INTRODUCTION

“The sun never sets on Southwestern Seminary,” declared Robert E. Naylor, the fifth president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Naylor’s famous statement was not a matter of boasting but of gratitude to God for the incredible reach of a seminary begun 100 years ago by B. H. Carroll and those who shared his vision for a great seminary in the Southwest.

By European standards, 100 years is nothing—only one-twentieth of the panorama of Christian history. Yet, the reach of the seminary, through its 40,000 graduates and 60,000 alumni, has literally circumnavigated the globe; and since they stretch to the ends of the earth, they have carried the most precious commodity known to human kind—the only commodity that will guarantee an eternity of meaning and happiness with God—the message of Christ our Savior.

Today, the Southern Baptist Convention has 12 agencies—six of which are presided over by Southwestern graduates. Geoff Hammond, president of the North American Mission Board; Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board; and Morris Chapman, president of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, join with Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Seminary; Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Seminary; and O. S. Hawkins, president of GuideStone Financial Resources, in calling Southwestern their alma mater. There was a time when more than 50 percent of our missionary force overseas received their training under the inimitable Cal Guy right here at Southwestern Seminary. Even today, the percentage of Southwesterners on the field continues to be a significant contribution to our entire worldwide mission enterprise. To mention any professors is to risk leaving out many noble contributions. Nevertheless, I think it appropriate for Southwesterners to glance to the past and see some of the amazing professors who left a mark on the world through their teaching here. In addition to the spiritual and physical giant B. H. Carroll, who founded the school, Southwestern has given the world evangelism professors like Lee Scarborough (the second president), C. E. Autrey, James Eaves, Malcolm McDow, and Roy Fish; philosophers like L. Russ Bush and John Newport; New Testament scholars such as Curtis Vaughn, Jack MacGorman, and Huber Drumright; pioneers in ethics such as T. B. Maston, and incomparable church historians like W. W. Barnes, Robert Baker, and William R. Estep. People soon forget about the contributions of H. E. Dana, who taught Greek and became the author, along with Julius R. Mantey, of one of the most important intermediate Greek texts in Christian history.

Almost lost to the contemporary church is the monumental translation of the New Testament by C. B. Williams and the two-volume work on Church History by A. H. Newman. Theologian W. T. Conner, under whom my father did his Th.D. in the early 1940s, not only contributed heavily to the literature of Christianity, but together with theologian James Leo Garrett, was a master teacher and inspirer of students. And who will soon forget Jeff Ray, Jesse Northcutt, Gordon Clinard, and H. C. Brown of the homiletics division? Who can ever forget the contribution of so many in our schools of music and educational ministries—I. E. Reynolds, B. B. McKinney, and T. W. Hunt in music and J. M. Price in educational ministries. These are just a few of the many who have made a difference in the whole progress of the Christian faith as a result of their sacrificial labors here at Southwestern. The book before you tells a small part of their story as we rejoice over their ministries and far-reaching influence.

Further, the presidents of Southwestern, beginning with the man whose shadow still falls across the state of Texas, B. H. Carroll (1908-1914), and extending to L. R. Scarborough (1914-1942), the cowboy evangelist and pastor from West Texas, unveil a story that is well known. Less known, but of no small consequence, are the contributions of E. D. Head (1942-1953), one of the most respected figures in Texas Baptist History; J. Howard Williams (1953-1958), a public relations and organizational genius; Robert E. Naylor (1958-1978), who, in addition to giving Southern Baptists a wonderful medical missionary daughter, also held Southwestern solid in the saddle during days when others were beginning to drift; Russell Dilday (1978-1994), who with his computer knowledge and awareness of the whole contemporary scene brought Southwestern Seminary into the new electronic age; and Ken Hemphill (1994-2003) the kingdom-hearted, missionary-evangelist who came during troubling times and held the seminary steady on course. The stories of all of these follow.

To begin listing the missionaries, pastors, denominational workers, children’s ministers, counselors, etc., would simply involve more space than is available; but to say at the very least, Southwestern has enjoyed the smile of God upon its labor of love in preparing people across these years. So, we present this book, which is a brief summary tracing the hand of God through the Texas prairie and to the ends of the earth. In the end, many marvelous men and women have contributed to the seminary; but as profoundly grateful for them as we are, we must recognize that God alone has done this amazing work despite the mistakes, the misfires, and the bad judgments that always abound in humans. God has nevertheless brought the best out of so many to build a seminary that focuses not only on the knowledge and wisdom of the Word of God but also upon the evangelistic and missionary enterprise of taking that Word to the ends of the earth.

As Paul languished in his final home, a prison in Rome, he wrote to Timothy, “Do the work of the evangelist, and when you come, bring the books and the parchments.” To the very end of his days, Paul remained an indefatigable student of the Word of God and a motivated evangelist of the good news of Christ to a lost world. Paul knew that those two elements, which are deemed by most of the world to be contrary one to the other, must actually enhance and accentuate each the other. Carroll, Scarborough, and a host of others who followed understood that simple principle and built a seminary that would not only maintain incredibly high standards of academic accomplishment but also would employ those very standards to initiate a torrent of evangelistic activity to extend across the face of the earth. May God grant that Southwestern Seminary’s 100-year celebration will put those two improbable elements together in history and become the outline for its future.

Until He Comes,

Paige Patterson