Southern Seminary Magazine (Vol 91.1) Recovering Faithfulness: Celebrating R. Albert Mohler, Jr.'s 3

from the editor

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is on the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” Psalm 1:1-3 (ESV)

Reflecting on the thirty years (and counting) of Dr. Mohler’s leadership as President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary brings the psalmist’s picture to mind: a tree standing strong, continuing the yearly cycle of fruitfulness.

Thirty years is a long time. [The children of students who attended Southern Seminary are now attending themselves.] Countless members of the faculty have served entire careers only under Dr. Mohler’s leadership. The world has changed dramatically. Through it all, the Lord has providentially sustained him and used him to recover faithfulness at this institution.

To see Dr. Mohler only as a leader would be to overlook how the Lord used him to recover faithfulness at Southern Seminary. Indeed, he is a leader with conviction, vision, and passion, but he is fundamentally more than that: he is a man who delights in the Law of the Lord. Dr. Mohler’s tenure as President has been marked by a commitment to Scripture and its profitability for training in righteousness. He has

returned Southern Seminary to faithfulness, not only to the Abstract of Principles, but also to the very Word of God so that all who might come can delight in God’s Word too.

As we dedicate this edition of the Southern Seminary Magazine to celebrating and honoring Dr. Mohler’s thirty years of faithful service as President, we have selected the theme: “Recovering Faithfulness.” God has certainly used Dr. Mohler to recover faithfulness to his Word, faithfulness to the church, and faithfulness to the Great Commission as he has led this institution to a wholehearted devotion of training, educating, and preparing ministers of the gospel for more faithful service. With this theme we also hope to capture that the work God has done here at Southern Seminary through Dr. Mohler is consistent with his work throughout all Christian history. God is gracious to preserve His people and draw them back to faithfulness. As churches, institutions, denominations, and people drift away from him, God has graciously granted the invitation to return – and Southern Seminary is evidence of the blessing that comes from faithfulness recovered.

May the celebration of God’s work to use Dr. Mohler over the past thirty years at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary encourage you to delight in the goodness and grace of our God as we consider an example of Recovering Faithfulness.

Spring 2023. vol. 91, no. 1. Copyright ©2023

The Southern Baptist

Theological Seminary

Vice President of Communications and Managing Editor: Jacob Percy

Content Editor and Lead

Designer: John Zurowski

Production Manager: Drew Watson

Photographer: Trevor Wheeker

Archivist: Adam Winters

Contributing Writers: Paul Akin, Hershael York, Mary Mohler, Joshua Powell, Jimmy Scroggins, Timothy Paul Jones, Caleb Shaw, Graham Faulkner, Jeff Robinson and Travis Hearne

Subscription Information:

Southern Seminary Magazine is published by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2825 Lexington Road, Louisville, KY 40280. The magazine is distributed digitally at equip.sbts.edu/magazine. If you would like to request a hard copy, please reach out by emailing communications@sbts.edu

Mail:

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2825 Lexington Road, Louisville, KY 40280 Online: www.sbts.edu

Email: communications@sbts.edu

Telephone: 800-626-5526, ext. 4000 @TheSBTS @SBTS @SouthernSeminary

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

JACOB PERCY

Scroggins

Faithfulness to the Mission

RECOVERING THE GREAT COMMISSION

For the truth. For the church. For the world. For the glory of God. Since its inception in 1859, the vision of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) has always been global in scope. The founding faculty were actively involved in the cooperative mission efforts of the Southern Baptist Convention. Basil Manly Jr., James P. Boyce, and John A. Broadus all served as either Board Members or advisors to the Foreign Mission Board (now IMB) in the initial years of the Mission Board. The historical record reveals that the leaders of Southern Seminary have been actively partnering and serving alongside the Great Commission efforts of the IMB for more than 160 years. That is an astounding fact and reality. That heritage of mission partnership and cooperation continues today under the leadership of seminary President R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

SBTS is a confessional Southern Baptist seminary

that endeavors to be a Great Commission seminary. The language of our mission statement expresses this Great Commission desire:

Under the lordship of Jesus Christ, the mission of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is to be entirely committed to the Bible as the Word of God, to the Great Commission as our mandate, and to be a servant of the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention by training, educating, and preparing ministers of the gospel for more faithful service.

A Great Commission seminary is one in which students learn to study and to teach the Bible in its entirety; one which understands its mission as arising from the church and, in turn, to serve the church, all with consuming urgency for the global mission.

Clear Great Commission desire has marked much of the history of Southern Seminary. Yet, there was a period during the 20th century where the institution experienced missional drift as Seminary leaders and faculty downplayed the authority of the Bible, the urgency of the Great Commission, and the exclusivity of Christ for salvation. With the 21st century approaching, the trustees of the seminary recognized it was time for Southern to recapture and reclaim its founding mission and Great Commission vision.

The trustees of the seminary made a bold move in the Spring of 1993 by hiring 33-year-old R. Albert Mohler, Jr., as the 9th President of the seminary. The hiring of Mohler was catalytic to the reclamation of the institution’s original mission. In the face of much scrutiny and significant opposition, Mohler convictionally and courageously led the institution to return to biblical fidelity and theological orthodoxy.

From the outset, it was clear that Mohler prioritized and emphasized the infallibility, inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency of the Bible—this unwavering commitment to the Bible as the Word of God has marked his leadership at Southern. The Mission Statement of the school, quoted above, reflects the primacy of Scripture in every facet of the institution. For Mohler, a commitment to the Bible as the Word of God is foundational to everything that takes place at Southern Seminary and Boyce College.

In addition to a renewed emphasis on the primacy of Scripture, Mohler restored focus on the confession of faith that has guided the institution since 1859, the Abstract of Principles. In the opening convocation in the Fall of 1993, Mohler highlighted the founding vision and confession in an address titled “Don’t Just Do Something: Stand There!” The original intent of the Abstract of Principles was a clear understanding that faculty members would teach in accordance with and not contrary to the contents of the confession. Under Mohler’s leadership, the Abstract of Principles was no longer a document that could be nuanced or signed under a private arrangement as to the meaning of the document. One of the early priorities for Mohler was to restore the Abstract of Principles to its original intent and purpose and to define the confessional parameters of the seminary clearly.

Flowing out of the priority of the Bible and the restoration of the Abstract of Principles, Mohler also cast a Great Commission vision for the seminary. Early in his tenure, he highlighted the necessity of evangelism and missions. He recognized that the primary purpose of theological education is to equip men and women for ministry that is focused on spreading the gospel and making disciples. To solidify this emphasis within the institution, Mohler helped establish the Billy Graham

School of Missions, Evangelism, and Ministry at Southern Seminary in 1994.

The newly established Billy Graham School allowed Mohler to hire new faculty members who were passionate about the Great Commission. He immediately hired professors who shared his passion for evangelism and missions and encouraged them to integrate this focus into their teaching and ethos on campus. Furthermore, Mohler has ensured that the seminary’s mission statement reflects its commitment to the Great Commission by explicitly stating the Great Commission as its mandate.

In 2015, Mohler announced the launch of an online distance learning initiative called “Global Campus.” The impetus of this strategic and visionary initiative was a desire to provide high-quality theological training in accessible formats to aspiring pastors, missionaries, and leaders around the world. Mohler articulated the vision, “We do not merely want to have a program that allows people to access Southern Seminary online…Our ambition is bolder than that — it is to reach the nations.” Today, through the Global Campus initiative Southern Seminary is training and equipping God-called men and women in time zones and on continents across the world that the founders would never have dreamed possible.

Mohler rightly understood that Great Commission training and preparation cannot be a “side project” for an institution that desires to make a truly global and eternal impact in an increasingly global and urban world. He recognized that a commitment to the Bible and the institution’s founding mission requires an unwavering commitment to the Great Commission. Today, Southern Seminary has the opportunity and stewardship to carry on the founders’ vision in reaching the people of a rapidly changing world with the unchanging gospel of Jesus Christ.

Mohler’s commitment to the founding mission of the Seminary inevitably led to a greater emphasis and focus on God’s overarching mission to redeem and reconcile those created in his image from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. His faithfulness to that mission for three decades has resulted in scores of pastors, missionaries, and church leaders serving Christ around the world. Today, seminary graduates are sharing good news, making disciples, and planting churches for the glory of God all over the globe. Southern Seminary, under the tricennial leadership of Albert Mohler, is a living picture of convictional faithfulness that has led to abundant fruitfulness. By God’s grace, the legacy of faithfulness to the mission and to the Great Commission continues today and, Lord willing, will continue until Jesus comes again. faithfulness

A Great Commission seminary is one in which students learn to study and to teach the Bible in its entirety; one which understands its mission as arising from the church and, in turn, to serve the church, all with consuming urgency for the global mission.

I. THE SCRIPTURES

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient, certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience.

II. GOD

There is but one God, the Maker, Preserver and Ruler of all things, having in and of Himself, all perfections, and being infinite in them all; and to Him all creatures owe the highest love, reverence and obedience.

III. THE TRINITY

God is revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being.

IV. PROVIDENCE

God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not in any wise to be the author or approver of sin nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.

V. ELECTION

Election is God’s eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life–not because of foreseen merit in them, but of His mere mercy in Christ–in consequence of which choice they are called, justified and glorified.

VI. THE FALL OF MAN

God originally created man in His own image, and free from sin; but, through the temptation of

Satan, he transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original holiness and righteousness; whereby his posterity inherit a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and His law, are under condemnation, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become actual transgressors.

VII. THE MEDIATOR

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the divinity appointed mediator between God and man. Having taken upon Himself human nature, yet without sin, He perfectly fulfilled the law, suffered and died upon the cross for the salvation of sinners. He was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended to His Father, at whose right hand He ever liveth to make intercession for His people. He is the only Mediator, the Prophet, Priest and King of the Church, and Sovereign of the Universe.

VIII. REGENERATION

Regeneration is a change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, who quickeneth the dead in trespasses and sins enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God, and renewing their whole nature, so that they love and practice holiness. It is a work of God’s free and special grace alone.

IX. REPENTANCE

Repentance is an evangelical grace, wherein a person being, by the Holy Spirit, made sensible of the manifold evil of his sin, humbleth himself for it, with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and selfabhorrence, with a purpose and endeavor to walk before God so as to please Him in all things.

X. FAITH

Saving faith is the belief, on God’s authority, of whatsoever is revealed in His Word concerning Christ; accepting and resting upon Him alone for justification and eternal life. It is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and is accompanied by all other saving graces, and leads to a life of holiness.

