Southern Baptists On The Warpath!!!

500 Rabid Southern Baptists Will Descend Upon Us!

From: The Christian Post Reporter
October 26, 2007:

The North American Mission Board (NAMB), the Southern Baptist Convention's domestic mission agency, intends to certify as many as 500 new apologetics instructors, charging them to defend the truth and credibility of the Christian faith.

Apologetics has absolutely nothing to do with apologizing. In a way, apologetics is the very opposite of apologizing. These guys are an assault of the senses: “We are right! We are True! Cursed be those who do not heed us!” Ann Coulter is an apologist (of sorts).

Apologetics is more important than ever in today’s culture, said Dr. Mark A. Rathel, associate professor of theology and philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida and who was recently qualified as the first CAI [Certified Apologetics Instructor]. Movies such as "The Da Vinci Code" have done much to foster doubt about the reliability of the Bible, he noted.

Ah, the Da Vinci Code …again. Dan Brown is a veritable demon from hell! He is the Anti-Christ! He will feed on your souls!

Or maybe he’s just a guy who wrote an interesting piece of fiction.
Aside: How strong is a faith that needs to attack a piece of fiction once every week for four years? Give it a rest. Six months after Brown’s book came out there were two dozen refuting it. Thou dost protest waaaay too much.

“Christianity is under so much attack today,” Rathel said, according to NAMB. “I feel this will be a way to answer questions for unbelievers and at the same time, give believers more confidence and make them better witnesses.”

Just who is under attack? Christianity, or the people who think fundamentalists are crazy?

NAMB's new effort of certifying instructors takes the burden off pastors who are already stretched in their pastoral ministry and have little time to be trained in apologetics and to also train their congregations. The CAI program takes Southern Baptists who already have a passion for teaching apologetics to the next level both in knowledge and communication skills. These instructors will then train Southern Baptists in the area of apologetics and interfaith evangelism.

In other words, the CAI makes them certifiable. Great. Interfaith evangelism? Does that include beating a Muslim over the head with your Bible? Should Baptists look into Torquemada tactics for some good ole forced conversions?

From the Baptist Faith and Message (about scripture):

It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.

Inerrantists. Young Earth Creationists. Literalists.

Beware. They’re also members of the NRA.