>The Baptist Press is reporting that two Baptist college professors are spearheading an effort to amend the current doctrinal basis of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS).
The current ETS doctrinal basis reads: “The Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God written and is therefore inerrant in the autographs. God is a Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each an uncreated person, one in essence, equal in power and glory.”
Ray Van Neste, Professor of Christian Studies at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee and Denny Burk, Professor of New Testament at Criswell College in Dallas are proposing that the Evangelical Theological Society adopt the doctrinal basis of the United Kingdom’s Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF), with the current ETS basis added to it. According to Van Neste, the UCCF document is “a much more complete document” that addresses such theological concepts as the humanity of Christ, the virgin birth and Christ’s return.
To read the proposed amendments, visit http://www.amendets.com.
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
>Thanks for unearthing this news. I found myself wondering if this was an anti-catholic response to the Frank Beckwith resignation saga.
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>Doug,Thank you for your comment. I had not associated the proposed revision with the Beckwith resignation. I think you are right. It seems that the proposed revision is designed to exclude some people from the ETS.Claude Mariottini
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>The proposed amendment may be aimed to limit membership, but I don’t think it is in direct response to Beckwith.Van Neste published an article in the Winter 2004 Southern Baptist Journal of Theology titled, “The Glaring Inadequecy of the ETS Doctrinal Statement.”It should be noted (in light of the comment about Beckwith above and in a previous comment) that Van Neste concludes that Catholics (and Orthodox for that matter) could conceivably sign the current ETS statement. His paper goes so far as to say the the current ETS statement is broad enough in nature to have included heretical groups (like the docetists, who denied the incarnation) because the ETS statement affirms the deity of Christ (as would docetists) but it does not address the Jesus’ human nature, and Pelagius (who affirmed the Bible and the Trinity) because the ETS statement does not address the nature of the Atonement or Resurrection.An html version of the article is here: http://www.uu.edu/personal/rvannest/Professional/ets.htmIt will be interesting to see what becomes of this amendment in November.
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>Also, to follow up (I just discovered browsing the site), the first FAQ addressed by Van Neste and Burk on the site is in relation to the Beckwith development this spring.
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>Joe,Thank you for you comment and your follow-up. I have added a post that includes your comment and a reference to Van Neste’s article. Thank you for this information.It was nice hearing from you again. I hope the family is doing well. I hope to see you in San Diego.Claude Mariottini
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