XI. JUSTIFICATION

Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal of sinners, who believe in Christ, from all sin, through the satisfaction that Christ has made; not for anything wrought in them or done by them; but on account of the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, they receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith.

XII. SANCTIFICATION

Those who have been regenerated are also sanctified by God’s word and Spirit dwelling in them. This sanctification is progressive through the supply of Divine strength, which all saints seek to obtain, pressing after a heavenly life in cordial obedience to all Christ’s commands.

XIII.

PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS

Those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end; and though they may fall through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

XIV.

THE CHURCH

The Lord Jesus is the head of the Church, which is composed of all His true disciples, and in Him is invested supremely all power for its government. According to His commandment, Christians are to associate themselves into particular societies or churches; and to each of these churches He hath given needful authority for administering that order, discipline and worship which He hath appointed. The regular officers of a Church are Bishops or Elders, and Deacons.

XV. BAPTISM

Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory upon every believer, wherein he is immersed

in water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of his fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ, of remission of sins, and of giving himself up to God, to live and walk in newness of life. It is prerequisite to church fellowship, and to participation in the Lord’s Supper.

XVI. THE LORD’S SUPPER

The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be administered with the elements of bread and wine, and to be observed by His churches till the end of the world. It is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate His death, to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians, and to be a bond, pledge and renewal of their communion with Him, and of their church fellowship.

XVII. THE LORD’S DAY

The Lord’s Day is a Christian institution for regular observance, and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, resting from worldly employments and amusements, works of necessity and mercy only excepted.

XVIII. LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE

God alone is Lord of the conscience; and He hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in anything contrary to His word, or not contained in it. Civil magistrates being ordained of God, subjection in all lawful things commanded by them ought to be yielded by us in the Lord, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

XIX. THE RESURRECTION

The bodies of men after death return to dust, but their spirits return immediately to God-the righteous to rest with Him; the wicked, to be reserved under darkness to the judgment. At the last day, the bodies of all the dead, both just and unjust, will be raised.

XX. THE JUDGMENT

God hath appointed a day, wherein He will judge the world by Jesus Christ, when every one shall receive according to his deeds; the wicked shall go into everlasting punishment; the righteous, into everlasting life.

recovering faithfulness, a faculty perspective with hershael york

Recovering Faithfulness

A FACULTY PERSPECTIVE hershael york

Even under the best of circumstances and enjoying the greatest possible support from all quarters, anyone who leads anything for three decades has accomplished something remarkable. No sailor has ever enjoyed comfortable winds blowing steadily at his back for 30 years, but even if he did, and if he piloted his boat consistently and safely for all that time, he would be lauded throughout the maritime world as one of the greatest captains ever. Even the greatest leaders rarely last thirty years at the helm of their organizations. Henry Ford didn’t do it. Neither did Sam Walton. Franklin Roosevelt made it for about half that time. Winston Churchill did not come close.

Thirty years is an astounding accomplishment, but the obstacles and challenges through which Dr. Mohler had to lead, makes his accomplishment truly singular. Those few leaders who actually stayed in one role for three decades usually were able to do so because they led something they built from the ground up (like Walt Disney) or were welcomed into leadership by an organization that desperately needed change—and wanted it. The most astonishing aspect of Dr. Mohler’s tenure at Southern Seminary is also perhaps the

most underappreciated: he was appointed to steer an organization that overwhelmingly rejected him and everything he stood for. For the first years of his tenure, the majority of the administration and faculty woke each morning with the singular goal of thwarting any attempt of the President to return the institution to its historic theological moorings.

Who else could have had the patience, the wisdom, the skills, or the intestinal fortitude not only to withstand such relentless opposition, but also to reorient the organization despite internal obstinance? To put it bluntly, very few members of Southern Seminary’s 1993 faculty were positive, much less excited, about Mohler’s election to the office of President. If Mohler was commissioned to right the ship, his task seemed almost impossible because most of the professors would rather sink it by running to the side listing heavily to the “neo-orthodox” brand of liberal theology. Dr. Mohler’s predecessor, Dr. Roy Honeycutt, had ominously warned the seminary community in the fall 1984 convocation that “the crucial ingredients of our heritage [are] now being eviscerated by the myopic and uniformed action of independent fundamentalists and the sincere but naïve individuals

recovering

recruited to support their political party.” No one thought Dr. Mohler naïve.

Consequently, Dr. Mohler was alternately accused of being a “fundamentalist” or, worse yet, a theological opportunist who struck a Faustian bargain to attain the presidency. This loathsome charge was made repeatedly by Southern Seminary faculty such as Bill Leonard and Henlee Barnette and immortalized in the 1995 film, “Battle for the Minds,” a documentary about Mohler’s appointment as President and the turmoil that ensued.

The first two years of Dr. Mohler’s tenure were tumultuous to say the least. When he preached in chapel, students would stand with their backs to him throughout the sermon. Afterward, faculty members would be waiting for him at his office to voice their strong disagreement with the content of his message. At commencement, many graduates would refuse to shake his hand as he congratulated them and handed them their diploma.

By 1995, the turbulent waves threatened to wash him overboard and bring an abrupt end to his presidency. Mohler and the dean of the Carver School of Social Work, Diana Garland, had serious differences about the mission of the Carver School, the ordination of women, and the election of future faculty. When Garland resigned, the reaction and rebuke of the faculty was as brutal as it was swift. In a vote of support for Garland and a repudiation of the President, only two members voted

for him. Students and faculty members held a protest on the seminary lawn and Dr. Mohler was burned in effigy. A student spat on him. Students kept vigil outside his office singing the official hymn of the Carver School. Members of the seminary community said terribly mean things to the Mohler children, then six and three years old.

Dr. and Mrs. Mohler were not sure that they could continue. Sitting on the floor in the President’s Home, weeping and crying out to God, they found the strength to go on. It became clear that the Board of Trustees would stay behind him, but finding the way forward meant finding a new faculty, and that would not be easy.

At the same time, I lived seventy miles to the east in Lexington, KY, serving as pastor of the historic Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, watching all of this unfold. I did not know Dr. Mohler personally, but when he was elected President, I called him immediately while he was still Editor of the Georgia Baptist Index. I thought he should know at least one pastor in Kentucky was glad he was coming to Southern. In a brief but memorable conversation, I assured him of my prayers, but I also got a measure of the man.

My own history with Southern was a bit complicated. I grew up in a very conservative group of Baptist churches that had formerly been Southern Baptist but had withdrawn from the SBC and become independent due to the liberalism they saw in the SBC, particularly in

Thirty years is an astounding accomplishment, but the obstacles and challenges through which Dr. Mohler had to lead, makes his accomplishment truly singular .

the seminaries and especially at Southern. When I chose a seminary, I did not matriculate at Southern precisely because I had seen the effect that Southern Seminary had on many Kentucky Baptist churches and preachers. Stories abounded about fresh young preachers who enrolled there only to have their faith challenged or even destroyed. When I learned that Dr. Mohler genuinely believed the Abstract of Principles and had been elected by the Trustees to bring the ship about and return to what the Founders believed, I was cautiously and prayerfully optimistic, but I wasn’t sure he could pull it off.–Especially in 1995.

The Courier-Journal and local television stations were covering the turbulent events at Southern daily. Many faculty members were leaving, some voluntarily, some not, but each departure made news. Dr. Mohler’s search for a new generation of faithful, conservative Baptist scholars who would join him in training pastors, scholars, missionaries, and ministers to serve the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention became even more urgent—and more risky. One could not be sure that the seminary, let alone Mohler’s presidency, would survive the upheaval.

People with great vision, however, are drawn to people with even greater vision. The faculty began to turn around as men like Danny Akin, Dan Block, Tim Beougher, and George Martin came to join Dr. Mohler in this grand endeavor. I finally met Dr. Mohler in person at the SBC in 1996 and he graciously asked me to preach in chapel that October. Over lunch with him and George Martin, I asked, “Who are you getting to teach preaching?” Little did I know that within a few months the Lord would lay on my heart that I should do that very thing. I left a thriving ministry in a large church I loved for much the same reason that every faculty member since 1993 has come here–because I believed in Dr. Mohler’s ability to lead this seminary to fulfill the mission that God has given, and I wanted to be a part of something that has an eternal impact.

I arrived in 1997 alongside Greg Wills, Robert Stein, Tom Schreiner, and Tom Nettles. Though there were still

many members of the old faculty here then, the outcome was beginning to look more certain. With every successive year, more gifted godly men and women came here to teach, excited and energized by the historic doctrinal commitments that originally defined Southern Seminary and were reinstated by this faithful President. By the year 2000, the faculty had turned over almost completely. After thirty years of uncompromising commitment to sound doctrine, no one questions the reality of Al Mohler’s convictions. In fact, those convictions are the reason the rest of us bought into his leadership.

I not only know Dr. Mohler as my president and colleague, but also as a trusted friend and brother. Once, when my sons were teens, I feared that one of them was making bad decisions and straying from the Lord. Like any Christian father, I counseled him, prayed for him, corrected him, and loved him. I did everything I knew to do, including enlisting the prayers of close friends. When I asked Dr. Mohler to pray for my son, he went beyond what I asked. He invited my son to drive him one evening to a preaching engagement—two hours each way. And for four hours that night, Al Mohler spoke gospel truth to my son with the same commitment that made him succeed in turning Southern Seminary around. Today, that son is in ministry and a father himself, grateful for the way Dr. Mohler cared so personally for him and resolutely pointed him to Christ.

The day I heard that a 33-year-old R. Albert Mohler, Jr. had been elected president of Southern Seminary, I could not have imagined the impact it would have on my own life. I could not have foreseen how that single decision would result in theological renewal in churches across Kentucky, the nation, and the world. I had no way to envision that he would assemble what many have called the greatest faculty in the evangelical world and their collective Kingdom effect. 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.

hershael york

Selecting a President:

FROM SEARCH COMMITTEE TO INAGURATION IN 1993

Board Chairman Wayne Allen invited Dr. and Mrs. Mohler back to meet with the search committee to answer one more question: “Will you accept the unanimous nomination of this committee to be the ninth president of Southern Seminary?”

Dr. and Mrs. Mohler pose with Wayne Allen

R. Albert Mohler Jr. with the Presidential Search Committee after they had identified him as their chosen candidate to be voted on by the full board of trustees.

r. albert mohler, jr.

