LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has been swarmed with positive responses to seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr.’s recent appearance on CNN talk show “Larry King Live.”
“We’ve been flooded, literally,” said Tommy Hellams, Mohler’s executive assistant.
Mohler appeared on Larry King’s talk show Jan. 12 to discuss Southern Baptist efforts to evangelize Jews. Since then, the seminary has received dozens of phone calls, e-mails and faxes, most of which were positive and expressed appreciation to Mohler for clearly articulating the gospel message.
The day after the show was broadcast, the seminary received about 150 responses, Hellams said, of which only about 10 were negative.
“It’s very, very encouraging to get this kind of reaction,” Hellams said. “It’s the greatest response we’ve ever received from one of [Mohler’s] interviews.”
Hellams and Mohler have talked to two men who called to find out more about the gospel and salvation. One of those was a Jewish man from California.
“We had a great discussion,” Hellams said. “I firmly believe that he is a believer, that he understands what sin is. He understands the price of sin. He understands that Christ died for his sins.”
The other man was from Florida. Hellams said he “talked through the issues at length” with the man and shared Scripture with him, but the man did not make a profession of faith. Hellams hopes to have more opportunities to minister to both men.
“We feel extremely good about being able to follow through with these individuals and hope that even more will come out of it,” he said.
At Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., students of bioethics and contemporary culture professor Ben Mitchell suggested they use the video of the Larry King program “as a way to talk about engaging the culture,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell will meet with the students on Thursdays and show a segment of the video, which will then be critiqued.
“This all came at the initiative of the students,” Mitchell said.
People from all over the world — including countries like Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Canada and Israel — have also left comments in the guestbook on Southern Seminary’s Internet site.
A Messianic Jewish minister in Israel said he saw Mohler on Larry King and “was really blessed by his testimony and stand for our faith.”
A pastor in Ontario, Canada, said he didn’t see the program when it was broadcast, but a friend had taped it for him. “Dr. Mohler’s calm, reasoned, biblical response to the unreasonable and illogical statements made by the two rabbis surely made an impact on viewers,” the pastor wrote. He added that he intends to use the video for “classes on effective apologetics.”
Another entry from a man in Helena, Ala., complemented Mohler for the “fabulous job” he did on “Larry King Live.”
“No matter what question was asked or how it was asked you kept your cool and basically delivered the message each time you spoke,” the man wrote. “Jesus is the way. This is the way God planned it. You’re just trying to tell others what you believe God’s plan is. Thank God for you.”
