John W. Leedy, professor of botany, joined the faculty of Wheaton College in 1937. His father, John W., had joined in 1929. In 1932 father and son journeyed to the Black Hills of South Dakota, discovering a beautiful spot which they would later recommend to the head of the chemistry department as an excellent location for an off-site lab and camp. Since 1935 the Black Hills Science Station has offered facilities for courses in astronomy, biology, zoology and ecology.

Dr. John W. Leedy was also known for his excellent, hands-on instructional skills, receiving the Teacher of the Year Aware for 1970. He supervised student crews, planting flowers beside walks and drives. Leedy also presented exotic foods to his classes and guided a well-attended tour through the campus, exposing his students to edible plants growing on or near the Wheaton College property. Under his expert tutelage the noon hour was known as “Lunch with Leedy.” He died in 2005.

Twenty years ago, the Wheaton Alumni magazine began a series of articles, titled “On My Mind” in which Wheaton faculty told about their thinking, their research, or their favorite books and people. Associate Professor of Theology Emeritus, Donald Max Lake (who taught at Wheaton from 1970-2000) was featured in the Autumn 1994 issue.

After having taught at Wheaton for almost 25 years, I almost always have students in my classes who are children of some of my former students from the early 1970s. I’m never sure what reaction I’ll get from these young people. The fact that their parents did not warn them against taking my classes is encouraging.

As I personally look back over almost 30 years of being at Wheaton, both as a student and now as a faculty member, I sometimes ask myself, What did I remember from my classes? From our days as students, we often remember some irrelevant point like the prof wasn’t very good at spelling on the blackboard, or she never wore blue, or he overused the expression, “It is a well- established fact.”

Few of my professors, either from undergrad or grad school, truly stand out. And as I reflect upon the courses I took as a student, the content is a blur. So then, what is teaching? And what is learning?

One answer to these questions has to do with an over-used word: integration! For many years now, we’ve repeatedly emphasized the “integration of faith and learning.” There is, however, a much more powerful and pertinent use of this term: learning as integration. Although I’m only a novice at the discipline of psychology, I’m convinced that one of the major functions of the brain and the mind, or the self, is the ability to integrate all we see and hear. I rarely know what is going on the the minds of my students as I lecture or have them view a video. But for those who are awake, I know that a process is taking place in which ideas, facts, and perspectives are being integrated. (I often tell my students that one of the most profound things Siddhartha Gautama, known as Buddha, ever said was, “I am awake!”) Like the dairy process of homogenizing milk, learning is a also a process of homogenizing the style and personality of a professor as well as the content of the course and the subject matter with the student’s being.

That students may not recall a single lecture or a specific text or even a key idea from a course should not surprise us. Forgetting is one of the most troubling but most valuable dimensions of our selves. One can only carry so much baggage! On the other hand, a powerful process has occurred: the mind, the self, has integrated each new course into what is becoming a person or a new being. Parents notice these changes in dramatic and subtle ways. And as a parent, part of me wants my children to ever remain the same, and yet I know that change is the heartbeat of life. And so coupled with integration is the vital result of all learning: change.

So now as I approach each new year and each new class, I keep asking myself, How do I want to change these students? And I keep challenging them to ask themselves, What am I becoming? How have I changed as a result of this course? Facts and ideas are vital to this changing process; however, it is possible to look at learning as only the recall (a kind of Platonic view of education) of information and for the sake of the test, a regurgitation.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the educational process as being not only change but also character-formation. I am concerned that those of us who work in Christian higher education have allowed the world, the educational world, to set the agenda for us. Accreditation associations have a way of forcing all institutions into a rather conformist mold. But the call of Jesus to make disciples, and the Biblical teaching that “we shall all be conformed to the image of Christ” challenges me to think of my teaching more as forming character than in teaching a subject or better yet “teaching students.” Those who have studied Jesus’ message and methods are convinced that he was a master Teacher, but Jesus was very much a nonconformist and he often dared to challenge the status quo.

