Faculty, students to represent Southwestern at 77th annual ETS meeting
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Texas Baptist College (TBC) faculty and doctoral students will present papers and moderate sessions at the 77th annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) Nov. 18-20 in Boston. Longtime Southwestern faculty member Craig Blaising will be a featured speaker at the event.
The theme of this year’s meeting is “Creedal Christianity: Celebrating Nicaea: 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.”
“We are thrilled at the number of Southwestern faculty and graduate students who will be making presentations and leading sessions at the forthcoming meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society,” said President David S. Dockery, who is among the scheduled presenters.
“Those of us who have been attending ETS for a while recognize the value that it serves in creating opportunities to learn from the best evangelical scholars in North America. We are grateful that ETS is led by Ken Magnuson, who serves as an affiliate faculty member at Southwestern,” he added, also noting Blaising’s plenary address.
“I am pleased that many others will be able to hear from Southwestern’s outstanding faculty who will be participating during the time in Boston,” Dockery said.
Dockery will present “Key Developments in the Doctrine of Scripture in Southern Baptist Life” during a section titled “The Doctrine of Scripture.”
“Those leading the session … who by the way are not Baptists, selected ‘The Bible in Baptist Teaching and Practice: Past, Present, and Future’ as the theme of the session,” Dockery said. “They then invited Dr. Malcolm Yarnell and me to make presentations based on our recent publication, Special Revelation and Scripture, which we were both honored to do.”
Craig Blaising
Criag Blaising, senior professor of theology, was invited to present a plenary address on “The Bible and the Nicene Creed.” He noted that he will be speaking about the original Nicene Creed, composed and adopted by the Council of Nicaea in 325, “not what today is called the Nicene Creed and is recited in many churches.” The latter is a creed adopted at the Council of Constantinople in 381, known as the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, he added.
Blaising said he sees the controversy that led to the Nicene Creed as primarily a dispute over the interpretation of Scripture. The creed was composed to “distinguish true Christian faith from the theological views of Arius of Alexandria” who contended that Jesus was a created being and, therefore, not God.
“The creed adopted by the Council was composed almost entirely of words and phrases from Scripture to be a biblically accurate statement of Christian faith about God the Father and the Son of God within the Trinity,” he said. It was not, he said, meant to be an authority outside of Scripture, “but saw itself as a faithful and therefore true statement of authoritative Scripture, seeing Scripture as the source and norm of true theology.” It was composed to speak directly to the theological heresy confronting the churches at that time, he explained.
“Subsequent creeds and confessions have sought to address and clarify other aspects of Christian faith. Their usefulness should, like Nicaea, be measured by their faithfulness to Scripture,” he added.
Malcolm B. Yarnell III
With three presentations, Malcolm B. Yarnell III, research professor of theology, who has written and spoken extensively on the Nicene Creed, said his first presentation at ETS this year “reflects on the effort Steven McKinion of Southeastern Seminary and I began in January 2024, culminating in our proposal to add the Nicene Creed to the Baptist Faith and Message,” he said.
He also will participate in a session on Christianity and Culture that focuses on Nicaea Today: Why an Ancient Creed (Still) Matters, a book co-authored by TBC faculty member Coleman Ford. In his presentation of a theological perspective on the book, Yarnell will argue that “Nicene theology must shape the way we do theology today.”
His third and final presentation, for the session titled “The Doctrine of Scripture,” considers “how the early church’s regula fidei (‘canon of faith’) distilled the central teaching of the Bible and should thus inform the way Christians interpret God’s gift of the literary canon,” Yarnell said.
Coleman Ford
In keeping with the overall theme of the meeting, a session on Christianity and Culture will be devoted to the new book, Why an Ancient Creed (Still) Matters, written by Coleman Ford, assistant professor of humanities at Texas Baptist College, and Shawn Wilhite, who teaches at California Baptist University. Ford noted that the session is dedicated to reading and responding to the book, with respondents—including Southwestern Seminary’s Yarnell—presenting papers from different approaches. Ford and Wilhite then will respond to those papers.
“I am looking forward to the interaction among peers on our work, hopefully bringing further clarity and adding strength to the conversation,” Ford said. “I personally hope we can discuss how Nicene theology impacts both the church and academy and have robust discussion of how everyone can better apprehend and integrate Nicene thinking into their teaching, ministry, and personal lives.”
Robert Caldwell II
During a session on church history, Robert Caldwell II, professor of church history, will present a paper titled “When Holy Angels Could Fall Away: Jonathan Edwards on Angelic Probation and Final Confirmation.” In it, he presents Edwards’s view on “the history of elect angels after the fall of Satan and the demons to the time when the elect angels are ‘confirmed’ (angelic salvation, where they are gifted with a security of perseverance),” he said. “Edwards places the timing of confirmation at the ascension of Christ, which was unusual as most theologians in the Christian tradition (usually Catholics who wrote on angels) placed their confirmation shortly after the fall of Satan.”
