Crossing the Line

A number of the scholars that I have been attracted to have been described as “Catholic-Baptists.” Look at some of my pervious postings and you will see what I mean. They are born and raised Baptists who hold to many of the time-tested convections of Baptist life, yet liturgically, theologically, and ecclesiology yearn for something more. It seems that they are yearning for a depth and a richness that many would perceive to be lacking in the greater Baptist movement. Hence the push for sacramentality in Baptist life. In many ways I agree with these scholars. I agree that our ecclesiology could use development and depth. I agree that we could be more honest with what is happening in our worship (i.e. the actions of the Holy Spirit), and should claim the sacramentality that is already occurring. I agree that we become to immersed in our own understanding of the Word rather than how God is speaking to us through the Word. I agree on many points with these “Catholic-Baptist” folks. Yet there are times when I feel they may go to far.
I am thinking in particular of John Colwell’s book Promise and Presence: An Exploration of Sacramental Theology. Colwell admits that he is crossing a line with his thoughts and suggestions. While for the most part I do not think he needs to be so hard on himself, there is one place where I would halt his progress – ordination (granted, this is the area that I am working on, so there may be a reason that I quibble with Colwell on this particular issue). Colwell speaks in favor for viewing ordination as a calling by God, a promise by God to work through the minister as an agent and instrument of God’s grace. It is, for Colwell, an ontological change that is indelible. Competence to preach and administer the Sacraments can only come from God. This is where I get uneasy. Colwell uses the imagery of the minister as a midwife birthing the growth of the church, and that is an image I like. Yet the idea of an ontological change which is indelible, the idea that competence comes from God leans to far towards the Catholics. My struggle is saying why. We claim that God gives us gifts, and perhaps the gifts to do ministry come from God: competence. We claim that we are all changed through our baptism (while Colwell makes this claim, he does not stress it as strongly as others do, especially in the Catholic circles). What I think concerns me is the idea that the minister is called to a ministry of Word and Sacrament. This is not something, at least to my knowledge, that is a part of the Baptist movement. It feels like a transplant from the reformed/ Presbyterian tradition. Perhaps that is the rub, the understanding of the purpose of ministry. This is something I will have to think about and study further.
Another reason why I may find myself hesitant from joining whole-heartedly this “Baptist-Catholic” movement is because of the method. So far, the majority of the folks that I have read have been offering a top-down theology. Granted, some have used the patristic, but that is top-down for most Baptists. I want to offer a bottom-up theology. I want to offer a theology that is based on theory, but also and what Baptist have been doing and are continuing to do, and how God’s presence can be found within such actions. I think the difference is from offering new or different theories and approaches to ecclesiology (as the Baptist-Catholics are doing), or offering a nuanced articulation of what is already happening (as I hope to do). With such an approach, hopefully I will not cross the line to something that can no longer be recognized as Baptist.