Baptist History, Heritage & Distinctives – James P. Boyce Influence from Francis Wayland, Brown University – Part SIX of SEVEN

Influence from Francis Wayland, Brown University – Part SIX of SEVEN

THOMAS E KRESAL ADMIN JUNE 11, 2020

Baptist History, Heritage & Distinctives – James P. Boyce Influence from Francis Wayland, Brown University – Part SIX of SEVEN

His belief in the “continuous existence” of the Baptists from Christ to the present could not have been more unmistakably asserted. And this is one of the reasons why he wanted to establish a seminary, that men might be trained to defend that position. To this end he gave his noble life, and it would be enough to well-nigh cause the grand old man to turn over in his grave if he could know what efforts have been made, by those in authority, to destroy the very idea for which he gave his life, and to so change the purpose of the seminary as to make it stand for the exact opposite of what he intended.Dr. Boyce, in numerous private conversations, asserted that he got these ideas, which he gave in this remarkable address, from Pres. Francis Wayland, of Brown University. (See Broadus’ Memoir of Boyce, p. 142.) If this is true it follows that he was not alone in his orthodox Baptist position.It has been charged that there are some things in the Abstract of Principles of the Seminary which are not altogether in harmony with these ideas. While this has not been satisfactorily shown, yet, if it be granted to be true, it does not follow that Dr. Boyce did not hold these avowed positions, since Dr. Manly wrote this Abstract of Principles, and in as much as it was written at a time when all Baptists believed in the “continued existence” of Baptists from Christ, it may not be as guarded in its statements on this point as it might be.While connected with the Seminary he was pastor at different times of small country churches, as was his illustrious colleague, John A. Broadus. Although great in mental power and rich in purse, he was not above preaching the Gospel to the poor.Thomas E. Kresal from: Pillars of Orthodoxy, or Defenders of the Faith, pg. 92 by Ben Bogard, 1900https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3219247764793560&set=gm.1288955564632923&type=3&eid=ARDvdkFbcFis_oUw1cYNOwVjf8N_TgbrzMwl-i1xC1c3L_pfDnrN1ir9tbf8_aZjHYcM-_ZszfcZFR9B&ifg=1