Robert Smith Jr. served as professor of Christian preaching at Beeson for more than 25 years and held the Charles T. Carter Baptist Chair of Divinity. Previously, he served as the Carl E. Bates Associate Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Smith is the 2017 E. K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference Living Legend. A popular teacher and preacher, he received Southern’s 1996 Findley B. Edge Award for Teaching Excellence. An ordained Baptist minister, he served as pastor of the New Mission Missionary Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio for twenty years. He earned his PhD while serving as a pastor. He is a contributing editor for a study of Christian ministry in the African American church, Preparing for Christian Ministry, and is co-editor of A Mighty Long Journey. Additionally, he has served as an editor of Our Sufficiency Is of God: Essays on Preaching in Honor of Gardner C. Taylor (Mercer University Press, Macon, Georgia: 2010) and Worship, Tradition, and Engagement: Essays in Honor of Timothy George (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2018). He has written the book, Doctrine That Dances: Bringing Doctrinal Preaching and Teaching to Life (B&H Publishing Group, Nashville: 2008), which was selected as the winner of the 2008 Preaching Book of the Year Award by Preaching magazine and the 2009 Preaching Book of the Year Award by Christianity Today’s preaching.com. In 2010, Preaching magazine named Doctrine That Dances one of the 25 most influential books in preaching for the last 25 years. He also has written The Oasis of God: From Mourning to Morning—Biblical Insights from Psalms 42 and 43. His latest book is Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary: Exalting Jesus in Joshua (B&H Publishing Group, Nashville). Smith has spoken at more than 135 universities, colleges and seminaries in the United States, Great Britain, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean. He has taught congregations in several countries including Greece, Turkey, Rome, the Holy Land and Switzerland. Smith brought the closing message of the 22nd Baptist World Congress/Baptist World Alliance, which was scheduled to be held in 2020 in Rio de Janeiro and transformed into a fully virtual event held on July 7-10, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His research interests include the place of passion in preaching, the literary history of African American preaching, Christological preaching and theologies of preaching. Smith has contributed essays and articles to various books, magazines and commentaries. He received Beeson Divinity School’s “Teacher of the Year Award” in 2005. He and his wife, Wanda Taylor-Smith, PhD, are the parents of four adult children (two in heaven).
Education
- MDiv, PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
- Doctor of Sacred Theology (Hon.), Temple Community Bible College
- Doctor of Divinity Honoris Causa, Newburgh Theological Seminary
- BS, Cincinnati Bible College
- AS, God's Bible College
Books
- Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary: Exalting Jesus in Joshua, B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, 2023
- The Oasis of God: From Mourning to Morning—Biblical Insights from Psalms 42 and 43
- Worship, Tradition, and Engagement: Essays in Honor of Timothy George, Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2018
- Our Sufficiency Is of God: Essays on Preaching in Honor of Gardner C. Taylor, Mercer University Press, Macon Georgia: 2010
- Doctrine That Dances: Bringing Doctrinal Preaching and Teaching to Life, B&H Publishing Group, Nashville: 2009
Awards
- E. K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference Living Legend, 2017
- Preaching Book of the Year Award by Christianity Today’s preaching.com, 2009
- Preaching Book of the Year Award by Preaching magazine, 2008
- Beeson Divinity School’s “Teacher of the Year Award," 2005
- Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's Findley B. Edge Award for Teaching Excellence, 1996
Research Interests
- The place of passion in preaching
- The literary history of African American preaching
- Christological preaching
- Theologies of preaching
