In the name of the Father : the rhetoric of the new Southern Baptist Convention / Carl L. Kell, L. Raymond Camp ; with a foreword by Kenneth Chafin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kell, Carl L.

Contributor:

Camp, L. Raymond.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Southern Baptist Convention--History--20th century.

Southern Baptist Convention.

Conservatism--Religious aspects--Southern Baptist Convention--History of doctrines--20th century.

Conservatism.

Conservatism--Religious aspects--Southern Baptist Convention.

History.

Physical Description:

xv, 176 pages : portraits ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, [1999]

Summary:

At the watershed Southern Baptist Convention of 1979, moderate forces fell before the powerful oratory of the ultra-conservative faction, which has remained in power ever since. Communication professors Carl L. Kell and L. Raymond Camp investigate the rhetorical shift from moderate to ultra-conservative in the post-1979 Southern Baptist Convention, the largest denomination in the South and the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.

Drawing on sermons delivered at national conventions from 1979 to the present, Kell and Camp outline the discourses of fundamentalism, inerrancy, and exclusion. These discourses, the authors assert, point to the SBC leaders' call for a return to times before liberalism, feminism, and tolerance of varying sexual orientations allegedly brought chaos to society and shook believers from their theological foundations.

Viewing the work of preacher "warrior" James Draper as the official doctrinal statement on inerrancy, Kell and Camp analyze Draper's Authority: The Critical Issue for Southern Baptists and hone in on the pulpit rhetoric of other key preachers in the SBC. As a counterpoint to the official position of the SBC on excluding women as denominational leaders, Kell and Camp examine at length the apologia rhetoric of Baptist Women in Ministry. They also confront another issue that sparks a firestorm of anger -- homosexuality.

In the Name of the Father will appeal to those interested in rhetoric, religion, and contemporary culture.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-172) and index.

ISBN:

080932220X

OCLC:

39522853