Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary Creed - Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary

Dear friend:

The faculty of Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary share common biblical convictions. We know what we believe! By God’s grace, we want to pass along a distinct theological heritage to the next generation of ministry leaders.

Further, we recognize that seminary students must develop their own convictions through the diligent study of the Scriptures.

Toward that end, we educate our students within the following framework:

As a historic fundamental seminary, we maintain theological boundaries. We exist to train men who are committed to the fundamentals of the Faith. The DBTS Seminary Creed articulates theological convictions that have historically identified biblical Christianity. While pursuing and maintaining rigorous academic standards, we reject the spirit of the modern academy that often forsakes or minimizes theological pre-commitments under the guise of scholarship. Our Seminary Creed also establishes the circle within which theological enquiry at DBTS may take place.
As a Baptist seminary, our primary mission is to train men of Baptist convictions. The Seminary Creed reflects our Baptist convictions about believer’s baptism and the authority of Scripture in the organization of the local assembly. Our focus is the local church – the center of God’s activity in this dispensation. In fact, DBTS exists as the ministry of Inter-City Baptist Church. That unique relationship has always guided our mission: to serve local churches by shaping faithful men for the gospel ministry through the Word of God entrusted to us. We are committed to perpetuating a clear theological heritage and partnering with local churches to prepare men for Great Commission ministry.
As a separatist seminary, we are committed to the clear biblical principles governing the ways in which believers and churches should respond to Apostasy, Compromise with apostasy, God’s call to reflect His holiness in the midst of a wicked world.

The Seminary Creed expresses core convictions of biblically based orthodoxy. Since these convictions are essential to a faithful, obedient ministry, they also form an essential component of our educational mission.

Therefore, our enrollment policy is that new applicants must indicate full support with the Seminary creed. Once enrolled, this agreement must be indicated each semester.

We believe that this policy carefully balances our commitment to our theological and ministerial heritage with our desire to provide an environment within which serious-minded seminary students may form and sharpen their biblical convictions.

For the sake of His name,

dave-doran-sig

David M. Doran
President

DBTS Seminary Creed

1. We believe that the one true God exists eternally in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who are equal in essence, yet distinct in personality (Deut 6:4; Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14).

2. We believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word, without error as originally written, and the final authority for our faith and practice (2 Tim 3:16–17; John 17:17).

3. We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who added a fully human nature to his divine nature thus becoming the God–man, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross as the substitute for sinners, paying the penalty of God’s wrath against sin, rose from the dead, and will come again to establish his kingdom (John 1:1, 14; Heb 4:15; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; 1 Thess 1:10; Rev 11:15).

4. We believe that God created man in His own image by a direct act on the sixth day of the creation week (Gen 1:26–31). We believe that man deliberately disobeyed the expressed will of God and therefore fell under God’s condemnation and the power of sin (Rom 5:12; 6:20). We believe that the resulting effect of sin on man touches his entire being, leaving him completely unable to earn God’s favor or contribute to his own salvation (Eph 2:1–10; Titus 3:5).

5. We believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (Eph 2:8–9; Rom 3:21–25; 4:5). We believe that justification is by faith, apart from works, and results in a guilty sinner being declared righteous by God because the righteousness of Jesus Christ is credited to his account (Rom 4:4–5; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 2:16).

6. We believe in a final resurrection of both the saved and lost, one to life eternal and the other to eternal condemnation (John 5:29; Rev 20:6, 13–15).

7. We believe that the local church is currently the center of God’s activity in this world, being composed of believers who have been immersed in water as a testimony of their faith in Jesus Christ, and being organized according to the principles of God’s Word in order to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ (1 Tim 3:15; Acts 2:41; Matt 28:18–20).

8. We believe that believers and churches must separate from those who deny essential doctrines of the faith (Jude 3; 2 John 9–11; Rom 16:17); that believers and churches must separate from those who compromise the faith by granting Christian recognition and fellowship to those who have denied essential doctrines of the faith (Rom 16:17; Phil 3:17–19; cf. 2 Thess 3:6–15); and that believers and churches must strive to reflect God’s holiness and to live differently than those who have not experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:15–16; Eph 4:17–19).