A Texas Baptist Power Struggle: The Hayden Controversy

CHAPTER 6. Winner Takes It All

74 ALTHOUGH฀TROUNCED฀AT฀MARSHALL,฀Hayden฀refused฀ to฀give฀up.฀To฀his฀call฀for฀reform฀he฀now฀added฀sensational฀charges :฀J.฀B.฀Cranfill฀was฀an฀embezzler,฀B.฀H.฀Carroll฀was฀an฀autocrat,฀ R.฀T.฀Hanks฀was฀an฀adulterer,฀and฀J.฀M.฀Carroll฀was฀preoccupied฀ with฀the฀love฀of฀money.1 ฀In฀addition,฀President฀Buckner฀was฀under฀ the฀Board’s฀control.฀Hayden฀rarely฀said฀anything฀negative฀about฀ the฀Board฀system฀itself,฀but฀rather฀continually฀questioned฀the฀honesty ฀of฀several฀of฀its฀perpetual฀members.฀During฀the฀next฀six฀years฀ Hayden฀ intensified฀ his฀ attack,฀ contending฀ that฀ Board฀ members฀ rather฀than฀the฀churches฀were฀making฀all฀of฀the฀decisions฀for฀the฀ BGCT.฀This฀argument฀now฀became฀a฀crusade฀for฀“Baptist฀polity.”฀ Although฀ the฀ Hayden฀ Controversy฀ was฀ largely฀ founded฀ on฀ old฀ personal฀grievances,฀it฀increasingly฀revolved฀around฀ecclesiology. Hayden฀made฀his฀position฀clear฀through฀the฀columns฀of฀his฀ paper.฀On฀the฀one฀hand,฀he฀suggested฀that฀those฀who฀supported฀ the฀ Board฀ party฀ were฀ in฀ fact฀ supporting฀ an฀ episcopal฀ hierarchy฀ that฀closely฀resembled฀Roman฀Catholicism.฀On฀the฀other฀hand,฀he฀ argued฀that฀those฀who฀supported฀his฀own฀claims฀were฀not฀against฀ the฀Board฀system฀but฀rather฀against฀an฀episcopal฀hierarchy฀that฀ CHAPTER฀6 WINNER฀ TAKES฀IT฀ALL b.text.indd฀฀฀74 10/4/05฀฀฀2:13:58฀PM Winner฀Takes฀It฀All฀ 75 controlled฀the฀BGCT.฀He฀advocated฀a฀greater฀understanding฀for฀his฀ readership฀of฀the฀affairs฀at฀the฀state฀level฀and฀a฀louder฀voice฀for฀local฀ churches.฀With฀each฀successive฀year฀from฀1895฀until฀1901,฀Hayden’s฀ charges฀against฀the฀Board฀grew฀louder฀and฀more฀caustic.฀The฀Board฀ always฀reciprocated฀in฀like฀manner.฀The฀result฀was฀a฀bitter฀denominational ฀feud฀waged฀in฀the฀columns฀of฀the฀rival฀newspapers฀and฀on฀the฀ floor฀of฀the฀annual฀Convention฀gathering. For฀a฀short฀time฀following฀his฀rout฀at฀the฀Marshall฀Convention,฀ Hayden฀ameliorated฀somewhat฀his฀anti-Board฀rhetoric.฀R.฀C.฀Burleson ,฀however,฀was฀scorned฀by฀the฀loss฀of฀his฀presidency.฀Probably฀for฀ this฀reason,฀Burleson฀continued฀to฀accuse฀Cranfill฀of฀embezzlement.฀ These฀ public฀ accusations฀ became฀ so฀ pronounced฀ that฀ Cranfill฀ was฀ forced฀to฀write฀a฀letter฀to฀Burleson฀warning฀him฀that฀if฀he฀did฀not฀desist ฀in฀these฀unproven฀accusations฀he฀would฀sue฀him฀for฀libel.2 ฀Hayden,฀ however,฀remained฀largely฀silent.฀Some฀Texas฀Baptists฀suggested฀that฀ Hayden฀had฀finally฀realized฀his฀defeat.3 ฀Others,฀however,฀believed฀he฀ was฀merely฀biding฀his฀time฀and฀waiting฀for฀new฀opportunities฀to฀attack฀ his฀enemies.4 ฀ Cranfill฀also฀lessened฀his฀attacks฀on฀Hayden.฀One฀reason฀for฀the฀ momentary฀calm฀may฀have฀been฀the฀more฀pressing฀debate฀over฀the฀ problems฀of฀Martinism฀and฀Fortunism.฀These฀heresies฀matters฀grated฀ against฀traditional฀Baptist฀doctrine฀and฀demanded฀immediate฀attention .฀So,฀Hayden฀and฀the฀Board฀put฀their฀differences฀aside฀and฀united฀ against฀this฀internal฀threat.฀In฀1895฀rarely฀did฀an฀issue฀of฀the฀Baptist฀ Standard฀and฀the฀Texas฀Baptist฀and฀Herald฀reach฀publication฀without฀ an฀attack฀on฀those฀who฀held฀these฀doctrines.฀With฀the฀1895฀regular฀ session฀of฀the฀BGCT฀at฀Belton฀quickly฀approaching,฀both฀Hayden’s฀ followers฀and฀those฀of฀the฀Board฀wanted฀these฀doctrinal฀controversies฀ to฀cease. The฀1895฀regular฀session฀of฀the฀BGCT฀proved฀to฀be฀monumental .฀It฀appeared฀that฀all฀of฀the฀messengers,฀except฀the฀Martinites฀and฀ Fotunenites,฀were฀united฀against฀these฀doctrinal฀issues.฀The฀HaydenBoard ฀ squabble฀ took฀ second฀ place฀ to฀ this฀ danger.฀ Even฀ before฀ the฀ opening฀formalities฀were฀complete,฀a฀resolution฀was฀offered฀and฀adopted ฀by฀a฀deacon฀named฀B.฀Badger,฀which฀stated: b.text.indd฀฀฀75 10/4/05฀฀฀2:13:58฀PM 76฀ Chapter฀6 Whereas,฀Baptists฀recognize฀Articles฀of฀Faith฀as฀expressions฀of฀ what฀they฀believe฀the฀[sic]฀Bible฀teaches฀on฀doctrines฀distinguishing ฀us฀from฀people฀of฀other฀faiths,฀and, Whereas,฀Baptist฀churches฀in฀this฀country฀have฀subscribed฀to฀ the฀declaration฀of฀principles฀as฀set฀forth฀in฀“Pendleton’s฀Manual ”฀and฀“Hiscox’s฀Directory”฀and Whereas,฀ a฀ school฀ has฀ appeared฀ among฀ us฀ who฀ openly฀ say฀ they฀do฀not฀believe฀the฀expressions฀as฀taught฀in฀said฀Articles฀of฀ Faith฀are฀supported฀by฀the฀Word฀of฀God฀and฀do฀not฀endorse฀ them,฀and,฀ Whereas,฀this฀Convention฀is฀supposed฀to฀be฀composed฀of฀delegates ฀from฀churches฀endorsing฀and฀teaching฀God’s฀word฀in฀ harmony฀with฀said฀Articles฀of฀Faith,฀therefore฀be฀it Resolved,฀that฀we฀seat฀as฀delegates฀only฀those฀who฀come฀from฀ regular฀missionary฀Baptist฀churches฀subscribing฀to฀the฀Articles฀ of฀Faith.5 Evidently฀believing฀the฀resolution฀was฀not฀sufficiently฀stringent,฀ Hayden,฀A...