The only true spirituality is one that centers on Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life, Donald Whitney said last week on Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ radio program, “Revive Our Hearts.”

Whitney, who serves as senior associate dean of the School of Theology and associate professor of biblical spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, joined Erwin Lutzer, senior pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, on DeMoss’ program May 1 and May 2 as part of her “Learn to Discern” series.

Whitney and Lutzer examined Oprah Winfrey’s embrace of New Age philosopher Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, providing a biblical critique of the best-seller’s philosophy.

Asked to distinguish between the spirituality of Tolle and Winfrey and biblical spirituality, Whitney said the Christian spirituality is Trinitarian in nature and is shaped by Scripture.

“I assume by spirituality what a lot of people mean is a more inward kind of [focus with] principles and not so much external and materialistic motivations and so forth,” he said. “Spirituality in the Bible is the pursuit of God and the things of God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit in accordance with God’s self-revelation — that is, the Bible.”

Lutzer said Tolle’s prescription for peace is to walk away from one’s past memories, hurts and pains -- which he calls one’s ego -- and embrace the present.

“In his book, Tolle indicates that he was about to commit suicide. Once he (Tolle) was able to leave the ‘ego’ behind and go into a new state of consciousness of awareness, suddenly in that new zone, so to speak, he found peace,” Lutzer said.

“He found a sense of rest. He discovered that if you live moment-by-moment in that particular state of consciousness, always being aware of this other dimension, it is then that peace could be attained.

“So in the book he encourages other people to do the same thing with the hope that they will be changed and eventually the whole world will be.”

Whitney said Tolle’s message appeals to people because everyone faces hurt and loss, and wants to experience something that transcends such realities.

“People are looking for something that will give them hope. They are looking to deal with some of the pain in their lives,” Whitney said. “Being made in the image of God, we all have this inward sense we’re made for something better, bigger, greater than the world we live in now — the fallen world with all of its problems.

“So here comes someone who says, ‘Here’s something that will be an antidote or a balm to the hurts of your life. Here’s something that will give you a sense of transcendence beyond the mundane.’ Those things are beating in the heart of everyone. Especially if it’s on a program as popular as the Oprah Winfrey show.”

Whitney said Christians should respond to such aberrant teaching with the only message that brings lasting peace, the Gospel.

“Charles Spurgeon, that great British Baptist preacher of the 1800s, one time said, ‘I’d rather speak with someone who believes something, and who talks about spiritual things to some degree, even if they’re wrong, than someone who never thinks about anything,’” Whitney said.

Winfrey is in the midst of a 10-week online course that centers on Tolle’s book. DeMoss played audio clips where the acclaimed talk show host said she is a “free-thinking Christian” who doesn’t believe Christianity is the only way to God with six billion people on the planet.

In his book, Tolle twists Jesus’s statement in John 14:6 that He is the only way to the Father and applies them to all mankind, Whitney notes.

“Tolle says that (each) person is god,” Whitney said. “He says on page 71, ‘Yes, you are the Truth. If you look for it elsewhere, you will be deceived every time. The very being that you are is truth. Jesus tried to convey this when He said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life,’ and these words, if understood correctly, speak of every person.

Whitney noted that the resurrection of Jesus sets Him apart as the only one who can claim to be the way to the Father.

“Jesus said He was the only way, and He rose from the dead,” Whitney said. “Any of us could claim to be the way to God. Any of us could claim to be God Himself, but Jesus verified His claims by doing something no one else has ever done, will ever do, could do. He rose from the dead, and that’s what gives validity to His claim.

“This is a great open door for the Gospel, where we can talk about spiritual things, and where the name of Jesus is part of the conversation. It will take no more grace for God to open the eyes of an Eckhart Tolle, or anyone else in this world, than it took for Don Whitney, and it will be the same message. It will be the Gospel that God will use to open the eyes of people.”

To listen to either of the radio programs that addressed this topic, visit www.reviveourhearts.com.

