I Was Called a Liar for Reporting on Mohler. Now We Know Who’s Lying.
More than two years ago, I had in my possession an email from Al Mohler to Southern Baptist Theological faculty warning them they had better not sign the Dallas Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel. I reported it here, but could not release it due to their fear and advice from legal counsel. Inexplicably, Mohler then alleged that he had made no such threat.
You can see the video from September of 2018 where Mohler explicitly denies having pressured faculty not to sign the statement after my initial claim was made (it’s in the first minute of the video).
As you can see (above), Mohler claimed on the next day that he had never discouraged SBTS employees from signing the document. In the days that followed, I was called a liar and accused of violating the 9th Commandment in regard to “bearing false witness against my neighbor.”
In reality, it was not the 9th Commandment that I violated, but the 11th…Thou Shalt Not Criticize Albert Mohler.
Mohler is indeed a hard figure to criticize. The man is a cold, calculating politician who on one hand criticizes concepts like Critical Theory on his Briefing podcast, but on the other hand, hires and promotes Critical Theorists to the highest levels of leadership at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) and fires – exclusively – those who oppose it. Mohler knows very well how to speak with double-tongues out of both sides of his mouth, and ingratiates himself to conservatives and liberals alike.
But the reality is this; no amount of rhetoric from Mohler can change the fact that he has personally done more to promote and bolster Critical Theory amongst evangelicals than almost anyone. Institutionally, he has done more than Tim Keller. In terms of his gravitas and influence, he has done more than Russell Moore. He is the arch Critical Theorist if we are to believe a man’s actions rather than his words.
To quote Mohler at Shepherd’s Conference when he blew his stack at Phil Johnson for asking where he stood on wokeness (and otherwise refused to answer), “Who I platform speaks for where I stand.”
Indeed. And Albert Mohler is personally responsible for “platforming” the lieutenants of the Woke Militia in Southern Baptist life including Russell Moore, Matthew Hall, Curtis Woods, Jarvis Williams, et al. Find an insufferable woke snowflake in skinny pants and a bow-tie lecturing Southern Baptist on the principles of Intersectionality and you’ll trace them with zero degrees of separation to Albert Mohler.
As an aside, I’ll also remind you Mohler said in the ShepCon Q&A that he refused to sign the Dallas Statement because he does “not sign non-creedal statements,” assuring the more conservative audience that he didn’t disagree with its content per se. Considering that Mohler signed the Manhattan Declaration, it was an odd claim to make. But Mohler has since gone on to sign at least two non-creedal statements since the Q&A, apparently forgetting that he “does not sign non-creedal statements.”
Upon hearing me read his email on air, Mohler panicked and immediately threatened them again – this time with 5.0 of the employee handbook which promised retribution for those who “release any information learned while under the employment of SBTS.” Never mind that Mohler was violating 6.5.2 of employee handbook, which limits “retaliatory action taken against employees who publicly differ with the actions of the SBTS administration.”
That Mohler was lying should have already become evident.
Eventually, Russell Fuller announced his firing from SBTS for – according to him – opposing the wokeness at the seminary and (among other things) eventually signing the Dallas Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel. Fuller reported that eight professors opposed the teaching of Critical Theory at SBTS and, one by one, were fired if they did not relent. Mark Coppenger was fired within two months and as soon as COVID-19 hit, Mohler used the crisis to fire Fuller and Jim Orrick under the guise of a hurting budget.
Fuller said of his firing, “If I wanted to keep my job, I knew how to do that.” But he was unwilling to support Social Justice, Critical Theory, or other Marxist constructs being taught with the blessing of Albert Mohler.
Well, the Capstone Report ran an interesting article the other day that corroborates my account and the account of Dr. Fuller that Mohler did pressure SBTS faculty not to sign the statement. Entitled, Southern Baptist Elites attempted to stop Statement against Critical Race Theory, Alan Atchinson explains that new testimony reveals Mohler did precisely that.
To quote the article (which cites Founders Ministries director, Tom Ascol)…
“Faculty members at Southern Seminary have said they were strongly discouraged by the administration from signing that statement.”
Ascol, of course, is in possession of audio, video, and testimonials in regard to SBTS wokeness that he has chosen not to release because Albert Mohler pressured him not to.
While I find Ascol’s agreement not to air the footage with Mohler to be repugnant and cowardly, I can’t imagine that he would lie about what he knows regarding the pressure placed upon SBTS faculty not to sign the Dallas Statement. Ascol’s only discernment is on loan from Sovereign Nations CEO, Michael O’Fallon (which is fine discernment so far as I’m concerned), so I won’t beat him over the head for a bad decision here and there. And frankly, his admission regarding Mohler’s lie (above) is refreshing.
At the end of the day, you have a decision to make. JD Hall is a liar, Russell Fuller and other SBTS faculty members are liars, and Tom Ascol is a liar. Or, on the other hand, Albert Mohler is a liar.
PS…Albert Mohler is a liar.
What’s truly amazing to me is the persistant insistence among many that Albert Mohler is merely a rube who has no idea what’s happening at his own seminary and isn’t responsible for it serving as the hub of Critical Theory ideology being injected into evangelicalism’s bloodstream. At the same time they assume he is charitably naive or innocent in his ignorant bliss, these Mohler apologists are simultaneously convinced he is a genius.
You can’t have it both ways. Either Mohler is a bumbling idiot who has inadvertetly let his institution be overtaken by leftists or he is evil and orchestrating it intentionally.
Let me help you decide which one is accurate…Albert Mohler is not stupid.
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I agree that a Mohler is not stupid, but he certainly is corrupt and possibly even a wolf. What I can’t figure out is why James White keeps mentioning he listens to Mohler’s podcasts often, if not daily.
Never really been a fan of Mobley even when I attended SEBTS and came there to speak. I reminded my fellow seminarians that Paul did not come with eloquent speech…
Always be quick to listen, then search the Scriptures my fellow Bereans
*Mohler.
Lousy spell check!
I’m glad you posted, but shouldn’t this information also be given to the SBTS Trustees? Are they they ones who can take action regarding this information? If not, who can?
If the SBTS trustees cannot see what has been going on with what is public and obvious, this isn’t going to wake them up. Trustees generally are not people of great conviction rather, a bunch of scared sheep who hope they can ignore things and not upset the apple cart.