SBC19 Resolution #9 on Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality

By Stephen Feinstein

At this time yesterday, passions heated up at the Southern Baptist Annual Convention. The resolutions committee presented the messengers with Resolution #9, which ended up in a heated, yet short, debate. Presently, there is a lot of noise on social media over this. Many are speaking on this issue, and necessity lays the same mandate upon me.

Why should my voice be included? Simply put, I am the one who authored the resolution. My name is Stephen Feinstein, a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a pastor of Sovereign Way Christian Church in Hesperia, CA, and a Chaplain (MAJ) in the United States Army Reserves. Like many, I am alarmed at the proliferation of toxic, divisive, and satanic rhetoric designed to divide humanity and facilitate constant opposition in our society. Even worse, it has seeped into Bible colleges and some seminaries. I have had parents come to me for advice when their child came home from a conservative Bible college complaining about white privilege. I was present at the Shepherds Conference when my favorite evangelical leaders appeared to be divided on how to handle this issue.

Therefore, I determined after the Shepherds Conference that I would propose a resolution denouncing critical race theory and intersectionality. Well, on Wednesday morning, June 12, 2019, the messengers were given copies of the resolutions. Although I was stoked that my resolution was accepted, I also immediately noticed the committee severely altered what I had submitted. It is their right to do so. I have been asked to make public the resolution as I submitted it, and so I will do so here. I will not comment on it here, but simply post it. I plan on making a short video sharing my thoughts on the resolution as it now stands. I pray you will be gracious and patient with me. I had to set aside my blog four years ago due to a high workload. I have been wanting to jump back into it, and it seems that this issue is the catalyst. See the original resolution below.

Resolution Author: Stephen Feinstein

Sovereign Way Christian Church

Pastor(s): Stephen Feinstein; Brian Orr; Joshua Ritchie

Stephen Feinstein

pastorsteve@sovereignway.org

Sovereign Way Christian Church

15660 Juniper Street

Hesperia, CA 92345

760-948-3200

info@sovereignway.org

Website: https://sovereignway.org/

On Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality

WHEREAS, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy and 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; and

WHEREAS, critical race theory and intersectionality are founded upon unbiblical presuppositions descended from Marxist theories and categories, and therefore are inherently opposed to the Scriptures as the true center of Christian union; and

WHEREAS, both critical race theory and intersectionality as ideologies have infiltrated some Southern Baptist churches and institutions—institutions funded by the Cooperative Program; and

WHEREAS, critical race theory upholds postmodern relativistic understandings of truth; and

WHEREAS, critical race theory divides humanity into groups of oppressors and oppressed, and is used to encourage biblical, transcendental truth claims to be considered suspect when communicated from groups labeled as oppressors; and

WHEREAS, intersectionality defines human identity by race, social background, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and a host of other distinctions, and it does so at the expense of other identities; and

WHEREAS, intersectionality reduces human beings to distinguishable identities of unequal value and thus reduces human identity down to differences rather than commonality; and

WHEREAS, intersectionality encourages rage as its driving energy and conclusion; and

WHEREAS, intersectionality magnifies differences while deeming as more favorable the individuals who combine the highest number of oppressed identities; and

WHEREAS, both critical race theory and intersectionality breed division and deny humanity’s essential commonality; and

WHEREAS, the Scripture provides God’s narrative on such matters; and

WHEREAS, the book of Genesis grounds humanity in that which unites us, namely our common identity as the Imago Dei, which itself is the foundation of every biblical, ethical command to love one’s neighbor and to seek justice for all; and

WHEREAS, the Bible acknowledges differences—male and female, slave and free, Jew and Gentile—it does not begin with human differences, but instead begins with what unites humanity, namely the Imago Dei; and

WHEREAS, the sameness of humanity built upon the Imago Dei, justifies the value of all individuals in something that transcends race, gender, and other identity intersections; and

WHEREAS, the New Covenant further unites by creating a new humanity that will one day inhabit the new heavens and the new earth, and that the people of this new humanity, though descended from every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, are all one in Christ; and

WHEREAS, this new humanity is comprised of people from every ethnicity and race, of every socio-economic background and culture, and yet these people enter this new humanity through belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and

WHEREAS, Christian citizenship is not based on our differences but instead on our common salvation in Christ; and

WHEREAS, we find our true identity in Christ; and

WHEREAS, the Scriptures have categories and principles by which to deal with racism, sexism, injustice, abuse—principles found in prior Southern Baptist resolutions such as On The Anti-Gospel of Alt-Right White Supremacy, for example, that are not rooted in Marxist anti-gospel presuppositions; and

WHEREAS, the rhetoric of critical race theory and intersectionality found in some Southern Baptist institutions and leaders is causing unnecessary and unbiblical division among the body of Christ and is tarnishing the reputation of the Southern Baptist Convention as a whole, inviting charges of theological liberalism, egalitarianism, and Marxism; and

WHEREAS, the Southern Baptist Convention is committed to racial reconciliation built upon biblical presuppositions, and is committed to seeking biblical justice through biblical means; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, June 11-12, 2019, decry every philosophy or theology, including critical race theory and intersectionality, as antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, since they divide the people of Christ by defining fundamental identity as something other than our identity in Jesus Christ; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we deny any philosophy or theology that defines individuals primarily by non-transcendental social constructs rather than by the transcendental reality of all humans existing as the Imago Dei; and be it further

RESOLVED, That while we denounce critical race theory and intersectionality, we do not deny that ethnic, gender, cultural, and racial distinctions do in fact exist and are a gift from God that will give Him absolute glory when the entire gamut of human diversity worships Him in perfect unity founded upon our unity in Jesus Christ; and be it further

RESOLVED, That Southern Baptist Churches will seek to paint this eschatological picture in a proleptic manner in our churches in the present by focusing on our unity in Christ and our common humanity as the Imago Dei rather than dividing over the secondary matters than make us different; and be it further

RESOLVED, That Southern Baptists Churches and institutions will take a prophetic stand against all forms of biblically-defined injustice, but we will do so in a manner consistent with the biblical worldview rather than unbiblical worldviews; and be it further

RESOLVED, That Southern Baptist institutions need to make progress in rooting out the intentional promulgation of critical race theory and intersectionality in both our churches and institutions; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we earnestly pray, both for those who advocate ideologies meant to divide believers along intersectional lines and those who are thereby deceived, that they may see their error through the light of the Gospel, repent of these anti-Gospel beliefs, and come to know the peace and love of Christ through redeemed fellowship in the Kingdom of God, which is established from every nation, tribe, people, and language.