And now for a thread on how a baptist might try to deal with suspected liberalism, even if the concerns have to do with a seminary prof.

What would be a wise course of action that would obey Jesus?

The first step, it seems to me, would be to go to the person directly, in obedience to Matthew 18:15.

And if you're not satisfied? I'm going to assume that the people involved don't go to the same church.

So the next step would be to bring some other trusted people into the conversation.

Do other people who understand the issues agree with your concerns? If not, maybe you should pray and reconsider whether this is your problem.

But for the sake of discussion, let's say that the concerns are valid, and let's say that bringing others into the conversation doesn't bring satisfaction. What next?

One way to pursue academic concerns of faithfulness would be to write up an academic paper for publication.

But let's say you don't go the debate-in-publication route, and let's say that people who understand the issues have considered your concerns and think there could be something to them.

What would be a good next step?

Going back to the idea that the people involved are members of different churches, I think a good next move would be for the person(s) with concerns to take his/their pastor(s) to meet with the pastor(s) of the person whose orthodoxy is in question.

Jesus did say, after all, "I will build my church" (Matt 16:18).

I'm an evangelical, but he didn't say, I will build this movement called evangelicalism.

I teach at a seminary, but he didn't say, I will build seminaries.

So I think concerns like this need to be brought through the local church.

If you can't get your pastor on board with the idea that someone's orthodoxy is in question, maybe you should reconsider whether you're correct about that claim.

If you get your pastor on board, but the pastor(s) of the person whose orthodoxy you're challenging don't agree, maybe you take the matter to the local Baptist Association.

My point is that I think we should deal with these things through the church(es).

Get your pastor involved. If he disagrees with you, reconsider. Get the pastors of the person whose theology is in question involved. If they disagree, there are next steps.

But if they agree, then they can pastor the person.

What should pastors do if they become convinced that a member of their church lacks sound faith? They should seek to refute those who contradict and give instruction in sound doctrine.

If the pastors pastor, and the accused's pastor thinks the accused is in a better place, how should the one who raised the concerns respond?
"Love...does not insist on its own way...rejoices with the truth. Love...believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" 1C13

Let's say the pastors pastor and the accused does not come around, and the pastors conclude that the accused holds settled convictions against the church's statement of faith. What then?
Church discipline needs to happen. The church needs to go through the steps.

If someone doesn't hold to a church's statement of faith, they shouldn't be a member of that church. If the church does its job, the seminary will have to deal with a professor who has been excommunicated for theological unorthodoxy.

Let's consider what might happen if one prof is concerned that another prof is unorthodox, but the concerned does not go through the church but works up the chain of command at the school.

If the concerns are about a member of the same department, but the concerned is the only one with the concern, that is, if everyone else in the department has no concern, maybe there is no concern?
Or maybe the concerned should resign because the place is full of liberals.

If he moves on from the department to the dean, and the dean doesn't agree, then either the dean is a liberal too or maybe there isn't a concern at all.

If he goes on up from the dean to the vice president and then to the president, but none of them agree with the concerns, then either they are all willing to tolerate liberalism, or maybe the accused is within the school's doctrinal parameters.

For the sake of discussion, let's say you have a valid concern about genuine liberalism that really does transgress the school's statement of faith, but you've tried to go through the church and the chain of command, and nothing has worked. What then?

Well, the person with the concerns isn't going to be the only evangelical left in the land or in the constituency. If you want to bring a school back from liberalism, go study the conservative resurgence in the SBC.

The people who brought that about took their documented evidence of liberalism at the seminaries to the churches. The churches sent messengers to the annual meeting of the convention. Those messengers elected conservative presidents of the denomination.

The conservative SBC presidents then worked to put conservatives on the boards of trustees, who then hired conservative seminary presidents, who hired conservative faculties. Now, no faculty member at any one of the 6 SBC seminaries denies inerrancy or the BF&M 2000.

The point of this thought experiment is that if you love people and you love God and you're concerned about doctrinal infidelity, there are courses of action that can and should be taken.

I can imagine that there might be occasion to raise concern about what's going on in forums beyond the local church and attempts to bring about change in the denomination--how should someone seek to shape the opinions and perceptions of outsiders?

Within the SBC, someone could write an article for Baptist Press or another publication. Beyond the SBC, someone could write for, or record a video interview or podcast with TGC, 9Marks, Reformation21, etc.