In 1997, three conservative scholars joined the faculty at SBTS, and their presence loomed large in the re-embrace of biblical and theological fidelity at Southern Seminary.

Veteran Kentucky pastor Hershael York joined as professor of preaching, noted Baptist historian Tom Nettles came on board to teach church history/historical theology, and noted New Testament scholar Tom Schreiner joined the faculty as professor of New Testament. The teaching and writing of all three in the ensuing decades helped Southern rebuild a strong confessional foundation and reassert the founders’ original vision for the seminary.

Twenty-five years later, York and Schreiner continue to teach and write as regular members of the faculty, and Nettles retired from teaching full-time in 2014 but remains as professor emeritus. In this interview, the three of them spoke about their early days at Southern, the changing landscape in culture and the church, and also offered words of well-earned wisdom about endurance in the Christian life and ministry.

With the seminary’s transformation was far from complete when you were hired in 1997, what did you expect during those early days of teaching here? Did you expect things to turn around as quickly as they did?

Hershael York. A large part of the faculty at that time was still very resistant to Dr. Mohler’s leadership and the conservative direction of the seminary. The Western Recorder actually wrote an article criticizing my addition to the faculty as well as my theological commitments, so I knew what I was getting into. Some of those early faculty meetings were rancorous, to say the least, but within two years the tide had turned. It became obvious that the seminary was returning to its original theological commitments and those who were not on board left.

Tom Nettles. Twenty-five years ago, a majority of the faculty still hovered within the realms of the moderate resistance to the Conservative Resurgence. Dr. Mohler had come as president of the Seminary 14 years into the resurgence in 1993. This movement was a slow, painstaking, step-by-step commitment on the part of biblical inerrantists. Both laymen and ministers desired that all employees in denominational agencies believed and functioned in their calling as believers in the infallible character of Scripture.

This commitment would determine their belief that the Bible, in its every assertion properly and contextually understood, was free of error. The very fact that Al Mohler had been called as president in 1993 said that the inerrantists were having much greater success than anyone could have anticipated. There was no turning back, and in time the goal would be achieved. It seemed, however, to be three or four years away, for, in 1997, there was still a tilt in favor of the opposition. I had come on a contract basis in order to avoid having to appear before a faculty committee.

The president was wise in the way he chipped away at the prevailing commitment to moderatism. On one of my first days in my office in the Robertson wing of Norton, I stepped into the hall, saw a faculty member coming from his office in my direction. I introduced myself, and he said, “Oh no!” and turned around and went back to his office. By God’s gracious providence, around ten new faculty members were added the next year and established a majority of the faculty in the inerrantist/ confessional position. Dr. Mohler from the beginning had tied the resurgence at Southern to a regaining of conscientious commitment to the Abstract of Principles. So, a high degree of broad theological consensus existed throughout the new faculty appointments. In 1976, I had no expectation that Southern ever would be other than the model a virtually immutable Platonic ideal— of liberal Southern Baptist theological education. The Lord God who created heaven and earth and sent his Son to redeem his elect and the Spirit to inspire the word of revelation of these eternal covenantal commitments had determined otherwise. Through chosen vessels to whom he gave insight, courage, and determination he spoke, and even Southern Seminary succumbed to the historic Baptist commitment to inspired Scripture, evangelical theology, in the form of its original founders.

Tom Schreiner. When I came in 1997 the change was fundamentally over. There were just a few professors left from the former era.

Could you have ever envisioned God’s work these past 25 years in drawing thousands of young people to SBTS to study the Bible and theology? What has been most gratifying to you in this revival of love for God’s Word and sound doctrine among several overlapping generations for which SBTS has been called “ground zero”?

