Currently edited by David S. Dockery, Distinguished Professor of Theology, this resource is as much for current students as it is for alumni and the church at large.
Digital editions can be viewed below, and print editions can be ordered by emailing journal@swbts.edu.
“He gave . . . some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith . . . As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.”Ephesians 4:11-14
The articles found in this issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology are authored around the theme of “The Doctrine of Humankind.” The Fall 2021 issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to “The Use of the Old Testament in the New.” This important theme has implications for how we understand both testaments. Should we consider the Old Testament to be Christian Scripture, or should we reserve this designation for the New Testament? What do the ways that the New Testament writers use the Old Testament tell us about translation and interpretation practices? Do answers to these questions help us develop a doctrine of Scripture and understanding for biblical interpretation in the twenty-first century? The contributors to this issue wrestle with these and other questions, which are not new, but which need to be revisited by each generation.
Volume 64, No. 1 – Fall 2021Managing Editor: David S. Dockery
The Fall 2021 issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to “The Use of the Old Testament in the New.”
This important theme has implications for how we understand both testaments. Should we consider the Old Testament to be Christian Scripture, or should we reserve this designation for the New Testament? What do the ways that the New Testament writers use the Old Testament tell us about translation and interpretation practices? Do answers to these questions help us develop a doctrine of Scripture and understanding for biblical interpretation in the twenty-first century? The contributors to this issue wrestle with these and other questions, which are not new, but which need to be revisited by each generation.
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Volume 62, No. 2 – Spring 2020Managing Editor: David S. Dockery
This volume has been shaped around the theme of “Christian Higher Education in the Baptist Tradition.” Contributors explore this theme from a variety of perspectives. Highlighted are essays engaging academic or intellectual discipleship, understanding the roles of Scripture and the Christian worldview in Christian education, implications of secularism in Christian higher education, and empathy in the general education curriculum.
Volume 63, No. 1 – Fall 2020Managing Editor: David S. Dockery
The articles found in this issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology are built around the theme of “Theology Applied.”
“Theology Applied” calls for us to be hearers of God’s Word, students of God’s Word, followers of God’s Word, as well as doers and practitioners of God’s Word. The contributors to this issue have provided a harmonious chorus to help us begin to connect the dots between thinking about God and our worship of and service to God. In doing so, we recognize that theology is not an individualistic cerebral experience. We contend that theology matters to the church. Moreover, theology serves as the foundation for the life of the church and for the Christian witness to and for the world.
Volume 63, No. 2 – Spring 2021Managing Editor: David S. Dockery
The articles found in this issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology are authored around the theme of “The Doctrine of Humankind.”
“What does it mean to be human?” This question was asked nearly two decades ago at a major bioethics conference by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary alumnus C. Ben Mitchell. The way he framed the conversation was profound. Realizing the importance of this question and the various implications for our lives and ministries, we have invited a group of thoughtful theologians and ethicists to help us think carefully and wisely about these challenging issues.
Volume 62, No. 1 – Fall 2019Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
This volume presents a variety of articles in Biblical Studies and Theology. Highlighted are essays engaging Political Theology, Calvin Studies, New Testament Studies, as well as Culture and Theology. This volume particularly highlights the work of scholars from Southwestern Seminary.
Volume 62, No. 1 – Spring 2019Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
This volume presents articles from the field of World Christian Studies. Highlighted within this issue are diverse essays engaging missions in a global context. This volume particularly highlights the work on World Christianity that is ongoing at Southwestern with articles written by faculty and graduates of the World Christian Studies Program.
Volume 61, No. 1 – Fall 2018Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
For the greater part of the twentieth century there was not much concern with the doctrine of the church. Fortunately, there has been a recent turn back in these traditions to ecclesiology. Highlighted within this issue are articles that are concerned with this need to engage ecclesiology.
Volume 60, No. 2 – Spring 2018Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
This volume is in response to the growing interest in the philosophy and apologetics programs and the exceptional work of our faculty. Highlighted within this issue are articles that are diverse in subject matter but are unified in addressing a variety of important questions pertaining to the field of apologetics as well as the nature of Christian belief.
