The Best-Kept Secret: Thirty Years of Loving God With Our Minds
By W. Jackson Watts
This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of what may be the least known annual denominational event: the Theological Symposium. What began as an experiment has become a fixture on the calendar for the Commission for Theological Integrity, and the site of some of the most important presentations and discussions among Free Will Baptists. How did this happen, and why does it matter?
The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Free Will Baptists
Free Will Baptists have sometimes endured a fraught relationship with education and scholarship. The 1911 merger with Northern Baptists profoundly shaped that relationship. The liberalization of institutions lingered with simmering effect for generations on the remaining churches. That we founded an institution like Free Will Baptist Bible College (FWBBC) in 1942 seems miraculous. Nevertheless, suspicions toward higher education, academics, and, in some cases, “book-learning,” remained in certain areas of the denomination.
The formation of the Commission on Theological Liberalism in 1959 demonstrates the uneasy relationship between our denomination and ideas. On the one hand, some leaders valued loving God with our minds. Such love demands taking ideas seriously. On the other hand, the liberalization of mainline denominations proved that fondness for ideas and education can easily erode faithful doctrinal foundations. Free Will Baptists were on high alert. They were determined to resist the two extremes: yielding to the spirit of the age in the form of “intellectual respectability” and theological error, while also not abandoning the discipleship of their minds and the discipline of learning.
Around the same time the Commission formed, some encouraging signs demonstrated that some of our evangelical brethren were successfully navigating the extremes. People like Carl F. H. Henry, Harold John Ockenga, and Billy Graham made a tactical decision to promote Christian higher education. This led to the development of many well-trained, scholarly, thoughtful pastors, missionaries, professors, and authors. Free Will Baptists lagged, but some were committed to catching up.
A New Perspective
One organization pivotal in this “catching up period” was the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). Founded in 1949, ETS is a professional society of scholars, teachers, pastors, and students committed to the exchange and publication of theological thought and research. While ETS only has two official theological commitments — the Trinity and inerrancy — its members tend to be more conservative.
Robert Picirilli and Leroy Forlines were active in ETS for many decades, particularly the Southern Region (now two regions). People gathered on various campuses to share papers, hold discussions, and sometimes collaborate on research. Eventually, Forlines felt this serious, theological exercise was one the Commission could emulate.
In fall 1996, a momentous event transpired when the first Free Will Baptist Theological Symposium was held on the old Welch College campus. Thirteen papers were read, covering a range of substantive topics. The event was successful, and plans were made for it to be held at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College (now Randall University) the following year.
One commissioner fondly recalls the energy surrounding the new Symposium: “Those were heady days. Mr. Forlines’ dream was to promote Free Will Baptist theology and provide a means by which to mentor younger, theologically-minded pastors and lay leaders so that the intellectual level of the Free Will Baptist church might be improved.”
Pivot to the Mind
The diversity of presenters grew, as did the topics. Pastors, professors, students, and others participated. Treatments of Calvinism, evangelism, Hell, postmodernism, numerous Bible passages, and the church fathers populated subsequent programs. While paper quality varied, conversation was stimulated, and people were encouraged to dig deeper.
One former pastor-professor commissioner aptly noted, “You can’t help but get stirred up to scholarship when you’re exposed to scholarship.” He added, “Preachers are dealing with eternal souls, advising people and so forth, and so we best have our ducks in a row. [Thoughtful people and their work] motivated me to pursue the academic aspects inherent to Bible study, sermon prep, and so forth.”
One might say the Symposium has been a platform or clearing house for prospective scholars. A long-time presenter observed, “It has encouraged more careful research and the writing that represents that research.” Some presenters simply had an idea they pursued and wanted to share with others, without further academic or vocational plans.
Others were engaged in training, whether for the pastorate, the academy, or both. Whatever the case, the Symposium provided an opportunity to share and refine their thinking through fielding questions and suggestions. Even the water cooler conversations between presentations have often been as constructive as the Q&A time.
