At the time the first Baptist Faith & Message was adopted in 1925, the big headlines included gangster-massacres, Prohibition, and the Scopes Monkey Trial. Billed as the trial of the century only two decades into the century, a schoolteacher in Dayton, Tennessee was brought to court for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. In that environment, Southern Baptists made a statement: Man is made in the image of God. He always has been.
The relatively brief statement adopted 100 years ago has served to affirm the unique place of human beings in God’s creation, whatever theological assault society may inflict. When the BF&M (2000) was adopted, Southern Seminary Professor Daniel Block pointed out man’s noble status, but also his ignoble status.
Creation does not start with humanity here on earth and build to the vastness of space. Instead it starts out there, and draws closer. And at every step, God declares what he just made good (tov), until God gets to The Man (ha-adam). Only the man receives the breath of life from God’s mouth that makes him a living soul, and only Man is said to be VERY good. God made Adam last, as the pinnacle of Creation.
The BF&M (2000) points out two genders and their distinctions as the gift of God. Written 25 years ahead of our current debate, the reference seems prescient. It meets the need of the day. It is an example of tweaking the language to meet the present need, even as Scripture itself is unchanging. In 1925, the need was to address evolution. In 2025, it’s gender issues.
As for the ignoble state of mankind, because of sin and its effect, human beings are not as God created us to be. Any newscast from cities and war zones will tell us that. Any failed relationship, broken dream, or illness will tell us that.
Sin would seem to be a given in our culture, but our statement of faith points out original sin, sin nature, and personal responsibility for our own sin. Even as the “condemnation of transgressors” is cited, the statement responds with the grace of God and salvation in Jesus Christ. Sinful man can be restored.
As with gender, “every person of every race” is an addition from the 1963 version. It came five years after the SBC racial reconciliation resolution was passed. Quoting Block, “In accordance with the biblical view that all human beings serve as representatives of God, any act directed at another person, whether for good or evil, is an act directed at God.”
Being made in the image of God demands that we honor the rest of mankind, who are also made in the image of God, by sharing with them the most important thing of all—an introduction to the God who made them and the Savior who will remake them.
Download a copy of the BF&M 2000 from SBC.net.
Order the BF&M 2000 booklet from Lifeway.com.
-Eric Reed
