Henry - A History of Biola University Since 1908

8·9 in it~ purpose. To the Dean's critics, it was weak in that it defended both his doctrinal views and his book. To his supporters, the statement smacked of an act of betrayal of the Dean. The last paragraph in the statement fo- . cused on the real problem, namely, the loss of income because of the issue. Unfortunately, after the Dean's resignation this matter became more acute, ir. that the friends of Macinnis now withdrew their support of the School. Reluctantly, the Board was forced to taken an entirely different stance on the controversial book than they had taken previously. However, they had no other option. Personalities and whims and fancies were no longer the problem. Now it was a question of whether or not Biola would survive. The Board finally realized that the supporters of Macinnis in the controversy, · were in reality, a small minority. They also realized that if Biola was to survive, it would have to rely upon its old friends and supporters, and that the Board had an obligation to do whatever was necessary to bring this group back into harmony and sympathy with the School. Fortunately, for Biola's sake, this new Board had the courage to take the necessary action to bring this about, inspite of their reluctance to do so. The new stance taken by the Board at its March meeting in 1929, was in the form of a Resolution: RESOLVED, that, having already removed from sale the circulation of the book, Peter, the Fisherman Philosopher, the Board of Directors of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles hereby declares that the book does not represent the thinking and teaching of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles." It should be noted that this is the first official repudiatior. of the Book by the Board of Directors. After passing the above Resolution, the Board prepared an important statement to be released to the public. It is summarized as follows: (1) they reaffirmed their belief in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity as set forth in the Biola Statement of Doctrine; (2) they recognized they had been in error in corrunending Dr. Macinnis' controversal book, and they

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