Faith & Message: Recent Episodes
Noah R. Hunt
Along with A. M. Fairbairn, W. T. Conner stood for the orthodox Christian doctrine of God’s eternal fatherhood and Christ’s eternal sonship based on historic Christian revelation. To Conner, God’s revelation trumps human theory.
In W. T. Conner’s estimation, a person is one who is able to give themselves and share themselves lovingly with others. This is the way Conner applied the word person to the Trinity.
W. T. Conner went out of his way to defend against tritheism. This view of the Trinity emphasizes the separation within the Trinity to the point of devaluing the unity of God within the Trinity.
Conner takes his stand on the Trinity as the true method of interpreting the Christian facts. He stands by this truth, stating that the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit is as much the work of God as is the work of the Father.
There cannot be three individuals who are infinite and absolute in nature. Much of the popular speaking and writing on the Trinity comes dangerously close to tritheism, as if God were three individuals gathered around a table in agreement.
Modalism paints Father, Son and Spirit as three modes or representations of God. Why, asks Conner, would God choose to be represented in only three ways rather than more or less than three unless His was a triune nature?
Was Jesus Christ only a man or is He eternal belonging within the unity of the Godhead? Jesus said “I and the Father are one.”
W. T. Conner defines the four major theories or solutions to what is perceived to be the Trinitarian problem. The Triune Theory is the theory which best depicts the Biblical facts.
W. T. Conner taught that the personality of the Holy Spirit and the Trinity were two doctrines that followed from the deity of Jesus Christ. Students of the Bible will realize that there is life-movement in the Godhead as they learn about Jesus Christ and His personal Spirit.
The Trinity - veiled in the Old Testament in diversity - is distinguishable in the New Testament and in Christian Experience. W. T. Conner helps us to see how the diverse God of the Old Testament impacts our lives as Christians today.
The Trinity is one. The Trinity is diverse. W. T. Conner defends this reality for the Old Testament.
W. T. Conner argued the unity of God is fundamental in Biblical revelation. To drift from this view is to drift from scriptural Christian doctrine.
W. T. Conner upheld an orthodox view of the Trinity in a theological era abandoned to progressive ideology and liberalization. His work deserves our attention.
W. T. Conner reconciled spirituality and worship without succumbing to the pitfalls of early twentieth century Pentecostalism. See how Conner understood the Biblical tension between order and ardor.
According to Conner, spiritual fellowship among believers precedes identity as a church. Are you a vital part of a fellowship of believers?
W. T. Conner’s focus touches on the prophecies of the Spirit’s coming, but he ultimately revels in the power available to believers in the Spirit. Conner does not remain rapt at Pentecost but points on to the Spirit-filled life of service. The Spirit is a sovereign gift given by God to men.
W. T. Conner taught that salvation from beginning to end is attributed to the Spirit of God in relation to Christ. Conner’s warm-hearted evangelical doctrine harmonizes with the New Hampshire Confession and its related confessional statement, the Baptist Faith & Message. Southwestern Seminary’s founder, B. H. Carroll ensured that professors subscribed to such Christ-centered beliefs.
Assurance is rooted in the Spirit of adoption. When believers consciously possess the Spirit of God, W. T. Conner argues, they are delivered from fear and legalism. Believers are more than slaves to law. Believers are adopted children of God. We can be sure of that!
Some assert the relation of the Spirit of God to man’s saving renewal is the great distinguishing mark between mens’ unique understandings of Christian Doctrine. Conner’s assessment brings clarity to the terminology and to the relationship between God’s Spiritual leading and man’s response in faith.
W. T. Conner understood the Spirit’s act of making men realize their sin and seek after righteousness as a personal leading. When we ask “What should we do?” the inspired Scriptures reply “Repent and be baptized!”
John chronicles the coming of the Holy Spirit to God’s people (Jn 1:32-34; 15:26; 20:19-23). W. T. Conner helps students see the Spirit as Christ’s spiritual presence.
Jesus was baptized, worked miracles, and preached in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Learn from W. T. Conner the danger of rejecting the Spirit of God.
W. T. Conner taught that the Spirit of God is a personal helper or companion. He has a mind, feelings, and a will. We experience Him personally through holiness, guidance, and calling.
We often read about the Spirit of God in the Old and New Testament. Discover the energy and power of God as we unpack the nature of the Holy Spirit.
What do we mean when we talk about the “Spirit” of God? W. T. Conner answers this question by looking at the Bible’s use of the term.
God’s essence is spiritual. The Spirit of God is divine in both Old and New Testaments of the Bible. To understand God’s Spirit personally we must see Him in relationship with God the Father and God the Son, the reflection of God’s glory.
