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Daniel L. Akin | |
|---|---|
| President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary | |
| In office January 2004 – present | |
| Preceded by | Paige Patterson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1957-01-02)January 2, 1957 (age 69) |
| Spouse | Charlotte Tammy Bourne |
| Children | Nathan, Jonathan, Paul, Timothy |
| Alma mater | University of Texas at Arlington |
| Profession | Theological seminary president and author |
| Website | www |
Daniel Lowell "Danny" Akin (born January 2, 1957) is the sixth president ofSoutheastern Baptist Theological Seminary and the College at Southeastern in Wake Forest, North Carolina, United States. A leader in theSouthern Baptist Convention (SBC), he has authored and edited numerous books and journal articles and is best known for his commitment toexpository preaching and tothe Great Commission.
Akin was born and spent his early years inForest Park, Georgia, outside ofAtlanta. In high school, he was a multi-sport athlete in baseball, basketball and football, intending to try to pitch as a walk-on in college. After an injury, Akin abandoned those plans. On a mission trip toSells, Arizona in 1977, Akin committed his life to full-time Christian ministry and decided to attendCriswell College inDallas, Texas before attending seminary.[1]
Akin married Charlotte Bourne on May 27, 1978, and together they have four sons: Nathan, Jonathan, Paul, and Timothy. All four sons are involved in pastoral ministry, several having lived and served overseas. Akin has 15 grandchildren.[2]
Akin is a 1980 graduate ofCriswell College with aB.A. inBiblical Studies and a 1983 graduate ofSouthwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with aMaster of Divinity degree. He also earned aDoctor of Philosophy degree from theUniversity of Texas at Arlington in 1989.[2]
Akin's first teaching post was atCriswell College, where he taughtNew Testament,theology, andChurch history from 1988 to 1992. He also served as thedean of students during that time. In 1992, afterPaige Patterson became president ofSoutheastern Baptist Theological Seminary inWake Forest, North Carolina,[3] Akin joined the Southeastern faculty as associate professor of theology and dean of students. He then transitioned to theSouthern Baptist Theological Seminary inLouisville, Kentucky. From 1996 to 2004 Akin served as theology professor, preaching professor, dean of the School of Theology, and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration.[2] Akin then returned to Wake Forest as Southeastern Seminary's 6th president, a post he currently still holds.[2]
Akin's presidency ofSoutheastern Seminary and the College at Southeastern began in 2004.[3] During his tenure, enrollment has grown from 2,407 to over 3,600 students. In addition, under Akin's leadership Southeastern has added multiple endowed professorship chairs.[4]
Akin has led Southeastern to establish the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture, which "seeks to bring the Christian faith to bear upon all areas of life through helping others to think and to act Christianly in both private and public discourse."[5] Other initiatives that have also begun under Akin's leadership include theLewis A. Drummond Center for Great Commission Studies (focuses on missions and church planting in North America and internationally),[6] theGreat Commission Equipping Network (EQUIP, focuses on providing theological education at a local church level),[7] theGlobal Theological Initiative (GTI, focuses on using "the resources of Southeastern to benefit theological education through strategic partnerships around the world"),[8] andKingdom Diversity (seeking "to recruit and equip students from every corner of the Kingdom, to serve in every context of the Kingdom").[9]
Akin has led Southeastern to produce yearly conferences aimed at equipping students and churches in various facets of theology and theChristian life. One recurring conference is the 20/20 Conference for area college students, which addresses central theological and apologetic aspects of the Christian life that college students are likely to encounter on university campuses.[10]
Akin is well known for his emphasis on Jesus'Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) and the responsibility of churches and Christians to go to all the nations of the world and make disciples.
Frequently, international missions is the topic of Akin's sermons. In a series of chapel messages at Southeastern Seminary from 2007 to 2012, Akin preached a biblical text and illustrated it with the life story of amissionary. This series eventually made its way into publication as10 Who Changed the World.[11]
Akin began to call for a "Great Commission Resurgence" in his preaching at the November 2007 Building Bridges Conference held at Ridgecrest Conference Center in western North Carolina.[12] However, it was Akin's April 2009 chapel sermon entitled "Axiom's for a Great Commission Resurgence" that fueled a widespread effort in theSouthern Baptist Convention to build upon the"Conservative Resurgence" of the 1970s and 80s with a unifying effort to streamline SBC structures in order to more effectively fulfillJesus'Great Commission.[13] This effort culminated in the forming of a Great Commission Resurgence Task Force by then SBC presidentJohnny Hunt in 2009[14] and the adopting of the Task Force's report at the SBC annual meeting in 2010.[15]
Akin has also regularly participated in international mission trips to various countries around the world.[2]
Akin is widely regarded as a skilled preacher and teacher. He has co-authored and edited several books onpreaching[16][17] as well several journal articles focusing on Bible exposition.[18] Akin's bookEngaging Exposition, co-authored with Bill Curtis and Stephen Rummage, was named Book of the Year for "Enhancing the Preacher's Skill" by Preaching Today.[19] He has also recorded curriculum for training of Bible study leaders andSunday School teachers.[20]
In 2019, Akin labelled prominent 20th century German theologiansKarl Barth,Emil Brunner,Dietrich Bonhoeffer,Rudolf Bultmann,Paul Tillich,Adolf von Harnack andFriedrich Schleiermacher as theological enemies.[21]
Akin travels widely to do marriage and family conferences at churches around the country, in which he teaches on the roles of men and women in a marriage and gives practical and biblical advice for raising children.[22] In addition, he has published several journal articles on the topics of marriage, intimacy, and gender roles.[18]
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