Publications

George Whitefield Sermon: “Christ, the Believer’s Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption” George Whitefield was not only a remarkable communicator, but he and his preaching were also solidly grounded in biblical theology, as this sermon clearly reveals. “Christ, the Believer’s Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption” reflects Whitefield’s deep indebtedness to the theological certainties trumpeted forth at…

SBJT: Why is it important to remember George Whitefield as a preacher? Robert Vogel: Agree with what he said or not, one could not ignore the preaching of George Whitefield. Benja­min Franklin, one of America’s promi­nent Deists, was fascinated by White­field and his preaching, and though Franklin was never converted, he and Whitefield were fast…

Paul and the Faithfulness of God: Christian Origins and the Question of God. By N. T. Wright. 2 vols. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2013. Xv + 1,696 pp., $89.00 paper. N. T. Wright continues to be amazingly productive. In this two volume work on Paul, Wright, resumes his multi-volume work on “Christian Origins and the Question of…

“Do you have the kind of trust in God that allows you to face death?” Boyce College professor Denny Burk posed that question in Alumni Memorial Chapel on Sept. 18, 2012, saying that “God can transform your pain into someone else’s comfort.” The sermon preyed on my conscience throughout the day. I questioned whether or…

From “nowhere and everywhere,” with a heart set on missions, Shawn Wright did not expect to stay long-term at Southern Seminary. Born in France, with a father in the Air Force, Wright grew up constantly moving. At the age of 10, while living in England, Wright professed faith in Jesus Christ. Twoyears later, he was…

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18 KJV).  No chapter heading in James P. Boyce’s Abstract of Systematic Theology directly addresses the topic of suffering. This does…

EDITOR’S NOTE: In what follows, George H. Martin, professor of Christian missions and world religions, discusses his new book, Letters to a New Believer, with Towers news writer RuthAnne Irvin.  RAI: In the book you say that you originally sent these letters to new believers earlier in your pastoral ministry. Why did you do that?…

Understanding Your New Life in Jesus Christ: Letters to a New Believer, George H. Martin (Rainer 2014, $9.97) In the study of history, letters are some of the greatest artifacts that remain today for our education. We write letters to friends, family, husbands, wives, children, even future employers. Scripture is full of letters to churches…

Eight Twenty-Eight: When Love Didn’t Give Up, Ian and Larissa Murphy(B&H 2014, $15.99)   Review by RuthAnne Irvin Eight Twenty Eight: When Love Didn’t Give Up is a redemptive story of God’s faithfulness, life’s sorrows intermingled with joy, and one couple’s devotion to Jesus that points people to Christ’s never-ending love. The book is an…

James M. Hamilton Jr., Exalting Jesus in Ezra and Nehemiah (Holman Reference 2014, $12.99) Review by S. Craig Sanders Would you preach sermons from Ezra and Nehemiah? I have spent my entire life in Southern Baptist churches, and only remember hearing five sermons from Nehemiah — three during revival week as a teenager and two…

Aaron Menikoff, Politics and Piety: Baptist Social Reform in America, 1770-1860 (Pickwick 2014, $27) Review by S. Craig Sanders Despite the notion that early American Baptists were “so heavenly minded, they were of no earthly good,” their commitment to piety, evangelism, and activism demonstrated “that the transformation of society was a vital goal, an essential…

Among the many treasures held by the James P. Boyce Centennial Library and Archives, the oldest and possibly the most distinguished is a fragile medieval codex, originally acquired by Adolf Deissmann, professor of philology at the Humbolt University of Berlin. In the aftermath of World War I, Deissmann had campaigned vigorously to protect the ancient…

“I was long-haired, smoking pot, and in a heavy metal band all throughout high school,” he said. “I was miserable and didn’t know what to do with myself.” Jonathan T. Pennington, associate professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern Seminary, likes to joke that his conversion story would make an ideal support letter. “The before…

EDITOR’S NOTE: Before A.T. Roberson published the first edition of his monumental A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research in 1914, Southern Seminary faculty had already produced four influential works that would shape the character of the Southern Baptist Convention. Seminary historian Gregory A. Wills, dean of the School of…

EDITOR’S NOTE: A.T. Robertson’s A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research no longer appears as required reading in Elementary Greek or syntax courses. Nonetheless, his breathtaking scholarship has influenced those who are shaping the basics of New Testament Greek studies today, beyond the confines of Southern Seminary. Stanley E.…

A.T. Robertson’s magnum opus, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, first appeared in print in 1914. His comprehensive scholarship revolutionized the study of the New Testament, and his work belongs among the greatest ever produced by Southern Seminary faculty. To grasp the greatness of A.T. Robertson, we must…

Archibald Thomas Robertson was born Nov. 6, 1863, near Chatham, Virginia, where he spent the first 12 years of his life before moving to a farm in North Carolina. At the age of 12, he received Christ as his Lord and Savior and was baptized later that year. At the age of 16, he was…