Albert Mohler speaks at a press conference on March 26, 1993, after being elected president by the full board of trustees.

selecting a president: from search committee to inaguration in 1993

Dr. Mohler participates in a question and answer session with students as president-elect on April 8, 1993

Dr.

greets and speaks with students after the forum

Dr. Mohler expresses gratitude to be with students and invites dialogue

r. albert mohler, jr.

Dr. and Mrs. Mohler visit campus with Katie (age 4) and Christopher (age 1) after Dr. Mohler is elected President.

Mrs. Mohler also greets students and speaks with them after the forum

Mohler

The address is entitled “Don’t Just Do Something: Stand There” and clearly articulates Dr. Mohler’s commitment to the Abstract of Principles

Dr. Mohler hugs Katie after being introduced as president

Rick White places Presidential Medalian around the neck of Dr. Mohler during his first convocation.

Fall Convocation on August 31, 1993

r. albert mohler, jr.

selecting a president: from search committee to inaguration in 1993

Graham, Henry, and Mohler tour the campus of Southern Seminary

Billy Graham gives address at Dr. Mohler’s Inaguration Ceremony on October 14, 1993

Dr. Mohler introduces Billy Graham at Inauguration Ceremony

Billy Graham and Carl F.H. Henry with Dr. Mohler in his office on the day of his inauguration. Both Graham and Henry spoke at Mohler’s inauguration.

The Mohler family with Billy Graham during the Inauguration Reception

Dr. Mohler with Billy Graham

r. albert mohler, jr.

recovering faithfulness, a family perspective with mary k. mohler

Recovering Faithfulness

A FAMILY PERSPECTIVE

mary k. mohler

On the beautiful campus of Southern Seminary and Boyce College, spring means families are happily gathering outside at last for picnics and outdoor fun. Children are everywheresome pushed along in strollers, others worn in stretchy infant slings, and others still run about on their toddler legs. We once had two littles in tow with a stroller for walks on the campus. Can that really be thirty years ago? The calendar confirms it, yet it does not seem possible. We are doting grandparents now, but when we came back here in 1993 when Al was elected president, we were parents to four-year-old Katie and oneyear-old Christopher.

I vividly remember many things about those first days here, even as other events now run together. Aiding my memory is the detailed journal I kept from when Katie was born until Christopher started school. While at times burdensome to keep up, mixed among the schedules and the seemingly unimportant details are many milestones and references to the adorable things kids say and do, along with my musings on events from those early years. This journal reminds me of events I had completely forgotten about and would not believe if I did not see them in my own

handwriting. I have particularly enjoyed reading through those entries now in 2023.

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. My dear 33-year-old husband was on the short list. This process coincided with the long days when our precious baby boy had colic and our toddler daughter was trying to figure out how to navigate a life of sharing her parents with this little baby who seemed to be quite unhappy. I was exhausted and in retrospect did not think it was likely that we would move back to Louisville less than four years after Al had completed his PhD. at the beloved seminary where we spent the first six years of our marriage. But it became clear very quickly the Lord had other plans.

After meeting with Al, the search committee responded that he “completely blew them away.”

The search committee met the next day, and here is a direct quote from my journal as to what one trustee told me: “We met at 2:00 pm to discuss

our plans. At 2:01 pm, it was apparent that we had a unanimous decision. Each member of the committee was excited to share a Bible verse. It was the same verse: ‘Let no one despise you for your youth.’ (I Tim 4:12).” Another trustee observed, “studies of institutions reveal that long-tenured administrations have the most significant influences on the school.” With a 33-year-old president, there was a potential for a record-long tenure, and with that, the age issue was answered.

The committee, who had previously announced it would wait two weeks to make a decision, chose instead to make a lasting memory for us. The chairman called Al the next day as they knew we were still in the area visiting family and said, “There is a question that has come up, and we need you to answer it. I am confident you can address it. We would like you and Mary to come back up here for dinner.” I had one dress suitable for an interview with me so I had no choice but to borrow a dress from my mother-in-law. We returned for dinner with no idea what the question could be. Al’s gaze was riveted on the chairman as he does not like surprises and was eager to answer the committee’s question. In a rare moment, I saw what was coming first, as I noticed many wives pulling out cameras. The question was simply this: “Will you accept the unanimous nomination of this committee to be the ninth president of Southern Seminary?” And so it began. We had the joy of telling both sets of parents in person. What a whirlwind! But I remember that day, February 19, 1993 like it was yesterday.

The four of us made our first trip to the campus on April 6 after the full board met in Atlanta on March 26 and elected Al as president. We stayed at the Guest House, which is now the Foundation House. We had a family photo taken on the porch of the Guest House and went to have a tour of what would be our new home. I attended a student forum in the chapel that gave me a little taste of the hostility that was to come. I described it

in my journal simply as “infuriating.” So we returned to Atlanta to get our house on the market and started saying our goodbyes to friends and church members. We moved to Louisville on Memorial Day weekend after some very frustrated movers finally finished packing up “all of those books.” Those who had to unload them on the other end were no less frustrated.

Since we knew almost no one in Louisville at this point, the seminary arranged for students to come and babysit at the house while we worked on the massive task of unpacking and setting up the house, even as several rooms were thankfully well furnished for the many seminary events we would soon begin to host. We learned later that some of those students were not pleased we were there, but ignorance was bliss. We were grateful to have the summer to figure things out before the busy fall, with the arrival of new students, new faculty, new trustees, and the inauguration all looming large. We celebrated our tenth anniversary that summer and marveled at how the Lord had blessed us from our newlywed home in Fuller Hall just ten years prior to a new calling in the President’s Home with two precious children.

During that summer, we would take breaks and go to the campus for walks as we sought to get to know faculty and students. Our youth was an asset, given the amount of energy needed for the tasks at hand, but we certainly seemed to blend in more with the student families than the faculty. On one memorable occasion, several families approached us rather timidly and said quietly, “We are glad you are here. We believe in what you are doing.” I remember being happy to hear that but amazed at the reluctance to speak up and say so boldly. They were clearly in the minority and knew it.

Over the course of the next several years, we faced many difficult days as my husband courageously carried out the task of recovering faithfulness at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, fulfilling all that he recovering faithfulness, a family perspective

brilliantly outlined to the search committee. I know he shielded me by not recounting many mean-spirited attacks, but I could certainly see the toll it was taking on him. I am beyond grateful for the lack of internet in those days. No tweets. No blog posts. No Facebook groups. We resolved to continue to prioritize our family and took great joy in playing with our kids and going on outings with them, knowing they were completely clueless about what was happening across the street. We have shared in the past how five-year-old Katie once slipped a note under a closed door while we were discussing the latest crisis. The note simply said, “I love you.” Thankfully, she perceptively knew how we were protecting her from hurt that she could detect in our faces, but she communicated her love in the best way she could. How kind the Lord is to allow such memories to prevail while the distasteful memories continue to fade.

Those dark days slowly gave way to brighter days as the Lord began to bring to Southern new students and key new faculty members—who brought with them precious families with whom we could link arms. Friendships were forged that continue to this day for us and our now grown children. The painful experiences of protests, sitins, boycotted faculty Christmas parties, rude graduates crossing the stage, and more all now seem unthinkable. Some of those new faculty wives joined me in starting Seminary Wives Institute, where we have trained student wives for over 25 years and counting.

We have seen the Lord do a marvelous work in recovering faithfulness and returning Southern Seminary to its roots as the Bible is fervently taught as the infallible and inerrant Word of God. Against the naysayers’ predictions, student housing is full and families flock to our campus. Boyce College is thriving. We have the thrill of seeing the children of some of our first graduates from the Mohler era return to where they were once pushed in strollers and now sit in classrooms, many meeting future spouses! God is so good.

Al and I will celebrate forty years of marriage this summer. Not long ago, we couldn’t well imagine being forty years old. Praise the Lord for his provision in allowing us to be healthy as we continue to do the work set before us—which is admittedly different than it was in 1993.

I hope this does not appear to be self-serving, but no one could be prouder of the work my husband has done here than I am. What an honor it is to walk beside him and watch him use his amazing intellect and unprecedented work ethic. I have seen the Lord bring Galatians 6:9 to fruition in his work: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” There were many times, perhaps some of which are known only to me, when it would have been easier to

mary k. mohler

“give up” and go do something else. Those thoughts were fleeting. The Lord sustained him, and we do have the joy of reaping the harvest. It is stunning to think about the over fifteen thousand graduates who have earned degrees from Southern Seminary and Boyce College since 1993. How humbling to consider how many thousands of couples and young families this includes who are now serving in a myriad of capacities as they take the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ locally and to the ends of the earth.

They have been educated through the diligent work of our stellar faculty, who passionately love the Lord and his Word as they teach without reservation the truth once for all delivered to the saints.

Every time we see those happy families pushing their strollers, our hearts swell with joy as our mission here is confirmed yet again. God is faithful. Soli Deo Gloria!

We have seen the Lord do a marvelous work in recovering faithfulness and returning Southern Seminary to its roots as the Bible is fervently taught as the infallible and inerrant Word of God.

“

I have seen the Lord bring Galatians 6:9 to fruition in his work: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

mary k . mohler

do you really believe you can turn this ship around? with jimmy

Do You Really Believe You Can Turn This Ship Around?

jimmy scroggins

In the fall of 1993, I visited The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. I didn’t know much about Southern Baptist history or politics. I was barely aware of the Conservative Resurgence that took place while I was in high school and college. I just wanted to serve Jesus in vocational ministry and knew I needed training. 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.

I was raised in a Christian home and grew up attending church. Our family had a lot

of diverse church experiences. My earliest childhood church memories are of a mainline United Methodist church in West Tennessee. We were immersed in a fundamentalist, KJV-only, independent Baptist church in South Florida in elementary school. When I was in the second grade, we moved to North Florida and joined a Southern Baptist church. A few years later we helped plant an Evangelical Free church in our neighborhood. We moved again when I was in high school and joined a small rural Southern Baptist church. The point is that by the time I understood a call to ministry as a junior in college, I had no sense of theological tribe or denominational identification – I was just a believer in Jesus who wanted to serve. Fortunately for me, my parents and pastors gave me a high view of Scripture, strong training in personal evangelism, and a love for my church.

do you really believe you can turn this ship around?

As I considered the options for ministry training, I wanted to attend a seminary that would add intellectual underpinning to the biblical beliefs I had developed at home and church. One of my mentors warned me that the environment at Southern was likely to rob me of my enthusiasm for evangelism as well as my confidence in the Bible. Wherever I ended up attending graduate school, I was determined to hold onto my childhood convictions.