The kingdom of God is one of the central themes of the New Testament, yet its meaning has been the subject of no small disagreement in the history of the church.

Essayists in the new edition of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology examine the Kingdom of God in significant detail, unpacking the subject as it relates to hermeneutics, the New Testament Gospels, the writings of Paul and the church.

Contributors include Southern Seminary scholars Peter J. Gentry Jonathan T. Pennington, Brian Vickers, Russell D. Moore and Robert E. Sagers, as well as noted scholar and author Graeme Goldsworthy.

In his opening editorial, journal editor Stephen J. Wellum defines the Kingdom of God in terms of God’s kingly rule and His saving reign.

“It does not primarily refer to a certain geographical location,” Wellum writes. “Rather the phrase tells us more about God (the fact that he reigns) than anything else. Also, it must be noted that the New Testament understanding of the kingdom is firmly rooted in Old Testament teaching and expectation.

“Scripture begins with the declaration that God, as Creator, is the sovereign ruler of the universe. In this important sense, the entire universe is God’s kingdom. In fact, in creating human beings as his image bearers, God gives us rule over his creation, under his authority, to display the glory of the king.”

Gentry, who serves as professor of Old Testament, looks at “Kingdom Through Covenant: Humanity as the Divine Image.” Gentry examines Gen. 1:26-28 and gives attention to its cultural and linguistic setting, arguing that the text, along with Gen. 2:8-17, explains the relationship between “likeness” and “image” in the covenant relationship between man and God. The proper understanding of the kingship of God has important implications for Christian living, he asserts.

“Only when the father-son relationship is nurtured through worship, fellowship, and obedient love will humankind appropriately and properly reflect and represent to the world the kind of kingship and rule intrinsic to God himself,” Gentry writes.

Pennington, who serves as assistant professor of New Testament, analyzes the Kingdom of Heaven in the Gospel of Matthew. The Kingdom of Heaven is one of the main themes of the first New Testament Gospel and is synonymous with the Kingdom of God, Pennington asserts. But there are some important differences in the two terms, he writes.

“While the expression ‘kingdom of heaven’ denotes the same thing as the ‘kingdom of God,’ it connotes many other things,” he writes.

“Particularly, we sense that God’s (heavenly) ordering of life and society is radically different than the ways of sinful earth. Now that the new creation or new genesis (see Matt 19:28) has dawned through Jesus Christ, those who follow Jesus must align themselves with this coming radical heavenly kingdom. And was we do so, we stand to inherit the greatest reward, God’s presence through Christ.”

Vickers, who serves as assistant professor of New Testament interpretation, looks at the Kingdom of God in Paul’s writings, arguing that the apostle’s conception of the Kingdom is built upon God’s redeeming work in the cross of Christ.

“Without suggesting another ‘center’ of Paul’s theology, it is safe to say that the reality of the reigning Christ is a key component of Paul’s theology,” Vickers writes. “Paul’s soteriology and his concept of the kingdom are inseparable.”

Moore, who serves as dean of the School of Theology and senior vice president for academic administration, contributes an essay on the kingdom and the church which was co-authored by Sagers, a Ph.D. student at Southern. Sagers also serves as special assistant to Moore.

Moore and Sagers argue that the Kingdom of God is a unifying theme of Scripture and that the present vehicle of the spread of that Kingdom is the church.

“Jesus told his disciples to `seek first the kingdom of God” (Matt 6:33),’ they conclude.

“He also told them that the keys to that Kingdom were with the church he was building (Matt 16:18-19). The evangelical turn to the Kingdom is a turn toward the Bible itself, a turn indeed toward Jesus. A true evangelical commitment to the Kingdom of God as the unifying theme of Scripture will mean giving attention to the present vehicle of the Kingdom, the church.”

