David S. Dockery & American Evangelicalism
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 68, No. 2 - Spring 2026
Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
1976 marked three important events in the history of “American Evangelicalism.” First, evangelicalism came to the attention of the American public with a splash. Time, Christianity Today, and The Christian Century—each popular magazine catering to very different audiences—celebrated the importance of the evangelical movement. Jimmy Carter, a self-professed evangelical, had just been elected president of the United States of America. And through its scientific polling, Gallup had just discovered that 34 percent of Americans were properly identifiable as evangelical. Fifty years ago, evangelicalism emerged from relative obscurity to become the nation’s most prominent theological movement.
In a second important event that same year, The Battle for the Bible by Harold Lindsell was published by Zondervan. The author, a founding member of the faculty at Fuller Theological Seminary, felt compelled to address debates occurring at that evangelical institution. Lindsell’s book not only gained Fuller’s attention; it also tapped into a widespread desire among many evangelicals to help their theological schools preserve a high view of Scripture. In a way, the book exceeded its name. The shots fired in the “battle” for Fuller were echoed by running battles in several denominations, including the Southern Baptist Convention. These battles together point to the existence of a broader “war” that would define the bulk of the evangelical movement as inerrantist.
Third, David S. Dockery enrolled in 1976 as a seminary student with a deep hunger to know God’s Word, to form orthodox theology, and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Having read several of Francis Schaeffer’s books and J. I. Packer’s Knowing God, he developed a conviction to dive into the biblical languages. Dockery went on to earn master’s degrees from three separate institutions. He then completed a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Texas system while teaching theology and New Testament at Criswell College. Soon after, Dockery began demonstrating the theologically wise and personally winsome leadership which made him a highly respected evangelical. He served theological institutions from Louisville to Jackson to Chicago before returning to his beloved alma mater in Fort Worth, where he is now the tenth president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is dedicated to an important emphasis in the life and thought of Dockery and in the identity of this institution. I have entitled the issue, “David S. Dockery and American Evangelicalism,” in emulation of his appreciative way of marking some important contributions by our common mentor, James Leo Garrett Jr. In the Fall of 2022, at a critical moment for our seminary, Dockery as the editor of this journal gathered several essays under the title, “James Leo Garrett Jr. and the Southwestern Theological Tradition.” That issue defined a trajectory for theological recovery in our school and denomination. Long before 2022, however, Dockery built on Garrett’s legacy by repeatedly demonstrating why Southern Baptists must be classified as evangelicals. For more on the theological and institutional importance of Dockery, I commend the essays written by Garrett himself in Convictional Civility and Baptist Theology.1
While all the articles in this issue address American Evangelicalism, four were delivered at the International Alliance for Christian Education (IACE) Annual Conference which met in Fort Worth in January 2026. These four lectures were written by Gregg R. Allison, Nathan A. Finn, Robert B. Sloan, and Malcolm B. Yarnell III on behalf of the new Southwestern Center for Global Evangelical Theology.
This issue begins with a preparatory yet pointed historical–theological essay that echoes a similarly titled essay written by Dockery. “Evangelicalism: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” rehearses some of the same material as Dockery’s “Evangelicalism: Past, Present, and Future,” but breaks new ground by exposing several significant theological shifts. These troubling trends developed in the nineteenth century and have reached epidemic proportions today. Next, Allison, who teaches at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, reviews the history of the evangelical view of Scripture. Of interest to some will be the chart that Bob Yarborough collated to document the important work of the Evangelical Theological Society recurring sessions dedicated to the doctrine of Holy Scripture.
Next, Jeffrey Bingham, a treasured colleague and research professor at Southwestern Seminary, discloses how the early church father, Irenaeus, can help evangelicals learn to honor and interpret Scripture in the proper manner. Bingham’s inspiring essay, “Evangelicals, Irenaeus, and the Bible,” is a must read for any evangelical interested in the intersection of hermeneutics and orthodox Christianity, which should include every evangelical in every theological discipline. Allen Bramlett then takes us closer in time to our day with his review of B. H. Carroll’s pneumatology. The pastor of Trinity Hills Baptist Church in Benbrook, Texas, finds that the first president of Southwestern Seminary and leading Texas Baptist must be classified evangelical according to David Bebbington’s famous quadrilateral.
In the fifth article of this issue, Finn, a professor at North Greenville University and longtime friend of Dockery, reminds us of how Carl F. H. Henry insured American Evangelical identity would be intertwined with a robust doctrine of biblical inerrancy. Afterward, Blake McKinney of Texas Baptist College rehearses the history of Dockery’s efforts to help Southern Baptists realize they are truly evangelical. Finally, Sloan, president of Houston Christian University, offers eleven theses to help Christian schools remain firmly evangelical. We hope you as a reader are blessed by each essay and by the book reviews which follow.
- James Leo Garrett Jr., “David Samuel Dockery: Evangelical Baptist and the Doctrine of the Bible,” in Convictional Civility: Engaging the Culture in the 21st Century: Essays in Honor of David S. Dockery, ed. C. Ben Mitchell, Carla D. Sanderson, and Gregory Alan Thornbury (B&H Publishing, 2015), 3–10; James Leo Garrett Jr., Baptist Theology: A Four-Century Study (Mercer University Press, 2009), 704–10. ↩︎
