Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 21:1 (Spring 2024)
Article: Editorial Introduction
Author: Thomas G. Doughty, Jr.

Editorial Introduction

Thomas G. Doughty Jr.

Tommy Doughty serves as assistant professor of theology and worldview; associate dean of Leavell College; director of the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry; and editor of the Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

After a year of planning, I am thrilled to release this Spring’s issue of JBTM in honor of the Defend Conference and the leadership of Dr. Robert Stewart. As a student, scholar, and minister, Defend has benefited me personally for an entire decade by providing an incubator for apologetic considerations within the Christian worldview. This unique laboratory for college and seminary students offers interaction with leading voices in apologetics and related fields. Defend would not be possible without the vision, responsibility, and relationships of Bob Stewart. His commitment to equipping Christians of all sorts with the knowledge and passion necessary to defend the faith has surely laid a foundation of wisdom for generations of believers through the experiences of many year-in and year-out.

Since 2009, Defend has met on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, with the exception of the COVID-canceled year of 2021. In its initial year, Dr. Stewart, Rhyne Putman, Mike Edens, and others also hosted a Defend on the road at NOBTS’s North Georgia extension. In January 2024, Defend thus celebrated its fifteenth iteration in New Orleans and sixteenth overall. The result is that thousands of students and church leaders have reaped the benefits of a myriad of plenary and breakout sessions. Experiencing steady growth in attendees and school-affiliated groups each year, Defend has grown from just over 130 registered in 2009 to 467 participants in 2024. God’s faithfulness to this endeavor can be seen in the massive expansion of interest beyond NOBTS students to college groups and even to the general public, including attendees from states well outside the southeast.

JBTM 21:1 (Spring 2024) 2

Along with the conference’s schedule comprised of plenary talks, breakout sessions, meals on campus, late night trivia, book signings, and dinner on the town with speakers [in New Orleans, this is a special treat], NOBTS and Leavell College students are able to take courses for credit. Almost every year, Christian Apologetics, Christian Ethics, and Problem of Evil are offered, but many other electives cycle through also: Historical Jesus, Apologetic Method, Christianity and the Sciences, Destiny of the Unevangelized, Theology of C. S. Lewis, Cult Theology, Pulpit Apologetics, and more. Courses overlap with featured topical sessions and guest instructors, including world-class speakers such as Gary Haberm...