our country. The school was founded by Ebenezer Wheelock, an ordained clergyman, who wanted to establish a school where Indians of New Eng land could be trained in the truths of the Gospel. He was first president of Dartmouth from 1769 to 1779. His son followed until 1815. A later pres ident, at the school’s centenary cele bration, pointed out, “Dartmouth College was conceived in the fervor of piety, born in the throes of a great missionary zeal, dedicated at birth to Christ, cradled the first year in revival, and stands wedded to re ligion until death!” A still later pres ident, Nathan Lord, further declared, “We have based our entire philoso phy of life on the belief in the literal accuracy and inerrancy of the Holy Writ.” Of the first 15 classes gradu ating from Dartmouth, sometimes as many as five-sixths of the class en tered the ministry. By the mid- 1800’s, still nearly a quarter of its graduates went into the ministry. Says one of its historians, “The as tonishing thing was that of these preachers, graduating from 29 con secutive classes at Dartmouth, the majority were converted during their college years.” As late as 1886, the catalog of Dartmouth College includ ed the following statement, “A Bibli cal exercise, systematically arranged, is to be attended by each class on Monday morning. For the present, the subject in the Freshman year is the Historic Origin of the Bible; for the Sophomore year, New Testament History; in the Junior year, the Development of the Church as Ex hibited in the Acts of the Apostles; in the Senior year, Old Tesament History from the Creation to the En trance into Palestine (with special reference to inspiration and the his toric and scientific relations to the Holy Scriptures).” We will surprise no one by say ing that conditions in Dartmouth today are a far cry from those times. As a school of academic learning, it 7
he began to reign. However, in II Chronicles 22:2 it is recorded that he was 42 years of age when he as cended the throne. Which portion of Scripture is correct? Could it have been a human error on the part of the copyist? Without intention, in fact taking utmost care, such still occurred. The age given in II Kings 8:26 is in all probability the correct one. You might wonder why I cite these two alleged discrepancies. The rea son is simply to acknowledge that there are some minor problems to be faced. The Bible makes no attempt to gloss over what, on the surface, appears to be a contradiction. These problems are not new. They were faced by the early church fathers and reformers. Yet those men didn’t cast aside their belief in biblical inerran cy. No Christian need hesitate to accept, in its entirety, the Bible as the inspired and infallible revelation from God. It has been stated many times in different ways that the Bible needs no defense. As one giant of the faith said in illustration, “It’s not neces sary to defend a lion. Just simply release him and he’ll defend him self.” This, in some such manner, is true of the Bible; it needs to be released, read, preached, and taught. Frankly, it is disappointing to hear questions raised against Biblical in- erancy, voiced by men who are rec ognized Christian leaders. This is a graphic sign of the times in which we’re living. The Word of God is in destructible. Some years ago, Dr. Wilbur Smith published an article entitled, “The Need for a Vigorous Apologetic in the Present Battle for the Christian Faith.” He warned against an in different attitude toward antagonism to the Word of God. To illustrate the fearful consequences of such indif ference on the part of Christians, he related what had happened at Dart mouth, one of the great colleges of
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