On that Louisville trip, I spent a few days on the campus of Southern Seminary. I played basketball in the gym, toured the campus, and attended some classes. It became clear that Dr. Mohler was not very popular on campus. He had only assumed the presidency of Southern a few months earlier, and was already revealing plans to radically alter the school’s direction. The professors were not fans and said so from their lecterns. The students were upset about the new president, and several became emotional in informal conversations in the cafeteria.

After being on campus for a few days, I had an appointment for a one-on-one meeting with Dr. Mohler. By the time I walked into his then-office on the first floor of Norton Hall, I had pretty much decided that Southern was not for me. I was discouraged by the spirit on campus. It was too liberal, too angry, too bitter, and too contentious. I wasn’t interested in getting involved with all of that. I just wanted to be trained to be a pastor. Southern wasn’t for me.

When I walked into his office for the first time, I had no awareness of Dr. Mohler’s intellectual brilliance, nor of his academic accomplishments, nor his rock-ribbed commitment to faithful, orthodox, biblical Christianity. I didn’t know about the incredible depth and breadth of his leadership abilities. All I saw was a guy with gigantic glasses who appeared to be a little young for his job. And yet, as I talked with him in his office, I began to experience a massive change of heart. What did he say that changed my direction?

Honestly, the entire vibe on campus felt old, stale, and angry. The sense of bitter resentment against a new conservative direction was palpable. And the freshly minted president was obviously unpopular with students and faculty alike. As a prospective student, the whole scene was unsettling. It was obvious that reclaiming the school for effective gospel service would be a steep climb. I wondered if a true turnaround was even possible.

First, Dr. Mohler made it clear that he intended to return Southern Seminary to its confessional roots. He introduced me to the Abstract of Principles and handed me a white paper briefly explaining each article in the document. Instructors would be held accountable to the Abstract and would be required to teach “in accordance with, and not contrary to” that statement of faith.

Second, Dr. Mohler explained that his emphasis on the Abstract reclaimed the theological mandate of the founders of the school. That confessional heritage had been forfeited over decades of leftward movement by the faculty and administration at Southern Seminary. Dr. Mohler intended to take it back.

Third, Dr. Mohler was absolutely determined to use every ethical lever of leadership to restore the theological commitments of the seminary. The Conservative Resurgence in the SBC centered on the truthfulness and authority of the Bible. Ma and Pa Southern Baptist wanted their missionaries and their seminaries to reflect their beliefs, especially around biblical inerrancy and the priority of evangelism. While many believed that a turnaround at Southern was impossible, Al Mohler was confident God had placed and called him to Southern’s presidency for this purpose. He knew what Southern Baptists expected of him and intended to fulfill those expectations.

As our meeting neared its end, I asked Dr. Mohler a question that was important to me. I said, “The students here don’t like you. That faculty isn’t on your side. After being on campus for a few days, I don’t know if you can really pull this off. Do you really believe you can turn this ship around?” Dr. Mohler replied, “I intend to either turn this ship around or I intend to sink it.” The conviction on display in that conversation was life-changing for me. I didn’t know if Dr. Mohler could finish the task or not, but I wanted to be a part of what God was doing at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. And I wanted to learn leadership from a guy with that kind of resolve.

I walked out of that meeting, walked down the hall, and wrote a check for my first deposit. I spent the next decade and a half of my life at Southern Seminary. I completed an MDiv., and then a PhD. I taught as an adjunct. I became a dean and served on the president’s cabinet. I was elected to the faculty and proudly signed the Abstract. In 2008, God called us to South Florida, where I serve as the Lead Pastor of Family Church. But that conversation in the fall of 1993 turned out to be so pivotal in my life – from that day on, SBTS has been my school.

“I intend to either turn this ship around or I intend to sink it.”

R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

jimmy scroggins

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

recent faculty books

Short of Glory: A B iblical and Theological Exploration of the Fall Mitchell C. Chase Crossway, 2022 | $17.99

In this book, pastor and professor Mitchell Chase argues that in order to understand the fall and recognize its profound impact on later Scripture and the world today, Christians must first understand Genesis 3. Chase identifies themes found in Genesis 3–temptation, shame, messianic hope, and more–and shows how they reverberate throughout the rest of the storyline of Scripture.

Pastoral Friendship: The Forgotten Piece in a Persevering Ministry

Michael A.G. Haykin, Brian Croft and James Carroll Christian Focus, 2022 | $12.99

Friendship is a need that touches the deepest parts of the human soul. This is especially true in ministry. It is a need that is not simply rooted in enjoyment and companionship, but in the necessity to care well for one’s soul and survive a long–term ministry. This book seeks to persuade every modern pastor of the essential need of friendship. And not just any friendship, but a close, personal, intimate, and sacrificial pastor–to–pastor friendship that regularly turns each other’s gaze to Jesus.

Reaching Your Muslim Neighbor with the Gospel A.S. Ibrahim Crossway, 2022 | $12.99

In Reaching Your Muslim Neighbor with the Gospel , A. S. Ibrahim seeks to provide readers with insight and practical tips to engage and share the gospel with Muslim friends and neighbors. Ibrahim divides the book into two sections: (1) a Christian understanding of the strands of Islam and the diversity of Muslims, and (2) practical ways for Christians to connect with Muslims and effectively communicate the gospel. This book also incorporates true stories about Muslims coming to Christ and answers common questions.

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

recent faculty books

The Spirit, Ethics, and Eternal Life: Paul’s Vision for the Christian Life in Galatians

Jarvis J. Williams

IVP Academic, 2023 | $32.00

The New Testament scholar Jarvis Williams considers how Paul’s letter to the Galatians can inform our understanding of the Christian life here and now as well as into eternity. What emerges from this careful study is a multifaceted vision of God’s saving action in Jesus Christ for both Jew and Gentile, in both the vertical relationship between God and humanity as well as the horizontal relationships among people–with cosmic ramifications.

Come and See: The Journey of Knowing God through Scripture

Jonathan Pennington Crossway, 2023 | $15.29

In Come and See , Jonathan Pennington helps readers understand what it means to know God from the Bible and details three effective approaches to interpreting Scripture. Using the engaging analogy of a road trip, he introduces three friends who each have distinct, clear ways of navigating the Bible: informational (understanding genres in Scripture and avoiding exegetical mistakes); theological (reading canonically, traditionally, and creedally); and transformational (focusing on the goal of reading Scripture, our posture as readers, and the role of the Holy Spirit).

Susannah Spurgeon: Lessons for a Life of Joyful Eagerness in Christ

Mary K. Mohler

Christian Focus, 2023 | $22.99

If the cliché ‘behind every great man is a strong woman’, is true, then Susannah Spurgeon remains one of the matriarchs of the same tradition. Spurgeon was the bone companion of her husband. As a pastoral assistant, as Charles’ wife and support through trials, this woman’s biography has been a long time coming. Mary Mohler has gathered information on Susie from sources spanning letters, devotionals and biographies. The result is a thoughtful, sympathetic and endearing epitaph to a sister in Christ, whose voice can no longer be ignored. Mohler allows room for academics,mothers, daughters and wives to dwell on Spurgeon’s joyful eagerness in Christ.

by joshua w. powell

recovering faithfulness in theological education

TThere are many things in life that we take for granted that we formerly could not. The easy accessibility to the internet, the ubiquitous presence of the mobile phone, and the unhindered ability to take pictures of every single moment in life are just a few examples of things we now take for granted. 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.

In the summer of 1994, at 19 years old, the Lord called me into full-time ministry. Though it shocked me, it was not a shock to my family. My father and grandfather were South Carolina Baptist pastors and to many, I was simply following in their footsteps. They were both godly, faithful, Bible believing pastors who preached the inerrant and infallible Word of God. However, neither of them were seminary trained. It was not for want of finances or opportunity; it was because the seminaries were “too liberal.” I thought this was my path as well.

I had some hope. In South Carolina, the Conservative Resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention was working itself out in the institutions. Furman University separated from the state convention in 1992 because of the conservative stand that our convention had taken. The convention’s resurgence and some other factors allowed a Baptist junior college in our state, which was about to close its doors, to have a resurgence as well. North Greenville College switched to a four-year institution and decided to build upon the conservative theology of the vast majority of South Carolina Baptists. I enrolled at North Greenville for my ungraduated degree in Christian Studies.

Even though I was in a minister’s family, we did not follow all the details of the Conservative Resurgence. At North Greenville, I learned the details of the 1979 election of Adrian Rogers. I learned of the Dallas convention in 1985, where forty-five thousand messengers showed up in what turned out to be a “watershed moment” with the election of Charles Stanley. I learned how the trustee system worked and how the SBC, unlike other denominations, could be turned around. That is when I learned of Southern Seminary. Granted, I knew of the institution; it was founded in Greenville and streets downtown still bore the names of the original faculty. However, I also knew that the school was steeped in liberalism and would be one of the most difficult to bring back to biblical fidelity.

It was in a conversation with other ministry students when I first heard the name Albert Mohler. We were discussing the future of our education and the possibility of attending seminary when someone said, “It will be interesting to see what happens at Southern Seminary with Albert Mohler as president.” I heard his name several times in the next week or two until I finally asked my professor about him. My professor responded by handing me a pamphlet titled “Don’t Just Do Something: Stand There,” the first convocation address given by Albert Mohler as president of the seminary delivered on August 31, 1993, an action that helped set the course for the rest of my life. I took the pamphlet to a quiet place in the library and spent the next few hours devouring the address and chasing down every reference. I was caught up.

In this address, I would find the foundation to which the seminary would be brought back to its conservative theology and the foundation on which I would build my own ministry. The address, in essence, was a call to return to the biblical and theological foundations of the seminary through a strict adherence to the Abstract of Principles, the seminary’s founding confession. However, there was more to it than that. It was an example of courageous leadership to stand for the truth when many around you would not. It was apologetic for why the seminary exists and what will be considered a true success. It would help shape my life and ministry moving forward.

Confessional Faithfulness

The beginning of the address is more than just a history lesson; it is a call to understand the school’s founding identity. Mohler refers to James Pettigru Boyce’s 1856 address “Three Changes in Theological Institutions” as the “Magna Carta of Southern Seminary.” Boyce gave the address to the faculty in his first year as a professor at Furman University. He argued that theological education must be available to all who are called to the ministry no matter their level of preparation and that it would offer strenuous programs to produce ministers as “persons of exceptional preparation.” Boyce, raised in the “Charleston tradition,” also believed that theological institutions must be confessional to remain faithful to the Scriptures.

