Compromise on Seminary Hiring OKd

Trustees of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary have approved new faculty hiring guidelines that were worked out in a compromise with faculty after adoption of a more restrictive employment policy last fall.

At their September, 1990, meeting, the trustees voted to use criteria established in a 1986 report of the Southern Baptist Peace Committee as conditions for the hiring, promotion or granting of tenure to members of the faculty. Among other things, that document prescribed belief in the Bible as “true without any mixture of errors,” including acceptance of Adam and Eve as actual persons, biblical miracles as supernatural events and scriptural accounts as historically accurate.

The faculty voted unanimously to ask the trustees to rescind their action, saying that it misused the Peace Committee report and introduced “ambiguity and confusion” into the seminary’s instructional process. The Assn. of Theological Schools said it would send a team to visit the campus this spring to investigate the effect of recent trustee actions on the seminary.

Seven faculty members and seven trustees then worked out a compromise that was adopted by the faculty March 28. The new agreement was approved by the trustees this week by a 49-7 vote.

Under the new policy, the seminary will seek “balanced representation” on the faculty through “intentional employment of conservative evangelical scholars for future openings.” It said this will remain an employment guideline until trustees, administration and faculty determine that the seminary has achieved faculty balance.