This December, as I complete 25 years teaching at Wheaton, I am grateful to God. I cannot think of any place on this planet where I would have rather spent the past 25 years. I never dreamed, as a green Missouri farm boy, when I first stepped foot on Wheaton’s campus in September 1955, that someday I’d be on the faculty. Professors including Gerry Hawthorne, Ed Hollatz, and Kenneth Kantzer made a lasting impression on me–they changed me!

How did your years at Wheaton change you?

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Dr. Lake graduated from Wheaton in 1959 as a Bible major, took his M.A. in 1960 in New Testament theology and earned his Ph.D. in historical theology at the University of Iowa (1967). Don and his wife, Kristen, have three sons and one daughter. At the time of publication, Dr. Lake contributed several articles to encyclopedias and books, and was a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, as well as the American Academy of Religion. In addition to his teaching, he served pastorates in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois and also directed a unique Christian housing program knows as King’s Partners International.

Twenty years ago, the Wheaton Alumni magazine began a series of articles, titled “On My Mind”, in which Wheaton faculty told about their thinking, their research, or their favorite books and people. Professor of Bible Emeritus James Julius Scott, Jr. (who taught at the Wheaton Graduate School from 1977-2000) was featured in the Summer 1994 issue.

He was already in his forties when first we met. It was only years later that I, his first born, became increasingly aware of his person, manner, and habits which by then were well set. There was one custom, discipline call it what you will–which remains my earliest conscious memory of him, Every morning he was somewhere in the house reading from that black, leather-covered Book.

He was not a “reader” of a wide range of literature. His business and his farm, but especially his family and church, occupied virtually all of his time. His personal time was spent with that Book. He had not finished college, he had no special training in his particular field, and certainly never had a formal academic course in Bible or theology. But he knew that Book, from Genesis to Revelation.

Although somewhat quiet and unassuming, he was recognized as a leader in his profession, community, and Christian circles. I came to realize, probably often subconsciously, that he approached all of life under the influence of that Book. Underlying principles had seeped into his life and thought from that Book with which he had saturated himself. He ran his home, business, and all other affairs on those principles. It was the basis of his life and a major reason for his success.

The old man gave the “Charge to the Minister” when his eldest son was ordained to the ministry. As far as I know, it was his one formal statement about that Book.

I charge you to preach the Word, to preach the written Word…From my observations as a layman, it seems to me that an alarming number of false prophets have arisen today in our churches and institutions of learning…Beware of false prophets who are teaching and preaching only those things which suit themselves. Guard carefully your relationship to the Scriptures. They are your authority…Remember, Jesus never questioned any…portion of the Scripture, and you can trust his judgment.

I further charge you never to fail to declare the whole counsel of God which is contained in the Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments, and to avoid the pitfall into which many have fallen, thinking that there are some portions of the Scriptures that are no longer relevant.

There it is, his attitude toward the Bible. It is the Christian’s authority because it was Jesus’ authority. It is the whole Bible to which the Christian is to be committed, and it has continuing relevance. There was something else, between the lines, both written and lived. He loved the Bible because through it he had come to a knowledge of and a life-long, life-controlling commitment to and love for the God of the Bible.

Not long after my ordination, I came to realize that in spite of extensive training, I simply did not know my Bible, at least not in the way Daddy did. Something was missing. Perhaps without being aware of his influence, I set myself upon an intensive program. In spite of the demands of a full-time pastorate, I read through the Bible, consecutively, seven times in the space of two years. Something changed; I began to get the “big picture”; long-familiar parts began to fit into the whole. Saturation and a new foundation for life began. Ideas, teachings, and attitudes became susceptible to reevaluation of a growing familiarity with “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). To this day the discipline of “reading in big chunks” continues to be an essential, necessary part of my daily training and devotion.

The Bible and the areas of technical study and interpretation of it are the focus of my day-to-day responsibilities at Wheaton. My training focuses on the academic study of the text, languages, literary features, historical world of the Bible, and the development of Christian thought and history which are related to it. I must deal also with controversies, both old and new, which relate to this material. I am thoroughly convinced of the importance and relevance of this study, not only for the specialist, but also for the knowledgeable Christian who must live in the modern world.