As a result, Basil Manly, Jr., a fellow Charlestonian and founding faculty member, drafted the Abstract of Principles, the confessional document for the fledgling

seminary. The Abstract was meant to be a unifying document. It speaks “clearly and distinctly as to the practices universally prevalent among us.” This statement indicated that “upon no point, upon which the denomination is divided, should the Convention, and through it, the Seminary, take any position.” In that day, the Abstract was not controversial at all; it was simply a testimony to the general beliefs of all Southern Baptists. This emphasis was essential to Boyce and the other professors; the school belonged to the churches, so it must be trusted by the churches to teach the truth.

To this day, every elected faculty member signs the original Abstract. This act serves as a commitment “to teach in accordance with and not contrary to” the school’s confession, and as the “Fundamental laws” of the Institution state, any professor that does not fulfill this duty must be removed. As Mohler walked through the Abstract, he clarified that he intended to hold the professors to this commitment. The problem, though not stated forthrightly at the time, was that the leadership of the seminary had allowed the professors of the school to sign the Abstract without teaching according to the Abstract. This neglect meant the Seminary had lost its connection to the churches and was no longer trustworthy. Instead, Mohler intended to regain the churches’ trust and hold the professors accountable. This action took courage.

Confessional Leadership

There was no question the seminary would be hostile to Mohler’s firm confessional faithfulness. Even before he took office, two deans resigned because of his “conservative vision for the seminary.” In the coming years, Mohler would be confronted with the reality that many teaching and in the leadership of the school not only held to liberal views of the Scripture but believed that their liberal views could be reconciled with the Abstract. In his address, he walked through the confession and explained what it teaches. He touched on the dangers of heresy and stated very clearly that modernity, or progressive liberal theology, swept away true biblical Christianity and that, “cannot be so here.”

This reality meant he would have to confront the people that were teaching outside the bounds of the Abstract head on. There would be student protests, faculty resolutions, and gatherings of both students and faculty on the seminary lawn to speak out against Mohler. But he stood firm. Courage is doing something daring, even when it

means that you will do it alone, and that was the commitment Mohler was making at that first convocation. He would stand on the truth of God’s Word expressed in the Abstract, even if no one else would stand with him. He said, “The Abstract represents a clarion call to start with conviction rather than mere action. It cries out, ‘Don’t just do something: stand there!’”

Confessional Success

Mohler knew that the stance he took would be a costly one, especially in the beginning. Many argued that he would kill the seminary, either in existence or influence. However, these were not the criteria by which Mohler was going to measure success. Success will always be conditioned on faithfulness to the Word of God. Mohler stated, “we can never measure our life work in terms of activity and statistics.” The final measure of success is not found in any numbers at all. “We will be judged,” he stated, but it will not be on the “number of courses taught,” the number of “students trained,” the number of “syllabi printed,” or how many “books book published.” The true measure of the success of the school will be found in “whether or not we kept the faith.” Mohler wanted to be able to answer that question with “humble confidence.” All future success of the seminary is measured finally on biblical faithfulness.

The receiving of that first convocation address early in my theological training was a kind providence to me. Confessional faithfulness, courageous leadership, and conditioned success not only became standards for my ministerial training but have also become non-negotiable benchmarks for my ministry. Dr. Mohler has consistently led with and lived out these convictions for the last thirty years. While many of us take conservative Baptist theological education for granted, we must remember that it has not always been this way. I am glad the Lord led me to Southern Seminary under the leadership of Dr. Mohler, and it has been my privilege to commend the school to not only my students but to anyone looking for faithful Baptist theological education. We must not take this for granted but be thankful.

joshua w. powell

All future success of the seminary is measured finally on biblical faithfulness.

Christ-Centered Students Need Christ-Centered Degrees

Whether you are interested in pursuing full-time Christian ministry or want to make a kingdom impact in the marketplace, discover the degree that will prepare you to accomplish what the Lord is leading you to do.

“ Confessional faithfulness, courageous leadership, and conditioned success not only became standards for my ministerial training but have also become nonnegotiable benchmarks for my ministry. Dr. Mohler has consistently led with and lived out these convictions for the last thirty years.”

joshua w . powell

Visit e Bookstore at Southern, the largest theological bookstore in North America. From biblical commentaries to church history, we have everything you need to deepen your love of God and his Word and build your library. Our collections range from the newest releases to an extensive selection of high-quality used books!

The

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

news & features

one year later mayfield coming back after devastating tornados

By Jeff Robinson

Until Jesus returns, December 10, 2021, will live in infamy for citizens of Mayfield, Kentucky.

That night, “the Beast” tore through town.

Just before 9:30 that evening, one of the strongest tornadoes to hit the United States in the past decade—a storm so ferocious it moved one National Weather meteorologist to nickname it “the Beast”—roared through the center of downtown Mayfield. What the nocturnal beast left in its wake was hard to fathom: 1,300 homes and businesses severely damaged or completely destroyed, nine late-shift workers killed at a candle factory on the outskirts of Mayfield and 24 total

killed in Mayfield/Graves County Within about a 90-minute span, the marauding twister obliterated the city of Mayfield and then smashed through smaller western Kentucky towns of Benton, Princeton, Dawson Springs (site of 14 deaths), and Bremen. Its winds reached nearly 200 mph, the surreal damage left behind ranked the tornado at an

EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. All told, “the Beast,” spent more than three hours on the ground, traveled 165 miles, and took 58 lives.

Wes Fowler, pastor of First Baptist Church of Mayfield, hunkered down with his family and another staff member in the church as the storm leveled his hometown and his home church. In the days following, Fowler—a 2015 DMin graduate from SBTS and current PhD student—helped his church and community dig out of the rubble. Fowler and his church also became the epicenter for communicating Mayfield’s tragic story to the world as numerous media outlets, from the New York Times to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, interviewed him.

Making Progress Daily

The historic First Baptist Church building sustained heavy damage but was one of the few buildings

Wes Fowler (left) pastor of FBC Mayfield, surveyed the damage to his church building.

FBC Mayfield’s property sustained heavy damage after a night of tornados, December 10, 2021.

left even partially standing in downtown Mayfield. Fowler grew up in Mayfield and has served as pastor of FBC since 2011. The church’s facilities are still being repaired with quite a way left to completion, a testimony to the extent of damage.

“We are making progress every day with rebuilding our campus, but a project of this magnitude takes significant time,” Fowler said. “Thankfully, the exterior of our campus survived, but due to severe roof damage, every square foot of the interior needs renovation. And, since our campus is almost 100,000 square feet, it’s quite an undertaking!

“If all goes well, we are hoping to be back in our sanctuary by late summer or early fall, 2023. The remainder of our campus will likely take an additional year-anda-half to renovate. So, from the date of the tornado to completion, our renovation will be a three-year process.”

Then there’s his hometown where hardly a single building was left unscathed. More than 1,300 businesses, homes, and churches were completely demolished. In approximately the time it takes to read the first half of this article, the hometown Fowler had known his whole life was more or less erased. With 12 months now passed since that deadly night, the rebuild is progressing steadily.

“As a community, Mayfield is making great progress and recovering well,” Fowler said. “Most of the demolition work is complete, and both individuals and businesses are beginning to rebuild. Committees meet on a regular basis to plan the future layout and design of downtown Mayfield, and the plan is coming along well. We still

have a long journey ahead of us, but much has been accomplished.”

Scars Remain

There remain scars that cannot be seen with the human eye. For years to come, every time meteorologists use the words “tornado threat” and “western Kentucky” in the same phrase, anxiety will no doubt bubble up in the hearts and minds of Mayfield’s citizens. Fowler, who was named SBTS distinguished alumni last June in Anaheim, said the events have made him more vigilant about the weather.

“In the past, I wouldn’t think twice about an incoming storm,” he said. “I would assume it wouldn’t be too bad, and even if the weather happened to be severe, I would assume it wouldn’t impact me. I think completely differently now.”

While FBC Mayfield’s building sustained heavy damage, the church itself continues on in strength, Fowler said, adding that he has learned some important

lessons about ministry in the wake of the devastation.

“In the past year, I’ve learned a great deal about the church and about ministry,” he said. “I’ve always preached that followers of Jesus are the church and the building is simply where we meet. It’s one thing, though, to preach this truth; it’s quite another to actually live it.

“For worship, we meet in a borrowed theater. For Sunday school, we meet in homes and businesses all across Mayfield. For children’s and youth activities, we rent space on a weekly basis. Piece by piece we intentionally make it a priority to gather, fellowship, worship, and hear from God’s Word. From experience, we are learning that the body of Christ is indeed the Church. The building is nice, but it’s a poor substitute for the church.”

Ministry Goes On

Help and helpers descended Mayfield from 42 states and media trucks were a constant presence

Tornados devastated FBC Mayfield’s property, including a bus.

in the weeks following the storm. But one year later, the media have moved on and the help has thinned out a good bit. But the Lord used that media coverage, Fowler said, to bring desperately needed help and resources to Mayfield and the surrounding area.

“For several weeks following the tornado we had regular interaction with various forms of media,” he said. “For me, the interactions were positive and provided a great platform to share the Gospel and speak of the kindness and graciousness of God.

“Now, as we approach the oneyear anniversary, several media outlets have returned to Mayfield, and I believe most in our community welcome them with open arms. In my opinion, the initial media coverage of Mayfield significantly increased awareness of our needs, which in turn impacted the level of support from around the country.”

Stories of Christlike faithfulness emerged after the storm. Remarkably, several staff members from Samaritan’s Purse moved to Mayfield and still serve the community on a full-time basis.

Said Fowler, “As part of their recovery plan, Samaritan’s Purse purchased a large tract of land and they are currently building

60 homes for our community. It’s a massive project provided for Mayfield as a gift. How do you say ‘thank you’ when a ministry donates an entire neighborhood? I’m really not sure, but I know we are incredibly appreciative of their generosity.”

Over the past year, there have been enhanced opportunities for gospel ministry due to the magnitude of the physical needs. The church meets the people’s physical needs while also seeking to meet the deepest need of human hearts. Ultimately, eternal needs are always the focus.

“In ministry, we’ve learned that meeting physical needs oftentimes

opens the door to addressing spiritual needs,” he said. “Immediately after the tornado, physical needs were abundant. People needed electricity, food, water, clothes, assistance with rent, vehicles, and places to live.

