proposed an alternative floral acrostic. George, a Reformed theologian, recommended a change in terminology from TULIP to ROSES—radical depravity, overcoming grace, sovereign election, eternal life and singular redemption.

James Leo Garrett, emeritus distinguished professor of theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has noted Dortian Calvinists and early Arminians may not have differed on total depravity. Rather, he said, the key difference may have been whether faith and repentance were gifts from God—as the Calvinists taught—or human duties—as the Arminians insisted.

“That would call for FULIP (for faith) or RULIP (for repentance), not TULIP,” Garret said.

Without benefit of floral reminder, Garrett also has delineated the five points of Hyper-Calvinism:

• Supralapsarianism. God’s decree to elect some human beings for salvation and to damn others eternally is logically the first of God’s eternal decrees.

• Covenant of redemption. An eternal covenant exists among God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for the redemption of elect humans through the Son.

• Eternal justification. The elect are justified in eternity without their demonstration of requisite faith in history.

• No offers of grace. Preachers should be discouraged from offering grace indiscriminately to their hearers, who presumably would include both the elect and the damned.

• Antinomianism. Christians are not obligated to obey the moral laws of the Old Testament.

BROWNWOOD—Among Baptist Baby Boomer theologians, at least half of the major authors are committed to Calvinism, an influential Baptist theologian of an earlier generation has noted.

James Leo Garrett Jr., emeritus distinguished professor of theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, examined 10 Baptist theologians of the Baby Boomer generation during a plenary address at Howard Payne University’s Christian doctrines colloquy in Brownwood.

Garrett identified three as “pronounced Calvinists”—John Piper, Thomas J. Nettles and Timothy George. He listed two—Donald A. Carson and Wayne Grudem—as “moderate Calvinists” and one—David Dockery—as “Calminian,” an amalgam of Calvinist and Arminian theology.

Of the remaining theologians Garrett examined, he said three did not position themselves about Calvinism in their writing—Paul Fiddes, Stanley Grenz and Nigel G. Wright. One, Roger Olson, he identified as “the principal Baptist advocate of Arminianism.”

In his presentation at Howard Payne—a condensed version of a chapter from an upcoming book—he dealt most thoroughly with Piper and Nettles.

Jonathan Edwards' Influence

Jonathan Edwards—the 18th century pastor-theologian perhaps best known for his “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” hellfire sermon—profoundly shaped Piper’s theology—particularly regarding the doctrine of God, Garrett noted.

“There is a sense in which Piper’s theology consists of only one doctrine—the doctrine of God,” he said. “It’s the supremacy and the glory of God, even more than his sovereignty, that is central to Piper’s theology.”

Garrett noted with interest the controversy that arose in 2005 when Piper advocated that his congregation, Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minn., adopt a policy of open baptism—granting membership to Christians who gave evidence of conversion but who were sprinkled as infants.

“John Piper, who has expanding and far-reaching influence as a pastor-theologian in the God-glorifying school of Edwards, has increasingly demonstrated that he is first evangelical and Reformed and second Baptist,” Garrett said.

Nettles—professor of historical theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.—simultaneously advanced the causes of inerrancy and Calvinism in Southern Baptist ranks, beginning in the early 1980s, Garrett noted.

Nettles blamed Mullins, Scarborough

“Nettles laid the blame for the demise of Dortian Calvinism among Southern Baptists on E.Y. Mullins for his theological methodology in which experience overshadowed the Scriptures and on L.R. Scarborough for his evangelistic methodology centering on what Nettles called ‘decisional regeneration,’” Garrett said.

Mullins was president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Scarborough was president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, both in the early 20th century.

“Nettles seems to embrace the domino theory,” Garrett observed. “That is, if the doctrines of Dortian Calvinism should be rejected and not be allowed to be the fountainhead of all theology, then theological crises, nonevangelical positions and process theology would be the result.”

Directors of Associated Baptist Press honored the Baptist General Convention of Texas and announced a $100,000 matching-funds challenge from a Texas Baptist family during a meeting in San Antonio. The BGCT has long been one of the major financial supporters of the independent Baptist news service. Executive Editor Greg Warner announced a $100,000 matching-funds challenge from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation. The foundation has promised to match all individual donations to the news service, up to $100,000, until the end of 2008. John and Eula Mae Baugh’s granddaughter, Jackie Moore of San Antonio, serves as an ABP director and on the Baugh Foundation board.