I must frankly acknowledge that the irresponsible use of my discipline has too often subverted the spiritual realities which I know lie behind the Bible and Christian experience. Academic biblical and theological studies can easily degenerate into catalysts for skepticism and cynicism. The ill-informed or malicious use the academic study of the Bible to create stumbling blocks, to dampen zeal, quench the Spirit, or destroy faith for the naive, immature believer.

This, I am convinced, is not inevitable. On the contrary, the comprehensive, systematic, evaluative study of the Bible and the Christian faith can and should result in increasing knowledge, maturing faith, strengthening commitment, and developing spiritual discernment. It is an important component of that teaching which trains in righteousness, reproves and disciplines in order that one may be “complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17). It is the basis for that type of Bible-centered world-and-life view that Wheaton sees as essential for consistent Christian work in each academic discipline and for balanced Christian living.

I keep asking myself, what do I really want for my students? Three things. First, that they will come to know the Bible itself, its content and approach, and especially its “big picture.” I can only help them by pointing out the general overview, the events, people, and major teachings of the Bible. I can then encourage them to seek to fill in that outline with the type of disciplined, consistent reading and study exemplified in my father’s life. Through that, I am convinced, can come the type of life-controlling saturation which was his throughout his pilgrimage.

Secondly, I want my students to love the Bible. Again, I can’t make them do this; but I try to share my love of it with them. We must keep all things in proper perspective; Bible study is not an end in itself. And so, third, more than anything, I want and pray that my students will have a growing knowledge of, commit to, and to be lost in love for the Once of whom the Bible speaks.

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The following statement was included at the time of publication: Since 1977, Dr. J. Julius Scott, has taught at the Wheaton College Graduate School. He received a B.A. from Wheaton College in 1956, a B.D. (the equivalent of the M.Div.) from Columbia Theological Seminary in 1959, and a Ph.D. from the University of Manchester in 1969. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. Prior to teaching at Wheaton, Dr. Scott was a professor of religious studies at Western Kentucky University from 1970 to 1977, and professor of Bible at Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi, from 1963 to 1970. Dr. Scott has authored numerous articles, and he is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, the Evangelical Theological Society, the Institute for Biblical Research, and the Chicago Society for Biblical Research. In the summers of 1984 and 1989 he taught the Wheaton in Israel (Holy Lands) program, and last year (1993) he received the Senior Teacher of the Year award. He has been on sabbatical for the 1993-94 academic year in North Carolina, reading and writing about New Testament theology. Dr. Scott and his wife, Florence, live in Wheaton and have three grown children.

“The Attic” was one of the many off-campus housing options in which students resided during their years at Wheaton College. From the beginning of Wheaton and into the 1940s, the majority of students at Wheaton College and the Academy rented rooms in private homes.

712 Howard was such a home. Known as “The Attic,” this home was owned by the Hansen family from 1940 to 1943. Built in 1931 the home served as the residence for Billy Graham during his junior and senior years (1941-1943). During this time he lived with Lloyd and Albert Fesmire, Don Brown, and the Hansen’s son, Ken. Hansen later went on to be the chairman and chief executive officer of the ServiceMaster company, a company that grew to over $500 million in revenues under his leadership. He also served as a trustee of Wheaton College.

Though living quarters were likely more cramped, living within the nature setting of a home likely had its benefits. However, whether students stayed in College-owned or private homes, they were under the same regulations. Consultation with the Deans was a prerequisite for engaging any rooms. It was a system of the College being “in place of the parents,” while in school at Wheaton.

Twenty years ago, the Wheaton Alumni magazine began a series of articles, titled “On My Mind”, in which Wheaton faculty told about their thinking, their research, or their favorite books and people. Professor Emeritus of Bible and Theology Walter Elwell (who worked at Wheaton from 1975-2003) was featured in the Winter 2003 issue.