York. I had no concept of being at Southern for 25 years, nor of the rich spiritual returns on that investment that awaited. I was so focused on the immediacy of the seminary’s resurgence that I did not then appreciate how God would give me a part in shaping generations for ministry. Now, with a broader and more mature perspective I can better understand the remarkable grace that God has shed on Southern. Our graduates are glorifying Christ and serving his churches by preaching, pastoring, teaching, ministering, evangelizing, and discipling all over the world.

Nettles. Though the reality of what happened never ceased to be a point of gratitude and praise, and even some degree of astonishment at how thoroughly the threshing floor was cleansed, given the dynamics of close to two decades at that time, I anticipated with hope the kind of comprehensive strength and substance that became a mark of theological education at SBTS. Part of my understanding of history is based on 2 Timothy 1:10-12 where Paul expresses his confidence that God himself is committed eternally to protect the deposit of truth that he has revealed about the covenanted redemptive work of his Son. Of course, like warnings to the churches in Revelation, God could sovereignly remove the lampstand from its place due to a history of unfaithfulness, but the text teaches that until the day of Christ, he will not allow the testimony to the work of his Son lose its authoritative form of sound words, its power, its clarity, or its success. It seemed, that having begun the good work, God would continue it for his glory, the honor of his Son, the demonstration of the Spirit’s power, and the faithful and thorough equipping of his appointed ministers of the gospel. That I expect such to happen in sovereignly selected pockets throughout the world does not diminish the impact of God’s grace in doing that eternally conceived work of protection and restoration right here.

The existential experience of seeing new classes come in every year, graduations of those classes recurring after (approximately) every three years, and even children of former students showing up in class, the degree of impact made by this historic shift in theological commitment overwhelms my mind with gratitude and awe.

Schreiner. I think the most gratifying thing is seeing our students going out as faithful pastors, missionaries, staff members, educators, counselors, worship leaders, etc.

Since you began here in 1997, it seems we’ve had a revolution, or perhaps many revolutions, in our culture, most of which have impacted the church. So, would you give different advice to our graduates going out into ministry today than you would’ve back then?

York. The tools of war may change through the years, but not the essential character of war. That’s true of spiritual warfare as well. Satan may use different weapons, but the battle is still won through the atoning work of Christ. I have seen certain cultural challenges arise that I never anticipated or imagined, but I do not consider our difficulties greater than those the apostle Paul faced. So whatever new battle fronts Satan might establish, the gospel of Jesus Christ is still the way the war is won. I am more committed than ever to teaching our students to believe in the power of the gospel and to proclaim it faithfully as the only hope for a world wrapped in lostness.

Nettles. Cultures have no absolutes, apart from pervasive fallenness and rebellion against God, to govern the changes that introduce new affections and “orthodoxies” into each generation. The biblical revelation has stood against the world in every generation and the call of the prophet always is to repent and return. The biblical standard of truth in its explanation of the gospel never wavers and its confrontation with the lies of the world always is the same.

I would encourage every student to know Scripture so thoroughly, its leading themes in their integration with gospel themes so profoundly, the specific words and verses that constitute the doctrinal ideas so accurately, the history of doctrinal departures and recoveries with such understanding, that error will become obvious upon investigation and the antidote of truth will be virtually palpable. When the leading principles of philosophical systems, social analyses, popular movements, and even a political agendum are inconsistent with the worldview and eternal perspective engendered by gospel categories, their errors should be exposed, warned against, and, when fitting for the health of the church, publicly opposed. One cannot predict what will emerge as the next great crisis, but ever-increasing knowledge of revealed truth as epistemologically determinative and the triune God as the only absolute ontological foundation for reality will be consistent tools for understanding the rapidly flying errors and challenges to biblical faith.

Schreiner. I wouldn’t give different advice. First Timothy 4:16 says watch your life and your teaching. I think that is the primary thing we still need today. Yes, we have challenges today, but there have always been challenges and there will always be challenges. The best preparation for every situation is living a life of godliness and knowing the Word of God.

