GARBC

^{Note: The following resolution was passed at the 2008 GARBC Conference, held June 24-27, 2008, in Ankeny, Iowa.}
As a result of God’s sovereign choice, the people of Israel are beloved for the sake of the patriarchs (Romans 11:28). God entrusted them as a people with His oracles (3:2). He adopted them as sons; He revealed to them His glory; He brought them into a covenantal relationship with Himself; and He blessed them with the Torah, the temple service, and the promises (9:4). Also, the people of Israel are the ones through whom the Messiah, Who is over all, entered into this world according to the flesh (9:5).

These gifts of God to Israel and His sovereign election of this people are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Thus, God most certainly has not cast them away (11:1), nor has He renounced His promise that the Land belongs to the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob forever (Genesis 13:15; Exodus 6:8).

In light of these Biblical truths, we reaffirm our steadfast adherence to our Articles of Faith that express our shared belief “in the sovereign selection of Israel as God’s eternal covenant people” (Article XVIII).

by Kevin T. Bauder

If a “young fundamentalist” is under 35 years of age, then not many of today’s young fundamentalists can recall the public ministry of Joseph Stowell II. Stowell began his ministry during the 1930s. After several pastorates, he served the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC) as its national representative, retiring in 1979. After his retirement, he was rarely visible in public ministry. Today, when people hear the name of Joseph Stowell, they most likely think of his son, the former president of Moody Bible Institute. At one time, however, Joseph Stowell II was one of the best-known and most respected figures in the fundamentalist world. On Saturday, June 23, 2007, he passed into eternity.

Stowell retired from the GARBC the same year I went to seminary. I heard him preach several times at my college, where he was a highly respected figure. He was one of the last of the old pulpit orators. American pulpit delivery changed during the 1940s and 1950s, as pastors and evangelists began to mimic the cadences of the radio announcer. Stowell never made that shift. When he preached, he modeled an older manner of declamation, measuring his pronouncements in a resonant, stentorian voice. To hear Stowell preach was to experience a vanished age.

The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches has been in a controversy about Cedarville University ever since the school accepted endorsement by the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio. This endorsement provided Cedarville with a formal link to Southern Baptist circles that paralleled its relationship of approval and partnering in Regular Baptist circles. Though both Regular Baptists and Southern Baptists are formally committed to the fundamentals of the faith, they are different in important ways. One difference is their attitude toward church leaders who deny the fundamentals. The GARBC has not been willing to tolerate churches that deny fundamentals of the faith. It has not even been willing to tolerate churches that tolerate others who deny fundamentals. It has separated from apostates and from those who were willing to fellowship with them.
The Southern Baptist Convention has a more ambivalent attitude. Though Southern Baptist conservatives have controlled the presidency and thereby shifted the operational control of Convention agencies into the hands of conservatives, they have made no recognizable attempt to expunge apostates from the denomination. Liberal professors and ecclesiastics simply regrouped under the shelter of state conventions or ad‐hoc organizations while remaining within the Southern Baptist fold.

By Tom Pryde (in black) and Ken Fields (in red)