academics, pastors, and the layperson. His Basic Theology textbook was translated into twenty-one different languages and is used in Bible institutes, colleges, and seminaries around the world. THE PIONEER Ryrie wrote several works that blazed a new trail or met a pressing need, sometimes even before that need surfaced. Ryrie’s Ph.D. work on the subject of ‘women’s role in the church’ is a case in point. Ryrie’s Dispensationalism Today , written in 1965, was also a significant groundbreaking work that helped define the term ‘dispensationalism’ and respond to many false characterizations of it. It still is the go-to reference work on the subject. The Ryrie Study Bible is another example of work that set the stage and tone for generations to come. Ryrie wrote his Study Bible prior to the popularity of Study Bibles. THE APOLOGIST Ryrie became an able spokesperson and apologist of conservative evangelicalism in responding to the teachings of neo-orthodoxy and the inerrancy of Scripture. He became the defender of the historical understanding of women’s role in the church, wrote to guard against abuses of the Gospel, and became the capable representative of classic Dispensationalism. He also became an ardent defender of the plain/normal/literal interpretation of Scripture, which has a wide range of implications relating to creationism, Israel, the church, the covenants, and prophetic literature, just to name a few. THE ORDAINED MINISTER While Ryrie’s greatest influence was with the pen, he also had a substantial ministry in the pulpit of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, as well as an itinerate preaching/teaching ministry in various churches around the United States. Ryrie taught a Sunday school class of over 100. Before each quarter, he would also teach the curriculum to the other Sunday School teachers. At one point, he also conducted a service for teenagers who were in the ninth through twelfth grade. For a while, he was preaching to 200-300 teenagers every Sunday. Charles Caldwell Ryrie was indeed one of the most influential Theologians of the Twentieth Century. He was known as a careful and consistent interpreter of Scripture. He was an exegete that was honest with the text and humble in his presentation of it. He had great clarity and charity. He was a Theologian enamored by the grace of God and desired for the glory of God to be known by all. For these reasons and more, Charles C. Ryrie’s life and ministry are worthy of investigation and replication.
CHARLES RYRIE
TEACHING AT WORD OF LIFE BIBLE INSTITUTE
PAUL WEAVER (‘96 & ‘97) Appalachian Bible College Th.B.; Dallas Theological Seminary Th.M.; Nearing completion of PhD at Baptist Bible Seminary
Paul Weaver’s passion is to know and teach the Word of God. He grew up in a broken home and was invited to a Word of Life Bible Club. For the next six years Paul was active in Word of Life Clubs and attended the Word of Life Ranch and Island. It was during a week of camp on The Island that Paul felt God directing his steps to attend the Bible Institute before studying at a university. While at the Bible Institute, God called Paul into full-time vocational ministry. Paul, his wife, Jill Anne Weaver (’05 &’06), and their daughter, Caroline, moved to Schroon Lake in the fall of 2016. Paul is the International Faculty Coordinator and the Associate Academic Dean at the Word of Life Bible Institute. In addition to teaching in Bible Institute classrooms around the world, Paul also has an extensive writing ministry. For more information on Paul’s books, you can visit his website PAULDWEAVER.COM/BOOKS .
Charles Ryrie Tribute 13
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