Scholarship application deadline soon. The Baptist History & Heritage Society is offering a $1,000 scholarship to a university or seminary student doing research in Baptist studies. Any student interested in applying for the scholarship must submit an application packet postmarked by May 1. It should include the student’s name, address, phone number and e-mail address; the name of the school, course and professor in which the student is engaged in research in Baptist historical studies; and a 250-word description of the research project. The student also must commit to prepare and submit to the Baptist History & Heritage Society, within one year of completing the research, a 3,500-word article for consideration for publication in the society’s journal, Baptist History and Heritage, and/or for placement on the society’s website. The student’s application also must include an endorsement letter from the student’s professor supporting both the student and the research project being conducted by the student.

Richmond seminary announces layoffs. Four full-time professors and at least three administrative staff members at Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond will be cut in an effort to reduce costs, said seminary President Ron Crawford, who was elected to his position about a year ago. Though he did not release the names of the professors to be dismissed, Crawford said he has communicated with each one, and the school is offering severance packages that exceed a full year’s salary and full personnel benefits. The 19-year old seminary is burdened with a $6 million debt and faces a significant deficit in its budget this year—about $450,000 out of a $3.6 million budget.

Criswell trustees squelch rumor. Criswell College trustees put to rest a rumor that the college—started by First Baptist Church of Dallas in 1975—would become part of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s undergraduate program. Trustees voted without dissent that the college would not become part of the seminary. Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Seminary, served 17 years as president of Criswell College.

Mercer trustees approve strategic plan. Mercer University ’s trustees approved a 10-year strategic plan for the university that calls for more than $1.2 billion in new investments in the institution’s endowment, faculty and staff, facilities and technology, and academic and co-curricular programs over the next decade. The plan will be funded through aggressive expansion of Mercer’s endowment from approximately $200 million today to more than $1 billion by 2018, and by developing new academic programs and other initiatives that generate additional revenue for the institution.

Dickson named dean of Mercer music school. John Dickson of Texas Tech has been appointed dean of Mercer University’s Townsend School of Music. Dickson served previously as professor of conducting and associate dean for doctoral studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s School of Church Music. He is former minister of music and worship at Second Baptist Church in Lubbock

New England Baptists seek expatriates. The Baptist Convention of New England is celebrating 50 years of Southern Baptist work in New England and 25 years as a constituted state convention. The celebration will culminate at the convention’s annual meeting Nov. 13-15 in Marlboro, Mass. As part of the anniversary observance, New England Baptists want to get in touch with Texans who served there in the past. Texas Baptists who served in New England are encouraged to send contact information to bcne25@bcne.net. For more information, visit www.bcne.net.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP) —Weary travelers stand alongside a river somewhere in South America’s Amazon Basin.

After three hours of trying to maneuver upstream by motorboat to a remote village, Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries grudgingly accept the realization that the day’s journey has ended.

A metal boat carrying Southern Baptist missionaries cruises up river to a remote village in the Amazon Basin. (Photo/IMB)

Shallow waters, exposed rocks, tree limbs and a rough current that nearly capsized the boat won’t allow them to go any farther.

Score a victory for the Amazon.

Thousands of miles of dense jungle create a daunting wall for Christians who want to take the gospel to this area. For some of the people groups in remote areas, their only hope to hear about Jesus is through faithful Christians praying the gospel message will reach them.

More than 400 people groups—roughly 26 million people—live in the Amazon Basin. Of that number, 270 people groups are less than 2 percent evangelical, with no IMB missionaries living among them.

About 85 of the people groups survive completely isolated, deep in the jungle. Some groups have been spotted only by satellite.

Two key factors keep these groups unreached by the gospel. The government prohibits missionaries from having access to them. And most of these groups live in areas considered too dangerous for outsiders.

Dangers include guerilla fighters, hostile tribes, poor flying conditions, crumbling or nonexistent roads and unpredictable waters.

Over the years, many missionaries have lost their lives attempting to take the gospel to these isolated peoples.

One of the most well-known incidents occurred in 1956—recounted in the 2006 movie, The End of the Spear—when a group of Huaorani Indians in eastern Ecuador killed Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming and their missionary jungle pilot, Nate Saint.

But not all was lost among the Huaorani.

“When (those five missionaries) died, it really raised up a host of prayer warriors (who) began to pray for the Huaorani,” said Russ Bare, an IMB missionary and Texas native who leads work among indigenous people in Ecuador.

“Today, we have many Huaorani believers. There is power when God’s people pray.”

Many Southern Baptists are joining other Christians globally in prayer and fasting for world evangelization on Pentecost Sunday, May 11.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)—Pat Townsend admits she’s living outside her comfort zone.

Between the bugs, mud and freezing showers, Townsend, a missionary with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board’s Masters Program, admits it could take her awhile to adjust to life in and around the Amazon Basin of South America.

