Читать книгу The Craft of Innovative Theology. Argument and Process онлайн

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Be it further RESOLVED, That we apologize to all African-Americans for condoning and/or perpetuating individual and systemic racism in our lifetime; and we genuinely repent of racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously (Psalm 19:13) or unconsciously (Leviticus 4:27); and

Be it further RESOLVED, That we ask forgiveness from our African-American brothers and sisters, acknowledging that our own healing is at stake.⁴³

This apology symbolized an evolution in attitudes that the SBC would have to prove was genuine through its work for racial reconciliation. The planning for this historic resolution occurred during a Race Relations Conference on May 22, 1995.⁴⁴ The group consisted of eight white pastors and eight African American pastors. According to the Rev. Gary L. Frost, an African American Southern Baptist who attended the meeting, Albert Mohler and Paige Patterson, both presidents of SBC seminaries, also attended the meeting. Frost described how surprised those present were when Mohler and Patterson mentioned the problem of sin in the same breath as racism. Frost described individual reactions, as well as the general tenor of the meeting itself as one of regret, including the admission of sin in relation to racism and slavery.⁴⁵ Frost also emphasized that “a part of the anguish of African-American Christians was during the sixties, when we needed a friend, the evangelicals weren’t there.”⁴⁶