This issue also includes an essay by Goldsworthy on the Kingdom of God as a hermeneutic grid and another by Todd Miles assessing the Kingdom ethics of the emerging church. Miles is a graduate of Southern Seminary who serves as assistant professor of theology and hermeneutics at Western Seminary in Portland, Ore. The journal concludes with the SBJT Forum and a number of book reviews.

To subscribe to the journal or for more information, please call 502-897-4413 or write journaloffice@sbts.edu.

RICHMOND, Va.--In an effort to get solid theological training to grass-roots leaders and strengthen ties between the International Mission Board and overseas Baptist seminaries, the IMB has appointed a consultant for global theological education.

Chuck Lawless, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., will offer theological guidance to IMB personnel and Baptist partners serving throughout the world.

Lawless begins his new role June 1. He will continue serving full-time in as dean of the Billy Graham School. As a consultant, Lawless will travel overseas about four times a year to meet with missionaries, local believers and seminaries. He also will teach short-term courses at overseas seminaries and during missionary orientation at the International Learning Center in Rockville, Va.

“My first hope is just to learn what the IMB is already doing and to come alongside the efforts that are already taking place and strengthen what’s there,” Lawless said.

“I will help them look at what’s working, what’s not working and at how it can be strengthened. We want to help produce churches [overseas] that are grounded in the Word and theologically strong, and they can reach out beyond themselves and reach others.”

IMB President Jerry Rankin said Lawless’ role is not a unique partnership between the IMB and Southern Seminary, but a way to connect overseas mission opportunities with Baptist seminaries and partners here in the States as well. Lawless will represent the IMB as a liaison to all six SBC seminaries in encouraging their partnership and involvement with overseas seminaries.

“I am excited about the momentum of a Great Commission resurgence in our convention that would see stateside churches and denominational entities claiming more ownership of our mission task and becoming more strategically involved around the world,” Rankin said.

“Over the years, we have seen the cutting-edge task of theological education training is not in these Western institutional models of theological education,” he said, “but in decentralized theological education for grass-roots leaders in the growing church-planting movements around the world.”

The IMB partners with about 140 residential Bible schools and seminaries around the world, which enroll a total of 22,000 students each year. An additional 200,000 students are being trained in non-residential programs of decentralized theological education.

Ron Wilson, IMB associate vice president of leadership and ministries development, sees the new role as a strategic way to locate areas that need theological training and to build relationships.

“I see this role as a great connecting role, connecting with U.S. seminaries to be involved with overseas seminaries and all of it together,” Wilson said.

“It’s a key time ... to impact the Kingdom.”
--30--
Reported by Garrett E. Wishall and Shawn Hendricks, writers, respectively, for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the International Mission Board.

For the third time, Peter Gentry, professor of Old Testament interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has received a Lilly Theological Research Grant.

The grant, administered by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and funded by the Lilly Foundation, is awarded after a team of scholars evaluates applicants’ research proposals. ATS is the main accrediting agency for theological schools in North America.

Gentry plans to use the $12,000 award to fund research in Germany during a sabbatical from January through June 2009. The research will allow Gentry to finish a critical edition of the Greek text of Ecclesiastes for the Goettingen Septuagint Series.

The Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Old Testament, which was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic. Biblical scholars regard the Septuagint as important because some of the earliest texts of the Old Testament were written in Greek and because the New Testament writers quote from the Septuagint frequently.

“I am full of gratitude to God for providing funds necessary to complete my research and therefore fulfill my calling and ministry to give the church a better text of Ecclesiastes,” Gentry said. “The honor belongs to God.”

“The Lilly Grant is a prestigious award given to those of the highest level of scholarship,” said Russell Moore, dean of the School of Theology and senior vice president for academic administration. “The School of Theology is proud to have Dr. Gentry as a member of its faculty and we congratulate him in this most distinguished honor.”

Previously Gentry received a $5,000 Lilly Theological Research Grant in 2002-2003 and a $10,000 grant in 2005-2006.

Gentry said receiving this latest grant will give him opportunities to show others what Christian scholarship should look like.

