Yesterday in *Update* Calvinists To Be “Let Go” From Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBC) here at Apprising Ministries I made you aware of something my friend Mike Corley pointed out to me from his blog The Expositor. Mike had placed up a link to a post from Wade Burleson called Forcibly Removing the Tulips at SWBTS.

As an SBC pastor, one who is a former Roman Catholic holding the doctrines of grace being discussed in Burleson’s post, this immediately caught my attention. It’s long been my contention that the Southern Baptist Convention, ostensibly the largest Protestant denomination in the country is slowly embracing more and more doctrine consistent with apostate Roman Catholicism.

For those new to the issue please see the above referenced AM post but suffice to say here that Burleson wrote at his Grace and Truth to You blog:

Yesterday Dr. Paige Patterson met with professors in the theology school at SWBTS and said that the seminary would be letting go the five point Calvinist professors from the seminary, claiming that the lack of funds and the need to reduce faculty as the rationale for the impending releases. Odd, however, was the chosen method of reduction. (Online source)

I then updated my original piece to include the link to a comment at Burleson’s blog, which came from Dr. Greg Welty, a Calvinist on staff at SWBTS, denying any such meeting took place. In addition I also placed the link to Burleson’s response to Welty. Now today in Forcibly Removing the Tulips at SWBTS (Part II) Burleson shares “a couple of observations.”

Ones he says concern “the uproar over my post exposing Southwestern Theological Seminary President’s expressed desire to remove all the known Calvinists from the faculty of SWBTS.” The first of which is:

(1). This expressed intent to use the downturn in the economy to rid the faculty of Calvinists has been known by various SWBTS professors and administrators, but not all professors, for at least ten days. Meetings with professors were both individual in nature, and in a couple of instances, several professors at one time. (Online source)

This morning I received a phone call from J. Randall Easter, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Briar, Azle, TX. Pastor Easter, who happens to also be a student at SWTBS, has given me permission to publish an email he sent me following our talk in which he shares his firsthand observation from speaking personally to some of the professors involved in “meetings between the President of SWBTS and Faculty” of SWBTS:

There was an article posted by a man by the name of Burleson a couple of days ago regarding Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS). I as a student (13 years) at SWBTS would like to clarify some of the things that were said. There was no meeting conducted to fire or let go 5 point Calvinist this week.

Dr. Welty responded strongly against Burleson and he should for Burleson is not correct in his information. However, it also needs to be said that there have been meetings between the President at SWBTS and Faculty in the last few weeks in which some were asked questions about their soteriology and their church affiliation.

There has been no official actions to remove any professors at this point. It seems that much of what comes out of these meetings will be decided by the trustees who will be having a meeting in the near future. I as a student can truly say that there is tension on the campus between those who hold to the Doctrines of Grace and those who do not.

I believe that much of the reason for this at least surfaced between the Building Bridges Conference and the John 3:16 Conference. However, I am no expert and I do not have all the information concerning all the details, but I do know that there was not a meeting this week to fire Calvinist teachers.

What will be the outcome of the current events? As Paul Washer said when he preached at our church, “We will see.” Please pray for God to be glorified at SWBTS and for the truth to be known in God’s timing. Thank you.

Pastor: J. Randall Easter
II Timothy 2:19