The History of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

For the truth, for the church, for the world, for the Glory of God: The History of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary ??Edited By: Dr. Larry Lester, PhD (Alumni) | FOUNDING: 1859 - 1878| Southern Baptists established The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina. The founding faculty had an impressive academic record. James P. Boyce graduated from Brown University and Princeton Theological Seminary. John A. Broadus earned a Master of Arts from the University of Virginia and taught ancient languages there. Basil Manly Jr., Boyce’s childhood friend, was valedictorian of his class at the University of Alabama and also graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary. William Williams graduated from the University of Georgia and studied law at both Harvard and Yale. All were experienced college professors. And all were accomplished preachers and seasoned pastors.Just two years after Southern’s founding, the nation plunged into the Civil War and students left their coursework to join the war effort. The seminary had to close in the fall of 1862. It lost its endowment. There was no feasible path to reopening the school. The faculty determined to go forward by faith. Broadus spoke for them all: “Suppose we quietly agree that the seminary may die, but we’ll die first.” They reopened the seminary in 1865. In order to secure a new endowment, however, the seminary had to relocate. Boyce and the trustees considered Chattanooga, Atlanta, Memphis, and Louisville. They chose Louisville because its civic leaders promised strong support and Kentucky Baptists offered to contribute the bulk of the endowment. When the seminary moved to Kentucky in 1877, an unprecedented 89 students registered for classes, foreshadowing the remarkable growth the seminary would experience in Louisville.