Southwestern Baptist Seminary

The Southewestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS)

Former names	Theological Department of Baylor University (1901-1905), Baylor Theological Seminary (1905-1908)
Motto	Preach the Word Reach the World
Type	Department (1901-1908) Private (1908-Present)
Established	1908 (chartered)
Affiliation	Southern Baptist
Academic affiliation	ATS SACS SBC BGCT (until 1925)
President	D. Jeffrey Bingham (Interim)
Provost	Craig Blaising
Academic staff	119
Postgraduates	2,590
Location	Waco, TX (until 1910) Fort Worth, TX
Campus	Suburban
Affiliations	The College at Southwestern
Website	www.swbts.edu

The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a private, non-profit institution of higher education associated with the Southern Baptist Convention; the seminary was established in 1908, and is located in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of the largest seminaries in the world and is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada and also by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award diploma, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. The school uses the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) as its confessional statement (see the Southwestern Declaration on Academic and Theological Integrity) Its stand on inerrancy and gender is as stated in the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which states that science cannot override scriptural statements on creation and the flood, and the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

SWBTS grew out of the Baylor University theological department, which was established in 1901. By 1905, B. H. Carroll had managed to convert the department of five professors into the Baylor Theological Seminary, but still under Baylor University. In 1907, while Baylor University President Samuel Palmer Brooks was on vacation in Europe, B.H. Carroll, then chairman of the Baylor Board of Trustees, made a motion that the department of religion be separated from the University and chartered as a separate entity. The seminary was established in 1908, with Carroll as its founding president.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary received its charter on 14 March 1908, but remained on Baylor's Waco campus until the summer of 1910, when the board accepted an offer made by Fort Worth citizens for a campus site and enough funds to build the first building. The 200-acre (0.81 km²) campus was located on what came to be known as "Seminary Hill," the highest natural elevation in Tarrant County. The first building was named "Fort Worth Hall" in honor of the seminary's new location. In 1925, the Baptist General Convention of Texas passed control to the Southern Baptist Convention.