Grace Theological Seminary - Xapis / Grace Yearbook (Winona Lake, IN)

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PAGE 10 were ‘men of education, who had their minds trained in some of the best universities of Europe, and some of them were themselves instructors in universities. They could read the Scriptures in the original language in which they were written and could give an unbiased translation of them in the language of the common peo- plesGees During their first 150 years in this country, Brethren congregations spread through various Eastern States, and after the Civil War to IIli- nois and west of the Mississippi River. Through these years of pioneering movement and settlement many changes took place. By the middle of the 19th century a reactionary type of leadership had arisen, stressing conformity to traditional customs of dress, a legalistic view of salvation, the authority of church conferences over the local congregations, and op- position to educational and mission- ary activities. Resisting this leader- ship and its reactionary policies, many of the Brethren joined in what became known as the “Progressive” movement, which paved the way for the division of 1882 and the subse- quent organization of the leading ‘Progressives’ in a separate body legally chartered under the name “THE BRETHREN CHURCH.” Fol- lowing this division the remaining group, spoken of as the “Conserva- tives,’ took as their name “The Church of the Brethren” (3). From the standpoint of education, the division of 1882 had salutary ef- fects in both of the resulting organiza- tions. On the one side, the leaders of the newly formed Brethren Church were now free to carry out their “pro- gressive’ ideals and policies, includ- ing education for the church and its ministry. On the other side, within the original body, the powerful influ- ence of the “progressive’”’ movement, the shock of the division itself, aided by efforts of those “‘progressives’’ who remained in the “conservative” group —all combined to stimulate greatly the educational interests and activ- ities of the Church of the Brethren. The passing of the years, however, has widened tremendously the theo- logical chasm between the education- al leadership of the Church of the Brethren and that of the Brethren Church as represented by Grace The- ological Seminary. The former “con- servatives” of 1882 have become the theological liberals of today, so that they find themselves at home in the modernistic National Council of Churches, while Grace Theological Seminary and its supporting churches stand unreservedly for all the great historical and Biblical truths of Chris- tian faith as opposed to the modern negations of so-called “liberal Chris- tianity.” II. Theological Education at Ashland College to 1930 Ashland College had been founded at Ashland, Ohio, in 1878 by a group of Brethren including both “progres- sives’ and “conservatives.” Appar- ently its original plan of organization did not contemplate any special de- partment for the training of minis- ters. However, due to financial diffi- culties and a receivership, its owner- ship passed in 1888 to a group of leading men belonging to the recently

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The Background and Origin of Grace Theological Seminary By President Alva J. McClain It has been said, with some degree of justification, that Grace Theolog- ical Seminary under its present name was born out of theological conflict. But the school owes nothing to the conflict except its external form. Its definite Christian faith and educa- tional ideals are matters which great- ly antedate the form. And these are the important things. Therefore, this account will be concerned mainly with historical background and or- igins. Elsewhere in this publication Dean Herman A. Hoyt is presenting a rather complete academic history of the school. I. The Brethren Church and Education. The Brethren movement began in 1708 in Germany under the leader- ship of Alexander Mack, a well-edu- cated and Bible-loving Calvinist, who with others of similar inclinations felt that the Reformation in Europe had not brought the church entirely back to its original apostolic purity in faith and life as founded by the Lord Jesus Christ. These Brethren began their organization as a distinctively “Bible” church, accepting the Holy Scriptures as the fully inspired and inerrant Word of God which, literally inter- preted, was the only infallible rule of faith and practice. Standing boldly for the complete separation of church Dr. McClain in his office. and state, they quickly became ob- jects of persecution. In 1719 they began emigration to America and within a few years the entire membership had come to this country. Here they found refuge un- der the protection of William Penn, and founded their first congregation at Germantown, Philadelphia, where later one of their number, the famous Christopher Sower, established a large printing plant, printed many books, published a paper, set up the first type foundry in America, and brought out his celebrated “Sower Bible,’ now a collector’s item (1). According to Dr. S. Z. Sharp, first president of Ashland College, the early Brethren leaders of that day PAGE 9

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organized Brethren Church. On Aug- ust 29 of that year a new charter was drawn up and filed. The first two articles of its constitution definitely provided that “the training of suit- able men for the ministry of the Gos- pel shall always be sacredly regarded as one of the main objects of this institution”; and also that “in order to accomplish the objects of this in- stitution, such instruction shall be given as is usually embraced in the course of colleges or universities and theological seminaries in this and other countries” (4). Although it is clear that the con- stitution now provided for the inclu- sion of theological education in the activities of Ashland College, it was not until 1906 that the Bible depart- ment was designated as a “seminary,” under the leadership of the late Dr. J. Allen Miller as its dean (5). It should be understood that this work was not on a graduate level. The ministerial students spent 4 years in the college majoring in Theology and Bible, re- ceiving the Bachelor of Arts degree at graduation. Later, this degree was more specifically designated as an “A. B. in Divinity.” This arrangement continued until the year 1930, which marks the actual beginning of the school now operating under the name “Grace Theological Seminary.” This plan followed until 1930 at Ashland College was not unusual in the ear- liest years of American theological education. The establishment of the- ological faculties and curricula on a graduate basis was a later develop- ment in many institutions. From the beginning in 1882 of “The Brethren Church,” its leaders laid great stress upon the matter of an educated ministry, as opposed to the tradition of the church from which they had separated. Since the educational facilities of the new church were so limited, numbers of ambitious young men went to univer- sities and theological schools outside the church, where they imbibed the current “liberal” religious views of the day. From among these men there arose a “liberal” movement in the Brethren Church. Dr. J. L. Gillin, whose advanced studies had been taken at Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary (New York), may be re- garded as the leader of this “liberal” movement. For many years the pro- fessor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin and a recognized au- thority in his field, and also an or- dained minister of the Brethren Church, Dr. Gillin exercised a pro- found influence on some of the younger ministers. He had been president of Ashland College from 1907 to 1911, and for many years the most influential member of its board because of his prominence in the field of higher education. It is not surpris- ing, therefore, that this “liberal” ele- ment of the church found its center at Ashland College. The height of its power was reached in the years 1914- 21, when more than once it was able to control the General Conference. At one conference, about the year 1914, Dr. Gillin seriously proposed that “religious experience” be substi- tuted for an “infallible Bible” as the true basis of Christian authority. In another address, at the General Con- ference of 1915, Dr. Gillin indicated his complete indifference toward the fundamental truth of the deity of PAGE 11