Dr. James Willingham

While I did not get to read all of this give and take between Paul and Doug, I surely enjoyed what I read. Most people are careless readers (and I include myself among them at time for there is not one that does not slip now and then), and they are even more careless about trying to learn what really takes place in Church History. I was struck by the fact that the man who investigated Sandy Creek Church in 1771 just before Stearns died, Morgan Edwards pastor of FBC Philadelphia was on of the most educated of the Baptist ministers in the colonies (if not the most educated. He had attended Bristol College in England and was recommended to the FBC of Phila. by Dr. John Gill, the first Baptist theologian of note). Three yrs after he visited Sandy Creek and had written his history of NC Baptists, Edwards wrote a work which indicates that he had changed his mind on Women in ministry. When I delivered my address on the subject, “The Genius of Orthodoxy: Eldresses,” I had forgotten that I had taken notes on his second work. Even so I was able to work out a possible scenario for Stearns’ justification of women in ministry. It is found in Matthew Poole’s Commentary on the Holy Bible, III, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, which argues against women in ministry except she be specially called, gifted, and endowed. Years later I came across another Puritan who made essentially the same argument. The Puritans were the leading intellectuals of their day, and they were no slouches in the use of logic. What every one seems to forget about Stearns and Sandy Creek is that they were the offspring of the Puritans and Pilgrims, Calvinist to the core and more liberal than a hound’s tooth. And quite a joy to study. What is more they had the Power of God’s blessing on their efforts. We call thir origins, The First Great Awakening, and their effect, The Second Great Awakening, and they helped launch the Great Century of Missions with the help of another Puritan Baptist, Luther Rice, who said, “Predestination is in the Bible and you had better preach it.” NEITHER THE MODERATES NOR THE CONSERVATIVES SEEM TO CARE TWO HOOTS ABOUT WHAT I HAD WORKED OUT IN MY ADDRESS. BUT THE CHICKENS WILL COME HOME TO ROOST ONE OF THESE DAYS.