Caldwell also will moderate a session on Christian History and Thought Since 1700 titled “Creed Revision in the Post Reformation Period.” His Southwestern Seminary colleague Yarnell is among the presenters scheduled during the session.
Mark Taylor
In presenting his paper, “The Neglected Theme of Humility in the Letter of James,” Mark Taylor, professor of New Testament and associate dean of the School of Theology, will argue that the theme of humility has not been given the prominence it deserves.
Though scholars “rightly reflect upon the author’s theological convictions on topics such as God, Christ, eschatology” and more, Taylor said, the theme of humility is typically absent from this list. However, he noted, it is both explicit and implicit throughout the letter.
“Sometimes the language of humility is explicit (Jas 1:9-11, 21; 3:13, 17; 4:6-10), while in other instances humility undergirds James’s exhortations without explicit terminology, such as appeals to patient endurance (Jas 1:2-4; 5:7-11), self-control with regard to speech (Jas 1:19, 26; 4:13-17; 5:9, 12), and care for the lowly of this world (Jas 1:27; 2:1-13).”
Joshua Waggener
Joshua Waggener, professor of church music and worship, will present a paper as well as moderate a session on biblical worship during the conference. His paper, “‘Captivated by the Music’: Addressing John Newton’s Concerns with Handel’s Messiah,” focuses on Newton’s criticism of the music as mere entertainment and compares Handel’s musical rhetoric with Newton’s sermons.
“This paper will contribute to an understanding of the roles and methods of music and preaching in eighteenth-century British evangelicalism, as well as the rhetorical skills of both Handel as composer and Newton as preacher,” he said.
Waggener also will moderate a panel on “The Nicene Creed’s impact on Christian Worship: Three Perspectives,” addressing the worship of the Trinity, the resurgence of the Nicene Creed in Evangelical worship, and how the Nicene Creed can serve to welcome worshipers in times of gathered worship.
Andrew Streett
In “The Messiah’s Release: The Jubilee (Lev 25; Deut 15; Isa 61) Background of Mark 2:1-28 and Luke 5:17-6:5,” Andrew Streett, associate professor of biblical studies, will state that the ministry of Jesus as presented in Luke is often understood against the background of an eschatological Jubilee “release,” or forgiveness.
“This paper will argue that the forgiveness of sins pronouncement kicks off a series of events in both Mark 2:1-28 and Luke 5:17-6:5 that show further connection to the concept of an eschatological jubilee,” Streett said. “One might view the placement of such events in Mark’s order as a Jubilee theme in nuce, which Luke capitalizes on and brings further into the light by recording Jesus’s Nazareth address at the beginning of his ministry.”
Andrew Jennings
Andrew Jennings, assistant professor of philosophy of religion and apologetics at TBC, will present two papers at the meeting. In “Athens Meets Jerusalem: Melchizedek and a Biblical Model for Philosophical Theology,” he looks at the structure of the Melchizedek section in Hebrews 7 as a model for doing analytic philosophical theology.
Jennings said he chose to write about this topic “because I have experienced a general tension between Christian theologians and Christian analytic philosophers regarding the methods and purpose of philosophical reasoning about theological topics, and I see Hebrews 7 as a good guide.”
His second paper, “Free Choice with Modal Collapse,” is a philosophical investigation into how humans can have “morally robust free will even if the future course of our world is already set,” Jennings said, adding, “This discussion sheds light on how God’s omniscience does not invalidate human moral responsibility.”
Adam Dodd
Adam Dodd, vice president for campus technology, assistant professor of Old Testament and biblical backgrounds, and director of the Tandy Institute for Archaeology, will participate in a session devoted to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in academics. The session will be moderated by Magnuson, executive director of ETS and affiliate faculty member for Southwestern Seminary.
Dodd will present a paper on “AI Use Cases: Teaching Old Testament in a Seminary Context.” “The paper will introduce some foundational principles for thinking about AI as a faculty member in higher education and theological education specifically,” he said. “It will also outline specific tactics that I have used ethically to teach my classes and prepare my students to think informedly about AI in their education and ministry.”
Dodd also will participate in a panel discussion on “The Perils and Possibilities of AI for Academics.”
Lilly Park
Lilly Park, associate professor of biblical counseling, will present “Historical Narratives in the Care of Souls: Preserving Biblical Authority to Comprehend Life.” Noting that “Social media and other platforms provide examples of people who build communities through stories of shared experiences,” she cautioned that, if unguarded, “such stories and testimonies are granted authority for wisdom in life, appealing to emotions rather than biblical truth.”
In her paper, Park seeks to “assert the value of historical narratives to reframe human experiences of suffering from God’s perspective.” The paper includes examples that “could be used in caring for souls to point people to the Gospel for true change and hope. One of the goals is to preserve biblical authority in comprehending life through historical narratives.”
