Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 13:4 (Fall 1999)
Article: Why I Didn’t Sign The Southern Baptist Family Statement
Author: Alan Brehm

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PP 13:4 (Fall 1999) p. 10

Why I Didn’t Sign The Southern Baptist Family Statement

Alan Brehm

Alan Brehm is a former assistant professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. This article originally appeared as a letter to the Editor of the Star-Telegram (March 19, 1999) and is reprinted with the author’s permission.

I’m really not against the family—honest. Just ask my wonderful wife of 18 years and my three (great) kids.

I’m really not against the Bible—really. I spent 13 years working toward a doctorate so that I could teach the Bible as a Southern Baptist seminary professor. What I am against is the disgusting and deceptive way that some use the Bible to oppress and manipulate faithful, honest church folks.

The Southern Baptist Convention’s recent “statement on the family,” which faculty members at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary were asked to sign, presents a case in point. One of its more controversial parts says that husbands should provide for, protect and lead the family. The wife should submit graciously to her husband’s “servant leadership,” manage the household and nurture the kids.

Yes, it actually says wives should run the house and take care of the kids.

What it boils down to is another shot fired in the culture war ensnaring our society. The “powers that be” among Southern Baptists would like nothing better than to drag our society—kicking and screaming if necessary—back to the 1950s. In fact, one critic called the SBC statement the “June Cleaver” approach to motherhood.

But what looks good on the surface may simply serve as a mask for a darker reality. I doubt that the ‘50s were as pure, wholesome or “Christian” as religious right-wingers claim.

Do you really think that all our social and moral problems began with the ‘60s? I have a hard time believing that sexual abuse, pornography, child abuse and domestic violence—not to mention the more obvious problems, like racism, greed and dishonesty— grew to such epidemic levels only recently.

In the process of this highly political campaign, Southern Baptist leaders didn’t think twice about doing what they do so often: twisting the Bible to make their point. (Why let Holy Writ get in the way of a good sermon?)

To understand the Bible’s teaching about the family, you have to look at the historical background. A text without a context is a pretext, as is sometimes said.

In the first-century world, the man of the family had absolute authority. His wife, children and slaves had no choice but to obey him.

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Baptist Faith & Message Article XVIII. T...

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