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A fellow Baptist friend was recently asked why there are no seminal must-read works of Baptist theology. No Baptist equivalent to Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, or Barth. It's an important and understandable question. I have some thoughts...
For starters, my friend's answer is exactly right: 1) influential works of theology require deep institutional structures that Baptists have often lacked (early on because of persecution and 2) Baptists have been busy focusing other things (missions, evangelism, etc.)
Building on #2, Baptists *have been* must-read/must-engage on spirituality (Bunyan), missions (William Carey), preaching (Spurgeon), social action (MLK), and evangelism (Billy Graham).
Still, Baptists have produced some impressive theologians: John Gill in the 18th century is a good example of a Reformed orthodoxy (Muller engages him as such). Augustus Strong was a standard text in systematic for a long time. E.Y. Mullins did some creative synthesis.
But even the way the question was posed is a bit unfair. Calvin doesn't exactly belong to the PCA or Augustine or Aquinas to St. Mary's Diocese of Whatshappeningnow. The more relevant question is who is a must-read in the past 400 years (since the Baptist movt has been around)?
I wouldn't deny that theology has sometimes been a muted emphasis in Baptist life. We have had our struggles with anti-intellectualism. But also each tradition has its own unique gifts to bear to the church catholic. Richard Mouw compares denominations to distinct holy orders.
Last thought, and the trump card: all of the writers of the New Testament were Baptists.