“In the process of meeting those needs, relationships were formed. Then, in the context of a relationship, trust was built. When trust exists, spiritual needs can be addressed more easily. I believe we are called to proclaim the gospel in all contexts, but I’ve witnessed the effectiveness of meeting physical needs with the ultimate hope of addressing one’s most urgent need.”

Mayfield friends and family remembered the lives of those lost in the storms.

Wes Fowler (right) talked with Mayfield residents in the aftermath of the tornados.

sbts hosts renowned scholar robert george for lecture, panel with president mohler

By Travis Hearne

Moral truth is attractive and leads to human flourishing, Robert George and Albert Mohler said during a discussion in the Bookstore at Southern. George serves as the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and is one of the world’s most respected voices within American social conservatism.

George delivered a lecture on natural law and the crisis of Western morality, then joined Mohler for a conversation on social conservatism. Andrew T. Walker, professor of ethics at SBTS, led the discussion. The lecture was sponsored by the Carl F. H. Henry Institute for Evangelical Engagement.

“We are in a new intellectual context,” Mohler said. “When the liberals of the last century claimed

to save Christian morality from Christian theology, they lost both. For SBTS, we are proud to be cobelligerents against evil with Dr. George. But more than that, we are proud to be co-thinkers.”

George and Mohler discussed the state of contemporary conservatism; For George and Mohler, true conservatism differs from blood-and-soil nationalism and popular expressions of neo-conservatism.

“American conservatism was never blood and soil or throne and altar,” said George. “We American conservatives believe in a creedal nation where our identity is built on a shared commitment to the principles found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—which is why anyone can become an American.”

George said a unified culture must flow from the nation’s founding ideas. Mohler agreed and pointed out the difference between true conservatism and many of those who label themselves as

conservatives.

“I think one of the most crucial distinctions we can make today is between right-wing and conservative,” said Mohler. “Just wanting to blow up the left doesn’t make you a conservative. A conservative believes in permanent things and first principles.”

Walker asked the two scholars to discuss the importance of institutions. The key difference between conservatives and liberals on the issue, according to George and Mohler, is that conservatives believe in building families and communities in ways that liberals don’t, even as they agreed that liberals have won most social and cultured institutions in America.

“God created institutions,” said Mohler. “We lose everything except what we are determined to build and hold on to. When I see Christ building his church and Christian families—the foundational institutions—I see the beauty and attractiveness of truth.”

On the state of the evangelical mind and his hopefulness for the future, Mohler said the recovery of social conservatism starts in local churches.

“We are only here because of churchgoers in the pews,” said Mohler. “Knowledge production is a privilege, but discipleship is a mandate. Grassroots believers, through their sacrifice, are responsible for recovering social conservatism.”

George stressed the need for courage and engagement with the world’s ideas. He’s hopeful that a rising group of conservative intellectuals will contend for truth and pass down a body of scholarship that future generations may build on.

“If we’re going to march back

Robert George (left), Andrew Walker (center), and Albert Mohler (right) discussed social conservatism in The Bookstore at Southern.

through the institutions, we need young people who are brilliant, dedicated, adept, and courageous,” said George. “When I look around, I see young men and women committed to their faith and willing to take the stones and arrows coming for them. That inspires me to keep working and doing what I’m doing.”

George’s appearance at Southern came on the heels of the release of Social Conservatism for the Common Good: A Protestant Engagement with Robert P. George, edited by Andrew T. Walker. The book is a collection of essays from Protestant writers and thinkers written to help evangelicals apply George’s philosophical and practical insights to their own public witness. One chapter is a brief biography of George by John D. Wilsey who serves as associate professor of church history at SBTS.

Afternoon Lecture

In George’s afternoon lecture, he set forth an introduction to natural law theory and its relationship to basic moral goods. According to George, the natural law is discerned through the use of practical reason. By practical reason, George simply means that we come to understand the exact contours of the natural law as we reflect on the reasons for our everyday actions that cause us to flourish.

George also lectured at length about the basis of human rights, which he referred to as norms of justice that civil law recognizes to protect the ability of human beings to flourish. A just act, according to George, is what helps us reach the end for which God has made us. George went on to argue that the natural law is taught in Romans chapters 1-2 as the “law written on the heart” that God implants inside of every human being. The reason

George’s lecture is important is because it stresses the reasonableness of Christian ethics as consistent with human flourishing. Human beings cannot flourish apart from obeying God’s order of creation that we learn through the natural law.

Walker said he was thrilled that George spent time at Southern and believes the seminary community will benefit from the lecture and discussion.

“I hope students come away with a deeper appreciation for an approach to ethics that speaks to the comprehensive nature of Christian ethics,” said Walker. “As Professor George taught us, theology not only grounds ethics, but explains why ethics can possess the rational explanation that they do; and that’s because Christian ethics promote human goods that are conducive to human flourishing.”

Robert George delivered a lecture on natural law in Heritage Hall.

sbts hispanic program adds doctor of ministry

degree

By Travis Hearne

Southern Seminary is now offering a fully Spanish online DMin degree with cohorts starting once a year.

SBTS Provost Paul Akin said the new degree will build upon the success of Southern’s Online Hispanic Program (OHP), which has equipped ministers across the Spanish-speaking world since 2016.

“The Spanish DMin is held to the highest standard of academic rigor,” Akin said. “At the same time, it is tailored for pastors and church leaders. The online format gives Hispanic pastors and church leaders an opportunity to immediately apply what they are learning in their local context.”

Southern has a history of leading efforts in Spanish theological education and is one of the few institutions accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) approved to offer MA and MDiv degrees fully in Spanish. As OHP enrollment increased, so did the demand for post-graduate education.

Roberto Carrera, director of the Online Hispanic Program, and Felipe Castro, director of Hispanic Initiatives, saw the need to offer the DMin. Carrera was previously named Director of OHP in 2021.

“For years, many of our graduates expressed a desire to continue furthering their studies,” Carrera said. “Many asked quite pointedly if we’d ever offer a doctorial degree. We saw a need for more pastors and church leaders to become the thought leaders and expert practi-

tioners in their sphere of influence, and the DMin at Southern is uniquely suited to meet this need.”

In view of the new degree, Akin preached at Iglesia Bautista Internacional—the church of pastor and Southern professor, Miguel Núñez, on February 5. Núñez has served on the SBTS faculty since 2016 and will host seminars in the Dominican Republic.

“We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Miguel Núñez,” Akin said. “He is integral to our Spanish MDiv and will be an anchor to the Spanish DMin. Each cohort will have its first semester in the Dominican Republic at the Instituto Integridad y Sabiduría— giving fellow students and our professors the opportunity to connect.”

Akin said the new degree is a natural next step in fulfilling the Great Commission and will prepare Spanish pastors and church leaders with the best of theological education.

“I am convinced that there is a great opportunity for Southern Seminary to help train and equip

a rising generation of pastors and church leaders across Latin and South America,” Akin said. “This initiative is a natural outflow of our commitment to the Great Commission and a desire to see Spanish-speaking pastors, missionaries, and church leaders equipped to serve the Lord in the years ahead.”

understanding small details can enhance your bible reading, scholar says in annal gheens lectures

By Travis Hearne and Jeff Robinson

Six surprising details will forever change your Bible reading, Peter Williams told the Southern Seminary community during the 2023 Gheens Lectures, held February 8–9 in Heritage Hall.

English New Testament readers often take these six details for granted: question marks, capital letters, quotation marks, paragraphing, verse division, and

Doctoral students (left) talked with director of Hispanic initiatives, Felipe Castro (right), at SBTS.

punctuation. But Williams said these markings are additions to the Greek text. While sometimes helpful, these translation decisions can distract readers from the author’s original meaning.

“Question marks weren’t used consistently until the fifth century and the original letters weren’t upper or lowercase,” Williams said.

“For centuries, Christians read their Bible’s fine without punctuation and speech marks. Some of the useful marks in our Bibles went from optional and helpful to now binding our interpretation.”

Williams serves as Principal of Tyndale House at Cambridge in England and is one of the leading Bible scholars in evangelicalism.

The topic of the lecture series was “Surprising Aspects of Jesus’s Teaching.” He is a member of the translation committee for the ESV Bible.

Williams pointed to Pilate’s conversation with Jesus in Mathew 27 as an example. Pilate’s exact words to Jesus were, “You are the

king of the Jews.” Most English translations add a question mark to Pilate’s words, but Williams said this causes readers to miss the significance of Jesus’s response.

“Pilate intends to ask a question,” Williams said. “But in God’s sovereignty, the actual pattern of his words convey the truth that Jesus is king. Jesus answered, ‘you have said so’ because he took Pilate’s words as a testimony to the truth rather than a question.”

In another lecture, Williams argued that it is possible that Jesus taught and spoke often in Greek. Many scholars maintain that Jesus spoke only Aramaic, but discoveries since the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947 demonstrate the use of both Hebrew and Greek alongside Aramaic in Roman Palestine. Williams offered several lines of suggestive evidence from the New Testament that suggest that the Lord used Greek.

One example came from the Sermon on the Mount. There, Jesus addressed an audience from sev-

eral different places surrounding Galilee, an audience that would’ve been composed largely of Greek speakers, so it is quite possible he would have delivered his famous address in Greek.

“When groups from so many different places came together, we would therefore expect the teaching to be given in the language most likely to be recognized by all, namely Greek,” he said “This is, of course, unless the teaching were to be given in more than one language.”

Ultimately, the language Jesus spoke doesn’t change anything about what he taught, so it’s not an issue with massive consequences.

“In one sense it doesn’t matter at all what languages Jesus spoke,” Williams said. “Whether he taught in Aramaic, Hebrew or Greek, most Christians in the world today will be reading his lessons in translation anyway.

“But the understanding that it is perfectly plausible that Jesus may have spoken Greek helps us

Peter Williams delivered the Gheens Lecture series in Heritage Hall.

to understand his life a little more clearly — not as someone who lived in an isolated rural outpost, but as a member of a vibrant and cosmopolitan community. It also encourages us that there is no need to imagine a gulf between what Jesus originally said and what is recorded in the Gospels.”

southern seminary graduates selected as leaders

By Jacob Percy

As one observes the announcements coming from institutions of Christian higher education, a pattern begins to emerge – graduates of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary are consistently appointed to leadership positions. These appointments are not a new trend. Since its founding in 1859, Southern Seminary has served to prepare and equip its students to lead at the highest levels of church, denomination, and academic life, with graduates serving as college and seminary presidents and in numerous influential positions of leadership throughout its history.

