- 1608 John Smyth and Thomas Helwys organize first English-speaking Baptist Church
In order to save themselves from religious persecution during the Separatist movement in 1607, John Smyth (1560-1612) and Thomas Helwys (1550-1616) were subjected to leave England along with their congregation. Soon after their arrival in Holland, Smyth’s faith grew in credobaptism and he rejected paedobaptism. To prove his point, Smyth baptized himself by pouring water over his head. He then baptized Thomas Helwys along with the rest of the congregation comprising 36 persons. This was the start of the first English Speaking Church in 1608.
- 1859 Southern Baptist Theological Seminary founded
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was founded by a group of highly educated Southern Baptists in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina; these founding members were renowned college professors alongside being accomplished preachers and experienced pastors. Unfortunately just two years after the Seminary started, the Civil War broke out in 1862 and the enrolled students had to leave for taking part in the war. All hope for reopening of the Seminary was lost as the endowment had ended and there were no means of financial support. Strong on faith, the founding members decided to go ahead nonetheless and the seminary was reopened in 1865. The only hitch for securing a new endowment was to relocate the seminary. Louisville was the final choice mainly because the Kentucky Baptists and Civic Leaders committed to strongly support the seminary with the major bulk of the endowment.
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary reopened its gates in 1877 and in no time the strength rose to 89 students.
3. 1879 Toy’s dismissal from SBTS
Professor Crawford H. Toy was a professor at the SBTS and taught the Old Testament. He was a renowned and respected teacher at the Seminary. The turning point in Toy’s life came when he took up the Darwinist evolutionary theory in the early 1870’s and his beliefs regarding the Bible started changing. Toy started following the naturalistic interpretations of German liberalism; he still believed that the Bible was the inspired word of God however he started to reinterpret the Bible when it came to the making of the heavens and the earth. The founding members Boyce and Broadus were extremely anxious about Toy’s change of beliefs as he was their dear friend but they knew that his removal from Southern Seminary was imperative for the sanctity of the Seminary.
SBTS was the first religious institution in the United States to remove a professor for liberalism when the Seminary’s Trustees voted for Toy’s dismissal in 1879.
- 1949 Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles
During the eight weeks of meetings more than 350,000 attended and 3,000 plus made decisions for Christ.
The 1949 Crusade in Los Angeles was initially planned for three weeks however the unprecedented number of participants and their over whelming response took the Crusade to eight weeks. The success can be gauged from the fact that 350,000 people participated in the Crusade and more than 3,000 persons came to Christ. Billy Graham writes in his book, “ Just as I Am”, that the more he wanted the Crusade to end the more God wanted it to continue; by the fifth week he was exhausted but he felt that God continued to give him strength and made the crusade extremely successful.
- 1993 R. Albert Mohler Appointed president at SBTS
Dr. R. Albert Mohler took the reins of SBTS at a very crucial time. The conservatives were gaining majority on the Board and resurgence was getting difficult to curb. Till his retirement in 1992, President Honeycutt fought back to protect the Baptist Freedom and domination’s reputation however it kept getting beyond his control.
It was a very critical time in the history of SBTS and a person with conviction and courage was the need of the hour. Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.’s name was top of the list as he possessed all the qualities that were required to govern Southern. He was elected as the ninth president and was believed to have a profound trust in the Bible, a bold vision for the seminary, and a deep devotion to the SBC.
