D. N. Jackson


Doss Nathan Jackson was a Baptist pastor from the United States who was fundamental in the founding of the North American Baptist Association. He was a debater and conference speaker, publisher and a prolific writer of Christian literature and theological works including Studies in Baptist Doctrine and History.

Biography

Jackson was the son of James Ferguson and Josephine Jackson and the youngest of twelve children. In 1918 he was married to Erma Oretus Gilbert, the daughter of Dr. C. A. Gilbert, The Business Manager of the Baptist Sunday School Committee in Texarkana, Arkansas. Dr. and Mrs. Jackson had three children: Dr. Tillman Sherron Jackson, Carroll F. Jackson and Mrs. Ermagene S.T. Sullivan.
His denominational work began in 1918 when, as a 23-year-old pastor, the General Association of Baptists in the United States of America elected him editor-in-chief of the Baptist Sunday School Committee. C. A. Gilbert, who became Jackson's father-in-law the same year, was elected business manager at the same meeting. A movement began to unify various state and regional associations of missionary Baptists into a national association – a scope which the General Association apparently never enjoyed. The result of the movement was the forming of the American Baptist Association in 1924. Jackson served on the committee which drafted the constitution for the new Baptist association. He was the ABA president from 1935 to 1937 and held the position of editor-in-chief from 1924 to 1942.
Jackson and his then friend Ben M. Bogard claimed that the Darwinian theory of evolution had contributed to the moral decline of the United States and caused discouraged persons to embrace atheism and Bolshevism. Accordingly, in 1926, Bogard and Jackson joined to pen Evolution: Unscientific and Unscriptural. Bogard and Jackson subsequently broke fellowship when C. A. Gilbert, the chairman of the Missionary Baptist Sunday School Committee, was blamed for a deficit. For a decade Bogard tried to remove Jackson's father-in-law as the committee chairman. In 1950, Jackson left the Missionary Baptist denomination and started the Baptist Missionary Association of America, formerly the North American Baptist Association.
Jackson, however, was never the president of the Baptist Missionary Association of America, but he was elected one of two vice-presidents in 1955, and was given the honor of preaching the annual message on two occasions. In 1951, Jackson preached the annual message for the association meeting in Laurel, Mississippi, while his friend, Gerlad D. Kellar presided. Jackson also drafted the original Doctrinal Statement of the association. and served as the first promotional secretary.

Education

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Jacksonville College in 1917. He later studied at Moody Bible Institute, Chicago in 1920–21 and did graduate work at Princeton University in 1925–26. Jackson later had a LLD degree conferred by the Missionary Baptist College in Sheridan, Arkansas after which he was known as Dr. Jackson.

Ministry

Pastorates

Dr. Jackson was ordained on September 2, 1913.
In 1952 Southeastern Baptist College was organized with Dr. Jackson as its first President. In Arkansas he provided the leadership for purchasing the property for Conway Baptist College, now known as the Central Baptist College, Conway. He served the school's first President also. He played a significant role in the organization and development of the North American Theological Seminary Dr. Jackson was offered a life-time professorship at North American Theological Seminary. He became Professor of Theology and Church History and remained with the seminary from 1955 to 1967. He also served as President of Midwestern Baptist College, Oklahoma City from 1967 until his death a year later.

Publishing

He was editor and publisher of the American Baptist, the oldest Baptist paper west of the Mississippi, from 1934 until his death. The paper was founded in St. Louis in 1875 by D. B. Ray, Sr. Jackson later sold the American Baptist to a group of BMAA pastors.

Debates

Debates between denominational representatives were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jackson was widely used as a debater in earlier years, defending the Baptist faith. He is credited with engaging in at least 162 formal debates, mostly with "Christians", from 1916 to 1957. Many of them were in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma, but he also debated in Mississippi, Missouri, California and Michigan. A partial list includes
Jackson also served as moderater for many debates. Two notable ones include:
through his preaching ministry Dr. Jackson was able to see many lives changed and many professions of faith, but on one Easter morning his ministry produced a new response. The words that flowed from that pulpit on that Resurrection Sunday caused Luther G. Presley to pick up a pen and compose, "I'll Have A New Life" after he heard a sermon by Dr. D.N. Jackson.

Theology

Perpetuity of the church is a doctrine which is cherished by Missionary Baptists. By perpetuity is meant that there has never been a day since Christ founded His church when there was no scriptural church upon earth. The church shall continue in existence until He shall come again. Church "succession" is another term which denotes perpetuity, implying that churches have succeeded in all ages the one founded by Christ. Baptists believe in a succession of churches---not of the apostles, as taught by the Roman doctrine of ‘apostolic succession.

Baptism is one way of making a confession of faith in Christ. Scriptural baptism is performed by the authority of the triune God. No one without baptism is qualified for membership in a church, but baptism does not wholly qualify him. It is the ceremonial qualification he is required to meet. It is the first act of Christian obedience after one's profession, although one may have the opportunity to witness for Christ as Saviour before he is baptized.

Publications

Dr. Jackson was a prolific writer of books, pamphlets, tracts, news articles and study courses.