11 January 1817 A.D. Timothy Dwight Passes—Grandson of Jonathan Edwards & President of Yale College
Graves, Dan. “Yale Leader Timothy Dwight Died
in the Harness.” Christianity.com. Jun
2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/yale-leader-timothy-dwight-died-in-harness-11630378.html. Accessed 8 Jul 2014.
Once when young Timothy Dwight did not show up for
dinner, his parents went looking for him, fearing tragedy. They found him under
an apple tree, surrounded by Indians. Four-year-old Timothy was instructing the
American natives in the catechism. The boy, grandson of colonial preacher,
revival leader and educator Jonathan Edwards, would himself become a preacher,
an educator and revival leader.
When Timothy died on this date, January 11, 1817,
it was at New Haven, Connecticut. He had been there as President of Yale
College for more than twenty years. When Dwight became President in l795,
students and faculty had drifted far from the Christian
faith upon
which the college was founded. One Yale student, Lyman Beecher, reported that
the college was in a most ungodly state. The college church was neglected; the
students were wild and skeptical.
Timothy fired all of the faculty members who
favored the anti-Christian ideas of French rationalism. Subsequently, about one
third of the student body were converted to Christianity. What was the secret of his
amazing influence? For one thing, he answered skeptical ideas head on. His
first debate class asked for permission to argue the question "Are the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament the word of God?" This was against
college rules, but Timothy assigned the topic anyhow. Every student chose to
argue that the Bible was not God's word. With a devastating array of fact and
logic, Timothy shredded their arguments. He preached on the subject for six
months in the chapel (he also served as college chaplain), and lectured on
"Evidences of Divine Revelation."
Apologetics was but one of Timothy's lecture
series. He also taught ethics, literature, logic, metaphysics, oratory, and
theology. He did all this despite ill health and crippling migraine headaches.
As if that were not enough work for a sick man, he wrote articles and poems,
some of which exposed the errors of French rationalism. In addition, he wrote
hymns, including "I Love Thy Kingdom Lord."
I love Thy kingdom, Lord,
The house of Thine abode,
The church our blest Redeemer saved
With His own precious blood.
The house of Thine abode,
The church our blest Redeemer saved
With His own precious blood.
Under Timothy, Yale caught the spirit of the Second
Great Awakening. One tutor, writing how campus life had changed, said
"Yale College is a little temple. Prayer and praise seem to be the delight
of the greater part of the students..."
Today we see skepticism and moral error taught in
our colleges. If Yale President Timothy Dwight were living, he would likely
insist that faculty members, administrators, and students must make a personal
commitment to Jesus Christ and His commandments. Then higher education would
again mold honesty and character in the students who are tomorrow's business
and government leaders; and once again there might be a Great Awakening in
America.
Bibliography:
Based on
an earlier Christian History Institute story.
Bumsted,
J. M. "Dwight, Timothy." Encyclopedia of American Biography, edited
by John A. Garraty. New York: Harper and Row, 1974.
Fox,
Stephen. "Timothy Dwight." A Symposium on Spiritual Leaders. http://dylee.keel.econ.ship.edu/ubf/leaders/dwight.htm
Vaughn,
Zack. "Timothy Dwight." http://www.flash.net/~gaylon/tdwight.htm
Wells,
Amos R. A Treasure of Hymns; Brief biographies of 120 leading hymn- writers and
Their best hymns. Boston: W. A. Wilde company, 1945.
Last updated June, 2007
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