If you think about it, no Louisville resident gets more national publicity, or generates more media himself, than Southern Baptist Seminary president Dr. Albert Mohler. He was in the news again this week, after announcing he won’t be a candidate for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention due to a health issue — he’s got to have surgery for a precancerous tumor in his colon.

It’s been a decade since I wrote a profile of Mohler in Business First, which at the time was a pretty big deal. Then, he’d been in place over at Southern about five years, and had shaken things up quite a bit – initiating a near complete turnover of the Seminary faculty. He was the target of a lot of criticism, but what impressed me about him in our interview was his unwavering conviction in everything he said. Nothing I asked him brought about any pauses for contemplation. He was on a mission, and for those who opposed him, well, his message was not to let the door hit you on the way out.

There were always issues, he told me, on which “no diversity of opinions can be tolerated.”

In the decade since, Mohler has continued to be featured in our national press, and he’s been interviewed on a wide range of issues as the go-to guy for the Conservative Right. Just last March, Mohler found himself in the middle of a firestorm after writing that gays may be proven to be born gay, a position that goes against most conservative thinking.

Read the rest along with the 1998 Business First profile of Dr. Mohler after the jump…

Today Mohler is a media powerhouse. His one-hour daily radio show is carried on more than 50 stations. He writes a blog, frequently updated, at AlbertMohler.com, where recently he’s been espousing his views on evolution. If there’s an issue that makes the mainstream press, Mohler is on speed-dial for media seeking the conservative view — and news of his upcoming surgery made headlines across the country. His sermons are available online. Last month, his book “Culture Shift” was released, examining the relationship between politics and religion.

When I talked with Mohler in 1998, I couldn’t find an issue that I really agreed with him on, and that’s still true today. Still, I left that late 1998 interview with a high level of respect for the man, and attempted to write an objective profile based on our talk. Re-reading the piece, it indicates that Mohler was indeed on his way to bigger and better things.

BUSINESS FIRST PROFILE:

WEEK OF DECEMBER 21, 1998

RIGHT to the point

Albert Mohler hasn’t been afraid of changing Southern Seminary

By RICK REDDING
Business First Staff Writer

Call it the calm after the storm.

From day one of his tenure as president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary five years ago, the Rev. R. Albert Mohler has determinedly changed the philosophy of the school to a rigid conservative view. Along the way, he’s angered and alienated portions of the seminary’s faculty, students, and alumni, so much so that many have turned their backs on the institution forever.

But Mohler maintains that those who remain and those he’s recruited are true believers in God’s word and the ideals he’s put forward– often on a national stage. He considers his current faculty, many of them biblical scholars personally recruited by Mohler, to be his “A-team” and the “great achievement of the five years.”

“We made a change for principle,” said the 38-year-old Mohler.

After being selected for the post by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1993, Mohler wasted little time in setting a new agenda for the seminary, first requiring all faculty to adhere in belief to the “Abstract of Principles,” a set of beliefs that includes a profession that the Bible is inerrant.

“There’s no doubt it was controversial and met with opposition. It was a major division between evangelical and more liberal members,” Mohler said.

On Southern’s picturesque campus on Lexington Road, he’s prevailed in eliminating dissent on his key issues. Faculty members who don’t prescribe to his stances against abortion, homosexuality, and the role of women in the church have been shown the door. More than 80 percent of the school’s 140-member faculty has changed during Mohler’s tenure, leaving a group mostly handpicked by Mohler that adheres strongly to his conservative philosophy.

“He really thought carefully about decisions, and he knew some wouldn’t be popular,” said his close friend, Douglas C. Walker, a former Southern classmate of Mohler’s who was recruited to be vice president, institutional advancement. “He never lost the courage of his convictions. I gave him advice to compromise on some things, but he never did.”

Walker said that when Mohler arrived, he drew a line in the sand on four issues– abortion, homosexuality, women as pastors, and whether Jesus Christ was the only way to heaven. And those within the seminary who didn’t buy into Mohler’s view on any one of those issues soon were gone.

The most publicized of those cases was that of the seminary’s Carver School of Social Work. Mohler fired its dean, Diana Garland, in March 1995, after rejecting Garland’s choice for a new faculty member who didn’t pass Mohler’s litmus test. The firestorm that followed included student protests, staff resignations and the eventual transfer of the remaining vestiges of the social work school to Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Ky.

Mohler stuck to his guns, saying at one point that the seminary had always had issues “on which no diversity of opinions can be tolerated.”

No matter what one’s philosophy is, it’s hard to deny the effectiveness of this calm young man who speaks with as much confidence in himself as in his convictions– and who would no more consider wavering on his positions than he would showing up for work in blue jeans.

“I’m sure of what I believe, and my convictions are deeply rooted,” he said. “It’s reflective of this institution’s stature that I’ve been involved in these issues for a long time. I speak to these issues and receive attention as an articulate presenter of the Christian world view.”

Behind somewhat boyish features, Mohler provides a reasoned and stern speaking voice for the Christian conservative viewpoint, an intellectual view borne of years of theological study and backed by true belief.

In an upcoming salute to Mohler’s five years as president, the seminary’s magazine notes Mohler’s status as a national spokesman through appearances on national television programs such as “Larry King Live.” He’s been quoted in national newspapers on the church’s position on President Clinton’s sex scandal, society’s acceptance of homosexuality, and the Southern Baptist Convention’s controversial statement that calls on “wives to submit graciously” to their husbands.

On camera, Mohler shows a quick wit and command of a vast volume of knowledge. His devotion to books and study is such that when pressed for a hobby, he responds by talking of his study of Elizabethan England. And his wife, Mary, jokes that Mohler’s idea of fun is reading Aristotle.

