79 Upon receipt of Dr. Riley's private evaluation of the book, the Board appointed a Special Committee to look into the criticisms of it. Upon com- pletion of their study they were to communicate their finding to Dr ; ~=:Rrrey~-- -After considerable delay, Riley wrote the Chairman of the Board, "I have not received a communication from the Committee supposed to write me. I do not want to say one word to injure the Institute until I hear. I can't imagine any discerning man defending the book, and I have not up to this time, seen a discerning man do so." Riley indicated that he was not at all surprised to learn that the Sunday School Times had refused to publish a favorable review of the book, and that Dr. James M. Gray, President of Moody Bible In- stitute, had repudiated a statement attributed to him that Dr. Hacinnis "was offered a position at Moody after delivering a series of sermons based on the same material as that in the book." Dr. Riley warned the Biola Board that "The orthodox people will quit the School once for all if this philo- sophy is to be taught in it." After receiving a communication from the Special Committee which was rather supportive of the Dean, Dr. Riley wrote immediately to the Board, "It disappoints me beyond measure. I fear as I have never feared before for the future of the School." He could not understand how they could ignore the critical opinions of such men as T. C. Horton, Dr. R. A. Torrey, Dr. James M. Gray, Dr. Charles Trumbull, and many other reputable Bible scholars, who had reviewed the book and found faults in it. He warned the Board, "Ther is only one of two ways for the Institute to be saved, either the resignation and utter cessation of fellowship of Dr. Macinnis, or else the destruction of that book, and the writing of a statement that will clear the fundamental points, and affirmation of faith in that statement." Interestingly, this was the course eventually taken by the Board as a last resort, to deal with the problem and to salvage the School. From that point, Dr. Riley expressed his opinions of Dr. Macinnis' book
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