Resolution on the Incompatibility of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality with The Baptist Faith and Message

All Southern Baptist Church members are invited to join the undersigned as an official submitter of this resolution. You do NOT have to be a messenger to the Nashville meeting to be an official submitter, but you must be a member of an SBC church that is qualified to send messengers.

WHEREAS, The Baptist Faith and Message states, “Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality…” (Article XV); and 

WHEREAS, The Baptist Faith and Message states that Scripture “will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried” (Article I); and 

WHEREAS, the inclusion of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, since the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in Birmingham, Ala., has brought confusion and division among its churches by describing Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality as analytical tools that are helpful to explain how racism functions in society and how to evaluate human experiences; and 

WHEREAS, Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality are ideologies rooted in Neo-Marxist and postmodern worldviews, by which our civilization is being deconstructed around our families, communities, and nations, which make them incompatible with Scripture as they are characterized by worldly “philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col 2:8); and 

WHEREAS, Critical Race Theory collectively designates people by their social identity groups (e.g., people of color, women, homosexuals, and transgenders) which views people “according to the flesh” (2 Cor 5:16); and  

WHEREAS, Intersectionality combines gender, sex, sexuality, and a myriad of other identity-related concepts in order to allocate power, positions, revenue, and opportunities in such ways that are contrary to objective biblical standards of justice (Lev 19:15; Deut 16:19-20); and  

WHEREAS, Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality contradict The Baptist Faith and Message which states, “The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love” (Article III); and

WHEREAS, Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality emphasize a view of humanity that fails to properly recognize the sinful nature of man, focusing upon collective guilt as opposed to the emphasis on individual responsibility in The Baptist Faith and Message, which states that all who “are capable of moral action” have “become transgressors and are under condemnation” (Article III); and

WHEREAS, the Bible instructs Christians not to separate ourselves into groups based upon ethnicity, socio-economic status, or gender (Gal 3:28 and James 2:1, 9), teaching instead that all men and women are created equal in the image of God (Gen 1:25-27) and have descended from Adam and Eve, the biological progenitors of the whole human race (Acts 17:26), and are all sinners (Rom 3:23), and The Baptist Faith and Message declares that “only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God” (Article III); now, therefore, be it 

RESOLVED, that the messengers to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Nashville, Tenn., June 15-16, 2021, affirm the portion of the Nov. 20, 2020, statement from the Council of Seminary Presidents that states “affirmation of Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality and any version of Critical Theory is incompatible with the Baptist Faith & Message;” and be it further

RESOLVED, that we deny that any analytical tools can aid in evaluating a variety of human experiences if those analytical tools are themselves rooted in worldviews incompatible with the Word of God; and be it further

RESOLVED that we reaffirm our agreement with historic, biblically-faithful Southern Baptist condemnations of racism in any and all forms and our agreement with The Baptist Faith and Message which states “that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love” (Article III); and be it finally 

RESOLVED that we reaffirm our absolute conviction that a proper interpretation of the Holy Scriptures — apart from any worldly ideology, any personal identity trait, or any lived experience — is sufficient to serve as the sole standard by which our faith and practice are to be measured.

Mike Stone

Emmanuel Baptist Church, Blackshear, GA 

Lewis Richerson  

Woodlawn Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, LA

Tom Buck 

First Baptist Church Lindale, TX

To be an official submitter of this resolution to the Southern Baptist Convention: 
 
1. Complete the “SBC Credentials for Resolution Submittal” form. (Required by the SBC) 
 
2. Upload your completed submittal document using the form below no later than Thursday, May 27. Upon verification, the authors of this resolution will add your name to the official submission.