RESOLUTION NO. 3
ON THE SESQUICENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
WHEREAS, 2009 marks the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; and
WHEREAS, Southern Baptists established the seminary in 1859 in order to promote and defend the doctrines and practices of the inspired and inerrant Word of God; and
WHEREAS, The founding faculty of James P. Boyce, John A. Broadus, Basil Manly Jr., and William Williams sustained the seminary through many severe trials by extraordinary personal sacrifice; and
WHEREAS, Many thousands of graduates of the seminary have labored faithfully in the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ throughout the earth; and
WHEREAS, For one hundred fifty years faithful Southern Baptists have sustained, nurtured, and safeguarded the seminary by their sacrificial giving and concern; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, June 23-24, 2009, give thanks to God for putting it into the hearts of Southern Baptist leaders to establish the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1859; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we honor the founding faculty of Boyce, Broadus, Manly, and Williams for their courage and fidelity in the propagation and preservation of “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3); and be it further
RESOLVED, That we express our gratitude that by God’s mercy the faculty and administration are committed to the same principles of biblical orthodoxy and Baptist distinctives upon which Southern Baptists founded it; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we affirm the seminary’s continued passion for evangelism and missions in the pursuit of the Great Commission that all nations may hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; and be it finally
RESOLVED, That we solicit the prayers of Southern Baptists for the seminary’s continued faithfulness and effectiveness, in order that through it God may continue to raise up a sound and zealous ministry for the churches until the day of our Lord’s glorious return.