Republished with permission (and unedited) from Central Baptist Theological Seminary. (The document posted at Central’s website within the last couple of weeks.)
Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism
Calvary Baptist Seminary of Lansdale-
“Here at Calvary Baptist Seminary, we are re-packaging our systematic theology courses in a way that adheres more closely to the biblical narrative, even while retaining a doctrinal focus. We want our systematic theology to draw its content from Scripture itself. To that end, we are unveiling a new sequence of systematic theology courses that will hopefully result in a more biblical approach to systematic theology. Instead of our current six-course track, we will cover the tradition doctrinal loci with four courses that treat the major doctrines as they appear in the flow of God’s progressive revelation.”
“On April 27, 2010, the administration of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary notified all retirees their health insurance would be cancelled on July 31.” Comment: just like corporate America
“Investing heavily in online has already allowed some institutions to enroll many more students than they ever could have hoped to at a physical campus.” More at USA Today
Bloggers questioned several of Caner's claims about his experiences with Islam. Major news outlets are now involved. [URL=http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2010/05/liberty_fo... Christianity Today[/URL ]
The following is reprinted with permission from Paraklesis, a publication of Baptist Bible Seminary. The article first appeared in the Summer ‘09 issue.
I want to address just one facet of the question in this essay. The primary purpose of Baptist Bible Seminary is to train pastors. We have made a deliberate choice to focus on only one narrow slice of graduate-level biblical-theological education. I am thinking first and foremost of the pastor when I think of the place of the biblical languages in the curriculum. In its biblical portrait, the central focus in pastoral ministry is the public proclamation of the Word of God. There are certainly other aspects of pastoral ministry, but it can be no less than preaching if it is to be a biblical pastoral ministry.
I have some serious concerns about the state of the pulpit these days. My concern could be stated fairly well by adapting the wording of 1 Sam. 3:1 and suggesting that biblical preaching is rare in our day, and a word from God is infrequently heard from our pulpits. Some of today’s best known preachers echo the same sentiment. John Stott, for example, says that “true Christian preaching…is extremely rare in today’s Church.”1
As those who stand in the pulpit and open the Word of God to a local congregation, pastors have the same charge as that with which Paul charged Timothy: “Preach the Word” (2 Tim 4:2). That is an awesome responsibility. The apostle Peter reminds us that “if anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God” (1 Pet 4:11).
