Cincinnati Bible Seminary - Nautilus Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE TO THE CLASS OF 1946 President Ralph L. Records Swiftly the days have passed since you enrolled as Freshmen in The Cincinnati Bible Seminary. When you made out your first class schedule, your graduation seemed to be an event in the distant future. Now it seems but as yesterday that you began your life in a new and strange environment. Today, as you look back over these eventful years, you find them filled mostly with sun- shine, with only a few shadows that ac- centuate the beauty and brightness of the happy sunny days. During the years you have been with us we have grown to love you and have a deep interest in you, and you have become a part of the Seminary family. We have tried to put the best of our lives into you, and as you go to your various fields of labor you will express our ideals, hopes, and aims. These, modified by your own personality and mental alertness, under your initiative and zeal, will make you effective servants of Christ. A few days hence you will receive your degrees and diplomas, your Alma Mater’s recognition of your life and labor with us. As we give them to you, we will be filled with a sense of pride, as you will be so filled to receive them. We will feel also a great tenderness in our hearts because we know that you will be going out from us, and that we shall miss the joy of your daily smiles and greeting and the happy fellow- ship that has been a great inspiration to us. We will try to restrain the tears that come to our eyes as we say goodsye—as the fathers and mothers do when their sons march away under the spell of martial music to fight their country’s battles. These tears shall -evidence our love, our devotion to you, our hope for your fearlessness and faithfulness in the discharge of your dutics, and our unchanging friendship. It is entirely fitting, at such a -time, that we should direct to you some final words of encourag ment and instruction that will be helpful in the emergencies that will confront you, as well as in the less stirring times of your ministry. Since you began your college work a great war has been fought and won. The problems it brought challenged our civili- zation. The peace that has come has not solved these. problems, but brought addi- tional ones and thus increased our responsi- bilities. The enemy nations have been defeated and broken. They can not care for them- selves. The countries they ravaged are helpless. Millions face starvation. The cries of hunger, misery, and death fill these lands. These peoples must be fed and clothed, restored to health, and brought to Page Twenty-six

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a state where they can support themselves again. Not only is the physical distress follow- ing the war to be alleviated, but crime is rampant and must be suppressed. The military might of the nations has been over- come, but the spirit that led to war still lives in many hearts. Armies of occupa- tion must control and guide the conquered peoples until they will not make war again. Until they will not make war again! When shall that time be? Not until the spirit of greed and conquest, the lust of loot and power, and the bestial shall have been removed from human hearts. When shall that time be? Not until the Prince of Peace has come into the hearts of men. This will be your work—to bring to the peoples of the world a knowledge of the Prince.of Peace and his way of life. Only when the hearts and lives of men have been transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ may we expect a peaceful world. The power that transformed the militant, persecuting, murderous Saul of Tarsus into the right- eous, longsuffering, and gentle Paul, the apostle, can save this wicked world. The philosophies of the infidel, the ath- eist, the agnostic, the vaporings of modern- ists, liberal preachers and cults, only add confusion to a world already confounded and increase its woes and miseries. Thé social gospel venders tell suffering, dying humanity to be good, be sociable and clever, and lift themselves from the mire by their own strength. Minister to the body, they say; practice selfrighteousness and merit whatever good may come your way. There is no sin; therefore you do not need and there cannot be a Saviour. Save your- selves! Into such a world Jesus sent his dis- ciples, saying, ‘“‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in-earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’ Paul, echoing the spirit of the Great Commission, said, “‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jews first, and also to the Greek.” Members of the Class of 1946, if you are commissioned of the Lord to do any- thing, it is to preach the Gospel and teach the people whatsoever the Lord has com- manded. You are not sent to proclaim a “social gospel,” nor to minister primarily to the physical needs of humanity. All the good things relating to physical needs are supplied as a by-product of Gospel preach- ing and are loving expressions of the brotherhood of believers in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. When men accept the Prince of Peace as sovereign of heart and life, their natures will be transformed, crime will be destroyed, and the hungry will be fed and clothed. Here lies the only solution to the problems that confront the world. We hope and pray that you all may be faithful to Him who has called you in the proclamation of the Gospel—God’s solution for the problems of the world, and his way to peace upon earth and to the life eternal. We shall follow your ministries with deep concern, rejoicing in your victories, sharing in the sorrows of any trials you may undergo, always praying that the Lord will bless you and use you to the enlargment of his Kingdom. We will be glad when you can come back home for a little visit to refresh your souls and ours by Christian fellowship and the recalling of the happy experiences of your school days. If, in the Providence of God, you can never return to visit your Alma Mater, we shall expect you to keep faith with us, as we will with you, until we realize the goal of our common faith — eternal reunion in the land of endless day. “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” Page Twenty-seven