I just found a “new ministry” of Southwestern Seminary. baptisttheology.org “provides access to White Papers written for local church leaders, rare Baptist History Sources for historical theologians, selected articles and back issue data from the Southwestern Journal of Theology, and a Nexus of links to related ministries. The website also provides a Q&A page for local church leaders to ask questions of theologians affiliated with Southwestern Seminary.”
Kind of like a blog for the heavy hitters. More academically respectable, I suppose. Topics on the site right now center on Baptist distinctives and Baptists losing their way.
Don’t let the smoke fool you, though.
Editor in Chief: Paige Patterson. I am sure Paige is in charge of what goes on this site to the “nth” degree.
Managing Editor (read: resource guy): Malcom Yarnell, III. Yarnell is a great resource for historical documents and arguments.
Editorial Board: Jason Duesing (Assistant to the President, SWBTS), Jason Lee, Matt Lino, and Thomas White. [edit: All of these guys are current or former students under] and have worked closely with Dr. Patterson for years. Jason Lee is now a Professor at SWBTS. The only editing of Dr. Patterson they will be doing is formatting content for the web. They may provide feedback for how things will play to the younger crowd.
Web Manager: Madison Grace (Yarnell’s personal assistant, and a recent commentor on a few blogs)
So if this is Dr. Patterson attempting to influence those on the Web, what is he pushing? Baptist distinctives and a drift from our roots. Interesting.
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Phillips Lynn
on Jun 7th, 2006
@ 11:08 am:
Art,
Jason Duesing? Wasn’t he the person who received an automobile as a so called “gift” from Southeastern a couple of years ago. If I am not mistaken the ABP news article indicated that it was linked to a contribution given by his father-in-law to Southeastern. I don’t believe that I read much about it in BP since he was the administrative assistant to Patterson at SEBTS who was going with him to SWBTS and also a close friend of the VP for Administration at Southeastern.
Sounds like more of the “friends and family plan” in our SBC.
Jerry Grace
on Jun 7th, 2006
@ 9:04 pm:
Sirs:
It is a sad day when no act to contribute value to our denomination from Southwestern Seminary can be seen as anything more than just another political ploy by folks whose cynicism has eaten them alive. I share your goal of becoming more inclusive in the SBC and far more representative than we have been in the past.
But it is insulting that you cannot bring yourself to believe that there are any people of integrity at SWBTS who are more than political minions. Whatever merit there may be at the source of your cynicism, does not entitle you to paint with such a broad brush motives of people you do not even know.
Perhaps you’re just caught up in the current feeding frenzy of folks who smell blood in the water. But such cavalier comments as these demeans the legitimacy of your complaint and the integrity of your words.
I knew of this website before its announcement from one who was excited at technology offering yet another opportunity to expand the knowledge of men and the Kingdom of God. Funny, no mention was made of Dr. Patterson at all in any of those conversations.
Weave your conspiracy theories Mr. Lynn and Mr. Cole. Connect yet another dot. You’ll likely not hear a word from these men whose motives you call to question, and whose integrity you impune. One of them happens to be my son whose principle is not for sale at any price and whose integrity and motives you dare not question.
No one is going to come away from this bruha unstained, but lessons will be learned. One of those will likely be the unpleasant law of unintended results; another that old dogs still have teeth in their mouths.
Jerry Grace
Proud Father of Madison Grace
and friend of SWBTS
BSC
on Jun 7th, 2006
@ 10:55 pm:
Jerry:
I’m not sure where you got the idea that I have impugned your son’s character. Who told you that?
Madison is a great friend and a godly Christian witness. From our earliest days of knowing one another, we became fast friends.
In no way would I ever say anything to malign his character. In fact, I would nail to the wall anybody who did such a thing.
art rogers
on Jun 7th, 2006
@ 11:26 pm:
Mr. Grace,
Let me further add that Ben Cole does not run this blog and never has. I, Art Rogers, take full responsibility for the articles posted.
Moreover, I would add that the only thing I wrote about Madison is that he was Dr. Yarnell’s Assistant. Specifically, I said:
“Madison Grace (Yarnell’s personal assistant, and a recent commentor on a few blogs)”
What motive did I assign to Madison?
What I said, in short, was that Dr. Patterson was speaking personally on the web, and that Dr. Yarnell was a resource. Everyone else was just a facilitator for that – and that his students would not be telling Dr. Patterson what to write. You may think otherwise, but this is my opinion.
