Dr. Robert Naylor was President Emeritus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The interview begins with Dr. Naylor giving a background of his life in ministry (00:00-04:25). He speaks about his time as a trustee at Southwestern in the last year of the presidency of L.R. Scarborough and in the presidencies of E.D. Head and J. Howard Williams (04:26-06:15). Dr. Naylor believes that the Great Depression and World War II were great blessings for Southern Baptists in helping them unify and see the need for missions (06:16-09:09). He also believes that the events of the early 20th century helped Baptist financially (09:10-11:26). Dr. Naylor speaks about the growth of the seminaries after World War II and how the time oversees fighting prepared many Southern Baptist for international missions (11:27-15:20). Dr. Naylor talks about the “75 Million Campaign,” and he praises L.R. Scarborough for his contribution to the post-war growth of Southern Baptist’s initiatives (15:21-18:56). Dr. Naylor believes that Southwestern has made a great contribution for Southern Baptists regarding evangelism and missions (18:57-21:06). He believes that the converts made during the mid-century ultimately made a great impact on world missions (21:07-22:38). The interview concludes with Dr. Naylor speaking on the culmination of events of the early 20th century led to the great evangelism and missions push of Southern Baptists in the later 20th century (22:39-24:30).
Dr. Keith Parks was President of the Foreign Mission Board (FMB), now known as the International Mission Board (IMB). Part 2 of the interview begins with Parks giving his own thoughts on the doctrine of inherency, and he believes that the Bible may have errors but not enough to compromise theology (00:00-04:15). Parks gives his reason why he took a position with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) after he resigned from the FMB, and he believes that the CBF are good Southern Baptist who do not discriminate over theological differences (04:16-15:05). The interview concludes with Parks saying that the CBF approached him before his resignation at the FMB, and he gives his last word on the changes in the strategy that both the CBF and the SBC have taken to reach the nations with the gospel (15:06-18:46).
Dr. Keith Parks was President of the Foreign Mission Board (FMB), now known as the International Mission Board (IMB). The interview begins with Parks speaking on the process of getting to know the missionaries during his time as president, and he emphasizes the importance of the local churches and cooperation for missions (0:00:0-0:12:01). Parks briefly talks about the impact of his ecclesiology class at Southwestern, and he opens up on his thoughts about the changes that happened in the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s that led to his resignation as President of the FMB (0:12:02-0:24:44). Parks gives his definition of missions as the church reaching beyond itself, and he stresses the importance of being ecumenical and having diversity of thought in the denomination (0:24:45-0:35:06). Parks criticizes the decisions and the appointments made to the FMB and the seminaries during the Conservative Resurgence which led him to resign, and he speaks about certain colleagues who the trustees of the convention saw as liberal (0:35:07-0:51:49). Parks briefly speaks on Paige Patterson’s contribution to the FMB, but he also speaks openly about Patterson’s desire to see him resign as President of the FMB (0:51:50-1:03:40). Parks gives his list of basic Baptist beliefs, and he opposes the idea of inherency as a one of the basic beliefs, along with creedalism (1:03:41-1:06:50). Parks believes there must be a theological bedrock for missions alongside a gifting and calling, and he believes that the centrality and love of Christ should be the drive of a missionary (1:06:51-1:13:40). Parks gives further criticism of the doctrine of inherency, but he does believe that Jesus, unlike the Scriptures, was without flaw (1:13:41-1:19:55).