“Recipients of the grant must attend a conference in Pittsburgh,” he said. “This is a great opportunity to demonstrate before others who come from other institutions accredited by ATS what Christian scholarship entails. I have also had many opportunities to lecture in Germany as a result of these grants.”

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will celebrate its 150th anniversary with an array of events, opportunities for learning and updates for the seminary’s historic Louisville campus.

During its annual spring meeting, April 22, Southern Seminary’s board of trustees approved a $6 million project that will bring major new facilities to the campus over the next year. The project includes four major components:

· A 14,000 square-foot pavilion that will be built adjacent to Norton Hall and the Honeycutt Center facing Lexington Road. The exterior of the pavilion will feature a covered canopy and a dome atop the roof. Inside, the center will include a welcome desk, a small theater with a looping video and offices for the admissions department. Campus security offices will be located on the lower level.

· Development of the main campus entrance off Lexington Road that will include a gate house, tower and retaining walls. The gate house and tower will serve as the main entry point to Southern’s campus.

· A major expansion of Founders’ Café. Currently a small dining area, the café will expand at its current location to two stories, tripling its size.

· A new student, alumni and faculty area that will be named “Edgars” in honor of Edgar Young Mullins, Southern’s fourth president.

· New and improved signage and wayfinding across campus.

“We wanted to do something very special in the anticipation of the seminary’s 150th anniversary,” said Southern Seminary president R. Albert Mohler Jr.

“What we have done is to realize that we want to meet the needs of the current student body and the visitors that come to campus and also to project into the future because one of the issues we now face is the challenge of arranging people on this campus in a way that is comfortable and natural and makes the kind of statement we want to make.”

Southern Seminary opened in 1859 in Greenville, S.C. and moved to Louisville in 1877. Southern will celebrate its sesquicentennial anniversary with a full array of programs and events in 2009, Mohler said. The Southern Baptist Convention will hold its annual meeting in Louisville in June of 2009 to mark the seminary’s beginning.

“The 150th anniversary is not just an opportunity for the profile of the institution, it’s not just a birthday party, it is an opportunity for this organization to reclaim a tradition for a new generation,” Mohler said.

“It is interesting how many people in the last few years have, in their own way, come home [to Southern]. We look up and we see people on this campus who are drawn here because of the experience they had on this campus and because they want to be back and we want to welcome them back. We want them to understand what God is doing in this place and to rejoice in it.”

Groundbreaking will begin in mid-May with a target date for completion set at April 2.

Mohler also announced a new partnership between the School of Leadership and Church Ministry and FamilyLife Ministries of Little Rock, Ark. Southern and FamilyLife will team up to assist local pastors and students in conducting biblically-faithful family ministry in local churches. Two FamilyLife staff members have moved to Louisville to work directly with the School of Leadership and Church Ministry.

“FamilyLife is deeply concerned about how they are reaching pastors,” said Randy Stinson, dean of the School
of Leadership and Church Ministry.

“What they have realized is that they need a deeper partnership with what is going on in the local church. It makes sense for them to partner with us so that we can help them with what we are seeing, and they can help us in how we are training pastors to reach families...Ultimately, it will serve the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention for us to be able to change our curriculum as needed and to have the insight of other organizations that have spent a lot of time thinking about these things.”

In other business, trustees:

· Adopted a budget of $36.3 million for the upcoming fiscal year.

· Granted tenure to Gregg R. Allison, who serves as associate professor of Christian Theology.

· Promoted Eric Johnson to professor of pastoral theology, J.D. Payne to associate professor of church planting and evangelism and Brian Vickers to associate professor of New Testament interpretation.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Pope Benedict XVI should be admired for his level of conviction but not for the particulars of his theological views, R. Albert Mohler Jr. wrote April 15 in an online dialogue about faith sponsored by The Washington Post and Newsweek magazine.

Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, is one of more than 60 panelists who post responses on the Internet to religious questions posed at least once a week. The forum, known as On Faith, is hosted by Newsweek managing editor Jon Meacham and Washington Post writer Sally Quinn.

Pope Benedict is visiting the United States this week for the first time since his election as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church three years ago.

Though many in the secular media expressed outrage when the pope declared the Roman Catholic Church to be the only true church, Mohler said Benedict’s statements were not unexpected and even reflect his concern for the souls of non-Catholics.

“The secular press and a good many non-Catholic church leaders expressed outrage and offense at the Pope’s comments—assuming that such teachings were simply out of place in the modern world,” Mohler wrote. “But Benedict was restating the tradition and teachings of his church—and he did so because he cared for those he believes are outside the blessings of grace he is certain are given to those in the communion of his church—and to that communion alone.”

Mohler even expressed appreciation that the pope would care about Protestants like himself.

“I actually appreciated the Pope’s concern,” he wrote. “If he is right, we are endangering our souls and the souls of our church members. Yet, I am convinced that he is not right—not right on the papacy, not right on the sacraments, not right on the priesthood, not right on the Gospel, not right in understanding the church.”

Mohler cited the Pope’s statements at in a 2006 speech at Regensburg, Germany, and at his baptism of a prominent Muslim convert this past Easter as examples of Benedict’s strong advocacy of Roman Catholic doctrine.

“His statements about the address and the baptism—and the general question of Islam—were perfectly in keeping with Catholic doctrine since Vatican II,” he said. “Evangelicals can admire his boldness without appreciating his inclusivism.”

Before being elected Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was a staunch defender of the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, and it should not surprise anyone that he has continued along the same theological trajectory since his election as pontiff, Mohler said.

Still, Mohler said Protestants should appreciate the fact that Benedict stands for some theological absolutes in a world that often capitulates to secularism and postmodernism.

“The Roman Catholic Church believes that evangelicals are in spiritual danger for obstinately and disobediently excluding ourselves from submission to its universal claims and its papacy,” he wrote. “Evangelicals are concerned that Catholics are in spiritual danger for their submission to these very claims. We both understand what is at stake.

“The divide between evangelical Christians and the Roman Catholic Church remains—as this Pope well understands. And, in so many ways, this is a Pope we can understand. In this strange world, that is no small achievement.”

Mohler’s entire article is available at http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/

Confidence in the steadfast love of God enables Christians to worship amid suffering through lament that turns to praise, noted Christian music artist Michael Card during lectures at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, April 1.

Card delivered two lectures through Southern’s Institute for Christian Worship and performed a concert as the featured artist at Southern’s annual Gheens Banquet.
During his lecture titled “The Lost Language of Lament,” Card noted that honestly lamenting before the Lord allows us to walk in fellowship with Him.

“We should be totally honest in prayer,” he said. “One of the things we will learn as we look through laments is what we ask for in prayer is almost never what we need. We often don’t ask for what we really need in prayer, and God often shows us what we really need, part of which is to experience His presence.”

An accomplished songwriter and author, Card has been the recipient of five Dove Awards, including songwriter of the year and song of the year for “El Shaddai” in 1983. Card also hosts a radio program, “In the Studio with Michael Card,” that features music, commentary and guest interviews.

Card earned awards for his books “Scribbling in the Sand” (IVP 2002) and “A Sacred Sorrow” (NavPress 2005). His albums include “The Hidden Face of God,” “The Final Word” and “Known by the Scars.” In 1997, Card was honored as a distinguished alumnus of Western Kentucky University.

During his lecture on lament, Card read an article about Vincent Van Gogh, the renowned Impressionist painter who committed suicide in the late 1800s.

“He wrote of a guilty desire to learn to suffer without complaint,” Card said. “His final self-portraits lend credence to this suppression. Vincent’s eyes in such portraits reveal a silent, simmering confusion. Perhaps suffering without complaint, keeping the tears of his emotional pain under control was simply another one of those things Vincent was forever working on.”