As an undergraduate student at Wheaton more than 40 years ago, I felt something of a call to the mission field—first as a medical missionary and then as a Wycliffe translator. Neither of these materialized, and instead I pursued an academic career in New Testament studies.

I was never sure why the Lord led me in another direction rather than to the mission field, where I felt the need was so great and the laborers so few. I prayed about that over the years, but nothing seemed to take any particular shape in my mind.

Then, in 1989 to 1991, the Soviet Union fell and that part of the world opened up to missionary work from the West. By that time, urgent stirrings had arisen in my heart, and in a wonderful moment it all became clear—Eastern Europe was in desperate need of guidance and help at the academic level to train people for the next generation of leadership. More than two generations had been lost and there was no time to lose; cults and charlatans were trying to take advantage of the surging spiritual hunger in that part of the world.

God then answered my prayer of 40 years earlier, directing me to a ministry of training young Europeans academically for leadership in the church and the preaching of the Gospel.

Almost immediately after the fall of Communism, the Graduate School inaugurated a program of on-and off-campus training for these East Europeans. Other Wheaton professors and I made numerous trips to all parts of the former Soviet Union to teach in seminaries, help establish M.A. and Ph.D. programs, visit refugee camps, and sometimes (literally) walk through mine fields to reach the schools and churches where we were speaking.

Since these East Europeans also needed relief from their often oppressive situations, the Graduate School also established a six-week tutorial for scholars and educators from the former satellite nations. We bring anywhere from 15 to 25 participants (free of cost to them) for intensive personalized training in an area of study they have selected. While here, they are assigned a faculty mentor, make field trips to view local ministries, attend seminars, hear a series of speakers, and also work in their chosen area of interest.

In the last eight years, more than 90 scholars from 13 different countries have participated in the program. As a result, over 15 books have been written, eight Ph.D. degrees have been earned, and numerous other goals have been accomplished—from establishing children’s ministries to running a school. All this has been a great blessing to us, and we solicit your prayers on our behalf.

How could anyone have guessed at the height of the Cold War that someday the Iron Curtain would be removed and teacher/administrators would be needed to rebuild what had been torn down, seemingly for all time? But God knew. And in His time, he directed me, and others, to prepare for it.

What a blessing to follow the Lord, even when the way is unclear. For as William Cowper said, “He will make it plain.” It is testimony to the grace of God and the mystery of His ways that this door has opened and Wheaton has been enabled to step into the gap.

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Walter A. Elwell, born 1937 in Florida, is an evangelical theologian and noted editor of several evangelical standard reference works. He is professor emeritus of Bible and Theology at Wheaton College where he taught from 1975 to 2003. Elwell earned his B.A. ’59 and M.A. ’61 from Wheaton College. He then attended the University of Chicago and University of Tubingen before earning his Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh. He has been a consultant to both the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and the Evangelical Book Club, and a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, Institute for Biblical Research, Evangelical Theological Society, and Chicago Society of Biblical Research.

The following article describing how DeWitt Whistler Jayne ’36 shaped the development of the Wheaton College art department in its formative years was featured in the Wheaton College Alumni Magazine in Spring 1994 and is transcribed below.

A Brush with Reality
by Lynette Hoppe M.A. ’90

Art has almost always been included in the curriculum of Wheaton College. In 1862, the list of college faculty included Miss Emma Strong, teacher of French and drawing. The catalogue of 1866 offered “Drawing and Gymnastics at a moderate charge” to young women enrolled in the Ladies Department. These early efforts at teaching art look suspiciously like something from a Jane Austin novel, where art is seen as a necessary component in “finishing” young ladies properly. Nonetheless, as Wheaton College grew from a fledgling institute to a more established college, courses in art began to find a regular place in the academic program.

One of the persons who helped shape the future of art at Wheaton was alumnus DeWitt Whistler Jayne. Immediately after graduating in 1936, Jayne began as an art instructor at the College, and served in that capacity until 1946. During his tenure, Jayne developed a full art curriculum, helped to formulate the College’s philosophy of art, and in himself brought to the department outstanding abilities in painting and drawing.

