FORT WORTH, Texas --Four professors have resigned from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

The faculty members who resigned were Bruce Corley, professor of New Testament; Stan Moore, professor of church music and acting dean of the school of church music; Bud Smith, professor of foundations of education; and James Spivey Jr., associate professor of church history and associate dean of the seminary's Houston extension campus.

Southwester Seminary President Patterson said that the faculty members had "given a number of years of service to Southwestern Seminary. For those years the trustees, administration, faculty and large numbers of students offer profound appreciation."

He also said that he wished the faculty members well "in every noble enterprise they attempt for Christ."

"Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary will continue to secure the brightest evangelical minds to fill these and other positions," Patterson said. "The men and women who comprise the faculty represent the unique combination of conservative evangelical scholarship and fervent evangelistic and missionary zeal."