A s I assume the position of Presi dent of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Incorporated, I am profoundly aware of the tremendous responsibility which accompanies this high honor. The thought of this re sponsibility is well-nigh overwhelm ing. Personal acquaintance with this great institution dates as far back as 1918, when it was my privilege to attend services here and to become more or less acquainted with its great leaders during those years. I think back with sincerest appreciation and greatest respect upon the lives of such men as Mr. Lyman Stewart, Dr. T. C. Horton, Dr. R. A. Torrey, Dr. John Hunter, Dr. John Hubbard, all of former generations here at the Bible Institute and each of whom, along with a host of those great de fenders of the faith too numerous to mention, have given of their time, talents, and lives in order that this “ school of the prophets” might con tinue its testimony to the glory of God. Great Spiritual Giant Of course in more recent years there is but one man who has be come the embodiment of all for which the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and its related schools stand. His name is known and honored across the land. He has consistently stood head and shoulders above his contemporaries as a great spiritual giant of the faith and one who has probably been more widely used of the Lord than any other man of his generation. I refer to Dr. Louis T. Talbot. It is with a sense of regret that I come to this hour because it means a change in administrative responsibilities for both Dr. Talbot and myself. However, we are not thinking of Dr. Talbot stepping down in any way whatsoever; instead, in a very definite sense, we are thinking of him as enlarging his sphere of influence, both in the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the interests of this school to which he has con tributed so many of the very best years of his life. And if the Lord tarries, it is my own desire and pur pose that we do everything possible to enable Dr. Talbot to remain active in behalf of the Bible Institute as long as his health permits. In re lieving him of distractive details and allowing him the freedom of influence
and expression which comes through his public ministry, I verily believe that we are rendering the Christian public a tremendous service. Thinking back over years gone by, and recognizing the outstanding work which these great warriors of the Christian faith have contributed to their generation, I say all honor to them. They finished their course here, they kept the faith, and on the part of those who have already gone to Glory they have received their reward. Surely the Lord raised them up to serve Him in their generation; but their generation is past. We are living in an entirely different day, and we must endeavor to serve our generation as effectively as possible, even as they served theirs. Onr Undivided Attention “ Christian education in the world today” commands our undivided at tention and the very best spiritual, intellectual, and financial resources t}iat we have at our disposal. To say that we are living in a different era from that which existed even ten or fifteen years ago is to make a rather trite statement. However, the truth of the statement is perfectly clear to those who are in any way aware of the academic strides which have been taken in the educational world during these recent years. To try to conduct an institution of this type today with the same curricu lum, the same methodology, the same approach, as that which prevailed a generation ago would mark this school as being quite outdated and rather hopelessly behind the times. The armed forces statistics revealed the fact that between World War I and II the educational level of the American public was raised by four years of educational training. Where as in World War I the average serv ice man had only grammar school education, it was revealed that the average training for service men in World War II included four years of high school. In other words, the American public had been trained four years more in school in 1941 than was the case in 1917.
It is well-known, of course, that since the close of World War II, millions of veterans have been trained in institutions of higher learning so that the best available statistics re veal the fact that the average male of today has received not only four years of high school training but has gone on to at least two-and-a-half or three years of college training. We conceive it to be the duty of this institution to train young people to meet the needs of the present day. It is our conviction that these needs could not possibly be met with the same amount of training that was offered here a generation ago. In other words, it has become necessary for us to step up our academic train ing at least to equal the present-day needs and, by way of anticipation, we would add to those, needs the training which we believe will be necessary during the next 10 or 15 years. We would add this training in an effort to thoroughly equip our grad uates to be the spiritual leaders dur ing the next generation. It is grossly unfair to ask young people to come to a school such as this and then to provide them with incomplete train ing and send them out into a world of intellectually and educationally equipped community leaders. Inevi tably, our graduates would suffer by comparison in such an environment and they would be unable to repre sent adequately our Lord Jesus Christ. The proclamation of the gos pel deserves the very best that we have, the very best that we are, and the very best that we can provide; and this includes the training which we offer students who come to these sanctified halls of learning. Noteworthy Expansion The Bible school movement has de veloped and expanded in a most note worthy manner during the past forty years. When the Bible Institute of Los Angeles was incorporated in February, 1908, there were only two or three other schools of a similar nature then in existence. It was established primarily to train laymen in the Word of God and to develop them in the things of the Spirit. In those days there were a num ber of Christian liberal arts colleges in existence which provided training of a collegiate caliber and at the same CONTINUED 13
By S. H. Sutherland, D.D. President Bible Institute of Los Angeles
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