“Some of the strongest reactions were African Americans in the blogosphere…And to take a little bit of a tangent here, and I’ll get back, the loudest voices in the conservative evangelical world, in my estimation right now, are your older, white reformed voices…And you’ve got some African Americans who so idolize that – what some people would call white idolization – that they then feel as if they’ve got to be the voice for black culture to speak against people like T.D. Jakes. So what happens is, you kind of prop them up.
Bryan Loritts: When the truth of the matter is, the term ‘black’ is very complex…….We’re different, we’re different. So my concern is, African Americans, a small minority speaking against Jakes, and then leveraging that in the white theological world for some of these older white theologians….”James MacDonald: “What would they be leveraging it for?”
Bryan Loritts: “To fit into their circles….”
James MacDonald: “Opportunity…?”
Bryan Loritts: “We want to be in their circles. And so we’ll allow ourselves to used as a puppet. That is my perception of some of this backlash.”
James MacDonald chairs a discussion of the second Elephant Room event and gets an interesting response from one of the attendees.
H/T: Phil Johnson at Pyromaniacs
There are 6 Comments
These comments are ridiculous beyond belief...
So now, "some of this backlash" is from black pastors, etc. who want to be accepted by MacArthur, Piper, Dever, et.al.??? Seriously?!?!?!??!? The "small minority" can't actually be theologically astute enough to see that Jakes is wrong? They're just looking for the big Reformed guys to throw a bone or two of recognition or opportunity? Has Loritts got any idea what he saying? How utterly disappointing. Instead of trying to engage the points of disagreement he pulls the race card. I don't expect him to be a conservative but to flame opposition to Jakes as opportunistic is pretty low.
How long does MacDonald get a pass for this kind of stuff?
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Cynical
After observing politics for a good number of years, when any black leader of any sort is criticized in any way, "playing the race card" becomes the knee-jerk standard operating procedure. I don't know who Bryan Loritts is, and I really don't care. Apparantly this man has an axe to grind. Don't give him a wheel!
Carson and Keller
Carson and Keller wrote a very thorough article on the Elephant Room that I don't believe has been posted yet. In point #5, they address the concerns of African Americans in TGC that ER was way too easy on Jakes. I thought it was interesting that they accused TGC of spending all its time discussing "white" theological problems, and not tackling the theological foibles of the African American community.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/02/03/carson-and-keller-on-...
My Blog: http://dearreaderblog.com
Cor meum tibi offero Domine prompte et sincere. ~ John Calvin
I was discussing the
I was discussing the Carson/Keller article and agreed with a friend that while it did say more than other responses it seemed, by and far, more reflective of the issues which are being struggled with rather than offering an effective remedial critique, though a few corrective elements were present. This is what I believe is necessary to fully address the issue and light or suggestive remedies will simply permit similar conflicts in the future. I have a 5 part series already written with part-one posted at my blog and it hopes to robustly tackle the remedial aspects. It examines the underlying construct which encourages, even passively permits, these kinds of conflicts.
My blog: http://thepedestrianchristian.blogspot.com/
Carson/Keller fundamentalists?
How many times have evangelicals refused to actually engage with the issues with appeals to love and unity? Are these men actually telling us that love and unity is not sufficient grounds to ignore important issues?
http://mindrenewers.com/
Doran
Dr. Doran http://gloryandgrace.dbts.edu/?p=641 ]weighs in :
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells