Kingdom People

My recent visit to the graves of famous Southern Seminary presidents and professors helped me put some things in perspective.

1. Our heroes are just people.

The resurgent emphasis on the Puritans in recent years has given young evangelicals the opportunity to connect with the past by reading and researching the lives of the Puritan faithful. And yet, our heroes were not always biblical, not always Christ-honoring, not always heroic. In short, they were fallible. The same is true of Southern’s heroes. The same will be said of us.

2. Death is coming.

It’s hard to visit a cemetery and not walk away with a sense of your own human fragility. What is your life? It is but a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away…

You think of the dignified, well-respected presidents and professors of Southern Seminary and you’re tempted to picture them with an aura over them. But then you visit the cemetery and see the founders buried together – Fuller and Mullins not too far away, Honeycutt and Moody close together, and you realize that though these men’s academic and pastoral careers spanned multiple generations, they are all united under the soft ground of a Louisville cemetery. Death is no respecter of persons. The bodies of our great Baptist heroes share the soil with everyone else in Louisville at the time.

3. Faithfulness Remains.

Though Southern’s presidents and professors have been silenced by Death, they speak to us now through their writings, their journals, their sermons. Their faithfulness echoes down the corridors of the Seminary, visible in the ongoing witness of students seeking to better know Christ and better understand the Scriptures. 

While we can count the number of pages in books written by these men, we cannot number the lives that have in some way been impacted by their faithfulness. Through their churches, their students, their classes, writings, and lectures – their faithful witness to Jesus as Lord lives on. The beauty of devoting your life to the gospel - something bigger than yourself and your own desires – is knowing that even after you die, the gospel you believed, loved and preached will continue to transform the coming generations. 

4. The Communion of Saints is an Important Doctrine

Of great comfort to me is the biblical doctrine of the Communion of Saints. We are united to our brothers and sisters who are on the Christian journey with us today, but we are also united to those who have gone before. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses – men and women who belonged to a different era but who belonged to the same Savior.

Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won,
With all her sons and daughters
Who, by the Master’s hand
Led through the deathly waters,
Repose in Eden land.

- “The Church’s One Foundation”

As I look over my life, I pray that I will follow in the footsteps of the great men of faith, that I will keep my eyes on Jesus, see my life through the perspective of eternity, and leave a legacy of faithfulness for the generations that follow. May those who come behind us find us faithful.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

John R. Sampey (1863-1946)

John Sampey was Southern Seminary’s fifth president (1928-42) during the difficult years of the Great Depression and the beginning of World War II. Sampey served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention three times. He often contributed to the Convention’s Sunday School literature and devotional material.

Active as an evangelist, Sampey recalled one trip in particular to Brazil. In Rio de Janeiro in 1925, Sampey preached to a large group on the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. He later shared that when he “quoted the passage setting forth the substitutionary sufferings of the Servant of Jehovah, He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities,” the voice of my interpreter cracked. At the close of the service he explained that he was won to faith in Christ by the verses I quoted.”

Ellis A. Fuller (1891-1950)

Ellis Fuller became Southern Seminary’s sixth president during the World War II era and served for eight years (1942-50) before dying suddenly from a stroke. Fuller changed the nature of the Southern Seminary presidency, leading the institution into the executive model that was becoming popular in the business world. As an administrator, Fuller oversaw the acquiring and construction of several buildings.

One of Fuller’s well-known quotes was this:

“I have no difficulty believing in the existence of a personal devil. He offers me advice as to how I should conduct my life every morning before I eat breakfast.”

Roy Lee Honeycutt (1926-2004)

Dr. Roy L. Honeycutt was Southern Seminary’s eighth president (1982-93) and led the seminary through a tumultous time. During his tenure as president, Southern saw the addition of the new Honeycutt Center, which includes a new gym, coffee shop, study area, and meeting halls.

Though Dr. Honeycutt opposed the Conservative Resurgence in the SBC, he was, by all accounts, a consummate Christian gentleman who sought to forge alliances between the fracturing parties of the Convention. He is known for a commentary he wrote on II Kings.

Edgar Young Mullins (1860-1928)

Southern Seminary’s fourth president (1899-1928) stands as one of the most important theologians in Baptist history. During his presidency, the seminary experienced dramatic growth in enrollment and faculty. It was during Mullins’ tenure as president that the seminary moved to its current location in Louisville. (Mullins’ office is now occupied by the Dean of the School of Theology – Russell Moore.)

Mullins is unique in that he is claimed as a hero by both sides of the recent Conservative-Moderate controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention. He is the theologian to first use the term “Soul Competency,” and though he was a theological conservative, he opened the door to a certain theological direction that would prove detrimental to the seminary in later years.

Mullins grounded the truth of Christianity both in human experience and in historical facts. I confess that of all Southern’s presidents, Mullins intrigues me the most. A consummate politician, an evangelical statesman, a Baptist theologian and a servant of the church – Mullins offers us both an example to follow and pitfalls to avoid. Here are two quotes from Mullins I enjoy:

“There is a certain view of God and nature and man and the world in the background of our faith. But Christianity is a historical religion, and a religion of experience. It is grounded in facts. The Christian worldview rests upon these facts.”

“In Jesus is made known to us the ultimate reality of God as a moral and spiritual being. In Jesus, God appears as righteous love. In Jesus, God comes near for our salvation. In Jesus, the grace and power of God are manifested for our redemption. In Jesus, God takes the initiative in seeking us. We are found and awakened by the gospel. But our sin binds us. We know ourselves alienated in heart and life from God. We are unable to redeem ourselves. We belong to a kingdom of evil and are held captive. We need forgiveness and reconciliation. Through his atoning work Christ brings God near in forgiving grace. We need moral and spiritual transformation. Christ supplies the motives which lead to repentance and the new life. “In Christ” is the phrase which expresses the total meaning of the new life. He is its source, its structural law, and its goal. We are, in other words, regenerated and spiritually constituted in Jesus Christ.”

“From the fact that other religions, including Judaism, have in them the idea of sacrifice and propitiation, it is concluded by some that it must be a false idea. Fundamentally this assumes that everything in the non-Christian religions must be wholly false. Is it not far more likely that a universal religious idea has in it an element of truth than that its universality is a mark of its falsity? Christianity purified and fulfilled all religious ideas of human beings, emptied them of their transient and superficial meanings, and revealed their true inward meaning. The atonement of Christ in a very special manner does this. In it God appears in Christ, not as a distant, implacable and angry being, requiring a satisfaction for sin which humans cannot supply. Jesus himself, as holy and loving and yearning to save humanity, provides the satisfaction.”

Related Posts:
Edgar Young Mullins: An Intimate Biography
A Man of Books and a Man of the People

Archibald Thomas Robertson (1863-1934)

A.T. Robertson was an influential New Testament scholar who served as a professor at Southern Seminary for almost forty years (1895-1934.)

Robertson’s books are still consulted today, particularly his Word Pictures in the New Testament and his landmark volume A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research. In all, he published forty-five books, several of which are still in print today.

Robertson helped found the Baptist World Alliance in 1900. He was an important Southern Baptist and a well-respected scholar in his day. As the son-in-law of famous preacher John Broadus (Robertson’s grave lies in the shadow of Broadus), Robertson sought to equip his students with the proper tools for good preaching. Here are some quotes of Robertson linking study of the Greek New Testament to preaching:

“The greatest proof that the Bible is inspired is that it has withstood so much bad preaching!”

“God pity the poor preacher who has to hunt for something to preach – and the people who have to listen!”

“Preaching… is the most dangerous thing in the world.”

Basil Manly, Jr. (1825-92)

Basil Manly, Jr. was one of the founders of Southern Seminary and he served as Professor of Old Testament from 1859-71 and 1879-82. (His grave lies just a few feet in front of James P. Boyce’s family gravesite.)

Manly was a firm proponent of the inspiration of the Scriptures, consistently arguing that a neglect or denial of Scripture’s truthfulness would prove detrimental to Christianity. Manly claimed that denying the inspiration of the Bible would “minister to the pride of reason, instead of to the culture of faith. It would generate perplexity instead of repose, conflict instead of submission, resistance instead of reverence.”

Every time we sing the poetic words of Southern Seminary’s “hymn,” we are expressing the heart of Basil Manly, Jr. – a gifted professor and wise administrator.

Soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed,
A world in ruins needs your aid:
A world by sin destroyed and dead;
A world for which the Savior bled.

His Gospel to the lost proclaim,
Good news for all in Jesus’ Name;
Let light upon the darkness break
That sinners from their death may wake.