Announcements in 2023 continue this pattern as Southern Seminary graduates have been selected to be the dean of the Talbot School of Theology, appointed to Beeson Divinity School’s Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism and Cultural Engagement, selected as Provost of Charleston Southern University, and most recently, a graduate of Southern Seminary’s PhD. in leadership announced as president of Liberty University. Southern Seminary graduates stand ready and prepared to answer the call

when institutions need trusted leaders.

Southern Seminary graduates are selected to lead in the classroom of Christian institutions as well. For example, Southern Seminary has more PhD. graduates in teaching roles within Association of Theological Schools (ATS) member institutions than any other evangelical seminary.

In a recent Association of Theological Schools report, Southern ranked third among all mainline and Catholic seminaries for PhD. graduate placement.

Schools all over America bear witness that the world’s first seminary-based research doctoral program, introduced in 1892, produces professors and leaders in high demand among Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries.

Now more than ever, Christian institutions need leaders prepared to face the challenge of leading Christian institutions to faithfulness to all that the Lord has commanded. With all that depends on today’s Christian lead-

ers, those aspiring to leadership must strive for more preparation, more theological formation, and more biblical training. Southern Seminary is committed to preparing leaders for more by equipping them for faithfulness. Faithfulness to the Lord. Faithfulness to the church. And faithfulness to lead in whatever ways the Lord provides. If you are ready to be prepared for Christian leadership, we are confident the PhD. in leadership at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is the exact program to prepare future leaders for faithfulness in today’s world. The PhD. in leadership is a multidisciplinary degree designed to shape students as confessional scholars in the following primary areas: communication and pedagogy, organizational philosophy and strategy, and theology and human development. This degree, offered in modular format, is for leaders and educators in ministry, higher education, Christian schooling, and educational administration.

Medalion in front of Norton Hall at Southern Seminary.

e Southern Fund

In our increasingly secular age, there is no better time to be trained in rightly dividing the Word of Truth than right here, right now at Southern Seminary.

Our resolve to be faithful to the Scriptures has enabled us to become one of the most trusted names in theological education.

With thousands of nancial partners faithfully supporting our students, we are also one of the most a ordable names in theological education.

Every d ollar given to e Southern Fund is one less dollar our students have to pay in tuition.

Scan the QR code to learn more about supporting our students

by caleb shaw and graham faulkner

why the briefing?

I“It’s Monday, June 5, 2023. I’m Albert Mohler, and this is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.”

For thirteen years, listeners have heard that familiar introduction to a podcast that has become an irreplaceable part of their daily routines. 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.

The Briefing starts with newspapers—lots of newspapers. Dr. Mohler reads them, underlines and highlights them, rips them, and folds them until they are suitable for use during a recording session. If you ever find yourself in an airplane and hear someone veraciously tearing newspaper, just look around. There is a chance that Albert Mohler is nearby preparing for a future edition of The Briefing.

But his research goes far beyond what is included in the print editions of the major papers. He scours the internet for news stories. Every afternoon, his team prints the news stories he has sent to an email account that is solely dedicated to Briefing research. The timestamps of these emails often reveal that he has been awake researching while the rest of us—well, most of us—are asleep. He also has near-countless subscriptions to other magazines and academic journals, and his team spends the afternoon sifting through material, doing their best to help him keep up with every sphere of news possible.

At the end of the recording, much work is still left undone. The audio engineer must edit the program, transcribe it, and upload it to the website. The producer must draft headlines and send them to Dr. Mohler for approval. Once Dr. Mohler returns the final headlines, the producer can put together the daily email, format the post on AlbertMohler.com, and ensure the podcast distributes across all platforms properly at 5am.

People often ask how Dr. Mohler produces The Briefing so consistently. Besides the time and energy mentioned above, one answer comes to mind: Mrs. Mohler. She is just as committed to the program and makes every sacrifice necessary for it to happen. Only the Lord knows how many meals The Briefing has ruined or changed in some way. But every Briefing producer knows that of all of Dr. Mohler’s listeners, Mary Mohler is his most faithful.

The better question, then, is, why do Dr. and Mrs. Mohler sacrifice so much for The Briefing? Anyone who has traveled with the president has had the honor of learning why first hand. Without fail, listeners always approach him and say something like, “You have no idea how much I appreciate The Briefing. I listen every day.” We have heard pastors thank Dr. Mohler for how The Briefing helps them think through complicated counseling situations. We have watched as parents, often with their children in tow, tell Dr. Mohler that they listen in the car on the way to school every day, and they thank him for the discipleship opportunities that the program gives them with their children. We hear from high school students whose teacher has assigned the class to listen to The Briefing as part of their Christian curriculum. The list could go on and on.

The answer, then, is that the sacrifice does not compare to the impact the Lord has allowed The Briefing to have in the lives of faithful believers. Each month, hundreds of thousands of listeners from all over the world tune in to hear Dr. Mohler analyze the most pressing issues of the day with biblical wisdom, Christian conviction, and gospel clarity. The reach is simply staggering.

But perhaps the sweetest aspect of it for Dr. Mohler is when listeners become students at Southern Seminary and Boyce College. Each of our Preview Day events are full of prospective students who mention that they first heard of the institution through The Briefing. You should see their faces when the tour turns the corner into the recording studio and they have the opportunity to sit at the desk and behind the microphone. Dr. Mohler’s labor to record The Briefing is really another part of his incredible, faithful service to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

As two men who have collectively produced every episode of The Briefing over the last five years, we testify to the time and energy Dr. Mohler dedicates to make The Briefing possible. More importantly, we testify to the character of the man behind the microphone. His love for the Lord, for God’s Word, and for the Church are clear, both when the microphone is on and when it is off.

During our time of service in the President’s Office, he and Mrs. Mohler have celebrated our engagements, weddings, baby showers, and graduations. We have laughed together to the point of tears when he had a little trouble pronouncing “Beyoncé” or “Belarus.” We have also been around during some difficult times when he needed to cancel episode recordings because a family member had passed away or a health situation unexpectedly occurred. Through every season, it has been,

and continues to be, our great joy to serve the mission of Southern Seminary as we assist Dr. Mohler in getting The Briefing out into the world.

As this season of The Briefing concludes, we give thanks to the Lord for what he has done through this podcast. We pray for God’s blessing on season fourteen and beyond. We pray that every edition would be to His glory and for the faithfulness of Christ’s Church in an increasingly secular age. We pray for the Mohlers as they continue the task, and we look forward to even more fruit that the Lord will bear through Dr. Mohler’s daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview. The Lord knows we need it.

“ The sacrifice does not compare to the impact the Lord has allowed The Briefing to have in the lives of faithful believers.”

caleb shaw and graham faulkner

by timothy paul jones

“we are all apologists now”

The following is an edited and shortened form of Timothy Paul Jones’s Faculty Address given on February 1, 2023, titled “Brothers and Sisters, We are All Apologists Now.” The video recording of this address can be found at equip.sbts. edu and at timothypauljones.com.

AApologetics is no longer a task that’s limited to biblical scholars and theologians. In some sense, it never was, or at least it shouldn’t have been. Yet the scope of apologetics has necessarily expanded. Cultural and societal changes have turned apologetics into an unavoidable consequence of living publicly as a Christian. Pursuing a Christian way of life will inevitably require providing a defense of this way of being in the

world, not merely for apologists but for all of us. This change has been underway for generations, but the precise stakes of this change have become particularly clear in recent years.

What Happens When Christianity Is No Longer Considered Good

In 2019, for example, British medical doctor David

Pursuing a Christian way of life will inevitbly require providing a defense of this way of being in the world, not merely for apologists but for all of us.

Mackereth lost his job for declining to use pronouns that conflicted with an individual’s birth gender. When he appealed to a tribunal, Mackereth lost his case because— in the words of the tribunal—the general practitioner’s “belief in Genesis 1:27, lack of belief in transgenderism and conscientious objection to transgenderism … are incompatible with human dignity.” To pursue a Christian way of life is—based on the assumptions undergirding this decision—to stigmatize innocent people and to stand in opposition to human dignity.

This change has profound implications for apologetics. Broadly speaking, one might say that the necessary scope of apologetics has extended from miracles to metaphysics to morality—and this change is not limited to courtrooms, classrooms, and boardrooms. I recently glimpsed it firsthand when I stepped into student ministry for a few months and encountered a different set of doubts than I had ever faced before.

The Doubts I Never Dreamed I Would Face

I first worked with middle school and high school students nearly three decades ago, before anyone had heard of Britney Spears or the Star Wars prequels that inflicted Jar Jar Binks upon millions of unsuspecting moviegoers. During those years, students typically didn’t struggle with their faith until the first year or two of college. When they did doubt their faith, the questions they asked had to do with the truthfulness of Scripture or the plausibility of

miracles. These students did not always pursue a Christian way of life, but they and their parents assumed that Christian ethics were good for them and that Christianity makes the world a better place.

In 2019, I returned to student and family ministry for a few months in a temporary role, and I discovered a very different set of challenges and doubts. Doubts about Christian morals now preceded any questions about Christian miracles. One young woman in particular confessed that she found the historical evidence for the resurrection to be compelling. Yet she was willing to reject Christianity and the Bible if the Christian faith could not accommodate her conception of herself as bisexual and perhaps transgender. In her mind, for Christians to withhold affirmation of her self-conception was to disregard her dignity and to devalue her psychological well-being. In her way of thinking, evidence for the Christian faith was irrelevant unless the Christian faith could be conformed to her perception of what is good.

This is a dilemma I never envisioned in the 1990s— an acceptance of the evidence for the central miracle of the Christian faith coupled with a rejection of this same faith on the basis of its perceived immorality. For her and many others like her, moral doubts about Christianity have taken precedence over challenges related to miracles or metaphysics.

When the Goodness of Christianity Is in Question, Every Christian Is an Apologist

As long as apologetics remained in this realm of miracles and metaphysics, it might have been conceivable— though perhaps not desirable—for apologetics to remain the domain of trained experts who argued for rationality and provided evidences based on their areas of expertise. However, when it becomes necessary to contend for the social good of publicly practicing Christian faith, no Christian can be exempted from defending the way of life that they are pursuing.

Brothers and sisters, we are all apologists now. 1

The question is not whether we will do apologetics; it is whether or not we will do apologetics well. The primary mode of this apologetic must move beyond merely appealing to evidence for the reality of miracles and the reliability of Scripture. Today, we must defend the very morality of historic Christianity. But where can contemporary Christians locate an approach to apologetics that is fitted for a context in which the social good of Christianity is in doubt?

