Revisioning Baptist missional identity: Edgar Young Mullins' theology of 'soul competency' and contemporary Christian mission (James H. Franklin)

Baptists often debate the meaning of their denominational identity but rarely appreciate its significance for Christian mission. Southern Baptist theologian Edgar Young Mullins (1860–1928) revisioned Baptist identity with his original phrase, “the competency of the soul in religion,” as a means of relating his denominational heritage with Baptists' witness in the world. This dissertation interprets Mullins' theology of soul competency as a critical revision of his denominational tradition in correlation with a transdenominational model of identity and mission, in order to identify the significance of the Baptist denomination as interpreted by soul competency for the practice of Christian mission today.; Chapter 1 introduces the denominational, historical, and missiological issues that give rise to this study. Because soul competency originated with Mullins, Chapter 2 examines his “world-conscious witness” in light of his historical context and understanding of the kingdom of God to show that it possessed missionary, social, ecumenical, religio-ecclesiastical, and denominational dimensions.; Chapter 3 locates soul competency within Mullins' denominationalism, finding that his concept acted as a personal, orienting conviction to shed light on the meaning of the individual, the church, and the nature of religion. Chapter 4 discusses Mullins' application of soul competency, as well as that of American Baptist Foreign Missions Society secretary James H. Franklin (1872–1961), to issues facing the church, the world, and cross-cultural missions in the early 20th century.; Chapter 5 presents a transdenominational model of identity and mission, grounded in missiological, denominational, and epistemological theory and employed, in Chapter 6, to evaluate the significance of soul competency for contemporary mission. Chapter 7 concludes the study by outlining the implications and contributions of soul competency for mission, applying its insights to present-day Southern Baptist mission strategy, and offering suggestions for future study.; The dissertation concludes that mission, in light of soul competency, affirms each person's importance and worth in mission, warns against coercion in missionary practice, encourages believers to participate as equals in the theological and practical development of the faith, and defends the human person against missionary structures and systems that deem the person as religiously incompetent.