Thread by @MargeNAlia

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts Very grateful for you & @RobDownenChron 's work in shining light on the SBC. As someone who grew up in the SBC & remains close ties to members and congregations, I am simultaneously grateful about moves to develop curricula & skeptical about what this can accomplish in the SBC

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron The dominant model of growth is "Try Harder to Mean it More." When people see the relevant information "biblically" and sincerely believes the biblical truth and has good intentions, there is an expectation that people will now see clearly & will discern act accordingly.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron Problems are therefore seen as a lack of correct biblically informed understanding or failures of sincere faith in individuals. This makes the SBC system blind and practice blind.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron The dominant functional epistemology of the SBC drastically simplifies knowledge and character development. This particularly obscures how aspects of perception and reasoning are shaped by virtues or vices.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron The SBC ideal of "soul competency" is tied in with the expectation that any sincere (white) man basically receives scripture according to its plain meaning. The perspicuity of scripture becomes the perspicuity of all of reality.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron Who is more equipped to interpreted to judge reality rightly if not the male leaders that God has appointed, whose minds have been renewed through sincere faith in all relevant biblical propositions?

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron Whose concerns cannot be dismissed as "unbiblical," "liberal," or "feeling-based," or "man-centered" if the concerns describe experiences not accessible or plausible to Clear-Eyed Stalwart leaders?

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron Even if a leader is unsure of his perceptions and almost persuaded by someone's concerns, he has only to talk with another Clear-Eyed Stalwart leader for the concerns to be explained away and dismissed.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron The possibility that the concerns are implausible or not seen as a priority to the aggregate judgment of All Right Thinking Men in the community because these men are formed by the same tradition and share the same blindspots is rarely considered or given weight.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron Fixing problems is basically seen as making slight tweaks to one's understanding of the relevant biblical truths, being more sincere in one's faith in these truths, and acting according to one's renewed judgment.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron Thus, I worry that those who consume the relevant curricula will walk in their accustomed overconfidence that they are people that see due to their sincerity and biblically informed knowledge.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron I also wonder how receptive SBC leaders will be to stories from victims and survivors of sexual abuse given the prominence of Biblical Counseling in the SBC to shape the care of the soul.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron I've met some lovely, wise, & skilled Biblical Counselors, but by and large wouldn't trust someone shaped by the ACBC branch of Biblical Counseling with anyone's pain. They tend to be contemptuous of anything identified as stemming from "secular psychology."

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron This includes "trauma" language and any attempts to take someone's emotions seriously as part of the counseling process. A person suffering long-termed effects of traumatic events would be seen as not sufficiently trusting in God's Word over their feelings.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron It's also an incredibly gnostic counseling model and has no real framework for how the brain develops in the context of relationships or any spiritual disciplines to how to treat the bodily affects of trauma.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron Middle-class SBC churches with lots of medical professionals tend to be only slightly more nuanced here, but only in the sense that they medicalize anything that doesn't get better with BC as "really a medical problem after all."

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron To sum up, it's not a great culture if you have problems that aren't already in the toolbox of the elders. The overconfidence in their ability to see reality and to counsel appropriately is institutionalized in SBC culture and works against efforts to respond to abuse.

@scott_m_coley @ApplePodcasts @RobDownenChron @threadreaderapp unroll