W. T. Conner taught that unless God was at the same time over and above the world yet integral to and in the world, the world was godless. Rest assured, God is working out His purpose of redemption in the world through His Son, Jesus Christ.
W. T. Conner argues that Biblical writers represent God’s preservation of the universe as one of His specific functions in relation to the world. Discover why God holds all things together.
God created the heavens and the earth. He willed the universe into being, and the Bible is the valid account of His creative act.
Is love an incidental characteristic in God’s nature, or is it necessary? Discover the answer as W. T. Conner develops three ways God’s love relates to His nature.
Love seeks the highest good of the loved one writes W. T. Conner. Find out the reason for the demands of God’s love for His people.
God gave Himself for our sins. (Gal. 1:3-5) If we forget the giver, W. T. Conner highlights the reality that God may withhold the things we are absorbed in.
God love’s consistently with respect for eternal principles or moral conditions of righteousness. Discover why W. T. Conner taught that the benefits of Jesus’ gracious cross are conditioned on a person’s capacity and willingness to respond to God’s love.
How does General benevolence become personal love? Discover W. T. Conner’s view of God’s general goodness to all and His love expressed to people in Christ.
Love (“Agapao”Gk) denotes a rational intelligent principle. Exegete and exposit Scripture with W. T. Conner to discern the meaning of divine love.
In His Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7), Jesus asks doubting believers, won’t God do much for you? Here, W. T. Conner is sees God’s love preached by Christ Himself.
God’s redemptive activity reveals His righteousness. Learn why W. T. Conner related God’s righteousness with His redemption of man.
Jonathan Edwards championed the arbitrary will of God, restrained by no obligation. W. T. Conner wrote about a God who does what is right because His nature is righteous. Discover why it matters.
Be holy because I am holy, says the Lord. Learn why W. T. Conner equated God’s holiness with the moral perfection of His character.
The dominant qualities in the character of God are holiness, righteous, and love. Discover why W. T. Conner emphasized God’s moral nature in the light of his power or greatness.
W. T. Conner read the Bible and saw both an absolutely powerful God and free humans through all the Scriptures without any apparent contradiction. Discover the omnipotent Person of perfect goodness and love.
Theologian A. H. Strong taught that God knows the free acts of His creatures as free. Join us as we learn how Strong’s student, W. T. Conner, develops his view of God’s absolute omniscience.
The book of Hebrews tells us that God sustains all things. Understand how W. T. Conner applied the absoluteness of God in His relation to the world order.
“Where can I flee from your presence?” the psalmist asks. W. T. Conner describes this relationship between God’s absolute nature and the world He created and orders.
What does it mean to find ultimate reality in God? W. T. Conner discusses two phases of God’s absoluteness that will give us a better understanding of God as the ultimate reality.
Contrasting Christian Theism with Pantheism and Agnosticism, W. T. Conner defines God’s Absoluteness in terms of fullness and perfection.
God’s perfection is summed up in the word absoluteness. Discover why W. T. Conner and his influences spoke of God in terms of perfection.
God the Father is Spirit. He is personal. Discover the perfection of God the Father as Spiritual and personal as W. T. Conner lays out a system of Christian Doctrine.
Spirit forms the essence of God’s being. Learn why W. T. Conner believed God was best experienced spiritually through faith.
God’s eye is on the sparrow and you can be sure He is personally watching over you. Discover W. T. Conner’s understanding of our personal God.
The King of glory has come. Discover the missional and eschatological significance of the glorified Christ in W. T. Conner’s, Christian Doctrine (p. 1937).
Baptists have described faith as trust. Discover the full weight of trust as W. T. Conner explains self abandonment to God through Christ.
Jesus is the eternal Son of God. W. T. Conner agreed with the gospel authors and the apostle Paul that Jesus is God over all.
Do you trust Jesus to save you? Have you submitted to Him as Lord? Learn why W. T. Conner thought trust and submission to be constituent elements of faith in Christ.
Are you “in Christ”? W. T. Conner taught that faith, belief in Christ, is the Scriptural condition of salvation. Experience the saving power of Christ!
“Are you the Messiah, the son of the blessed one?” “I am,” Jesus assented. Learn why W. T. Conner described Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament religion.
The power of Christianity in human history stands on the reality of Jesus’ resurrection as an objective appearance. Discover why W. T. Conner believed in the transformational power of Jesus’ resurrection.
Can a Christian believe in a non-miraculous Christ and rely on the Gospel records? Find out why W. T. Conner said, “That’s insane.”
Jesus’ sinlessness and His virgin birth are connected to the Holy Spirit’s involvement in His earthly life. Discover the Scriptural basis for Jesus’ supernatural birth.