Drew Smith
In his paper, “A Trinitarian Argument Against Modalized Essence,” Drew Smith, affiliate professor of philosophy of religion and apologetics, delves into philosophers’ efforts to understand the essence of an object–that which defines what it is. “While philosophers have proposed a wide range of ways to understand essences, I argue that an orthodox understanding of the Trinity requires us to reject certain contemporary accounts of essences and essential property,” he said. “In particular, I argue that the doctrine of the Trinity demands we reject so-called modal accounts of essences.”
Smith added that, while theology has long borrowed from philosophy to develop more precise and coherent formulations of biblical doctrines, “what you see less often—in my experience at least—is consideration of how biblical doctrines speak to philosophical discussions. Part of the heart behind this project is attempting to show how the truth [of] certain doctrines actually restricts the conclusions philosophers can come to in areas like metaphysics.”
Cristian Rata
In presenting “The Psalter as a Book for the Humble,” Cristian Rata, professor of Old Testament, will argue that humility is essential for engaging with the Psalter. His argument begins by looking at the key role of the first two psalms in the book.
“These twin pillars at the entrance of the book call the faithful worshippers to humbly submit to the Torah (Ps 1) and warn the proud and rebellious to be aware of judgment day and to ‘kiss the son’ (Ps 2) in a posture of genuine humility,” he said. “Thus, at the very beginning of the book, there is this double call to humility, one directed to the faithful, and the other to the rebellious. Without this posture of humility, entrance in the sacred space of the Psalter is impossible.”
Rata uses additional Psalms to support the pervasive call to humility and notes that “Since the Psalms are instruction, you need the essential attitude for instruction: humility.”
Blake McKinney
Blake McKinney, assistant professor of history and humanities at TBC, will present “Out of the Pit I Call: Mining Songs and Blue-collar American Lamentation.”
The paper examines the American Mining Ballade through a theological and cultural hermeneutic. “It explores these musical reflections on death, justice, and the problem of suffering,” he said. “In so doing, Christians may better understand the heart concerns behind these popular lamentations.”
The project grew out of a course McKinney teaches, “The Problem of Evil in the Literary Imagination.” In this course, students learn how to engage in cultural hermeneutics and interpret cultural texts that engage the problem of evil. “Students give presentations on songs, interpret the worldview, and engage that worldview with the Gospel,” he said. “This led me—a descendent of a Kentucky coal miner—to consider this compelling genre of music theologically.”
Presentations
Craig Blaising, The Bible and Nicaea (plenary address)
Robert Caldwell II, When Holy Angels Could Fall Away: Jonathan Edwards on Angelic Probation and Final Consummation
David Dockery, Key Developments in the Doctrine of Scripture in Southern Baptist Life
Adam Dodd, AI Use Cases: Teaching Old Testament in a Seminary Context, and The Perils and Possibilities of AI for Academics
Scott Duvall, A New Heaven and a New Earth: Revelation’s Portrayal of the New Creation
Coleman Ford, Why an Ancient Creed (Still) Matters – Response from Authors
Andrew Jennings, Athens Meets Jerusalem: Melchizedek and a Biblical Model for Philosophical Theology, and Free Choice with Modal Collapse
Blake McKinney, Out of the Pit I Call: Mining Songs and Blue-collar American Lamentation
Lilly Park, Historical Narratives in the Care of Souls: Preserving Biblical Authority to Comprehend Life
Cristian Rata, The Psalter as a Book for the Humble
Drew Smith, A Trinitarian Argument Against Modalized Essence
Andrew Streett, The Messiah’s Release: The Jubilee (Lev 25; Deut 15; Isa 61) Background of Mark 2:1-28 and Luke 5:17-6:5
Mark Taylor, The Neglected Theme of Humility in the Letter of James
Joshua Waggener, Captivated by the Music: Addressing John Newton’s Concerns with Handel’s Messiah
Malcolm Yarnell III, Reflections on Adding the Nicene Creed to the Baptist Faith and Message, Why an Ancient Creed (Still) Matters – Theological Perspective, and Applying the Regula Fidel to Contemporary Evangelical Theology Formation
Session moderators
Christian History and Thought Since 1700: Creed Revision in the Post-Reformation Period, Robert Caldwell II, moderator
Biblical Worship: The Nicene Creed’s Impact on Christian Worship: Three Perspectives, Joshua Waggener, moderator
Student presentations
John Paul Arceno, “The Christ of God:” John Bunyan’s Christology
Jared Causey, Reassessing the Feminist Interpretation of Phoebe Palmer: A Historical Critique
Federico Fretes, Should You Love Those Who Hate YHWH? The Chronicler’s Perspective on Mixed Marriages
Stephen Goodall, The Way to Sirmium: Silencing Marcellus
Gabriel Ward, God as Pure Spirit: Stephen Charnok and the Doctrine of Divine Simplicity
