November 24, 2025

4.54 Marc Minter, David Schrock & Stephen Wellum • Interview • “Liberty, Not Separation: The Historic Development of Baptist Perspectives on Church and State”

1 hour 7 minutes

ABOUT THE EPISODE

Listen in as David Schrock & Stephen Wellum interview Marc Minter on his Longform essay, "Liberty Not Separation: The Historic Development of Baptist Perspectives on Church and State"

Timestamps

00:48 – Intro
05:52 – Marc Minter and His Academic Aspirations
10:30 – The State of Political Theology in the SBC
14:48 – Influences on Political Theology
19:00 – The Significance of Everson v. Board of Education 1947
21:42 – How This Case Shaped Subsequent Generations’ Worldviews
24:27 – Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists
30:10 – How Much Did Jefferson’s Views Change Between 1776-1802?
33:37 – The Distinction Between Reformation and Enlightment Traditions
37:55 – The Two Notions of the Term ‘Separation’
43:05 – Have We Adopted an Anabaptist Tradition of Church & State?
45:47 – E.Y. Mullins’ Views on the State
49:10 – Mullins’ Interjection into the Baptist Faith & Message
58:48 – What Should Pastors Do In Light of All This?
1:04:24 – Readings for Baptist Political Theology
1:06:10 – Outro

Resources to Click

“Liberty, Not Separation: The Historic Development of Baptist Perspectives on Church and State” – Marc Minter
“Views of Individuals in Southern Baptist Congregations on Baptist Political Theology” – Lifeway Research
“The Impotence of Secular Conservatism” – R. Albert Mohler Jr.
Comparison Chart of the Baptist Faith and Message
Theme of the Month: Do the Reading: Selections in Political Theology
Give to Support the Work

Books to Read

Ecclesiology: A Study of the Churches – Edwin Charles Dargan
Baptist Political Theology – eds. Thomas Kidd, Paul Miller, & Andrew T. Walker
Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State – Daniel Dreisbach
Agreeing to Disagree: How the Establishment Clause Protects Religious Diversity and Freedom of Conscience – Nathan S. Chapman and Michael W. McConnell
Separation of Church and State – Philip Hamburger
More Than Just a Name: Preserving Our Baptist Identity – Stan Norman
The Axioms of Religion: A New Interpretation of the Baptist Faith – E.Y. Mullins
The Baptist Story: From English Sect to Global Movement – Anthony L. Chute, Nathan A. Finn, & Michael A.G. Haykin
Demanding Liberty: An Untold Story of American Religious Liberty – Brandon J. O’Brien
Let Men Be Free: Baptist Politics in the Early United States (1776-1835) – Obbie Tyler Todd
Baptist Confessions, Covenants, and Catechisms – John A. Broadus, ed. Timothy George
Baptist Theology: A Four-Century Study – James Leo Garrett
Baptist Confessions of Faith – William L. Lumpkin
Christianity & Liberalism – J. Gresham Machen
Uneasy in Babylon: Southern Baptist Conservatives and American Culture – Barry Hankins

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