In print, Mohler writes with an intellectual’s understanding of modern issues, taking on a variety of subject matter from current headlines to apply his own moral opinion. For example, in his nationally distributed column, “Fidelitas,” he took Clinton’s home church to task for failing to discipline the president.

“Bill Clinton has given a great moral challenge, and the people have failed that challenge,” he said. “I’m disappointed in the American people, who have made a moral misjudgment and chosen what is convenient over what is right.”

That sort of straight talk meets with the approval of the new faculty at Southern, and the talk is not reserved for national media. Thom Rainer, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth, which began operations at the seminary in 1993, said the surety with which Mohler speaks initially divided the campus, but that now it serves as a positive force.

“He established a clarity of vision so that you knew where the seminary stood theologically, morally and on biblical issues,” Rainer said. “Some didn’t like the direction and left for that reason.”

Though he remains vilified by some, Mohler proudly asserts his views through a variety of methods. He remains a professor at the seminary, teaches a Sunday School class at Highview Baptist Church, his home church in Louisville, and speaks regularly at the seminary’s chapel service.

Mohler travels more than 100,000 miles per year on speaking engagements at churches large and small. He hosts a weekly television show, “The Bible and Life,” which airs locally on the Faith Channel.

As he reaches an anniversary many critics would have doubted, Mohler seems to have passed his initial test. He boasts of a balanced $18 million budget, in spite of financial changes resulting from fluctuating enrollment and donation figures.

After peaking in 1985 at 3,508, enrollment dropped to a low of 2,107 in 1996-97. In 1997-98, enrollment rose to 2,248, and projections for this academic year are for another increase. On-campus enrollment in the fall semester was up 7 percent.

Mohler also speaks of an ambitious building and renovation schedule on campus, which has included $10 million in renovation and new construction during the last five years.

Mohler said he thinks the most difficult moments in changing the seminary’s course are behind him. His wife said Mohler has been patient and understanding in the face of criticism.

“He stands for what he believes in when everyone seems to be against him,” Mary Mohler said. “His vision is to carry out his mission at any cost.”

HIGHLIGHTS

FAMILY:
Wife: Mary, married 15 years
Children: Katie, 9; Christopher, 6

EDUCATION:
Pompano Beach (Fla.) High School, 1977;
Bachelor of Arts degree, religion, Samford University (Birmingham, Ala.), 1980;
Master of divinity degree, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1983;
Doctorate in philosophy (systematic and historical theology), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1989

CAREER:
§ 1993-present: President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
§ 1989-93: Editor, The Christian Index, Atlanta-based news journal of the Georgia Baptist Convention

HONORS:
Selected by Time magazine as one of 50 people under age 40 emerging as national leaders in their fields, 1995; named by Christianity Today magazine as one of 40 emerging evangelical leaders, 1996; selected by Change, a national higher-education magazine, as one of 40 “Young Leaders of the Academy,” 1998

DETAILS:
Birthdate: Oct. 19, 1959
Hometown: Lakeland, Fla.
Residence: President’s Home, across Lexington Road from the Southern Baptist Seminary Campus

INSIGHTS

THE REV. R. ALBERT MOHLER
President and professor Christian theology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

MAKING HEADLINES
On homosexuality: Mohler argued on “Larry King Live” that Christians are homosexuals’ best friends, because they “love homosexuals enough to tell them the truth about what the Bible says and point them to the gospel.”

On President Clinton’s sex scandal: Mohler, in an Associated Press story that gained national attention, said Clinton “should stop his efforts to save his administration and make clear his efforts to restore his relationship to Jesus Christ …” and said Clinton’s home church should discipline the president.

On the Southern Baptist Faith and Message, adopted at the 1998 Southern Baptist Convention: On NBC’s “Today” program, Mohler defended the church’s statement, which calls on wives to “submit graciously” to their husbands.

TRUE CONFESSIONS

Night owl: Mohler does most of his writing late into the night at home, often until 3 a.m.

Sartorial soul: Wife, Mary, claims she never purchases clothing for her finicky husband, who buys all of his clothing himself.

And for fun: Mary Mohler said her husband’s idea of fun is dining out with the family, spending evenings at home, shopping and reading historical texts.

Working the plan: Mohler jokingly calls his job a series of meetings interrupted by phone calls, but said he spends 70 to 80 hours per week working.

HERE’S WHAT THEY SAID

Thom Rainer, professor of evangelism and church growth, dean of Billy Graham College of Missions, Church Growth and Evangelism: “His style is of a collaborator. I’ve seen him change his mind after listening. He’ll say, ‘I’m not sure I agree, but I trust you.’ If he places trust in you, he doesn’t micro manage.

“He has an incredible sense of humor. Sometimes we’re having so much fun it’s downright sinful. He’s a quick wit.

“The reason (national media) call him is because they know he has conviction. they know he’ll give a straight answer. … They’re not getting a wishy-washy theologian that sits of both sides of an issue.”

Doug Walker, vice president, institutional advancement at the seminary and a longtime Mohler friend: “We used to close down the library together. Many nights, we’d stay up late and solve all the world’s problems. The seminary was close to our hearts. … I knew he’d come back one day. You know somebody is right for a place, but I never thought it would happen as soon as it did. I thought he would someday be president, but not when he was 33.”

Wife Mary Mohler: “It’s intimidating to be married to the most intellectual person I’ve ever met. The way he retains and recalls knowledge is incredible. It amazes me.”

Dr. Bob Long, senior pastor, Walnut Street Baptist Church: “His leadership style is very aggressive, very forceful. He has a clear and defiant vision of what he wants to accomplish.

“I didn’t elect him and probably wouldn’t have. While I may not agree with what he’s done, there are some issues I agree with him on, and there are some I don’t agree at all, such as women in the ministry.”