NOBTS Apologetics

BY MARILYN STEWART

A recent gift to the apologetics program at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College will expand its work in equipping believers to defend the faith.

The donation of $850,000 comes from the Milburn and Nancy Calhoun Foundation and from the Calhoun children, Kathleen Calhoun Nettleton, who passed away earlier this year, and David Calhoun, a professor of philosophy at Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, and a frequent speaker at the yearly NOBTS apologetics conference, Defend.

Calhoun noted the value of the NOBTS Defend conference and the importance of believers being ready to explain the faith in today’s culture.

“I think it’s inevitable that we’ll continue to see secularizing developments in culture,” David Calhoun said. “That means Christians have to be much more deliberate about how they articulate and defend and give account ‘of the hope that is in us,’ as Peter puts it” (1 Peter 3:15).

David Calhoun pointed to his parents’ legacy of service and commitment to Christ as the inspiration for the gift. His father, Milburn Calhoun, was a medical doctor and owner and operator of The Pelican Publishing Company, New Orleans. Taking on the role of publisher while working full-time as a family practitioner was a natural fit with his father’s love of reading and exploring ideas, Calhoun explained.

The Calhoun family donation provides support for apologetics in three ways: 1) The Calhoun Family Endowment for Christian Apologetics, to support the activities and work of NOBTS Apologetics by providing funding for events, guest speakers, workshops and conferences. 2) The Calhoun Ph.D. Fellowship for Apologetics and Philosophy, supporting a Ph.D. in Christian Apologetics student 3) The Calhoun Defend the Faith Scholarship, supporting a master’s level student in apologetics.

“Christian apologetics is an essential part of Christian witness,” said Jamie Dew, president of NOBTS and Leavell College. “NOBTS has always been exceptionally strong in this important ministry, but gifts of this nature make it possible for us to do this work even better. We are grateful to God for this generous gift and look forward to seeing how God will use it.”

The Defend conference brings together top scholars and thinkers on varied topics crucial to defending the faith. NOBTS offers also master’s degrees and specializations in apologetics as well as a Ph.D. in Christian Apologetics. Degrees may be earned on campus or through distance formats.

Robert Stewart, director of Defend and the NOBTS apologetics program, noted Milburn and Nancy Calhoun’s fervent commitment to Christ and said the gift was timely.

“At this particular cultural moment, more than ever there is an awareness of the importance of apologetics,” Stewart said. “I’m very grateful for how this gift from the Calhoun family will help us to train as many believers as possible to commend and defend their faith as well as possible.”

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College hosted this year’s Southwest Regional Meeting of the Evangelical Theological and the Evangelical Philosophical Societies, April 1-2. With 29 NOBTS-associated presenters, the seminary was wellrepresented academically.

Presenting papers were eight NOBTS faculty members, three Ph.D. graduates, 16 current Ph.D. students, one administrator and two adjunct faculty members. The NOBTS presenters spoke on topics related to theology, biblical studies, philosophy, ethics, ministry and worship.

“As Christians, we are called to think seriously about God, about Scripture, and about ourselves,” said Charlie Ray III, assistant professor of New Testament and Greek and the event’s program chair. “Conferences like these provide the opportunity to engage in scholarship in such a way that we can sharpen one another for the sake of becoming more faithful servants of God.”