BIBLIOTHECA SACRA: A HISTORY WITH DTS

From the early years of Dallas Theological Seminary, and long before “distance education” became a trend, the school’s leaders have found ways to engage with people beyond the classrooms on campus. Lewis Sperry Chafer’s ministry before founding DTS included work at the New  York School of the Bible, which distributed a popular Bible correspondence course. Chafer also traveled extensively as a speaker at Bible conferences throughout the US. Built into the fabric of DTS, then, was a vision to reach people everywhere with the gospel. An important partnership for biblical and theological engagement began in 1934, when DTS took on publication of Bibliotheca Sacra.

 The oldest theological journal published in the US, Bibliotheca Sacra has traveled through many homes on its way to DTS. It started in 1843 at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Three issues later, the publication’s home moved to Andover Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. In 1884, the journal traveled once more, this time to Oberlin College in Ohio—coincidentally, the same school which Chafer attended from 1889 to 1892. In 1922, Xenia Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, purchased the journal. But when Xenia merged with Pittsburgh  Theological Seminary, which already published its own theological journal, Bibliotheca Sacra needed a new home yet again. Thus, in 1934 it moved to Dallas, and DTS has published Bibliotheca Sacra ever since.

 At the seminary, the journal’s first editor was Chafer’s brother, Rollin, followed by Chafer himself, John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck, Larry J. Waters, and, from 2018 to the present, Glenn R. Kreider. An editorial committee of DTS faculty members evaluates articles and renders decisions about publication. Each issue of Bibliotheca Sacra features peer-reviewed articles on biblical, theological, and historical topics, along with reviews of recent books. Though authors are not required to affirm the doctrinal statement of DTS, they do model orthodox Christian convictions and a respect for the inspired Word of God and “the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3).

Over the years, Bibliotheca Sacra has cultivated a community of enthusiastic readers, eager for each new issue. Bradford Garrigues Sr. (MABS, 1987), for example, a pastor in North Carolina, is one of few individuals to have a complete set of all the journal’s issues on his bookshelf. “I think BibSac is precious to alumni for three reasons,” Garrigues says. “First, it stands for the biblical truths that DTS was founded upon. Second, it links us to the gifted Bible teachers who started at DTS and those who taught us. Third, it is a regular reminder of how the Lord worked in so many of our lives to provide us with resources for ministry.”

As DTS celebrates its centennial and looks forward to the next century of equipping God’s people and serving the church worldwide, Bibliotheca Sacra will continue to encourage the seminary’s faculty, students, alumni, and other constituents with resources for ministry and ongoing learning.

About the Contributors

Glenn R. Kreider

Prior to teaching at DTS, Dr. Kreider served as Director of Christian Education and then as Senior Pastor in Cedar Hill, TX. His research and writing interests include Jonathan Edwards, theological method, theology and popular culture, and our eschatological hope. Dr. Kreider believes that grace really is amazing; it is a thought that will change the world. He is married to his best friend, Janice, and they have two grown children and one granddaughter, Marlo Grace. He and Janice enjoy live music, good stories, bold coffee, and spending time together and with their rescue dogs—a terrier/greyhound mix named Chloe and a black lab named Carlile.