Jon Gary Williams
Articles / Resources
0117
I. B. Bradley vs A. U. Nunnery (Baptist)
December 4, 1919
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church
(By I. B. Bradley)
Held at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, twelve miles east of Wildersville, Tennessee and lasted five days. The weather clear and cool; the crowds large, very attentive, and respectful. Baptists very strong there. A. U. Nunnery is unlearned but full of self-confidence. He is full of words but has no knowledge of their meaning. One man described him: "He is a regular blatherskite" (foolish and talkative person). In debate he has the appearance of one who would like to turn loose and say a lot of ugly, mean things. Very often he came close to forbidden ground. He can scarcely restrain himself so as to keep himself within proper bounds. Be it said to his credit that he never used the epithet 'Campbellite' during the entire debate.
Several times he said: "Campbell is the daddy of his church." He is very illiterate and has copied his work from someone, using the usual "stock arguments" appropriated by all Baptist debaters from J. N. Hall. Nunnery did not use them with any effectiveness as he did not understand the force of the terms used. His strongest work was the effort he made to show that Jesus constituted a church when he "called out" the twelve (Luke :12-16) on the mountain and appointed them to be with him. I showed that mountain was near Sea of Galilee and about 60 miles from Jerusalem (Mt. Zion), where God said his house should be established (Isaiah 2:2; Zechariah 1:16). His next greatest effort was on the order of faith and repentance, contending that God's order is repentance, then faith. To refute this, I showed that is both a mental and psychological impossibility for a man to do this - that is, repent before he believes - and is contrary to the teaching of God's word (Romans 14:23; Hebrews 11:6). He was very weak on the operation of the Spirit and final perseverance of the saints. In fact, the weakest man I have ever met among the Mississippi Baptists.
We both affirmed the general church question. On my affirmation I placed Mark 9:1; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:1-4, 17 on the board as one argument on the establishment of the church, or kingdom, showing that the kingdom, the power, and the Holy Spirit were to come simultaneously. I could not get him to examine it until the last day, and then just before my last speech. He said this was fulfilled at the transfiguration. I showed that this could not be so, as the Holy Ghost was not there. I also placed on the board Psalm 89:37-39 and Acts 2:30-36 to show that God had fulfilled his promise to David made in II Samuel 7:12-13, and that this took place after the resurrection of Christ and his ascension to heaven. This he never would examine, only saying, "David's throne is not in heaven," until his last speech, when he read Acts 2:34 and said: "David had not gone to heaven on the day of Pentecost."
Again, on the operation of the Spirit, he would contend that the apostles had the Holy Spirit before Pentecost in the face of the statement of Jesus in John 7:39, which makes the glorification of Jesus prior to the giving of the Spirit. I showed how the Spirit filled the apostles on Pentecost to guide them into all truth to bring to their minds all things Jesus had told them, and how through them he was to convict the world of sin by preaching the gospel and illustrated by the cases of Pentecostians, Samaritans, and Phillipian jailer. To these he made no reply.
One of the most amusing things was his chart and diagram on Acts 2:38. To show the use of the preposition "FOR" he had a number of passages on the chart. Some of them had "PERI"; some "APO" and some "EIS". Of course I exposed this and showed the audience he did not know the difference. On the diagram of Acts 2:38 he could not read what he had written copying it from someone else. He would get his mode, tense, person and number confused. Sometimes saying one thing and the next time just the opposite. He had "for the remission of sins" modifying the verb "be baptized" and not connected with the verb "repent" at all. When I read Hackett, Hovey, Willmorth, and other Baptist scholars on the meaning of 'EIS APHESIN HAMARTION,' he tried to show that the language had not been properly quoted. But, having failed here, he said there were "a lot of rotten Baptists" among their people, and he hoped the day would come when they would be turned out of the church. He did not know most were dead.
He asked me if the church in Dickson had scriptural succession. When I told him, "yes, through the seed of the kingdom, the word of God," he dropped the subject.
The debate will do good with all thinking people, and nothing can move the non-thinking ones, except the emotions stirred by superstition and traditions of men. I told the brethren not to send for me again to meet a man like Nunnery. It was a waste of time.
Preachers present were J. S. Jones, Clarksburg, Tennessee, S. O. Allen and R. L. Colley of Henderson, Tennessee. Mr. King moderated for Nunnery. S. O. Allen moderated for I. B Bradley. All enjoyed hospitality of home of Dr. D. W. Bradfield, beloved and respected.
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