The Mike Law Amendment is one of the biggest votes at the SBC convention this year (currently slated for Wednesday morning at 10:05am at the Indiana Convention Center). But where did the Amendment come from, what are the main issues, and what are the larger issues at play? This article is your one-stop-shop, complete with links for deeper dives. After three videos of support from Albert Mohler, Mark Dever, and Heath Lambert, we offer more than a dozen pertinent articles, concluding with an Amendment Guide specifically for messengers at the SBC convention. We will be handing these out in Indianapolis, where we hope to see many of you.
For all who read this, please pray for the Southern Baptist Convention and its ongoing and increased fidelity to all of God’s Word.
Videos of Support
Background
- Mr. Smith Goes to the Convention By Megan Basham – How the Law Amendment began with a regular SBC Pastor, Mike Law, and an unresponsive Credentials Committee.
- Is the Slippery Slope Actually Slippery? Egalitarianism and the Open-and-Affirming Position By Colin Smothers – How accepting female pastors theologically paves the way for LGBTQ+ acceptance, documented by LGBTQ+ writers themselves.
- How Many Female Pastors are in the SBC? By Kevin McClure – Approximately 1,844 female pastors serving in 1,225 SBC churches show why the Law Amendment is necessary to pass.
- The SBC Credentials Committee Does Not Recommend Removal of Church that Affirms Female Senior Pastors By Denny Burk – Proof that the SBC Credentials Committee has failed to act for years on a full-blown egalitarian Church.
Arguments in Favor
- Stand Where the World Stands Against Us By Jonathan Leeman and Juan Sanchez – In our cultural moment, a confused and increasing trans-gender world needs to know the truth of God’s beautiful design for men and women.
- Three Reasons to Pass the Law Amendment By Heath Lambert – Pass the Law Amendment to avoid confusion, embrace conviction, and bring closure to this debated issue.
- A Personal Appeal to SBC Messengers on the Law Amendment By Mike Law – A call to adopt the Amendment for the sake of the SBC’s fidelity, clarity, and unity.
- An Exegetical and Theological Case For Male-Only Pastors by Michael Clary – From Eden until today, God’s created order for men and women remains the same.
- In Support of the Law Amendment: A Call to Confessional Fidelity by Blake White – The issues comes down to what the Bible says, what the Baptist Faith and Message says, what Baptist history says, and what a compromise here will mean for the future generation.
- Passing the Law Amendment: A Defining Moment for the SBC by Michael Crosswhite – why do the opponents of the Law Amendment often begin their arguments touting their complementarian convictions only to say that they oppose the very Amendment that upholds their convictions? Something is wrong.
Addressing Arguments Against
- A Taxonomy of Bad Arguments Against the Law-Sanchez Amendment By Jason Gray – Addressing ad hominems, red herrings, emotional appeals, and irrelevant argument.
- Complementarian Confessional Conflagration by Denny Burk – At the end of the day, at least some people oppose the Law Amendment because they are willing to cooperate in the SBC with churches that have female pastors. This article addresses five such arguments.
- Curious Objections to the Law Amendment by Mark Coppenger – Responding to twelve strange arguments made against the Law Amendment.
Additional Factors Affecting the Amendment
- The SBC Isn’t Drifting, It’s Being Steered: A Sober-Minded Response to Emotional Sabotage by Michael Carlino – Emotional sabotage has steered and shaped many of the major decisions of the Southern Baptist Convention from the early 2020s to the present. How? Keep reading.
- The Perils of Procrustean Triage: Redefining the Debate on Women’s Ordination by David Attebury – Female pastors are often called a “secondary issue,” but are there some secondary issues that dig away at first-tier issues?
- “The Power And Duty of An Association”: Have Baptist Associations Historically Disfellowshipped Disorderly Churches? By Caleb Morell – Some have claimed that the Law Amendment will infringe on local church autonomy. But what have Baptist associations historically done when a local church has gone off the rails?
2024 SBC Amendment Guide
