Bryan College - Commoner Yearbook (Dayton, TN)

Page 7 text:

■i 7 T i Tl- ( r L He lacks reverence who believes that religion is unable To defend herself in contest with error. He places a low estimate upon the strength of religion, Who thinks that the wisdom of God Must be supplemented By the force of man ' s puny arm. c Love, not force, was the weapon of the Nazarene ; Sacrifice for others, not the exploitation of them, Was His method of reaching the human heart. If true Christianity consists in carrying out in our lives The teachings of Christ, who will say that we are commanded To civilize with dynamite and proselyte with the sword. If we were to refuse to eat anything Until we could understand ... its creation We would die of starvation — But mystery, it seems, never bothers us in the dining room ; It is only in the church that it causes us to hesitate.

Page 6 text:

' There was a family altar in our house And the children were brought up According to the strictest views On religious matters. My gratitude for such a home Increased with the years. To the young man who is building character I present the Bible as a book that is useful always . . It guides the footsteps of the young ; It throws a light upon the pathway in mature years ; It is the only b ook when the end is near.

Page 8 text:

We64ar e Awm ot March 19, 1946. Miss Elaine Kennard, Editor The Commoner William Jennings Bryan University Dayton, Tennessee Dear Miss Kennard: I am glad that you are paying special tribute in this year ' s Commoner to William Jennings Bryan as the Defender of the Faith. Many do not know that his Last Battle ' ' was but the culmination of a warfare for the faith carried on for several years before his death in Dayton. Many people know that he was mightily used of God, but do not know that he was definitely called of God. For several years Mr. Bryan pondered what was a God-given call to become the champion of the Defense of the Faith. Each week for five years five Godly ministers of Buffalo, New York, met for prayer, having as a special object of prayer that William Jennings Bryan would devote the remaining years of his life to the Defense of the Faith against the inroads of Modernism. Our friend, Dr. Ernest M. Wadsworth, Director of the Great Commission Prayer League, was one of these praying ministers ; the leader of the group was the Rev. Josiah H. Miller, Pastor of the Hedstrom Memorial Baptist Church of Buffalo. Finally, a former parishioner of the Reverend Mr. Miller sent a gift to him asking that he visit their family in Lincoln, Nebraska, where William Jennings Bryan was then living. Mr. Miller made the trip to Lincoln, being assured that the Lord would have him present the matter about which they had been praying to Mr. Bryan himself. Mr. Bryan considered the interview so important that he delayed a phone call from the President of the United States- for thirty minutes while they completed their discussion and joined in a dedicatory prayer. Mr. Bryan left that interview and prayer meeting no longer hesitant about God ' s call. He went forth The Defender of the Faith. Cordially yours in Christ, Judson A. Rudd. 4, The 1946 Commoner