We Have Been Here Before

In The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Carl Trueman rightly recognizes the second century A.D. as one possible precedent for this present era in which the very goodness of Christianity for the social order must be defended. The second-century church flourished “by existing as a close-knit, doctrinally bounded community that required her members to act consistently with their faith and to be good citizens of the earthly city as far as good citizenship was compatible with faithfulness to Christ.” 2

Trueman does not detail precisely how the habits of the second-century church might shape apologetics today. That’s what I’d like to do here. My goal is to consider what such an apologetic might look like in the twenty-first century. To do this, I’ll focus on a second-century apologetics text written by a Christian philosopher known as Aristides of Athens

How an Apologist from the Second Century Might Inform Our Apologetics Today

Little is known about Aristides of Athens beyond what Eusebius of Caesarea preserves, that the author was “a believer earnestly devoted to our religion.” Jerome adds

the further detail that Aristides was “a most eloquent Athenian philosopher” who retained his philosopher’s garb after becoming a follower of Jesus.

Aristides begins his Apology by appealing to the beauty of the created order. According to Aristides, the beauty and orderly motion of the cosmos require a deity who is “immortal, perfect, incomprehensible,” and self-existent. “He stands in need of nothing,” Aristides declares, “but all things stand in need of him.” After this declaration of the necessary nature of the divine, Aristides turns to the concerns that drive his defense of Christianity: Which of the four types of people in the world—barbarians, Greeks, Jews, or Christians—is devoted to a deity that meets these necessary qualifications? From the perspective of Aristides, because human beings imitate what they venerate, defective devotion inevitably produces defective ethics. It is at this point that the Apology of Aristides becomes particularly helpful when it comes to doing apologetics in an era when we are all apologists.

1. Christians Practice Radical Civic Good without Bowing to the Civic Gods

One of the central arguments Aristides makes is that it is possible to practice radical civic good without participating in the veneration of the civic gods. For Romans in this era, civic devotion was primarily a matter of divination, supplication, and sacrifice to the gods with the pragmatic goal of securing divine favor and avoiding divine wrath. Because Christians refused to participate in these religious rites, the church was seen as a threat to the cohesion and stability of the social order. That’s why Aristides and other second-century apologists go to such lengths to make their case that Christians pose no threat to the social order. Christians accomplish civic good without venerating the civic gods. In fact, according to Aristides, Christians do more to strengthen the social order than barbarians, Greeks, or Jews. According to Aristides, the cosmos itself remains due to the prayers of the church. “To me there is no doubt,” he writes, “that the earth itself abides through the supplication of Christians.” One aspect of the good that Christians do is asking God for his mercy on the world, but the church’s contribution to civic good does not end with supplications directed toward the Christian God. It includes the lives Christians live together and the care they direct toward their neighbors.

Christians, according to Aristides, “rescue orphans from those who abuse them, and they give without

timothy paul jones

we are all apologists now

grudging to the one who has nothing.” Although some philosophers did criticize the practice of abandoning unwanted infants, rescuing the fatherless would have seemed ludicrous in a context where children unacknowledged by a father were widely perceived as disposable. Aristides continues, “Whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one according to his ability pays attention and carefully sees to his burial. If anyone of their number is imprisoned or oppressed for the name ‘Christ,’ all of them provide his needs, and if it is possible for him to be delivered, they deliver him.” These patterns of giving to the impoverished and caring for the imprisoned were mocked by second-century satirists such as Lucian of Samosata.

Persons outside the Christian faith in the second century questioned how Christians could do anything other than civic harm since they abstained from the civic liturgies. The response of Aristides and other second-century apologists was that Christians contributed to the civic good not only through prayers to their God but also through their care for the disadvantaged. This good was greater than any good enacted by those who practiced the rites of the venerable gods.

The questions posed by those outside the faith in the second century were not identical to the challenges of the twenty-first century, and I do not pretend that they were. Today, the challenges have to do with whether a Christian can possibly contribute anything other than civic harm if he or she does not wear a Pride patch on a uniform or use someone’s preferred pronoun or affirm a young woman’s conception of herself as bisexual. Yet perhaps there is more similarity than one thinks at first. In some sense, these contemporary cultural demands constitute a civic liturgy that includes vestments and rituals, blessings and confessions and absolution, coupled with widespread incredulity that anyone who refuses these rituals could possibly contribute to the common good. In such a context, all of us are apologists now because the conflict is between two contradictory sets of religious commitments.

How, then, can Christians today demonstrate their contribution to the common good while refusing to conform to these civic liturgies? One possible response, grounded in the Apology of Aristides, is for Christians to be characterized by such generosity toward the disadvantaged and the marginalized that these habits of life seem absurd to the world. Aristides was not describing civic good that the world would recognize as good. He

was describing something better—a goodness so rich and radical that it could not be fitted into the world’s categories—and so should we. What if the church’s participation in care for the impoverished, our love for prisoners, and our welcome of children in the foster system was so widespread that an awareness of these habits was at least as widely known as our stand against progressive sexual agendas? What if the church’s pursuit of communities that are richly multiethnic, multisocioeconomic, and multigenerational caused twenty-first century people to raise their eyebrows at the sheer strangeness of Christian community?

Aristides of Athens

2. Christianity Is a Coherent Commitment that Requires Consistency Between Profession and Practice

A further point that Aristides makes is that Christianity represents a coherent commitment that requires consistency between profession and practice. This stood in stark contrast to his cultural context. In the minds of most people around Aristides, participation in the rituals of the gods did not require any belief in the stories repeated about the gods. Christianity, unlike Roman religion, required coherence between the beliefs professed and the habits practiced.

Aristides showed that Christianity entailed not only an external coherence between the profession and practices but also an internal coherence. According to Aristides, all other religions produced contradictory narratives that only the Christian narrative is able to reconcile. The barbarians claimed, for example, that the elements of the cosmos were divine, but they manipulated and even destroyed these same elements, revealing that the elements could not be divine after all. The Greeks made righteous laws yet venerated and imitated unrighteous gods whose actions contradicted these righteous laws. The Jews received a righteous law from God but they did not keep it—according to Aristides—and chose to worship the angels through whom the law was given instead of the God who gave it. In Christian faith, however, there is coherence and consistency between the truths professed, the liturgies practiced, and the lifestyle required.

In a time when apologetics is the task of every Christian, this coherence between beliefs and practices provides a crucial argument for the Christian way of life. For one thing, Christianity’s call for external coherence between profession and practice provides an

explanation—grounded in the venerable witness of the church throughout the generations—for why a Christian should not verbally affirm that which he or she knows to be false regarding an individual’s gender.

Furthermore, the internal coherence of Christian faith reminds believers that any commitment which contradicts Christian faith will also, in the end, contradict itself. Every human commitment includes some fragment of truth, goodness, or beauty. These crumbs of truth, goodness, or beauty—no matter how fragmentary they may be—will cohere with Christianity in some small way, but they will do more than cohere with some aspect of Christian faith. They will also introduce internal contradictions in any commitment that stands against Christian faith. In the Apology of Aristides, even the barbarians recognize the beauty of the cosmos; it is not their recognition of this beauty that introduces the contradictions in their commitment, it is their divinization of it.

The contradictions of the twenty-first century are not the same as the ones that Aristides faced, but the responsibility of apologetics to point out these contradictions is perhaps more crucial than ever. Today, the inconsistencies may be found in other places—for example, in the contradiction between the affirmation of human equality and dignity on the one hand and a rejection of humanity’s formation in God’s image on the other hand. What this should shape within the Christian is humble confidence—confidence because Christian faith does indeed provide a coherent and comprehensive account of the way the world is, yet humble because God alone comprehends this account wholly and completely. A Christian marked by this humble confidence can simultaneously recognize the world’s narratives as false and yet celebrate every strand of truth, beauty, and goodness that appears in these false narratives. The Christian can do

Even if our defenses do not persuade the world that Christianity is good for the social order, they form a community that persists in holiness, love, and proclamation of the gospel.

this because each of these strands stretches back to transcendent reality and thus reveals a contradiction in the world’s narratives that Christian faith alone can resolve.

3. Apologetics Calls the Community to the Public Practice of the Truth

According to the apologists of the second century, it is possible to practice radical civic good without bowing to the civic gods, and the coherence of Christianity testifies to its truth by revealing the contradictions in every competing narrative. Having heard my considerations regarding how these truths might be contextualized in the twenty-first century, some of you may now find yourselves wondering, “Will these tactics from the second century work? Will they persuade the world that Christians are, in fact, good for the social order?”

My answer is, “No, they won’t, and I never intended them to do so.”

I have no confidence that these arguments will persuade any contemporary secular progressivist that Christian professions and practices are good for the world. As far as anyone today can tell, the apologies of Aristides and others like him did not change imperial perceptions of Christianity. In the second century, the worst persecutions were, after all, yet to come.

Why, then, have I provided you with these ancient examples? And why have I dared to declare that we are all apologists now?

It is not because I expect these practices to convince any secularist of the social good of Christianity. It is because God works through practices such as these to form us into the type of community that will persist past the rise and fall of every power that resists God’s truth. What is likely to take shape through these particular practices is not the persuasion of the world but the formation of a people—a people who persist in publicly practicing

and proclaiming their faith. Even if our defenses do not persuade the world that Christianity is good for the social order, they form a community that persists in holiness, love, and proclamation of the gospel. And, no matter how vast the gap may grow between us and the prevalent culture, this gospel remains “the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

And this brings me back to the young woman who preferred her own bisexual self-conception over evidence for the resurrection that she herself admitted was compelling. During the pandemic, I lost track of this teenager but, throughout 2019, her engagement with church followed a predictable pattern. She would attend student ministry for a short time before declaring she would never return, due to her disagreement with the moral implications of the gospel. And yet, a few weeks later, she would be back again. I never asked why, but I think I know. It was because the people of God loved her and cared for her in a way that no one in her home or at school did, despite her unwillingness to embrace the gospel. As far as I know, she never was persuaded that Christianity is good for the world, but she had discovered that Christians could be good to her. Someday, somewhere, I pray that God will work through that knowledge to clear her moral confusion as he draws her to himself. In the meantime, we persist in defending the goodness and truth of the Christian faith, forming God’s people to proclaim God’s truth knowing that God is still at work through the gospel, even in a world where we are all apologists now.

Notes

1. Os Guinness, Fools’ Talk: Recovering the Lost Art of Christian Persuasion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015), 15.

2. T Carl Truman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 407.