Albert Mohler has served as president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) since 1993. Mohler, who was only 33 as he began his presidency, was given the task of reclaiming the seminary from theological liberalism, which had become firmly entrenched at the school. At the time, according to SBTS, “most professors repudiated Biblical inerrancy. Many rejected such doctrines as the sanctity of unborn life, the sinfulness of homosexuality, and the call of qualified men only to the pastorate.” The trustees saw in Mohler a brilliant thinker and theologian with the skills to oversee a massive institutional shift that was part of the denomination’s “conservative resurgence.” That hard-fought shift brought SBTS back to the solid ground of Biblical inerrancy, and it brought remarkable growth: SBTS has become one of the largest seminaries in the world. Mohler has also led the transformation of Boyce College from a two-year Bible school to a fully accredited undergraduate college. Decision recently spoke with Mohler about his early days as president, how God continues to work at SBTS and what key issues should be of concern to all evangelicals today.
Q: What’s one memory that you treasure about how the Lord has used you for His Kingdom?
A: I think the recovery of a great theological institution and the establishment of a wonderful Christian college has been the best opportunity, one in which I saw God do amazing things.
Q: What was the task you were given as president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary?
A: Like so many institutions, Southern Seminary had lost its way, and Southern Baptists reclaimed their institution and assigned me the task of building it into what it needed to be for the Southern Baptist Convention. To be honest, it was a real theological battle. It was one of the biggest institutional turns in church history. By the way, Billy Graham was a great encouragement to me, speaking at my inauguration. I’m so thankful to have been a part of the seminary’s recovery and to see the Lord do that work.
Q: You must have been very aware of your need for God to give you strength for that task.
A: Absolutely. This was something that was greater than what human beings could accomplish. This was something that required a very clear work of the Lord—and we got to see that work.
It was a monumental battle, and it led to constant news coverage. At one point, news helicopters were hovering over the campus, PBS produced a documentary, and the academic establishment did everything they could to fight against the changes. And now you look at the strength of the college and the seminary, and that’s something only God could have done.
Q: When the fight for Biblical teaching was at its height, what kinds of things did you do to stay strong?
A: I couldn’t have done it without my wife, Mary, who was equally devoted to this task. One of the sweetest things is that this took place when we had extremely young children, and they did not know anything about the warfare going on across the street. They were just a baby and a toddler who needed love and affection, and the Lord used the happiness of our home and the sweetness of our children to encourage us during that time. Mary and I were drawn closer and closer to the Lord, and it was just amazing to see what the Lord did. But I will be honest, it’s much easier to think about it in retrospect than it was to walk through it.
Q: Do you have any regrets as you look back?
A: I’ve been in this role now for 32 years, and I was very young when I started, and most of the people around me were a lot older. Most of them have now gone on to be with the Lord, and so many people—by the hundreds and eventually thousands—came as students and faculty members. And I wish I had the opportunity to say thank you to a lot of people that I don’t believe I thanked enough.
Q: Many of our readers know of you as a seminary president, a defender of Biblical truth and an insightful observer of culture. But what else do you wish people would know about you?
A: That I’m a very happy husband, a very happy father and an extremely happy grandfather. The Lord uses our family to encourage us so much, and Mary and I are so happy being grandparents. That joy covers a whole lot of things we had to go through in the past. And the Lord has given us wonderful colleagues and friends and students, and now we have this great joy in our family. We’re so thankful for that.
Q: How is the Lord speaking to you these days as you meditate on Scripture?
A: The Lord has really turned my heart in a whole new way toward a generation of young Christians arriving on the scene. I think it’s really important that Christians, and especially Christian leaders of my generation, draw encouragement and joy from the younger generation. In a highly secularized age, with all kinds of things in the culture going in the wrong direction, it’s amazing to see how the Lord is bringing many wonderful, Gospel-committed young people on the scene in our churches. We need to celebrate that and be thankful.
Q: Are there things that encourage you about the new administration and Congress?
A: To have the president of the United States say in his inaugural address that there are two and only two genders, male and female, that’s absolutely remarkable. And quite honestly, President Trump not only said what is true, but he has gone beyond what most presidents would do in pushing that truth through the entire system of the federal government. So I think Christians should be incredibly thankful for that clarity. I’m very thankful for the president’s courage in this matter.
Q: Which moral and cultural issues do you think are most pressing at the moment for the evangelical church?
A: I think the Christian church always has to start with the sanctity and dignity of human life and with the foundational affirmation of religious liberty. Almost everything flows from those two frontline battles. And we have to stand against the immorality of the sexual revolution and the confusion of the LGBTQ revolution. So, we have to contend for the sanctity and dignity of every single unborn human life, and we have to contend for the right of Christians to live out our faith, not only in our homes and in our churches but in the public square.
Q: What would you say is the root cause of these issues?
A: This is where the words of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn come in so prophetically. He said men have forgotten God. That’s how all this has happened. It’s the secularization of the culture. If Christian truth dominated the morality and the moral thinking of our age, we wouldn’t be having these controversies. But it no longer does. And that just increases the responsibility of the Christian church, and in particular of evangelical Christians, to not be silent on these issues. Evangelicals must be ready to speak and to act in accordance with these convictions.
Q: If you could make one point about why an unbeliever should follow Jesus Christ, what would you say?
A: I think we need to recognize that it’s either follow Jesus or follow an idol. I would want to have a conversation that makes very clear there are only two alternatives: the one true and living God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the one hand, and some form of unbelief or idolatry on the other hand. And I think once the issues are set out that clearly, we can have a wonderful Gospel conversation with someone about why they should follow Jesus. And we have the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. That ought to motivate us to bold evangelism. ©2025 BGEA
Interviewed by Bob Paulson, editor.
Photo: The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary