The Regional Baptist Bible Unions -- By: Anonymous

Journal: Central Bible Quarterly
Volume: CENQ 08:1 (Spring 1965)
Article: The Regional Baptist Bible Unions
Author: Anonymous


The Regional Baptist Bible Unions

The Southern States

In the South the Baptist Bible Union was an exotic plant. From the beginning of the movement there had been a definite attempt to enlist Southern participation. The decision to hold the first annual meeting at Kansas City was an expression of this attempt. Yet this study-has found no evidence of one state organization being formed in the South. Several churches seem to have had many members in the Union and to have adopted the confession of faith. At two annual conventions, 1925 and 1926, the Bible Union had powerful influence. But the program in the South seems never to have had widespread appeal, and its impact was temporary. The shooting of Chipps in 1926 apparently ended the program in the South altogether.

There are several reasons for this failure. The South was reputed to be orthodox, and while there were modernists in the Southern convention, they had nothing like the power of their northern counterparts. Again, there was the congenital Southern suspicion of anything having roots in the North. Third, it appears that there was no very strong premillennial sentiment among the Southern Baptists, and the Bible Union was identified with premillennialism (all disavowals to the contrary). Fourth, the Bible Union was so strong in its protests that it was

never very far from separatism; but the literature of the period conveys no notion of separatism within the ranks of the Southern convention. Finally, the Bible Union came to be identified with J. Frank Norris.

From the very beginning the Bible Union had been under attack in the South for three of the above reasons: it was not needed, it was separatistic, and it was pre-millennial. On their side, the Bible Union men seem to have regarded their Southern brethren with esteem, and they testified that their only reason for not endorsing the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board was concern lest their endorsement embarrass the board. The leaders seem to have had a high regard for the outstanding preachers among the Southern Baptists, and they appear to have invited them often both to Bible Union conferences and to supply their pulpits.

In 1924 three southerners were elected to the executive committee; J. W. Porter, A. C Dixon, and J. Frank Norris. Norris seems to be the only one of the three who attempted to promote the Bible Union in the South, and from a series of meetings in Houston he wrote Shields, “The church is going to adopt the confession of faith of the Baptist Bible Union. This will be done this coming Sunday. There have been multitudes converted and over six hundred additions to the First Baptist Church and more than twelve hundred prospects have come as a result of t...

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