Magazine Section

Since the seminary’s founding, students have benefitted from a faculty committed to writing what they teach and teaching what they write.

Biblical theology, understood as a branch of Christian theology that seeks to expose and explain and exult the theological unfolding of Holy Scripture, has never been absent from Christ’s people, but the renaissance of biblical theology has come as a signal event in evangelical life and a hallmark of evangelical conviction and preaching.

The war on wisdom in our culture is a war of attractions as much as it is a war of ideas. It is a war of who has the right to call something true or false, good or bad, smart or stupid.

We now live in the age of moral rebellion, sexual anarchy, endless experimentation, and birthrates that imply sterilization. We have turned the order of the family into pandemonium and, having sown the wind, we now reap the whirlwind.

Through these articles, we pray that you will be encouraged and equipped to examine your own life and doctrine more closely. As we seek to obey Paul’s exhortation, may we be found faithful, holding firmly to the truth, and growing in godliness.

We can’t assume that those in our churches know basic Christian theology. Also, central to these responses is a confused understanding of the exclusivity, uniqueness, and sufficiency of Christ.

The church has always faced the question of how to deal with all the rival theological claims that arise. How is the church to answer in the face of theological challenges? Is there—as some have suggested—more than one Christian faith? Are there simply different christianities?

The evangelical world was recently shaken by news of a moral scandal that took down a prominent preacher. This news hit like a bomb and came with great heartache and grief. How could this happen? How could this man do such a thing? Why did no one see it coming?

I will be forever indebted to Dr. Graham for the fact that he gave so generously of his time to come to Louisville, and to give his enthusiastic support to what we were seeking to do right here on this campus.

As we commemorate three decades of the faithfulness of The Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Ministry, we do so with eager anticipation for the future.

From its inception in 1859, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has existed primarily to educate, train, and prepare pastors for a lifetime of ministry faithfulness. Over the past 160 years, the commitment of Southern Seminary to train pastors, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, has not changed. However, the context in which pastors are called to minister continues to change rapidly. Today, pastors face challenges such as the rise of secularism, the decline of religious participation, and the increasing complexity of social issues.

Come see what God is doing at Southern Seminary as the next generation of “soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed” is readied for deployment. These students are serious, convictional, devotional, and joyful. They know the landscape of the post-modern world and they are determined to preach Christ and lead gospel churches. They match seriousness with sweetness. God is doing something marvelous in this generation and right here at Southern Seminary and Boyce College. Come see it for ourself, pray for us, and thank God for calling out the called in this generation. How kind of God to let us be a part of all this.

No one prepares you for how strange ministry is. How could they? To be strange is to be unexpected, odd, out of the norm. And personal ministry in particular traffics in the unknowns. It occurs at the heart of strange.

As we celebrate Dr. Mohler’s thirtieth anniversary as President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, it is fitting to recognize the incredible work that he does to ensure his dedicated listeners wake up to a new episode of The Briefing each weekday morning.

In Southern Baptist life, we now enjoy the benefit of conservative leadership in our boards and seminaries, but it has not always been that way.

I had heard that the seminary in Louisville was the most liberal Baptist school and some had advised me to mark and avoid it. But a family friend had a connection to the school and he urged me to take a trip to Kentucky to check it out for myself. On that visit, I met Al Mohler for the first time. That consequential meeting changed the course of my life and began a vital friendship that continues to this day.

As I reflect on the occasion of our three decades here, I do so first with gratitude to the Lord for what he has done and then with amazement that I am blessed to be part of the story. The backstory is familiar to some of how we were living in suburban Atlanta when the presidential search committee at Southern Seminary began their work to nominate a new president.

Thirty years of leadership is an accomplishment in any job, but when that job is to help thousands of ministers remain faithful to the Word of God and preach it, the reward is greater than anything we can celebrate here on earth.