There was a lot going on at the Southern Baptist Convention this week, including an important presidential election, the commissioning of missionaries, and more. But perhaps the most talked-about item is Albert Mohler’s “Truth & Unity Amendment.” Dr. Mohler announced his intention to move this amendment just last month, and ever since then I have been laser-focused on doing all I can to help with the effort to get it across the finish line. The amendment would revise our constitution to specify that churches with female pastors or with women who preach to the gathered assembly are not in friendly cooperation with the convention. In other words, the amendment is…

Let me just say up front that my title is intentionally provocative, and I offer it with a bit of a tongue-in-cheek. After all, who does Denny Burk think he is to pose as the authoritative interpreter of an amendment penned by someone else? The truth is that I’m actually not an authority in that sense because I’m not the author. Having said that, I do know what the author intended. But perhaps just as important, I know something of how the grammar and syntax of the proposal point toward a very specific meaning (pun intended). So for those of you nerdy enough to get down into the weeds for…

The Southern Baptist Convention is gearing up for a debate over the office of pastor next month. This is due in no small part to the Truth and Unity Amendment, a measure that Albert Mohler is moving to make sure that cooperating churches agree with what the Bible teaches about the office of pastor. As I have watched preliminary debate online, I have seen opponents try to sow a lot of confusion about what this amendment actually does. For example, former Baptist and current egalitarian Mike Bird accuses Mohler of “theological duplicity” and argues that “the proposed amendment looks like a move designed specifically to associate maleness with power and…