Many people believe there will never be another painter like Van Gogh, Card noted, however, there are a countless number of people who are like him emotionally.

“If their (such people) portraits could be painted they too would reveal eyes that were incapable of weeping their own tears,” said Card, reading the article. “The most we could hope to see spattered across a thousand canvases are expressions of a hollow happiness, a self-manufactured stoicism, a simpering ‘I’m okay,’ ‘you’re okay.’”

Van Gogh’s brother reported the artist’s last words to be “the sadness will last forever,” Card said, adding that the discipline of lament was missing from the great artist’s life as it is missing from the lives of many today.

“I have to come believe and trust and hope that tears of lament are the missing door, the way into an experience with God, with a God whose depth of compassion we could never have imagined,” Card said.

Card spoke of the nature of hesed, a Hebrew word most commonly translated as steadfast love, mercy or loving-kindness. Card called hesed “the defining characteristic of God” and defined it as “the person from whom I have a right to expect nothing giving me everything.” This characteristic of God gives the different psalmists in Scripture confidence to approach the Lord with laments, he said.

Card defined lament as the biblical invitation to come to God with our confusion, sorrow, anger and hatred and offer them up as an act of worship. Such emotions often arise when people see wicked people prospering while God’s people suffer, Card said.

“Good people are being punished? And bad people are prospering? And you are a God of hesed? This confusion needs to be offered up as an act of worship,” Card said.

“We have a problem. This is where a lot of the world is struggling. ‘The problem of evil,’ they call it. Most of the time, God does not answer people’s questions. People don’t get answers, but they get the presence of God and that is what they need.”

Reflection on the Lord’s undeserved kindness enables the psalmists to turn their laments into praise even in dire circumstances, Card pointed out.

“If God defines Himself by hesed then why does (SBTS professor) Chip [Stam] get cancer? Why do my 18-year-old nephew and my best friend die of cancer at age 62?” he said. “If God is hesed, then I have a real problem. We have to work something out. This is where laments come from.

“This is the problem, but it is also the solution. What tends to happen in the Psalms is that the lamenter will lament, lament, lament and then the lament will turn to praise. It is all worship, both the lament and the praise. Frequently, the lamenter remembers that hesed is God’s defining characteristic and everything becomes praise.”
Card’s lectures are available here in audio format.

Beginning this semester approximately 25 students are gathering once a month at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to relate Christian theology to artistic expressions of various forms.

The group, known as Imago Dei, is the seminary’s new student art organization and meets on the last Friday of each month.

The idea for a student art organization began among members of Southern’s student council. As the idea developed, Steve Halla, assistant professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Theology and the Arts, became the group’s faculty advisor.

Halla said Imago Dei has a threefold mission and works along with the Center for Theology and the Arts to incorporate the arts into the life of the church.

“The organization,” Halla said, “has three main objectives: to work alongside the Center for Theology and the Arts to provide volunteer help for events and functions sponsored by the center; to create opportunities for students to utilize and express their artistic skills and talents; and to bring in art-related speakers and organize forums to discuss topics related to Christianity and the arts.”

Founded in 2006, the Center for Theology and the Arts studies the interaction between Christian theology and the various arts. Its goal is to help Christians to develop a biblical understanding of such issues as aesthetics, artistic expression and appreciation.

Imago Dei’s name originated with Logan Mauldin, a master of divinity student from Williston, Fla., and current student leader of the organization.

“By choosing Imago Dei, Logan wanted to communicate the idea that part of being made in God’s image and likeness includes possessing a God-given creativity,” Halla said.

Though relating art to theology may seem unnatural to some, Halla said the two have a long history together and both fit into Southern’s mission.

“The organization complements the purpose of the seminary by serving as an offshoot of the Center for Theology and the Arts,” he said. “Historically, the arts have always played an important role in the church. It is my hope that through this organization, students will be encouraged and inspired to think of new and creative ways to incorporate the use of the arts into the life, worship and ministry of the local church.”