Born in Boston on September 18, 1911, to DeWitt Clinton and Ruth Whistler Jayne (Yes, he is a first cousin thrice removed of James McNeill Whistler), DeWitt Jayne grew up with a love for drawing and painting. His love of the sea began early as well, and while still a youth, he began to assemble what became one of this country’s most comprehensive resource files on old sailing ships. He also spent many years studying ships under sail and visiting the world’s great historical ports and harbors.

Jayne began his formal art education at the Philadelphia Museum’s School of Art, where he studied under the first-generation students of the great American illustrator, Howard Pyle. Here Jayne encountered an intense attention to correct detail and a passion to put drawing before all else. This shaped Jayne’s impressive ability to accurately capture a scene and its crucial elements. Such visual mastery combined with DeWitt’s love of the sea made him “one of those rare artists who can accurately depict the rigging of great sailing ships.”

From the School of Art, DeWitt Jayne went to Wheaton College, where he received a bachelor of science degree. Post-graduate studies were conducted at the University of Chicago and at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his master of arts in 1962. He also spent two years studying in the studio of Allen Lewis, National Academician, the majority of whose works are now housed in the Wheaton College Special Collections, thanks to a generous donation from Jayne himself, who is a nephew of this master.

After leaving Wheaton, Jayne became studio manager and art director for various advertising and design firms. In 1962 he joined the faculty of California State University, Sacramento, teaching for 15 years before retiring as professor emeritus in humanities.

Among Jayne’s many achievements are commissioned portraits of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Harry Byrd, Fulton Lewis, Jr., and Norman Tallmedge. He also painted numerous faculty portraits for Westminster, Covenant, and Fuller Seminaries including that of Carl F.H. Henry ’38. In addition, he painted portraits of several of the Wheaton College’s own presidents — James Oliver Buswell, Jr., whose portrait hangs in the Heritage Room, Edman East Wing; and Hudson T. Armerding, whose portrait is in the building named in his honor, Armerding Hall.

DeWitt Jayne also spent many years as a freelance book and magazine illustrator and was extensively involved in national advertising through various agencies.

After 50 years of rigorous and continual painting and drawing, Jayne has become an acknowledged master of realistic works of the sea, sailing ships, and genre. In the 1970s he began a new phase of his artistic career by turning to easel painting and the production of finished pastels. He continues this activity today at his home and studio in Santa Barbara. Jayne and his wife, Dorothy ’38, have traveled extensively to find subject material for his paintings and pastels.

At present, various pieces by DeWitt Jayne are on exhibit at the New Masters Gallery in Carmel, California, where he has been represented for 20 years. Works are privately owned by various individuals, including Billy Graham, Mrs. Harry Byrd, and the Honorable Herman Talmadge; and institutions, including Wheaton College, Westmont College, Covenant Seminary, Fuller Seminary, Westminster, and California State University, Sacramento.

“As a painter I think of myself as an illustrator who in my visual statement is concerned with what may be only a momentary glimpse of external reality in space and time,” says Jayne. “I love the play of light on figures and take a keen delight in the shimmer of light on water — a further reflection of the beauty of God’s creation.”

“To this end I have employed the concept of the ultimate biblical statement that ‘God is my light’ in my recent work, an illustration of the text from the Gospel of Mark describing the Transfiguration of our Lord. I think this painting may be unique in its subject matter, and it well may be true that fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”

Twenty years ago, the Wheaton Alumni magazine began a series of articles in which Wheaton faculty told about their thinking, their research, or their favorite books and people. Professor Emerita of Communications Eleanor Paulson ’47 (who taught at Wheaton from 1952-1991) was featured in the Fall1992 issue.

Cicero described it as “the treasury and guardian of all things.” Shakespeare called it “The warder of the brain.” Charlotte Bronte wrote, “I prize her as my best friend.” The words of Mark Van Doren were, “It holds together past and present, gives continuity and dignity to human life. It is the companion, tutor, poet, library with which we travel.” These authors were referring to “Memory,” which serves to remind us of people, places and experiences we have encountered, and their significance in our lives.