Volume 60, No. 1 – Fall 2017Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
This issue, in honor of its 500th anniversary, reflects on the Protestant Reformation. It places the theology of the reformers within its larger context, with special attention given to the Spanish Reformation of the Sixteenth Century and aspects of Martin Luther’s thought.
Volume 59, No. 2 – Spring 2017Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
This issue, entitled Faith, Work, and Economics, focuses on the concept of whole-life Christianity, and the broader question of what does the Bible say about faith, work, and economics. This issue is an indispensable resource to the 21st century pastor as an aid in understanding Christianity that is not just limited to Sundays.
Volume 59, No. 1 – Fall 2016Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
This issue, entitled Concerning Humanity, focuses on various anthropological issues ranging from science and the soul to the use of reproductive technologies and their relationship to adultery. This issue is an indispensable resource to the 21st century pastor as an aid in understanding important anthropological issues.
Volume 58, No. 2 – Spring 2016Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
This issue addresses B. H. Carroll’s pastoral theology with the publication of his lecture notes entitled “The Twentieth-Century Pastor; or, Lectures on Pastoral Theology,” along with an introduction to B. H. Carroll and his work as provided by Dr. Michael Crisp. These articles are not only an historic look at the pastoral theology of Southwestern’s founder, but are also a wealth of wisdom for ministry today.
Volume 58, No. 1 – Fall 2015Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
The particular theme of this issue is preaching Jude. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary annually hosts an Expository Preaching Workshop that addresses the major concerns of text-driven preaching. In the Spring of 2015 that workshop focused in on the book of Jude. The articles in this issue are adaptations of those presentations. They are helpful to students of the Bible and especially to preachers. Those who are preparing to preach part, or all, of Jude will find these articles of great worth. From making decisions on how to approach the book to tackling some of its difficult statements, the articles address the major concerns a preacher faces when tackling Jude. Also, they present important facets of preaching that can be applied universally to most texts of the Bible. For those who are new to preaching or those that have been preaching for quite awhile these articles are beneficial for the craft of preaching.
Volume 57, No. 2 – Spring 2015Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to the topic of “Historical Theology.” The benefits of studying history are many. It can be of tremendous assistance to us in the present day. For example, history helps us to understand and gain perspective on our current situation and thinking. It can answer questions like: “How did we get to where we are now?” “Where did that idea or line of thought originate?” “From what tradition did that opinion stem?” In other words, history provides us with fresh insights from past knowledge as we evaluate and make sense of our present. History also helps us learn not to repeat the mistakes of the past and enables us to see how people long ago met challenges and dealt with the crises, problems, and obstacles that came their way. History is especially valuable when studying theology because it gives us a look at the specific contexts in which theologies were created, developed, and defined. This describes historical theology.
Volume 57, No. 1 – Fall 2014Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to the topic of “Missions Methods and Principles” and may be one of the most important issues that the seminary has ever published. The matters discussed in this volume go to the very heart of Jesus’ Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt 28:19). We pray that these articles increase your missions awareness and help equip you with knowledge in your preparation for engagement in ministry at home and abroad.
Volume 56, No. 2 – Spring 2014Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to the topic of “Anabaptistica,” a term that means “things about or pertaining to Anabaptism and Anabaptists.” The Anabaptists were one major branch of the sixteenth-century Radical Reformers.
We pray that these articles increase your knowledge and help equip you in your preparation for engagement in ministry. We aim to serve the church and are more than happy to assist you. Further, if God has called you into his service please consider allowing us the privilege of preparing you at Southwestern for a lifetime of ministry. These are exciting times at the seminary! God bless you.
Volume 56, No. 1 – Fall 2013Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology (SWJT) marks our online debut and is the second of two volumes on the topic, Biblical Theology: Past, Present, and Future. Most of the articles in these volumes were initially presented on March 9-10, 2012, at the Southwest Regional Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), which met in the Riley Center on the campus of the host institution, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Volume 55, No. 2 – Spring 2013Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology (SWJT) is the first of two volumes on the topic, Biblical Theology: Past, Present, and Future. The present volume is devoted to “Biblical Theology Past.”
