JOHN A. BROADUS
1827-1895

“Brethren, we must preach the doctrines; we must emphasize the doctrines; we must go back to the doctrines. I fear that the new generation does not know the doctrines as our fathers knew them.” 

On January 24, 1827, the fourth and youngest child of Major Edmund and Nancy Broadus was born. John Albert Broadus was to become one of the most influential Baptist leaders in the history of the nation.

Saved in a revival meeting at the age of sixteen, he planned to study medicine at the University of Virginia. A sermon by S. M. Poindexter so challenged him that he surrendered to the call to the ministry instead.

He still entered the university in 1846, and in 1850 he received the M.A. degree. Upon graduation he became the teacher of Greek and Latin at the University of Virginia and also took the pastorate of the Baptist Church of Charlottesville. The next year he resigned the teaching position, and he dedicated himself to the church for the next several years, except for two years spent as chaplain at the university.

In 1857 he met with four other men to plan a new seminary for Baptists in the South. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was formally established in 1858, and in 1859 Broadus became a professor there. He was later the second president of the school. Despite the offer of many pastorates, he made the seminary his life’s work, teaching there for thirty-six years.

Whether preaching or teaching, he was noted for being able to state deep truths in a way plain enough for all to understand them clearly. He stressed the importance of this to his ministerial students. His book “A Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons” has been a classic on the subject since its publication.

At the height of his popularity and usefulness, he was called home to Heaven on March 16, 1895. His influence played a major role in building the Baptist faith to a place of great strength among American churches.