The Impact
Approximately one hundred presenters have given roughly three hundred presentations over three decades. Many presenters have eventually excelled in higher education. Some papers formed the basis of theses or dissertations. Some have become articles or even books. Last year, Jonathan Edwards: A Reformed Arminian Engagement was published by a major evangelical printhouse. It originated as a set of Symposium papers. Many of longtime Chairman Leroy Forlines’ Symposium papers formed the basis of Secularism and the American Republic and The Quest for Truth.
Current Commission Chairman Kevin Hester captures the Symposium’s impact in both a big-picture and personal way:
The biggest benefit of the symposium in my mind is to provide our pastors and leaders with engagement in a wide variety of theological work and theological thinking. It helps to keep us all informed. It also provides a wonderful opportunity for young, blooming scholars to receive input on their scholarship and to see Free Will Baptist scholarship modeled before them. I personally benefited greatly from this as a young Ph.D. student. It provided a way for me to maintain my theological and historical connections with Free Will Baptists and Free Will Baptist thinking when studying at a Presbyterian seminary and later a Roman Catholic graduate school.
Many attendees mention Leroy Forlines, Robert Picirilli, and Matt Pinson as being among their favorite presenters. However, each program typically features at least one-first time presenter, often a graduate student discerning their way vocationally and academically. Thus, the Symposium is for newcomers and veterans alike. The diversity of past presenters is striking. The names include our curriculum writers, missionaries, professors, authors, pastors, and more.
Why It Still Matters
It’s difficult for younger Free Will Baptists to understand the unique educational environment of 2025. One former commissioner recalls that higher education — certainly beyond Bible College — wasn’t encouraged when he was coming of age. While more and more of our college graduates pursue graduate degrees in Bible, Theology, or Ministry, this is a relatively new development.
Another former commissioner captures the change well: “So-called scholarship was not exactly as valued as maybe winning souls, so you were always dealing with that….There was a lack of understanding of how the integration of that into the local church could make a difference.”
During public remarks last fall, Dr. Robert E. Picirilli echoed that sentiment. He said we desperately need pastors, youth pastors, music ministers, and more. But, he said, “We need a few scholars, too.”
Ultimately, all believers should love God with their minds. Pastors and teachers will likely require more rigorous training for increasingly complex times. We must learn to grow. We can learn without growing, but we surely cannot grow without learning. One commissioner recalls hearing, “The eggheads are meeting,” with reference to the Symposium. This will not do. It grossly misunderstands the discipleship of the mind.
Recall the refrain of Jesus to the apostles: Be wise as serpents, harmless as doves; love the Lord your God with your whole self, including your mind; guard the deposit of truth entrusted to you. Admonitions like these populate the New Testament. We need the Symposium and related learning opportunities to maintain doctrinal integrity and clarity.
A former commissioner illustrates this. He said when he introduces newcomers to his church, he explains we are a theologically conservative denomination. He then mused, “Without the Commission, I don’t know if I would have been able to say that in the last 35 years.”
Perhaps he exaggerates. It’s a relief we didn’t have to find out.
In possibly the most memorable Symposium presentation, Dr. Picirilli touched on this concern. In “A Plea for Scholarship” (2002), he identified reasons Free Will Baptists hadn’t produced
any true scholars. He cautioned against being reactionary against academic and scholarly learning: “I am well aware that education and learning of the wrong kind are dangerous. But I also know that ignorance is at least as dangerous.” Moreover, he laments one reason we have lost some of our youth to other movements: we haven’t fostered a climate or context to nurture or reward intellectual pursuits. His is a sobering claim to ponder.
Past programs include the atonement, worship, Arminius, ancient Near Eastern thought, ministry changes, gender, and more. But when the Symposium convenes this October, new presentations will inform, stimulate, and challenge. I can’t wait to see what and who God will use to make us wiser in our service to His people.
About the Writer: W. Jackson Watts (Ph.D., Concordia Seminary) is the pastor of Grace FWB Church in Arnold, Missouri. He serves the denomination at several levels and has served on the Theological Commission for 12 years. He and his family live in Pevely, Missouri. Follow his writing at www.churchatopia.com.
