11 October 1930 A.D. Rev. Dr. Prof. Robert Dick Wilson Dies—Loss to Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia
11
October 1930 A.D. Rev. Dr.
Prof. Robert Dick Wilson Dies—Loss to Westminster Theological Seminary,
Philadelphia
Myers, David T.
“October 11: Robert Dick Wilson.” This
Day in Presbyterian History. 11 Oct
2014. http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2014/10/october-11-2/. Accessed 11 Oct 2014.
October 11: Robert Dick Wilson
A
Great Loss for Westminster Seminary
The new
orthodox seminary, Westminster, had only been open for two weeks on October
11, 1930, when one of the premier faculty members of that
theological institution, and before that, Princeton Theological Seminary,
Dr. Robert Dick Wilson, died suddenly. He had been blessed with excellent
health for most of his teaching career. But after a brief week of illness, he
went into the presence of the Lord.
This
writer’s father, who studied under Dr. Wilson at Princeton from 1927 to 1929,
told me that Robert Dick Wilson planned his life in three phases. Phase one was
to learn all the extant languages of, or related to, the Scriptures. And
he did have a working knowledge of somewhere between twenty-five and forty-five
languages (accounts vary). The second phase was to study all the higher
critical attacks upon the Bible. And the last phase was to publish in defending
the Scriptures against all of those higher critical attacks upon the sacred
Word. It was with regards to this last phase that he commented that he had come
to the conviction that no man knows enough to attack the veracity of the Old
Testament.
One
humorous incident in his teaching career at Princeton was the time that a woman
had enrolled in his class. One day, as was usually the case, he was disheveled
in his attire when he came to class. Often the suspenders which held up his
pants would be pinned by two safety pins. Teaching animatedly, the two pins
became undone with the result that his pants slid to the floor. Embarrassed
immensely, and sliding down to raise his pants again, he could only cry
out “Where is Mrs. Jennings? Where is she?,” fearing she was in class in the
back row. When told that the lone woman in question had cut his class to study
in the library, Dr. Wilson responded, “Praise God from Whom All Blessings
Flow.”
Words
to live by: Why would an accomplished
scholar like Dr. Robert Dick Wilson leave his life’s calling at Princeton
Seminary in 1929 to go to a brand new theological institution where there was
no guarantee of funds for either teaching or retirement? The answer is that Dr.
Wilson knew that a person cannot have God’s richest blessings, even in teaching
the truth, when the opportunity to teach that truth is gained by corruption of
principles. And the reorganization of Princeton’s Board of Trustees, with the
resulting addition of two members who had signed the Auburn Affirmation, was
just that—a corruption of principles. May we take a similar stand for
righteousness, regardless of the outcome to our lives. May we always stand for
the infallible truth of God’s Word.
For
further study: The PCA Historical Center, which hosts This
Day in Presbyterian History, houses among its many
collections the Papers of Dr. Robert Dick Wilson. As one means of promoting
that collection, the Historical Center has posted a number of articles about
Dr. Wilson on its web site, and these can be found here.
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