Imago Dei’s next meeting will occur April 25, when Timothy Paul Jones, professor of Christian education and leadership at Southern, will discuss “Beauty, Glory and Awe in Star Wars.”

For further information on Imago Dei, contact Halla at shalla@sbts.edu or 502-897-4370.

Some 200 students at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary got a taste of what life is like in institutions where the notion of a Creator is openly scorned Tuesday during a free preview of Ben Stein’s new movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.”

Running nearly 100 minutes, “Expelled” documents the stranglehold that Darwinian evolution holds on contemporary science, particularly as it exists within major research universities.

Stein, the documentary’s author and on-screen host, shows the way in which even the slightest departure from the Darwinian party line in favor of alternate theories of human origins such as Intelligent Design often brings swift academic and personal discredit upon the scientist proposing an alternative view.

Throughout the film Stein interviews several biologists who were fired from academic positions for proposing a possibility of intelligent design in human origins. He also interviews noted evolutionists such as William Provine and Richard Dawkins who mock Intelligent Design and Creationism. The film is set to open in more than 1,000 theatres nationwide on April 18, including Louisville.

Southern students and faculty members were impressed with the movie’s production quality as well as its potential for seriously protesting the enfranchisement of Darwinian naturalism within modern science.

James Parker, professor of worldview and culture at Southern Seminary, described the film as hard-hitting in its exposure of academic elitism and as pleasing in its overall production quality.

“Frankly, I thought I would be bored stiff watching a 100-minute documentary and I couldn’t imagine anyone watching a 100-minute documentary in a theatre,” Parker said.

“But the movie holds your attention to the very end. One of the great strengths was the candid interviews it had with many atheists. For example, William Provine went down the list of implications of atheism...His candidness was shocking and appalling in one sense, but in another sense, it was great because it gave you a feeling for the implications of atheism...The movie also made a great appeal for academic freedom.”

Callie Nolen, a MATS student from Mt. Juliet, Tenn., said “Expelled” challenged her to a deeper study of the Christian worldview and its chief competitor, Darwinian naturalism.

“This film deeply moved me,” Nolen said. “The global implications of the Darwinist worldview presented in the movie shocked me regarding its gross devaluing of human life and confronted the subtle prejudices of my own heart. I came away challenged to study in more arenas of science and to add my voice to those challenging the Darwinist grip on science academia.”

David Schrock, a master of divinity student from Mendon, Mich., said the film clearly demonstrates the worldview thinking present within the enterprise of science, a reality that makes science an important venue for Christian influence.

“Ironically, Stein points out that science is as much a worldview-shaping belief system as any major religion, Christianity or otherwise,” Schrock said.

“Stein not only exposes the academic elitism of the modern academy and their slanted unwillingness to admit theories that propose design, no matter how anonymous the designer may be. He also extends the argument to include the social and political ramifications that this kind of worldview fosters and has historically created.”

Courtney Tarter, a M.Div. student from Minneapolis, Minn., said the movie helped her to understand more clearly the arguments made by evolutionists and reminded her of the importance of being able to engage cultural issues biblically.

“My initial impression of the movie was sadness, especially when I heard Richard Dawkins talk about the ignorance of those who believe in intelligent design and Christianity,” Tarter said. “It made me realize that the god of this world really has blinded the minds of people to think that God is only for the ignorant. It gave me a greater desire to see people come to Christ and to know the God who created them.

“I thought that it was a very engaging movie, which I think will draw people in regardless of their belief on creation. It, also made me realize that, as Christians, it is so important for us to know the arguments, to engage with those opposed to us, but most importantly to know and believe our Bibles.”

Parker does not expect the movie to exercise a deep impact upon the elite scientists who safeguard the Darwinian franchise, but hopes it will sound an alarm to the culture at large as to the closed-mindedness of the scientific establishment.

“It’s not going to affect the Richard Dawkins’ and the William Provines,’” Parker said, “But I think it will help inform the culture at large as to what is going on. That could have a trickle-down effect in applying corporate public pressure to open up the universities to be more open-minded about other approaches. Only time will tell.”

For additional information on “Expelled,” see the movie website.

Major General Douglas Carver, Chief of Chaplains for the United States Army, challenged students to faithfully pray for America’s service members and passionately serve the Lord in all circumstances at a chapel service March 25 at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Carver said if God matters to a person it should show through passionate pray, praise and service.

“Does God matter to you? If He matters to us we need to always recommit ourselves to be passionate for Him in the good times and bad,” he said. “All of the seasons of our life are in His hands. We must praise Him with a pure and holy heart. We must love Him intently, with our mind, body, spirit, soul and strength. And may we never forget to pray for others.

“Let’s continue to pray for our brave men and women in uniform. They faithfully protect and defend the freedom of our great nation, standing watch 24/7.”

Carver was appointed the Army’s 22nd Chief of Chaplains on July 12, 2007. A native of Rome, Ga., Carver earned a master of divinity from Southern Seminary, bachelor of arts in religious studies from the University of Tennessee and a master of science in strategic studies from the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Seminary, welcomed Carver back to the seminary and thanked him for his faithful ministry of the Gospel.

“I am very glad to welcome General Carver to Southern Seminary this morning with the words ‘welcome home,’” he said. “He represents thousands of military chaplains serving around the world. With so much on our minds and hearts, with so many hundreds of thousands of United States military personnel serving all over the world, with millions of men and women in uniform ... what a debt we owe General Carver [and other military chaplains] as he represents today those who serve on that mission field.”

In June 1973, Carver was recognized as a distinguished military graduate and appointed as a regular Army officer in the field artillery branch of the United States Army. After serving on active duty for six years, he resigned his commission to enter the ministry. He was subsequently commissioned as an Army chaplain in June 1984. An ordained Southern Baptist minister, Carver has pastored churches in Kentucky, Colorado and Virginia.

Carver’s military awards include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal and Ranger Tab. He received the Clyde T. Francisco Preaching Award in 1982 from Southern. In 1995, he received the Witherspoon Chaplain’s Award from the Layman’s National Bible
Association for outstanding service rendered by a military chaplain in the promotion of Bible reading and study among military families.

Carver noted that he was in the Middle East five years ago at the commencement of the war in Iraq. The United States recently lost its 4,000th service member in the war, and Carver said he is often asked about the morale of troops serving in the conflict overseas.

“Having made frequent trips to Afghanistan and Iraq, I can honestly make this simple statement: God matters to our service members,” he said. “God matters so much to soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and coastguardsmen.
They are not shy about their faith. They are not afraid or prevented from praying in Jesus’ name or the name of their particular choice. They are not bashful about their faith.”

Mohler prayed for chaplains, military servicemen and servicewomen and the families of military personnel, and noted that each of the 4,000 service members who have died in the war willingly sacrificed their lives.

“This past Sunday (March 23) marked the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq and the 4,000th casualty was recently reported,” he said. “I was very frustrated that on the television news programs all day Sunday it (the war) was instantly turned into a political question and I wondered when someone was going to stop and say ‘those are 4,000 human beings made in the image of God who gave their lives willingly.’ It seems incomprehensible that something like this could happen without a nation saying ‘thank you,’ especially to the families and loved ones of those who have fallen in battle.

“One of my humble reflections this morning is that I have never been in a bunker. And I realized this morning how many thousands of our fellow citizens -- brothers and sisters and fathers and cousins -- are facing thing we never have to face. I’m sure no words can fully express [what they are going through].”

Carver said when we pray to God and praise Him in every circumstance and situation it changes us.

“It is kind of sad and pathetic that we wait until those ‘concrete bunker moments’ to cry out to God,” he said. “The Lord would want us to have that same sort of passion all the time.”