Recently I attended my Wheaton College class reunion. We renewed friendships and shared memories of our college days: of first impressions of Wheaton, orientation and initiation by sophomores who required us to wear “dinks,” carry their hooks, and obey other commands. We remembered classes and special professors who challenged us with the excitement of learning. Beginning classes with devotions made a special impression on many of us.

In addition to classes and hours spent in the library there were trips to the Stupe, friendships to form, athletic events, dorm parties, Washington Banquets, and a Sneak” when we were seniors. We wore our Sunday best for dinner Friday evenings, and afterward attended Literary Society meetings. There were opportunities to be members of the many organizations on campus. Occasionally we took the “Aurora and Elgin” to Chicago, and Mrs. Smith, dean of women, reminded us that “Wheaton women wore hats and gloves.” A special time each day was the chapel service in Pierce. Dr. Edman, “Prexy,” spoke to us on such subjects as: “It’s Always Too Soon to Quit,” “Not Somehow, But Triumphantly,” “Don’t Doubt in the Dark What God Told You in the Light,” and the importance of living “For Christ and His Kingdom.”

Since graduation there have been additional memories added to my storehouse: teaching literature and speech to high school students in Almont, Michigan; teaching evening school at the Detroit Bible College; graduate work at Northwestern University, and then my return to Wheaton to teach. I shall never forget the beautiful spring day when I received a letter from Dr. Nystrom, chair of the speech department, inviting me to come to Wheaton to teach. That was a dream that came true!

For 39 years, I had the wonderful privilege of teaching Oral Interpretation of Literature, Speech for Teachers, Private Lessons, Public Speaking, and directing reading hours, recitals, and readers’ theater programs. I greatly enjoyed working with students in classes and programs, sharing their joys, their concerns, and their interests. They enriched my life in so many ways. In remembering the many students I had the privilege of knowing, I am reminded also of the many selections of literature we shared.

We experienced a sense of wonder as we read CS. Lewis’ “Creation of Narnia.”
We witnessed the transformation and joy of Scrooge as he discovered Christmas.
We shared the friendship between a little prince and a fox in the story by Saint-Exupery.
We shared in the adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh, Charlie Brown and his friends, the children in Narnia, Bilbo Baggins, and others.
We became immersed in discussions between the Karamazov brothers on the existence of God and immortality, Christ-like love, suffering, and forgiveness.
We accompanied Christian on his journey to the “Celestial City” in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.
We enjoyed the poetic expressions of Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, Frost, Hopkins, e.e. cummings, Madeleine L’Engle, Luci Shaw, and many others.
We empathized with the experiences of a vast array of characters.

When we read of Sydney Carton’s death for his friend, Charles Darnay, in Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, we were reminded of another death–for us–and of the words of Jesus, “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me shall never die.”

We shared the oral reading of God’s Word, realizing the importance of reading it well, and the need for careful preparation to understand meanings and communicate effectively literary genres, guidelines for living, promises, the majesty of God, and his great love for us.

As I remembered shared literary experiences, I was reminded of Fairlight Spencer’s words in Catherine Marshall’s Christy, “It’s today I must be livin”; and of Psalm 118:24, “This is the day which the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and he glad in it.” Memories “hold past and present together,” but each new day is a gift to be lived to the fullest. With retirement, I have opened a new chapter in my life, with many new opportunities and joys to he experienced. There is a time for remembering, and there is a time to enjoy new experiences.

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For 39 years Professor Emerita Eleanor Paulson taught Oral Interpretation in Literature and other communications courses, and directed reading hours, recitals, and readers’ theater programs at Wheaton College. In 1985, she was honored as Alumna of the Year for “Distinguished Service to Alma Mater.” She retired last spring (1991) and is now occupied with many new activities travel, volunteer work, Bible study, church work, speaking engagements and other opportunities for service, enrichment, and spiritual growth.

