James White’s Response to Ryan Burton King’s “Why I cannot and will not sign the “Social Justice and the Gospel Statement””

In response to the Statement on Social Justice, Pastor Ryan Burton King wrote “Why I cannot and will not sign the “Social Justice and the Gospel Statement”“

Below is a summary of James White’s response to King’s response.

Dividing Line – James White’s Response to Ryan Burton King’s Article

Bias Against the Signers

White begins by pointing on King’s apparent bias against the signers, purporting things about them that seem unfair.

There Is a Spectrum of Voices About the Topic

Starting at about 12:58 in the video, White talks about the list of people King brings up as being on the other side of the issue. White says that obviously, there are different degrees of error on the other side, and not everyone in that list is exactly the same.

Intersectionality and Critical Race Theory

Starting at about 15:44, White addresses King’s response to the Statement on Social Justice’s position concerning intersectionality. White says that it is simply not an argument against the position to say that some people might “weaponize” these theories (whatever that looks like).

Laws Against Injustice

Starting at about 21:21, White responds to King’s claim that some of the writers of the Statement believe that systemic racism ended in 1968 with the passage of a law.

White points out that blacks have achieved some of the highest levels of success in America.

Critiques of Biblically Derived Efforts for Justice

Starting at about 23:40, White responds to King’s claim that some writers of the Statement have spoken out against “biblically derived efforts to reform justice at a social level.” He says that we’re not told what exactly that refers to, or what exactly that means.

King also mentions unfair critique of MLK50 and some messages at T4G. White says that no examples are given concerning what the critiques were and why they were unfair. White said that he played parts of those messages and critiqued them, and that it needs to be demonstrated that his critiques were unfair.

Power Structures in the Bible

Starting at about 27:02, White response to what King says about Jesus exposing power structures in the Bible. King says that white supremacists have taken solace in the fact that the Ten Commandments do not explicitly forbid mistreatment of black people.

White says that the same could be said concerning non-black people. There are whites in other countries who are the minority who are mistreated by the majority. The problem of oppressing others is a human thing, not a white thing.

Scripture Is Sufficient as a Rule for Living

Starting at about 29:04, White responds to King saying that slave holders and white supremacists can misuse the statement that Scripture is sufficient as a rule for living. White says that misuse of truth is not an argument against the truth.

Is Sin Individual or Collective?

Starting at about 32:16, White responds to what King says about the Statement’s position that all institutions have been affected by sin. White says that although every institution is affected by sin, it is not biblical to introduce divisions based upon ethnicity or what people in the past have done. A person should not be judged by skin color or by the person’s ancestors.

More on Collective Sin

Starting at about 35:02, White responds to what King says concerning collective sin. White says that people may suffer consequences of collective sin, but collective sin does not make them personally guilty. To say that people are guilty of cultural or ethnic sin creates unbiblical division within the body.