Fahrenheit 451

Dale Moody

Dale Moody, professor of theology 1948-1984, was born in Stanford, Texas in 1915. In his youth, he attended a Landmark Baptist church and made a profession of faith when twelve years old. Beginning to preach at sixteen years of age, Moody pastored his first church, Coppell Baptist, the following year. In 1933, he entered Baylor University to study New Testament. Moody left Baylor before finishing his B.A. to study at seminary.

Moody enrolled in Chafer (now Dallas Theological) Seminary. In 1937, Moody switched seminaries, beginning work at Southern. Upon completion of his Th.M. classes, Moody did not immediately receive the degree since he had not yet finished his B.A. at Baylor. In 1940, Moody returned to Texas to finish his B.A., earning the degree and his Th.M. in 1941. Moody then began doctoral studies at Southern but left the school in 1944 in order to serve as a teaching assistant to Paul Tillich at Union Seminary in New York. Moody returned to Southern in 1947 and received his Th.D. after finishing his dissertation on "The Problem of Revelation and Reason in the Writings of Emil Brunner." Moody later studied with such notable theologians as Brunner, Karl Barth, and Oscar Cullman. He also received a D.Phil. from Oxford for studies that produced a dissertation on baptism.

During his career at Southern, Moody taught a wide variety of courses in theology. At one point, his pedagogical responsibilities included systematic theology, Old Testament theology, New Testament theology, historical theology, and philosophy of religion. Moody wrote avidly, with The Word of Truth, Spirit of the Living God, and Letters of John among his acclaimed texts. His urging of Southern to change the Abstract of Principles and conflicts with Southern Baptists on the issue of apostasy led to his early retirement in 1983. A member of Crescent Hill Baptist Church, Moody passed away in 1992.