Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 02:1 (Spring 2020)
Article: Jason K. Allen On The Importance Of Confessional Theological Education
Author: Jason K. Allen

Eikon 2.1 (Spring 2020) p. 102

Jason K. Allen On The Importance Of Confessional Theological Education

Jason K. Allen

Jonathan Swan is Book Review Editor for Eikon.

Dr. Jason K. Allen is President of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Southern Baptist seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. He is also a council member of CBMW. In the following interview, I asked Dr. Allen to articulate his vision for confessional education, as well as his rationale for adopting CBMW’s Danvers and Nashville Statements at Midwestern.

Jonthan Swan: Since your election as President of MBTS you have added multiple confessional statements as conditions of employment. In addition to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, which was in place when you arrived at MBTS, you have added the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy and the Danvers and Nashville Statements of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. What do you believe is the purpose of such confessional statements in a seminary and university setting? And what role do they play at MBTS?

JKA: There are many different ways to evaluate a theological institution, and accrediting agencies do. Institutions are classified by such metrics as size and enrollment, the strength of the endowment, faculty-to-student ratio, demographic make-up of the student body, and a host of other factors. But

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in the final analysis, the most important classification of all is whether or not the institution is a confessional institution.

By confessional, I do not mean an historic document on the books that does not enjoy present enforcement at the institution. By confessional, I mean an institution that clearly sets forth its beliefs, clearly requires its instructional staff to abide by those beliefs, and signals to all onlookers where the institution stands on essential doctrinal and cultural matters.

As for Midwestern Seminary, in recent years, I’ve led us to adopt the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and the Nashville Statement on Biblical Sexuality. These, of course, are in addition to the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

For Midwestern Seminary, the adoption of these statements was not to move us in a more conservative direction, but to acknowledge and to codify the convictions that we already held. What is more, as it relates to the Nashville Statement, it is acknowledging that our cultural moment is changing rapidly, and we must speak to these changes with biblical conviction and, just as important, clarity.

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JS: Most evangelical Christians understand t...