Southern Baptist higher education is rooted in South Carolina. It found its soul here as well. It began deep in the 18th century — in 1755, when Oliver Hart led the Charleston Baptist Association to take up a collection of 155 pounds, in order to “defray the cost of expenses of needy young men while they studied under the direction of some older and more cultured ministers.” Hart’s Religious Education Fund led to greater endeavors.
The desire for Christian education led South Carolina Baptists to establish the Furman Academy and Theological Institution in 1826. The work of establishing a school for theological training was difficult — the school changed locations four times, until it finally settled in Greenville in 1851 and secured a charter from the state legislature. The roots were strong, and the establishment of the institution grew secure, but soon a battle for the soul of the school would take place.
One of the faculty members during the transition to Greenville was James S. Mims, “professor of exegesis, systematic theology, and ecclesiastical history.” Mims was a native of North Carolina, and had studied at Furman and graduated from Newton Theological Institute in Boston. Elected a professor in 1842, soon Mims rejected doctrines that Baptists held dear.
Mims strongly opposed the traditional view of Imputation that was widely accepted by most Southern Baptists. Imputation is crediting something to another’s account. Scripture teaches three acts of imputation that include: Adam’s guilt is imputed to all humanity, our sin is imputed to Christ on the cross, and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to all who believe. Furman’s trustees asked Mims to explain his views. He answered by publishing an essay titled “Orthodoxy,” in which he denied the doctrine of imputation altogether.
James P. Boyce was the young pastor of First Baptist Church of Columbia and editor of the only Southern Baptist paper in South Carolina. Boyce encouraged respectful discussion of the Bible’s meaning, and the controversy grew heavy. Boyce praised two “long and elaborate” articles published in his paper that defended the traditional view and demonstrated Mims’ error. Mims convinced few of his orthodoxy.
Furman trustees took no action against Mims. The reason was that the school had not adopted a confession of faith to hold professors accountable to the faith of the Bible. W.B. Johnson, chairman of the trustees, believed that there was no need for a confession to fence in the professors, but most Baptists in the state disagreed. At the 1849 South Carolina Baptist Convention annual meeting, A.M. Poindexter asked the convention to speak on this issue. The convention openly disagreed with Johnson and stated that the school was free to adopt a confession. Furman did not, and Mims kept his position and his views.
When, just a few years later, Mims passed away at the early age of 38, the trustees elect as a successor the young editor from Columbia, James P. Boyce. Furman had dwindled down to only four students in the theology department, apparently because of Mims’ teachings. Boyce analyzed the situation and composed one of the most important statements in the history of Christian education. In his faculty address of 1856, titled “Three Changes in Christian Education,” Boyce called for Christian higher education to commit to a confession of faith that would be agreed upon by the trustees of the school and express the orthodox faith of Baptist churches.
This confessional foundation would help to guide the professors and keep the school accountable to the Bible and the churches. It would establish trust for the constituents of the convention that the institution was faithful to the Word of God.
When Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was founded in Greenville, S.C., in 1859, it was founded upon the “Abstract of Principles,” a confession that has held the school accountable since its inception. It established a strong precedent. All seminaries within our convention are committed and accountable to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. Through Boyce’s leadership, our seminaries became accountable to the Bible and faithful to the convention. The soul of our institutions was preserved.