A boy peers around the corner of his house in the Amazon Basin. Some children live in isolated areas where outsiders cannot reach them. Their only hope to hear about Jesus is through the prayers of faithful Christians for the gospel to reach their villages. (Photo/IMB)

“The bugs haven’t been as bad as I anticipated,” Townsend, 56, said. “I’ve asked people to pray for me about the bugs.”

Townsend and her husband, Mike, 59, left the comforts of retirement and their home in Mississippi to work among the southern Shuar people for two to three years. Fewer than 2 percent of these 15,000 people are evangelical Christians.

Religion for many southern Shuar blends worshipping spirits with Catholicism. Some Christian workers say that’s an all-too-common practice among indigenous people groups of South America.

“They will take some of the classic religion (Catholicism) and then mix it with their own (animistic) beliefs,” said Russ Bare, who leads indigenous work in Ecuador. “And then you just get a hodgepodge of mixed-up beliefs.”

Couples like the Townsends are a godsend to Bare.

“I think it’s great that people with good health, in this part of their lives, would make themselves available to go to someplace like the Amazon Basin to reach a people like the southern Shuar with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

During their first days among the Shuar, the Townsends explored the territory. They took boat rides up and down the river to nearby villages and they hiked up to one of the waterfalls.

For the Shuar, waterfalls have an unusual purpose.

Evaristo, president of several Shuar villages, noted many of his people go to waterfalls to take hallucinogenic drugs to see visions they believe will reveal more about their god or gods.

Fortunately, the southern Shuar live in areas where missionaries like the Townsends can reveal the God of the Bible to them.

Mike Townsend, however, admits it will take more than a missionary presence to change the hearts of the southern Shuar.

“For anybody to be successful with the Shuar, God will have to work” among them, he said. “The Holy Spirit will have to do some things for them to see and understand he is the true and one God. I trust he will do that.”

RICHMOND, Va. (ABP)—Faced with “worrisome” financial challenges, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond will downsize its faculty and staff, the school’s president announced.

Four full-time professors and at least three administrative staff members will be let go in an effort to reduce costs, said seminary President Ron Crawford, who was elected to his position about a year ago. Though he did not release the names of the professors to be dismissed, Crawford said he has communicated with each one, and the school is offering severance packages that exceed a full year’s salary and full personnel benefits.

The 19-year old seminary is burdened with a $6 million debt and faces a significant deficit in its budget this year—about $450,000 out of an overall budget of $3.6 million, Crawford said in a statement distributed to the school’s alumni and supporters.

“Our immediate fiscal challenge is related to the capital campaign that was completed last summer as I became BTSR’s president,” he said. “The campaign included the purchase of two buildings along with two unanticipated financial challenges: significant debt and a payroll that overreaches annual revenues.”

BTSR, which enrolls about 160 students, currently employs 15 full-time professors and about 16 administrative staff, including the president and dean of the faculty. About 14 visiting and adjunct faculty members also teach classes.

The school’s campus is adjacent to Union Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian institution, and the seminary owns buildings that once housed Union’s Presbyterian School of Christian Education.

At a meeting in mid-March, BTSR’s board of trustees asked Crawford to devise a downsizing plan and present it at a called trustee meeting in late April. The president informed the seminary community of the developments at a March 28 meeting of faculty, staff and students.

“Once the downsizing is complete we will be left with a tenured faculty member in each of the disciplines we have traditionally covered, with the exception of one, where a visiting professor will be employed,” said Crawford. “With nine full-time faculty members, at least three visiting professors and other adjunct faculty members, we will continue to have a profoundly strong faculty.”

Crawford also said that the reduced faculty will have less impact on BTSR than it would on most seminaries. The school is part of the Richmond Theological Consortium, which includes Union Seminary and its School of Christian Education, as well as the school of theology at nearby Virginia Union University, a historically African-American Baptist institution. Students in the consortium’s schools may take courses at any of the institutions for no additional cost.

“On the administrative side, we are losing three and a half positions,” Crawford said. “Our idea is to replace full-time support staff with part-time students. We’ll train the students on the business inner-workings of a nonprofit, church environment. It should be a win-win.”

Founded in 1989, BTSR was one of the first institutions established by moderates who began leaving the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s and 90s. Though a number of other moderate seminaries and divinity schools have sprouted since then, many former Southern Baptists still retain passion for the first one, and Crawford is counting on that to get BTSR through the financial strain.

“I continue to say, ‘The future of BTSR is very bright, the short-term is worrisome,’” he noted. “BTSR will survive and, eventually, thrive. We fully anticipate going through a few very lean years. We will use the time to restructure and refocus our efforts on responding to the challenge of providing theological education in a 21st century world.”