An Uncommon Union: Dallas Theological Seminary and American Evangelicalism

by John D. Hannah

Overview

Dallas Theological Seminary is often viewed as a bastion of conservative evangelicalism, marked by an unswerving devotion to theological positions of fundamentalism, biblical inerrancy, and dispensational premillennialism.An Uncommon Union, the first book-length history of Dallas Theological Seminary, written by a graduate and veteran faculty member of DTS, provides a necessary corrective to such a simplistic assessment. Using the tenures of the school’s five presidents as the backbone for his narrative, John D. Hannah reveals the tensions that DTS has experienced in its eighty-plus years of existence.Each successive president of DTS brought his own unique style and perceptions to the school, even as he dealt with the changing religious and cultural milieu that swirled around it. Hannah argues that, rather than being a monolithic institution, Dallas Theological Seminary is a unique blend of differing heritages and of opposing traditions, a place that defies easy categorization.A keenly insightful and thoughtful work, An Uncommon Union illuminates the path charted by the leaders of a prominent American seminary in a rapidly changing world. All readers interested in the history and future of evangelicalism, regardless of their theological persuasion, will benefit from this book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310303022
Publisher:	Zondervan Academic
Publication date:	10/24/2009
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dr. John D. Hannah (ThD, PhD) is distinguished professor of historical theology at Dallas Theological Seminary and research professor of theological studies. He has received numerous awards and has written several books, including The Glory of God Alone, The Kregel Pictorial Guide to Church History, and Our Legacy: A History of Christian Doctrine.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 9

Introduction: A Seminary, a Century, and American Scholarship 11

Chapter 1 The World Begins to Spin: The Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century 27

Chapter 2 The Making of a Dream: The Early of Lewis Sperry Chafer 47

Chapter 3 The Founding of the Seminary: The Chafer Presidency (1924-1952) 75

Chapter 4 The Stabilization of the Seminary: The Walvoord Presidency (1952-1986) 135

Chapter 5 The Emergence of the Seminary into Mainstream Evangelicalism: The Campbell Presidency (1986-1994) 185

Chapter 6 The Restabilization of the Seminary in Mainstream Evangelicalism: The Swindoll Presidency (1994-2001) 227

Chapter 7 A School Poised for a New Century: The Bailey Presidency (2001-) 257

Conclusion: The World Is Still Spinning: The Seminary and Personal Reflections 283

Appendix: 1924 and 1952 Doctrinal Statements 299

Notes 317

Bibliography 375

Index 387