Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary is an

independent Baptist Independent Baptist churches (some also called Independent Fundamental Baptist or IFB) are Christian congregations, generally holding to conservative (primarily fundamentalist) Baptist beliefs. Although some Independent Baptist churches refuse af ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

Allen Park, Michigan Allen Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 28,638. Ford Motor Company is an integral part of the community. Many of the company's offices and facilities lie within the city limit ...

, operated in association with the Inter-City Baptist Church in Allen Park. The institution, which was established in 1976, enrolls men for graduate programs in preaching and pastoral

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, leading to the Master of Divinity (M.Div) and Master of Theology (Th.M.) degrees.

History

The school was opened in September 1976 as Detroit Baptist Divinity School, with an initial enrollment of 30 students. In 1979 the institution applied to the

Michigan Department of Education The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is a state agency of Michigan, in the United States. The MDE oversees public school districts in the state. The department is governed by the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education was fi ...

for legal authorization to grant the M.Div and Th.M. degrees. The authorization was granted in March 1980 following state evaluation. The institution then changed its name to Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary and began awarding degrees in 1980. The institution's founder, Dr. William R. Rice, served as its head until his retirement in 1989, when he was succeeded by Dr. David M. Doran.

Affiliations and approvals

DBTS does not claim affiliation with any

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

organization. The Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth lists DBTS in its directory of institutions of

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...

operating in accordance with applicable state laws and conducting programs leading to a degree.

Maranatha Baptist University Maranatha Baptist University is a private Baptist university in Watertown, Wisconsin. History The institution was founded in 1968 as Maranatha Baptist Bible College by B. Myron Cedarholm. The college was named for the Aramaic phrase '' Maran ...

identifies DBTS as one of the two "recognized Baptist seminaries" (the other is Central Baptist Theological Seminary in

Plymouth, Minnesota Plymouth is a city in Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. A suburb in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the city is about west of downtown Minneapolis.The population was 81,026 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota' ...

, and

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

) whose graduates will be considered for faculty positions even though the institutions are not accredited by an accreditation organization belonging to the

Council on Higher Education Accreditation The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for academic quality through accreditation in order ...

Religious doctrine and educational philosophy

DBTS describes itself as "unashamedly

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

," holding to a dispensational approach to the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

and thus

premillennial Premillennialism, in Christian eschatology, is the belief that Jesus will physically return to the Earth (the Second Coming) before the Millennium, a literal thousand-year golden age of peace. Premillennialism is based upon a literal interpretat ...

and pretribulational in

eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that nega ...

. Additionally, it "is biblicist in theology and stands opposed to and engages in refutation of the charismatic movement, Arminianism, and hyper-

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

." The institution treats the original manuscripts of the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, a position that places it in opposition to the King-James-Only Movement. King-James-Only adherents have criticized DBTS (together with

Bob Jones University , motto_lang = Latin , mottoeng = We seek, we trust , top_free_label = , top_free = , type = Private university , established = , closed = , f ...

and other institutions, including Central Baptist Theological Seminary) for playing an influential role in convincing some Independent Baptist groups to adopt modern Bible translations. The

Institute for Creation Research The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is a Creationist apologetics institute in Dallas, Texas, that specializes in media promotion of pseudoscientific creation science and interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative as a historical ev ...

lists DBTS as a "

creationist Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 'th ...

college" that subscribes to the position that "God created all life forms according to the literal interpretation of the Biblical record (six-day creation, recent global flood)."

Program

The DBTS program emphasizes

expository preaching Expository preaching, also known as expositional preaching, is a form of preaching that details the meaning of a particular text or passage of Scripture. It explains what the Bible means by what it says. Exegesis is technical and grammatical expo ...

based on study of the Bible in the original languages. Accordingly, all degree candidates study

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

in addition to

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...

, Bible exposition, expository preaching,

church history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...

history, pastoral theology, and church administration. Classes are conducted in a traditional on- campus setting; no classes are available by

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

. All students are encouraged to engage in a weekly ministry in a local church."Creed" on DBTS website (accessed October 13, 2007) In keeping with the belief that "God ordained men to provide the spiritual leadership of the church in the preaching/pastoral function," the seminary does not award degrees to women, but does enroll women interested in taking courses for personal enrichment or vocational development. Also, DBTS Seminary Wives' Institute offers the wives of current or former DBTS students a two-year series of weekly instructional sessions so they can ably assist their husbands in ministry

Faculty

According to DBTS, all nine members of the faculty hold earned

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

s. Dr. David M. Doran, a graduate of

Bob Jones University , motto_lang = Latin , mottoeng = We seek, we trust , top_free_label = , top_free = , type = Private university , established = , closed = , f ...

FBF, BJU and the NASV
by Stephen Ross, October 2001, published on ''Wholesome Words'' website (accessed October 13, 2007) who also holds two

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s from Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary and a D.Min. degree from

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) is an academic divinity school founded in 1897 and located in the northern Chicago suburb of Deerfield, Illinois. It is part of and located on the main campus of Trinity International University. It� ...

, is pastor of the Inter-City Baptist Church and president of Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary. Benjamin Edwards is the Dean.

Rolland D. McCune Rolland D. McCune (June 3, 1934 – June 17, 2019) was an American theologian and ordained Baptist minister (First Baptist Church of Warsaw, Indiana). He was professor of Systematic Theology at the Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary in Allen Par ...

was formerly professor of

systematic theology Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topic ...

and president of DBTS.

Library

The DBTS

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

collection consists primarily of works relating to biblical interpretation and exegesis, theology, church history, and practical theology, including more than 40,000 monographs, reference works, dissertations, and bound volumes of

periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also example ...

s. As of 2007, the library was stated to have subscriptions to about 270 print periodicals and about 100

electronic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

Publications and outreach

Since 1996 the seminary has published the ''Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal'', presenting scholarly articles based on biblical truths. The journal is issued annually. The complete electronic text of the journal was selected for inclusion in '' The Theological Journal Library'', published on CD-ROM by Galaxie Software. DBTS also hosts the annual Mid-America Conference on Preaching and the annual William R. Rice Lecture Series, which features presentations on current issues in Christianity. DBTS also is credited as the developer of a widely disseminated

tract Tract may refer to: Geography and real estate * Housing tract, an area of land that is subdivided into smaller individual lots * Land lot or tract, a section of land * Census tract, a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census ...

entitled ''The Bridge to Eternal Life''.

Alumni

Graduates and former students of DBTS are well represented in the ministry and as faculty members of

bible college A Bible college, sometimes referred to as a Bible institute or theological institute, is an evangelical Christian or Restoration Movement Christian institution of higher education which prepares students for Christian ministry with theological ed ...

s and

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

. Alumni include: * Daniel K. Davey, President and Professor of Practical Theology, Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Virginia Beach, and Senior Pastor, Colonial Baptist Church,

* Stephen Davey, Founder and Senior Pastor, The Shepherd's Church, and President of Shepherds Theological Seminary,

Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest mun ...

* David M. Doran, President and Professor of Pastoral Theology, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, and Senior Pastor, Inter-City Baptist Church "Dr. David Dora

DBTS website (accessed December 7, 2007)

References

External links

* {{authority control Universities and colleges in Wayne County, Michigan Seminaries and theological colleges in Michigan Baptist Christianity in Michigan Independent Baptist seminaries and theological colleges in the United States Educational institutions established in 1976 Unaccredited Christian universities and colleges in the United States 1976 establishments in Michigan