Western Seminary
Evangelical theological seminary

Western Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary with campuses in Portland, Oregon and San Jose, California. Western Seminary also has online-only degrees and programs and offers cohorts at partner churches around the U.S.
History
Portland Baptist Bible Institute was organized in the winter of 1925 through the work of Walter B. Hinson. In the following year, further efforts were begun to establish a graduate-level seminary to provide a theological education of greater depth in the Northwestern United States. The Western Baptist Theological Seminary was officially dedicated on October 4, 1927.
The board acquired the Philip Buehner House, now Armstrong Hall, and 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land on the west slope of Portland's Mt. Tabor in 1944. Additional structures were built and classes convened at the new site in the fall of that year. The Portland campus continues to operate at this site at the crest of the Hawthorne District.
The Western Baptist Theological Seminary became Western Seminary. Western Seminary has opened several extension campus locations in the Western United States.
The public source identifies “Western Seminary” as evangelical theological seminary. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Western, Seminary and Evangelical.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Western Seminary”, the useful work is to connect “evangelical theological seminary” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7988285. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1925, 1927 and 1944.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Western Seminary”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Western Seminary primary sources, Western Seminary archive and Western research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Western Seminary”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Western Seminary” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.