Southern Baptists debate theology at annual convention
Louisiana's Southern Baptists voted Tuesday to add two amendments to their constitution - a statement affirming the Bible as the "inspired, inerrant and infallible word of God" and a clarification of what separates them from other protestant faiths.
Both amendments barely received the two-thirds majority needed to pass at the Louisiana Baptist Convention. The convention comprises 1,600 churches throughout the state and drew 1,400 representatives to Bossier City's Civic Center.
The first vote added the Baptist Faith and Message, an outline of Baptist beliefs and doctrine, to the state denomination's constitution. The document first was approved by the national Southern Baptist Convention in 1925, with the most recent revision approved in 2000.
"Before I ask my Lord `What are you saying to me?' I must first ask a group of Baptists `What are you saying to me,'" Louisiana College professor...