Mr. Lynn is right, by the way. Jason Duesing is the recipient of a certain car from SEBTS – unless he has recently sold it, he is still driving it around Ft. Worth. Phillips’ description is absolutely accurate as to the facts. If there is a need for evidence, I know where the original paperwork is.
I understand that you are defending your son from a perceived wrong. I have no problem with that.
Please understand that the point of my post is only to say that this is Dr. Patterson speaking and no one else. I make no judgements about Madison, because – as you say – I do not know him.
As for Southwestern, I love her far more than you can imagine.
GeneMBridges
on Jun 8th, 2006
@ 3:12 am:
No one is going to come away from this bruha unstained, but lessons will be learned. One of those will likely be the unpleasant law of unintended results; another that old dogs still have teeth in their mouths.
To end a post like that one with this, which is a veiled threat indeed is really rather odd. It only adds validity to the perception that commentary that does not agree with the Inner Circle is stifled. Moreover, to come at the end of a post that decries such activity in others betrays the underlying message in all that went before, does it not?
As to what has come from this particular organization in terms of papers thus far, I’ve found them generally lacking indeed. Malcolm Yarnell’s critique of Theodore Beza in one of his papers a few months ago, for starters, is a position not espoused in any Reformed seminary, and, had he bothered to check with R. Scott Clark, who teaches on Beza, ad fontes no less, at Westminister before he wrote about him and who is currently the leading US authority on Beza, he would have found what he said was, how shall we say, less than accurate, considering that he used this as a major premise from which to critque Reformed soteriology in general. From one perspective, then this will only expose him to some peer review, and, judging by the quality of what I have seen coming from him personally in recent months, it is sorely needed.
I’ll extend more charity and magnanimity toward this particular foray on the internet, when I see them publishing Dr. Greg Welty’s papers beyond what is there now. He was a published author when he was in seminary, and his work on baptism is a standard monograph that I believe was completed prior to his graduation from Westminster. What is here is simply a rehash of his earlier work. Let’s see if they recognize his other work on Covenant Theology itself, however, considering that he is a confessional Reformed Baptist who hails from Westminster Seminary in CA. If they do this, despite their party line on Reformed theology these days, I’ll be happy to be charitable to them and not wonder if they are simply there to trumpet the party line.
drwow
on Jun 8th, 2006
@ 9:18 am:
Check your facts about the individuals you mention and the claims you make. One instance of a misclaim (there are others) is about Thomas White. He is not a doctoral studen of Dr. Patterson, nor has he ever been one. First, notice on his paper it says Dr. Thomas White. Obviously he is not a student. Second, he did his Ph.D at Southeastern, under Dr. John Hammett. Just a little food for thought—please check what you write before you claim it as fact. God bless.
art rogers
on Jun 8th, 2006
@ 9:31 am:
drwow & all,
My apologies for two pieces of misinformation originally placed in this article.
I think the current edit concerning the “Editorial Board” is now accurate.
Again, I take full responsibility for the misinformation – and that is what it was. I should have clarified their current status before publishing.
However, the essence of my point – that they are current or former students of Dr. Patterson and that they will not be telling him what to write (which is a matter of my opinion and has never been claimed as fact) – is still accurate, I believe.
drwow
on Jun 8th, 2006
@ 10:26 am:
Dear Art,
No I don’t believe they will be telling Dr. Patterson what to write (just like no one tells you what to write)…but if you notice Dr. Patterson isn’t the author of any of the articles posted. Thanks for your clarification. Ps. I don’t believe Jason Lee was ever a student of Dr. Patterson’s (I could be wrong about this, but I don’t think so.) I think he did his M.Div at New Orleans and his Ph.D at Aberdeen. God Bless.
Anonymous
on Jun 8th, 2006
@ 10:34 am:
Dr. Yarnell is not Dr. Patterson’s mouthpiece. He is God’s mouthpiece.
CB Scott
on Jun 8th, 2006
@ 9:46 pm:
drwow,
Dr. Patterson gave Dr. Lee his first teaching position. He served as assistant professor of Church History at SEBTS from 1999-2002.
He then served as associate pastor at Broadmoor Baptist Church, Shreveport, LA. from 2002-2005.
From there he again joined Dr. Patterson at SWBTS as associate professor of Historical Theology.
cb