On November 6th and 7th, Jerry Vines hosted the "John 3:16 Conference" from First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia. The lineup was a veritable "who's who" of Southern Baptist speakers including: Johnny Hunt, Paige Patterson, Richard Land, David Allen, Steve Lemke, Ken Keathley, and Charles Stanley. Though a disclaimer was issued that the conference would not be a "Calvinist bashing" event, that is precisely what transpired. While I have had to rely on secondhand sources to learn what was said, it is quite apparent that no positive position was put forth at the conference. Most of the sessions denigrated to ad hominim attacks. Dr. David Allen accused James White of being a "Hyper-Calvinist" based on Phil Johnson's definition. Read Phil Johnson's response here . After all the material I have read, I have found no serious interaction with the Biblical text. Mostly the same old, strawmen arguments ("Calvinism kills evangelism", etc.) were employed but, alas, I guess such is the case when you define your conference by what you are against rather than what you are for.
Some of you may wonder why I did not consult firsthand resources. My response to that is that I would have loved to listen to the messages themselves if they had not had been fifty dollars to purchase! One blogger remarked that the fact that no Calvinist presence was represented (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Founders' Ministries were both turned down booths without justification) and that the materials were so costly stood in complete contrast to the free materials and welcoming format of such conferences like Together for the Gospel. Perhaps the John 3:16 conference should be more aptly titled, "Against the Gospel."
If you have the patience, you can read some live blogging from the conference at Tim Challies' site. For a critique of the conference, James White has provided several responses as well. Soli deo gloria!