Morning and evening sow the seed,
God’s grace the effort shall succeed.
Seedtimes of tears have oft been found
With sheaves of joy and plenty crowned.

We meet to part, but part to meet
When earthly labors are complete,
To join in yet more blest employ,
In an eternal world of joy.

John A. Broadus (1827-95)

John A. Broadus served as one of the founders of Southern Seminary and he became Southern’s second president (1889-95) upon the death of his good friend and colleague James P. Boyce. Broadus’ resting place is just a few feet to the left of Boyce’s grave.

You might notice the odd looking cross-grave just behind Broadus’ tombstone. That cross covers the grave of famous Greek scholar A.T. Robertson who married John Broadus’ daughter. Robertson so admired his father-in-law that he asked to be buried “in his shadow,” believing that he could never attain the same level of devotion to Christ as Broadus.

Broadus was best-known for his preaching. He was an expositor who labored over the Greek or Hebrew texts before delivering passionate sermons. He worked for twenty years on his famous Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, but Broadus’ most popular work was his preaching handbook, The Preaching and Delivery of Sermons. Even today, students will find a wealth of helpful information in Broadus’ books.

Charles Spurgeon named John Broadus “the greatest of living preachers.” Preaching was Broadus’ passion, and his words on preaching have become his legacy. Broadus wrote:

“In every age of Christianity, since John the Baptist drew crowds into the desert, there has been no great religious movement, no restoration of Scripture truth, and reanimation of genuine piety, without new power in preaching, both as cause and as effect.”

Broadus sets a good example for Southern Baptists. He was a passionate evangelist who baptized the famous Southern Baptist missionary Lottie Moon. When offered a hefty salary by J.D. Rockefeller to pastor a church in New York, Broadus turned him down. He knew what God had called him to do. Money wouldn’t change his mind.

I leave you with two more quotes from Broadus, the first regarding the importance of doctrinal content in our preaching and teaching. The second is my personal favorite from Broadus – a maxim I hope to live up to with every sermon I preach.

“Brethren, we must preach the doctrines; we must emphasize the doctrines; we must go back to the doctrines. I fear that the new generation does not know the doctrines as our fathers knew them.”

“Be willing to let the Scripture mean what it wants to mean.”

James Petigru Boyce (1827-88)

James P. Boyce was the founder and the first president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (1859-88). His Abstract of Systematic Theology was the foundational textbook of theology for Southern Seminary for decades after his death and is still in print today.

When I think back to the example left by Boyce, I am encouraged by his devotion to the local church. He taught Bible classes at Broadway Baptist Church for many years. He was a firm believer in giving ministers of the gospel a sound theological education.

It would be foolish of me to spend this week glorifying Southern’s forefathers as if they were all saintly heroes. Boyce agreed with many of his fellow Southern Baptists that slavery was acceptable. But lest we consider ourselves more righteous and holy today, let us be remember that we all have problems in applying the gospel we proclaim.

If anything, Boyce would agree that he should not be held in high esteem. Praise is reserved for Jesus himself. We are sinners. He is the Savior. And yet, we today are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses - those sinner/saints who have gone before us, doing their best to live faithfully the gospel of God’s saving grace.

One of Boyce’s students recounts the following conversation:

‘We heard the greatest sermon of our lives today.”
“Who preached it?”
“Jim Peter” (Boyce)
“What was his text?”
“God”
“What was his theme?”
“God”
“What were the divisions of the discourse?”
“God”

May the same be said of us.

A student cannot walk the campus of Southern Seminary without experiencing a deep appreciation and awe for the history contained in the seminary’s 150-year existence. As the Southern Baptist Convention’s oldest theological institution, Southern Seminary has consistently set the standard for quality academics and well-known faculty.

During my most recent visit to Louisville, a friend of mine, Robbie Sagers, took me to took me to Cave Hill, a cemetery that serves as the resting place for six of the Seminary’s nine presidents (Dr. Whitsitt is buried elsewhere, Dr. McCall is living today in Florida, and President Mohler will hopefully be leading Southern Seminary for many decades to come) and famous past professors – resting, that is, until Jesus returns. This week, I’d like to reflect upon the time we spent in the cemetery – celebrating the lives of some of Southern Seminary’s forefathers.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us… – Hebrews 12:1