You’ve exhibited faithful endurance to your Lord, to your family, and to your ministry during your years at SBTS (and long before). What has been the key to running strong and long in the “race set before us?” What piece of wisdom would you give brand- new students and brand-new ministers that might help them to endure faithfully over the long haul during such difficult times?

York. The only “key” I know is simply to love the Lord Jesus. No other reward or motivation will keep one focused and faithful. The advice I share is that by which I seek to live, namely, that my sole purpose is to bring glory to Christ. The Holy Spirit is not interested in making me a better teacher, or preacher, or even a better Christian. His great ministry is to glorify the Son, and when I ask the Holy Spirit to help me glorify Jesus, he always answers that prayer. It is unthinkable that the Holy Spirit would not grant my desire to glorify Christ. When glorifying Jesus is our passion, we always have strength to do it.

Nettles. If one does indeed endure to the end, the only explanation finally is that “the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 1:14). A God-given mate willing to endure and share the difficulties that often punctuate the life of a gospel pilgrim makes even the most difficult road a secure and pleasant place to travel. Several perceptions that might be consistent with that most fundamental reality include: be aware of how God has gifted you and press those gifts to their maximum effectiveness; gain understanding as to how your gifts might be of service in the various challenges that consistently are set forth by the world; take the Davy Crockett summary of biblical faithfulness seriously, “Be sure you’re right, then go ahead.” Unceasingly cultivate a love for biblical truth and refuse to rest in present knowledge but always “grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” through his revealed truth. Do not fear those that can kill the body and then have nothing more they can do, but fear God who inhabits and controls eternity.

Schreiner. Certainly, the key to any of us making it is the grace of God! My advice is trust the Lord one day at a time. Live a life of repentance before God every day. Don’t worry about whether you will make it for the long haul. Trust God today and then tomorrow and then the day after tomorrow.

What must future generations do to keep the Southern Seminary faithful to the founders’ vision?

York. The Trustees must always ensure that every professor at Southern must be committed to the inerrancy of Scripture and the doctrines cherished by our founders as expressed in the Abstract of Principles. We are not called to innovate or to create, but rather to “keep” the faith once for all delivered to the saints and also to proclaim it to the world. A deep doctrinal commitment that spawns a passionate evangelistic spirit will keep Southern faithful to the vision that began in 1859.

Nettles. The dynamic so clearly perceived by Dr. Mohler in his mature grasp of how one can steer a straight path through treacherous terrain should be emulated. Never concede to diminished views of biblical relevance and thorough truthfulness. Embrace the consistency of the biblical revelation through a carefully constructed confession that should expand, at least in your personal life, to the very last proposition of biblical revelation. Larger confessions, not smaller, are the food of faithfulness.

Schreiner. Actually, I think 1 Timothy 4:16 is the key. Be faithful in your life and teaching.

What has been a personal highlight of your teaching career at SBTS?

York. Through the years several students have kindly told me that a class I taught changed their lives. Something I shared with them had such a profound impact and transformed them so radically that the direction of their lives shifted, and God used them in ways they did not think possible. The knowledge that the Lord graciously allows me sometimes to have that effect is overwhelming.

Nettles. The fellowship of kindred minds, as in the church, so in theological education is like to that above. There have been many delightful and spiritually sustaining moments in this unique fellowship. The encouragement and opportunity to write on ideas, issues, and persons that are important in giving a framework for God-centered ministry has been encouraged by collegial example, the availability of resources, and a healthy expectation of expanded usefulness in the larger community of theological education. And ah! The students in the classroom—what a challenge and delight they provide for continual personal growth and fruitful investment in the future. The last few years, I have accompanied my wife, Margaret, in working voluntarily in the Southern Exchange (formerly The Attic). That has provided opportunity to see the larger context of the life and needs of students and has been an encouragement for prayer as to the broader commitment that an entire family makes when a God-called disciple takes on the stewardship of theological education.

Schreiner. The students who are faithful in ministry are my greatest encouragement.