Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Declines to Pay Reparations to Historically Black College

Kentucky’s Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has declined a request to make a “biblical tithe” of its $100 million endowment to a nearby historically black college as reparations for the seminary’s past ties to slavery and racism.

The request was made by EmpowerWest Louisville, a coalition of urban black and suburban white congregations, according to Baptist News Global. The request was made on behalf of Simmons College and follows the December 2018 release of the internal investigation, “Report on Slavery and Racism in the History of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.”

The 72-page report, commissioned by Seminary President Al Mohler and conducted by SBTS faculty, recounted Southern Seminary’s history of slavery and racism. The report made note of the institution’s slave-holding founders, a $50,000 donation made by a slave-owning benefactor, and faculty members who defended segregation in the early 20th century.

“We must repent of our own sins, we cannot repent for the dead,” Mohler said at the time of the report’s release, according to the Christian Post. “We must, however, offer full lament for a legacy we inherit, and a story that is now ours.” 

EmpowerWest used a petition by faith leaders to request Southern “transfer a meaningful portion of its financial wealth” to Simmons. Such a transfer would…