This interview with Dr. Billy Graham was conducted by Wheaton College student Steve Gieser in Houston, Texas. The interview was edited from two sessions and published in the February 5, 1982, edition of The Record, the campus newspaper.

What impressed you most about your academic experience at Wheaton?

Wheaton was a tremendous time of intellectual expansion for me. I had always failed pretty miserably in my studies during high school. I was academically unprepared for Wheaton, but I soon caught on and became absolutely fascinated with some of my courses. I don’t think there was a single course that I took at Wheaton that I didn’t like.

What were your favorite courses?

I really enjoyed anthropology courses. That was my major. The professor, Dr. Alexander Grigolia, was a Russian immigrant to Germany and had two Ph.Ds and an M.D. degree. He was probably one of the most brilliant professors in anthropology in the United States at that time. He was so absorbed in his subject that many times we would label him “the absent-minded professor.” These courses helped me in my world travels. I had no idea that the Lord was preparing me through these classes to learn to adapt to different tribal situations, different cultures, and different parts of the world that I was to preach to in the years to come.

What did you do besides study?

During my second year, on the recommendation of Dr. Edman, I became pastor of the Gospel Tabernacle. About 300 students and professors came every Sunday morning and evening. Dr. Edman had been the pastor. When he became the president of Wheaton College, he asked me to take over the pastorate. They paid me $15 a week, which was a big help to me in my schooling. I was also invited to preach here and there around the Chicago area. I even tried out for the wrestling team, but I failed. I was too busy. In addition to everything else, I worked on a truck for 50 cents an hour hauling furniture.

What advice would you give students who feel God is leading them into the ministry?

I think a solid grounding in Bible is very important. If you’re going to be a pastor, you need to know your tools. Most students who plan on being pastors go to seminary. And I would encourage them to do that.

Did you go to seminary?

No. That’s the reason I advise them to do that!

Looking back, do you wish you had gone?

Well, I think the Lord planned my life. If I had gone to seminary, I might have been put in a mold. Evangelists should have a little more flexibility. But, if I had done the choosing rather than the Lord, I would have gone to seminary. I think I did miss a great deal by not going. But I try to make it up in constant study and reading.

People often criticize Wheaton students for being “sheltered from the real world.” What do you think?

I would not categorically say that they’re too sheltered. It’s an individual thing. Wheaton, for many young people, is a transition period from what might have been a sheltered home to the real world. For others, the college is too sheltered. I think especially during the freshman and sophomore years there needs to be this transition period, because we’re really not yet adults in a sense, intellectually or emotionally, and I think this is where there needs to be guidance. In the Grecian days, one man would sit and teach with his pupils around him. It was the way that the teacher lived as much as what he taught his students. They were followers of a model. One of the things missing in modern education is this model of professors. Whether or not we are sheltered depends on the model that the faculty give the student. The responsibilty of a faculty member at a school like Wheaton goes far beyond just his ability to teach or his academic background, because the student is also watching how he lives. This makes a great impression on a student.

What are some of the most significant changes you have observed since your time here as a student?

Back in the forties, when I went to school at Wheaton, the mood of the day was that science was going to solve all of the problems of the world. The secular world almost worshiped at the shrine of science. Science has proven, on the one hand, to be a great and wonderful thing. On the other hand, because of man’s heart, it has proven to be a disaster. The age of technology has burst upon us with the blast of the atomic bomb. We can now destroy the world in just a couple of hours. We have the technological breakthrough just over the horizon that could bring paradise to earth. On the other hand, that same technology could bring hell to earth. Well, those thoughts were never in our minds when I was a student. We could get glimpses, but they were only glimpses. Today they are realities. I think we should be concerned about the arms race. I am glad to see President Reagan attempting to reduce arms with the Soviet Union. I think the people on this globe live in constant fear of nuclear war, especially in Europe. And I don’t blame them.

Do you think Christians should get involved in the prevention of nuclear arms?

