# Northern Seminary



## Stephen L Smith (Jan 25, 2013)

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this seminary (sometimes called Northern Baptist seminary). Wondering how evangelical it is?


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## matt01 (Jan 25, 2013)

Stephen L Smith said:


> Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this seminary...



I thought this was interesting...



> Did you know that the first student to enroll at Northern Seminary was a woman? Amy Lee Stockton enrolled in 1913, graduated and went on to become one of the nation's leading evangelists--reaching thousands for Christ. Today, that tradition continues in the hundreds of women that have attended and graduated from Northern and lead ministries in growing and vibrant churches.


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## Gforce9 (Jan 25, 2013)

If this is the place in Downers Grove, Illinois, it is liberal. There was one article that came from Robert Webber that was pretty good, though.


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## DMcFadden (Jan 25, 2013)

Historically, Northern, located in Lombard not Downers Grove, was one of the more conservative of the mainline American Baptist schools (most of which are VERY liberal). Back in the day, Carl F.H. Henry and Daniel P. Fuller received degrees from them. Two of the former presidents of the school were friends of mine (one lived until his death in the retirement community I lead; one was a friend from my denominational work days). I also know some of the more recent trustees. A former president and I even explored (briefly) the possibilities of a joint venture for ministry to seniors on their large campus.

I would put them on the left end of the evangelical spectrum (with an emphasis on "left" not on "evangelical"). The president who served in the early years of the last decade worked very hard to move it in a more evangelical direction. He fought with faculty (one of them threatened to take him to court for challenging non-evangelical teachings in the classroom) and he finally gave up, going back to the pastorate in a different denomination. 

in my opinion (and it is mostly an impression with little firsthand acquaintance in the past couple of years), their most conservative faculty would be strongly egalitarian, non-cessationist, and would reject inerrancy. Webber was an odd duck at the school, difficult to classify, but he attracted people interested in worship. Now that he is dead, I'm not sure what the culture on campus is like.


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## Gforce9 (Jan 25, 2013)

DMcFadden said:


> Historically, Northern, located in Lombard not Downers Grove, was one of the more conservative of the mainline American Baptist schools (most of which are VERY liberal). Back in the day, Carl F.H. Henry and Daniel P. Fuller received degrees from them. Two of the former presidents of the school were friends of mine (one lived until his death in the retirement community I lead; one was a friend from my denominational work days). I also know some of the more recent trustees. A former president and I even explored (briefly) the possibilities of a joint venture for ministry to seniors on their large campus.
> 
> I would put them on the left end of the evangelical spectrum (with an emphasis on "left" not on "evangelical"). The president who served in the early years of the last decade worked very hard to move it in a more evangelical direction. He fought with faculty (one of them threatened to take him to court for challenging non-evangelical teachings in the classroom) and he finally gave up, going back to the pastorate in a different denomination.
> 
> in my opinion (and it is mostly an impression with little firsthand acquaintance in the past couple of years), their most conservative faculty would be strongly egalitarian, non-cessationist, and would reject inerrancy. Webber was an odd duck at the school, difficult to classify, but he attracted people interested in worship. Now that he is dead, I'm not sure what the culture on campus is like.



Great summary, Dennis! I wasn't sure if the north side of Butterfield road at that point was Downers or Lombard....the lines are all wacky over there.... I have a friend who works for IVP publishing two towns over there for an event or two each year and he always has good critique of the theology presented.


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## Stephen L Smith (Jan 25, 2013)

DMcFadden said:


> I would put them on the left end of the evangelical spectrum (with an emphasis on "left" not on "evangelical"). The president who served in the early years of the last decade worked very hard to move it in a more evangelical direction. He fought with faculty (one of them threatened to take him to court for challenging non-evangelical teachings in the classroom) and he finally gave up, going back to the pastorate in a different denomination.



Dennis, this has been most helpful, thank you. The reason I posted this is that I have a brother who recently graduated from there. I have noticed his leanings have got more liberal but I have not been sure quite how to pin point this. He now *strongly* dislikes John MacArthur (previously he liked his teaching), believes in the "holistic" gospel and talks about how evil Calvin was for "murdering" people (he seems unable to understand theological or historical contexts). If you have more specific insights on how I could profitably dialogue with him this would be appreciated.

Would Northern have links with the liberal emerging church?


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## DMcFadden (Jan 25, 2013)

Stephen,

I would guess that pretty much all left of center "cutting edge" formerly evangelical seminaries flirt with the emerging church. My alma mater in Pasadena regularly hosts or promotes (with excitement) McLaren, Pagitt, Jones, etc. When Bell's book denying hell came out, the president of my alma mater in Pasadena praised the book thusly:


> I told the USA TODAY reporter that Rob Bell’s newly released Love Wins is a fine book and that I basically agree with his theology. I knew that the book was being widely criticized for having crossed the theological bridge from evangelical orthodoxy into universalism. Not true, I told the reporter. Rob Bell is calling us away from a stingy orthodoxy to a generous orthodoxy.



As to the jargon, ABC seminaries have pretty much "owned" the buzz word "holistic" to describe their view of evangelism for decades. Technically, it means that the Gospel mandate includes both the Great Commission AND the Great Commandment. It was originally a corrective to shallow methods of evangelism and culturally insensitive foreign missions approaches. However, in the hands of the apparatchiks in the denom headquarters and some of the more progressive missionaries, it means that it is OK to drop the evangelism and church planting entirely as long as you are engaged in "speaking truth to power" (e.g., taking controversial progressive political positions at shareholder's meetings; devoting oneself to being a community organizer; marching in favor of late term abortions; promoting LGBT causes). I'm not sure what nuance they give to "holistic" at Northern.

As to the Calvin slam, it is probably no more than progressive mainliners engaging in a little strawman building due to the popularity of Calvinist soteriology among some of the younger set. Profs who did their work on various specialty theologies (womynist theology, black theology, liberation theology, etc.) would have an easier time dismissing Calvin with a slander than dealing with his views in a substantive manner.

Northern would probably consider itself an evangelical seminary (compared to the REALLY radical stuff at places like Colgate-Rochester!). After all, they do have noted evangelical NT scholar Scott McKnight (albeit a pretty emergent friendly guy) and several people with at least one degree from Wheaton. However, it is all about context. What are you comparing Northern with, Westminster or Harvard? Compared to the first it would be liberal; compared to the second it would be conservative.


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