STATEMENT FROM THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY, SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
(ADOPTED APRIL 12, 1994)

In their letter to pastors, SWBTS trustee officers implied that President Dilday holds liberal views of Scripture and uses “higher criticism” in destructive ways. Both charges are false. We respond not just to defend Dr. Dilday, but also to defend valid methods of Bible study among Southern Baptists.

In The Doctrine of Biblical Authority, published by Convention Press in 1982 and widely used for doctrinal study in Southern Baptist churches, Dilday strongly affirms traditional, conservative Southern Baptist views of the Scriptures. No careful reader should miss his repeated statements about his firm confidence in the full truth, inspiration, and authority of the Bible.

The book opens with Dilday’s saying, “My own conviction is an unapologetic and unconditional commitment to biblical authority” (p. 10) and closes with an appeal to obey the teaching of the Bible (pp. 129-30).

Nothing in this book raises any question about the author’s conservative views of the Scriptures. It is not true that Dr. Dilday is “dedicated to berate, misrepresent, and assail those who hold the Bible to be God’s inerrant, infallible and authoritative word.” In fact, he has repeatedly urged us to avoid such practices. We are dismayed and offended by misrepresentations, distortions, and the use of guilt by association in the letter from the trustee officers.

We believe fully that “the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man” (SBC, Statement of Baptist Faith and Message, 1963). Because the Bible is the inspired record of God’s self-revelation we affirm its authority. Inspired by God, the Bible was written by men and is a historical and literary document. Christians must remain free to use in a reverent way literary and historical tools of Bible study to understand what God is saying to us through the biblical authors.

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