What do you say about someone who tells you to confess sin but does not have any sins to confess? Find out how W. T. Conner interpreted Jesus’ sinless perfection in Scripture.
Jesus’ temptations and struggles required mental, physical, religious, social, and moral growth. Find out why W. T. Conner taught that Jesus’ struggles required real growth.
The author of the letter to the Hebrews tells us about Jesus’ earthly life, or “days of his flesh”. Find out why W. T. Conner called Jesus’ humanity an obvious New Testament teaching.
When God speaks to man, He speaks authoritatively. Learn how W. T. Conner’s conservative doctrine of Biblical authority impacts Southern Baptists today.
The Bible is both a human and divine book. Discover why W. T. Conner argued that the human and divine elements in the Bible are not mutually exclusive.
God reveals Himself to man at the right time. Discover why W. T. Conner believed God’s revelation culminated in the person of Jesus in the New Testament.
Jesus is a flood light on the Old Testament. Discover W. T. Conner’s Christ-centered reading of Scripture.
It is God’s Spirit in His churches that will stand victorious when the gospel triumphs over evil. See why W. T. Conner called the Book of Revelation a forecast of the triumph of God’s kingdom.
Where do I find Christian principles? How do I know if my church has erred from the path? How do I apply Christian principles to my life? W. T. Conner suggests reading the apostles’ letters.
W. T. Conner described The Book of Acts as an outline of Christ’s redemptive plan. See how Jesus used the feast of Pentecost as a watershed moment in pouring new life into our depleted world.
Without the four Gospels at its heart, the Bible is meaningless. Find out why W. T. Conner described Jesus as the key to all that comes before Him and all that comes after Him.
All nature tells us God is there. Learn why W. T. Conner said that the Bible addresses man as a being who has natural religious consciousness with the ability to know God.
The knowledge of God has its origin, makeup, and communicability in the historical person of Jesus and His work to seek and save the lost. Learn why W. T. Conner emphasized the importance of a human, risen, and ascended Jesus.
Look at Jesus claims concerning His relationship to God. 1.) God sent Jesus into the world. 2.) Jesus claims an immediate knowledge of God. 3.) Jesus claims to be the mediator of such a knowledge of God to men.
Jesus’ character is the character of God. Discover why W. T. Conner called Jesus the human “exponent” of God’s holy character.
Central to Jesus’ teaching was His doctrine of God. Look, with W. T. Conner, at Matthew’s gospel, and see God as described by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount.
As a boy, Jesus said, “It was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house.” As He died, Jesus cried, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Learn why W. T. Conner claimed there was no sphere of Jesus’ life in which God was not recognized.
W. T. Conner’s approach to the Christian doctrine of Revelation is relational and therefore experiential. Jesus expects people who’ve been exposed to Him for any length of time to know Him and His Father.
The one who has seen me has seen the Father, said Jesus. Accordingly, W. T. Conner taught that revelation comes to us through Christ.
God is the substance of revelation. Jesus Christ asks us to believe that the Father is in Him and that He is in the Father.
God responds to man’s seeking by imparting knowledge of Himself. Find out why W. T. Conner described revelation as God’s self-disclosure.
W. T. Conner said that religion is a reciprocal relationship between God and man. Learn that God reveals Himself to man and man responds to God’s revelation of Himself.
Man thirsts for more than the seen and temporal. Understand man’s spiritual craving as W. T. Conner suggests the answer in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was a divider, wrote W. T. Conner. Men must choose to follow Him. Discover a gospel worth your trust, intellect, and affection.
God, in his righteousness, established the world and judges it with fairness. W. T. Conner believed the human impulse to do the right and avoid the wrong came as the direct result of the creative act of God.
Key to Dr. Conner’s Biblical view of man is man’s capacity for rational affection. Learn why decisive sacrifice is a distinctively human quality.
Man is free, but his freedom is limited writes W. T. Conner. Learn to understand man as a free, moral, and responsible being as we unpack man’s power of will.
W. T. Conner said that intelligence is man’s ability to reason, to reflect, to investigate, to come to conclusions, to guide his life by his thoughts and conclusions. Join us as we begin to investigate the spiritual personality of man.
Examine W. T. Conner’s commitment to the belief that humans are able to know and are capable of fellowship with God.
W. T. Conner said that Christian Doctrine is the ideas necessary to an understanding of the Christian religion. It is a call to activity and is necessary, or our activity is blind and purposeless.
Born in 1877, W. T. Conner was the most influential Southern Baptist systematic theologian during the 1930s and 1940s. In upcoming episodes, we will unpack W. T. Conner’s book, Christian Doctrine (1937).
Join us as we study sound learning from Southern Baptist heritage and seek to win the lost to Christ.