Christian Colleges & Seminaries

The following press release is reprinted from Central Baptist Seminary. It appears here unedited.

Seminaries Consider Merger

Faith and Central Lay Plans to Join Institutions

The Boards of Directors of Faith Baptist Theological Seminary (Ankeny, Iowa) and Central Baptist Theological Seminary (Plymouth, Minnesota) announce their intention to explore the possibility of a merger of the two institutions. Faith and Central are two respected seminaries that share a common theological position and a commitment to train leaders for ministry within Baptist Fundamentalism.

The merger proposal calls for maintaining Central Seminary’s Master of Divinity program on its Minnesota campus at the historic Fourth Baptist Church. Matt Morrell, pastor of Fourth Baptist and chairman of Central Seminary’s board, believes that the merged institution will perpetuate the long-standing partnership between that church and the seminary in training and mentoring men for ministry. Central Seminary’s postgraduate programs will eventually be offered on the Ankeny campus.

^{Note: This article is reprinted from The Faith Pulpit (April 1999), a publication of Faith Baptist Theological Seminary (Ankeny, IA). It appears here with some slight editing.}

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What is happening today is not new, and it is not isolated to only a few rare incidents. Let us note and learn from some examples from the past.

Andover Seminary. Andover was started in 1807-1808 because a Unitarian had been appointed as professor of theology at Harvard. Every attempt was made to safeguard the new school’s orthodoxy. Yet within 75 years, the school’s faculty was promoting views way out of line with traditional orthodoxy, and during its 100th anniversary year—1908—it became identified with and moved back to the Harvard campus! (See: Ernest Gordon, The Leaven of the Sadducees, Chapter VI, “The Looting of Andover.”)

Rochester Seminary. Rochester Seminary had as its president from 1872 to 1912 (a forty year period) the well-known systematic theologian Augustus Hopkins Strong. Strong’s Systematic Theology is still required reading in many conservative colleges and seminaries today. Yet we are told, “Strong was in his own mind generally open to the consideration of new ideas, and his students were taught to think for themselves, so that, as one alumnus wryly reported, ‘in from one to ten years after graduation a goodly crop of ‘heretics’ is found on the alumni roll.’” (See: “Academic Freedom…” by LeRoy Moore, Jr., Foundations, January- March, 1967, X, #1, p. 66.) When Henry Vedder wrote his stinging attack upon the Bible and its essential teachings he dedicated that book (The Fundamentals of Christianity) “…to my teacher in theology, Augustus Hopkins Strong,” as did also Walter Rauschenbusch, the well-known prophet of the Social Gospel, in his book on A Theology for the Social Gospel where he states: “This book is inscribed with reverence and gratitude to Augustus Hopkins Strong…my teacher, colleague, friend…” Yet Dr. Strong, after touring several mission fields later in life, spoke out against liberalism. He observed:

Note: This article is reprinted from The Faith Pulpit (March 1999), a publication of Faith Baptist Theological Seminary (Ankeny, IA). It appears here with some slight editing.

It is instructive to study the history of institutions to see how they have broadened and moved away from the original vision of their founders. Such a study is important because this process is taking place in many organizations whose heritage is one thing but present reality is another. Many view this broadening as progress, but others who cherish the founding ideals with their parameters, are saddened. The founding statements of institutions such as Harvard (which speak of Christ as the foundation for learning and one reason for the institution's founding being a "dreading an illiterate ministry" —that is, a fear that they would not have educationally qualified pastors to guide them—) when compared with the institutions today, demonstrate only too well just how far the broadening can go.

What is it that allows this process to take place? While many factors may be involved, surely a key matter is tolerance on the part of those charged with an institution's oversight. While in some contexts tolerance may be a virtue, when it comes to keeping an institution true to founding principles, tolerance becomes a vice, and intolerance—the steering of a determined course—becomes a virtue.

General Session 2: Departures (James 4:4)—Sam Horn

Sam Horn earned B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in New Testament Exegesis at Bob Jones University. In 1996, he joined the staff at Northland Baptist Bible College in Dunbar, Wisconsin. He is also pastor of Brookside Baptist Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Sam and his wife, Beth, are regular speakers at couple’s conferences, family camps, and teen retreats across the country. Dr. Horn spoke during General Session 2. Below is a summary of his message.

The topic we are looking at this year is one of the most significant topics we could be looking at in this time in history. Pastors today are concerned that their young people are not interested in being part of the ministry that raised them once they go off to school. Many of these young people are looking for others to engage in certain conversations and to give responsible answers. Since their churches are not willing to have those conversations, they are being swayed by those who are willing to do so.

General Session 1: The Wisdom of God vs. the Wisdom of This Age

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

The opening session of the conference began simply with prayer, two hymns, and a musical ensemble. Dave Doran delivered the first address.
Dr. Dave Doran is senior pastor at Inter-City Baptist Church and president of Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, both in Allen Park, Michigan. He serves as chairman of the Practical Theology Department and teaches the core pastoral theology courses in the M.Div. program. He received his education at Bob Jones University (B.A.), Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div., Th.M.), and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (D.Min.). The following is a summary of his presentation:

The conference theme is “Culture, Contextualization, and the Church.” Hearing this theme engenders lots of reactions, some of confusion and some of rejection. There are about as many definitions of “contextualization” as there are people talking about it. For some it means applying the Scripture. For others it shapes the very message they are going to proclaim. The term is only about thirty-five years old, but it’s not going to go away.

Introduction

Each fall, Inter-City Baptist Church (Allen Park, MI) and Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary host the Mid-America Conference on Preaching (MACP). This year’s event is being held October 16-17. I have attended six of the conferences in the past ten years or so and have thoroughly enjoyed every one. I have also attended a Shepherd’s Conference, the Lansdale Leadership Conference, and a Together for the Gospel (T4G) Conference. The MACP, in my opinion, is the most beneficial in a number of areas.