About Dallas Seminary

Mission Statement

The mission of Dallas Theological Seminary as a professional, graduate-level institution is to glorify God by equipping godly servant-leaders for the proclamation of His Word and the building up of the body of Christ worldwide.

Doctrinal Statement

While our faculty and board annually affirm their agreement with the full doctrinal statement, students need only agree with these seven essentials:

  • the Trinity
  • the full deity and humanity of Christ
  • the spiritual lostness of the human race
  • the substitutionary atonement and bodily resurrection of Christ
  • salvation by faith alone in Christ alone
  • the physical return of Christ
  • the authority and inerrancy of Scripture.

History of Dallas Seminary

In the fall of 1924 the first student body of Dallas Theological Seminary met to study under the noted Bible teacher, Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer. This class of thirteen students was the result of Dr. Chafer’s burden and vision to found a seminary that would emphasize expository preaching and teaching of the Scriptures.

In 1935 the Seminary pioneered the four-year Master of Theology (Th.M.) degree, which is a year longer than the three-year Master of Divinity (M.Div.) offered at most other seminaries. The Th.M. gives all the essential theological courses offered in a three-year curriculum with additional emphasis in systematic theology, Hebrew and Old Testament exegesis, Greek and New Testament exegesis, and Bible exposition.

In 1974 the Seminary instituted the two-year Master of Arts (M.A.) program in Biblical Studies for students whose ministries would not require the in-depth language training of the Th.M. program. The Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree was begun in 1980 to provide further pastoral training for seminary graduates to meet the changing demands of ministry. In 1982 the Seminary began the M.A. in Christian Education so students could receive specialized training for Christian ministries. In 1987 the M.A. program in Cross-cultural Ministries was inaugurated to give specialized missions training. In 1993 the Seminary launched a three-year M.A. in Biblical Counseling and a two-year M.A. in Biblical Exegesis and Linguistics. The latter program is offered jointly with the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics located in south Dallas.

Outstanding leadership and scholarly expertise have characterized the Seminary’s presidents: Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer (1924–52), Dr. John F. Walvoord (1952–86), Dr. Donald K. Campbell (1986–94), and Dr. Charles R. Swindoll (1994-2001), and Dr. Mark L. Bailey (2001–).

Throughout the Seminary’s history it has steadfastly maintained its allegiance to biblical truth. A Doctrinal Statement articulates the beliefs of Dallas Seminary, and each year the faculty and members of the boards reaffirm their agreement with this statement.

Spiritual Emphasis, Faculty, and Non-Denominational Approach

A Dynamic Spiritual Emphasis

From its beginning the Seminary has admitted only students who give evidence of being born again. More than regeneration, however, a student must understand how the Word of God impacts his or her daily life. To be properly qualified for seminary instruction, a student must be walking in fellowship with God, so that he or she can be taught by the Holy Spirit. At Dallas, the cultivation of the spiritual life is inseparably fused with the scholarly study of biblical and related subjects. All of this is designed to prepare students to communicate the Word of God in the power of His Spirit.

Faculty

Resident and adjunct faculty collectively hold over 231 graduate degrees from universities and seminaries around the world. Ninety-two percent of the resident faculty has at least one doctorate. Altogether, resident and retired faculty has authored more than 450 publications. Not only are Dallas Seminary faculty known for their competence as biblical scholars, teachers, and communicators, but they are also Spirit-led people of God who have a personal interest in their students.

Non-Denominational Approach

The doctrines of evangelical orthodoxy are derived from a consistent grammatical-historical interpretation of the Bible. As such, the study of the entire Bible is a central characteristic of the Dallas curriculum and draws students from various countries, ethnicities, and denominational affiliations to study from this perspective. The current student body is represented by students from all 50 states in the US, 46 foreign countries, and 75 denominations—with the top five denominations recorded as Baptists (710), Independent (287), Presbyterian (80), Evangelical Free (63), and Methodist (62).