Yes, I think we must speak out and make our voices heard. I’m not a pacifist, and I’m not for unilateral disarmament. I don’t believe America should tear up all of its arms. But I think we should talk with the Soviets on the destruction of nuclear arms. I don’t have too much hope that they’re going to reduce arms on either side. I think there must be a total destruction. But the possibilities of that are rather slim. The only person that is really going to answer this problem is the Prince of Peace. Still, in the meantime, we as Christians ought to pursue peace.

How should we do this? Should Christians try to influence politics?

Many religious groups have been active in politics for years. I think the Moral Majority has received a lot of publicity because it was really the first time conservatives became politically active.

Do you agree with the Moral Majority?

I don’t fault the Moral Majority for being political, but I don’t agree with the fact that I, as a Christian clergyman, ought to become involved in all these areas. We in the church should set moral guidelines for our leaders, and then let these situations be worked out in guidelines that are biblically based.

Did Wheaton shape any of your views of social action?

Yes. Going to Wheaton was a big turning point in my view on racism. Because when I studied the history of Wheaton, I began to realize that it was really started as an anti-slavery school. Jonathan Blanchard was very closely identified with the early American evangelist Charles Finney and the Beecher family in Boston. Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin) had a brother that was a member of the first graduating class at Wheaton. The first time I’d ever gone to school with blacks was at Wheaton. This opened my eye to the fact that we are all equal. So from the beginning of my ministry, I began to take a stand against racism which was very, very unpopular. In the early 1950s in the south, I came under severe criticism.

What would you like to see changed about Wheaton?

Well, I don’t know that much about Wheaton, and this is a terrible thing for a board member to say. First of all, I’m not very comfortable being on the board at Wheaton. I was asked by Dr. Edman. I loved and respected him so much that I accepted, with the understanding that I could rarely attend board meetings, and could not keep up with everything going on. And this has proven to be true. I feel that a board member at Wheaton ought to become involved far more than board members are involved now. I think we ought to note student feelings, and have discussions with students, have discussions with faculty members, and get the whole sense of Wheaton before we sit in a board meeting.

The press seems eager to find fault with you. What’s it like to be in the public eye?

I have to meet the press wherever I go. They’re coming to my home all the time. For instance, the other week, both CBS and ABC spent full days at my home filming. From the very beginning I’ve been in the press. And I’ve run scared. I’ve never lost my fears that I would say something wrong or do something that would bring discredit on the name of Christ. So many people that are in the public eye have what is called “foot-in-the-mouth disease.” It’s very easy to catch. The problem is that the press often misquotes what I say. I have to constantly think, how is this going to sound out of context? When I talk to a reporter, I have to keep in mind that I can never say anything “off the record.”

Over the years, you have been close friends with several of the presidents. What kind of relationship do you have with President Reagan?

We’ve been friends for over thirty years. I met him through his mother-in-law, Mrs. Davis. We were in Phoenix, and I was playing golf. Mrs. David came out on the course and asked if she could see me. So after the game, I went inside and she said she wanted me to meet her new son-in-law, who had just been married for about a year. I said, “Who is your son-in-law?” And she answered, “Ronald Reagan.” “Oh, you mean the film star?” She said, “Yes,” and introduced me to him. That fall in Dallas, Texas, he and I were co-speakers. We became friends then. Ruth and I have visited the Reagans many times at his home over the years. Of the presidents that I have known, like Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan, I was friendly with all of them before they became presidents. I met Nixon through his family. They came to nearly every evangelistic meeting held in southern California. One day I was eating with Senator Clyde Huey of North Carolina., and Senator Huey said, “There goes young Nixon from California.” I said, “Oh, I know his parents,” so he called Nixon over to our table. Nixon was very friendly and said, “I’m going to play golf and we need another partner.” So, that’s how I met him.

What do you do for relaxation?

I jog about two miles every day, even during crusades. At sixty-three, I think I’m in the best health that I’ve been in in my whole life. There’s nothing wrong with me anywhere, so far as I can tell. Except that I don’t have enough hours in the day!

In closing, what advice would you give us as students?

Well, I think the most important thing a person can get out of Wheaton is to develop habits of a devotional life of Bible study and prayer, because that will be your strength through all of your life.