Volume 55, No. 1 – Fall 2012Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
Volume 54, No. 2 – Spring 2012Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
The Southern Baptist Convention at the end of the twentieth century was characterized by growth in mission and excitement over theology. The growth in mission was represented in the evangelistic aspirations expressed in the Bold Mission Thrust adopted by the convention. The excitment over theology was recaptiulated in the report of the Peace Committee led by Charles G. Fuller and adopted by the convention. This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology (SWJT) focuses on that second aspect of Southern Baptist life in the latter half of the twentieth century, our theology.
Volume 54, No. 1 – Fall 2011Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
Volume 53, No. 2 – Spring 2011Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
The desire of believers to display real faith through appropriate action is rooted in the witness of Scripture and exemplified in Christian history. Jesus Christ asked this haunting question of those who wished to identify themselves as His disciples: “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” The Lord proceeded to illustrate the difference between two types of disciples with an architectural metaphor. One disciple comes to Christ, hears His words, “and acts on them.” This one is praised as having penetrated to “the rock” and built his house upon Him. This one is an authentic disciple, manifesting his beliefs in action. The second type, however, hears the Lord’s words, “and has not acted accordingly.” The second disciple is not founded upon the rock, so that when judgment comes, “the ruin of that house was great.” The second disciple is a hypocrite, a person whose actions do not match his claims. These are the two disparate options present to those who hear Christ: authentic discipleship or hypocrisy.
Volume 53, No. 1 – Fall 2010Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
Christianity wages warfare against two opposing worldviews: mysticism, which would dismiss reason entirely, and scientism, which would exalt reason unduly. Both are manifested in contemporary culture. For many in our age, modern science seems to be dissolving before the acidic onslaught of a mystical postmodernism. Even more recently, a resurgent militant atheism has attacked any form of theism as incompatible with enlightened rationality. As an historical and intellectual yet spiritual and simple faith, Christianity takes firm stands against both the mystical and the scientistic errors. On the one hand, our faith depends upon the eyewitness of the apostles, who literally saw the God-man die and were then amazingly transformed by Jesus’ bodily resurrection. On the other hand, our faith is based on a hope that we ourselves may neither see nor measure in the same way that a geometrician calculates the hypotenuse of a triangle or a physicist measures the speed of light. Christianity does not fit within the modernist or the postmodernist worldviews, because it sublimely integrates historical objectivity with spiritual fideism.
Volume 52, No. 2 – Spring 2010Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to promoting this virtue of reading. Paige Patterson, President of Southwestern Seminary, begins the issue with a short explanation of why he strongly encourages all of his students to obtain 1,500 physical volumes prior to their graduation. Afterwards, Mark Leeds, our Registrar, presents a compelling essay in defense of why reading must be considered a virtue for the Christian. The remainder of the issue is composed of book reviews from various professors, pastors, and advanced theological students. Our Editorial hope in bringing these reviews from experts within the various theological disciplines into one issue is that their constructively critical, keen, and appreciative minds will inform your own reading practices. The reviews have been arranged by subject area, typically alphabetically but canonically within the field of biblical studies and chronologically within the field of historical studies.
Volume 52, No. 1 – Fall 2009Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to promoting Biblical Investigations.
Volume 51, No. 2 – Spring 2009Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to promoting the Foundations of our Faith.
Volume 51, No. 1 – Fall 2008Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to promoting Baptists and Unity.
Volume 50, No. 2 – Spring 2008Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to promoting Discipleship.
Volume 50, No. 1 – Fall 2007Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to promoting the Bible.
Volume 49, No. 2 – Spring 2007Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to promoting Missiology.
Volume 49, No. 1 – Fall 2006Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to promoting the Family.
Volume 48, No. 2 – Spring 2006Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to promoting British Baptists.
Wherever God calls you, the School of Theology will equip you to serve biblically and effectively.
