The Founding of Yale College and The Vision There

All right.

Was he a Christian?

Okay.

If you were to visit Yale's Silliman Memorial Library,

entering through the main entrance and proceeding a few paces,

up to your left, just beneath the clerestory,

there is a sculpted stone panel.

Here it is, rendering a scene that has become the icon for the founding of Yale.

The panel depicts ten Connecticut ministers surrounding a wooden table

upon which they are ceremonially placing books they have brought,

most of them sizable folio volumes.

They are solemn in their action,

and yet their faces are alight with satisfaction

as they view this tangible evidence of their common determination.

As they step forward, in turn, and lay their offerings upon the table,

each pronounces,

I give these books for the founding of a college in this colony.

We will return shortly to this historic scene,

which transpired in the Branford Parsonage of Reverend Russell sometime around 1700 or 1701.

The vacillation on the actual year that this happened was so irritating for the stonemason,

because they made him correct the date.

See there, AD 1701?

They made him correct it three times.

And Yale was unsteady on this date,

and on the 150th anniversary,

they actually celebrated in 1850.

Still unsure, but now we're pretty settled that this happened in 1701.

Oops, wrong one, sorry, not yet.

But for the true beginning,

we must go back a little further,

back to the foundation of New Haven itself,

and the dream and determination of its first minister, John Davenport.

We recall last week, if you were there,

the animating motive behind the great migration which brought the Puritans to these shores

was that they, quote, might enjoy the liberty not of some ordinances of God,

but of all and all in purity.

This is John Cotton,

and his language is echoed by John Davenport, the founder of New Haven,

all his ordinances purely according to his own mind,

God's own mind in all things.

But this commitment that they reflect in all of their affairs,

the mind of God, had a clear correlate.

How could they be faithful to all the mind of God

without knowing the word of God?

This was very important to them.

If they lacked a thorough and deep acquaintance with the scriptures,

zeal was not enough.

It must be, to quote the apostle,

zeal according to knowledge.

Thus, the Puritan vision of godly church and society

was bound up with the utter necessity of godly learning.

Each community of the faithful must have ministers

capable of expounding God's ordinances aright.

And so, it was expected to have facility in the original languages,

Hebrew and Greek of the Old Testaments and the New Testaments,

and further to be acquainted with the expositions of the church fathers,

the scholastic philosophers, the reformed theologians, requiring also Latin.

This Puritan vision of society, they often compared to a stool,

a three-legged stool.

Two legs of the church and the state were not enough to make the stool stable.

I mean, try sitting on a two-legged stool.

It doesn't work very well.

They needed to have a third leg,

and that for them was the academy,

or else things would collapse.

Well, by the time Davenport and his fellow pilgrims arrived in Boston,

first before they came to New Haven,

their brother in there had already moved to form a college.

1638, sorry, 1636, my fault.

1636, there is the old Harvard College.

A little bit later, that's about the earliest woodcut that we have,

but it was similar to that.

As Cotton Mather writes,

after God had carried us safely to New England,

and we had builded our houses,

provided necessaries for our livelihood,

reared convenient places for God's worship,

and settled the civil government,

one of the next things we longed for and looked after

was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity.

Dreading, strong word,

dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches

when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.

Failing such a provision,

the churches of New England would be,

quote,

less than a business of one age,

and soon come to nothing.

Without a nursery for such men among ourselves,

darkness must have soon covered the land,

and a gross darkness the people.

So you see how important education was to them.

Davenport gave his support in these fledgling days of Harvard.

Indeed, was himself one of the overseers of the infant college.

But he and his clan soon pressed on to New Haven

to plant their own colony,

where was quickly established a free school

for the better training up,

this is a quote,

better training up of youth in this town,

that through God's blessing,

they may be fitted for public service hereafter,

either in church or in common will.

It was headed by the far-famed Ezekiel Cheever.

He was the contemporary of John Harvard

and also from Emanuel College in Cambridge,

and author of that much-celebrated Latin textbook

that was used across the colonies,

humorously titled Latin Accidents.

Not in the, like, crashing and terrible grammatical accidents

that probably many of his students made,

but not a great name for a Latin textbook

or a book on grammar, I suppose.

Latin Accidents, nonetheless.

New Haveners at the time were supporting Harvard

with contributions of corn,

but they desired to do more than simply supply a college in Massachusetts.

They wanted to possess one in New Haven.

And this especially was Davenport's desire,

and he began collecting books in the hopes of realizing this dream.

So soon, he writes,

as our ability shall reach thereunto.

Well, that was the rub.

For in the strange providence of God,

outward circumstances multiplied

to repeatedly scuttle the realization of a college.

Many of the settlers in New Haven were merchants,

some of them of no small means,

and would have likely become benefactors

of this hoped-for college.

But a terrible series of financial losses

virtually impoverished the colonies,

so full of commercial hopes.

The most devastating of these

was the Great Ship.

In the hopes of...

And you can, if you go to the New Haven Historical Society,

and you go up to the stairwell,

they have an enormous painting,

and this is one of them.

This is where we got this from,

as they insist on me sharing their New Haven Museum.

A little advert for them.

So, in the hopes of making good

their many losses,

the whole colony went together

to hire a great ship,

which they filled with all that they had,

in the hopes that these goods

might fetch a handsome price in England.

It was to risk all they had

in one pitch and toss.

In January 1646,

the great ship was loaded to the gunwales

and set out.

Davenport, the minister,

prayed in classic Puritan fashion,

yet expressed their steely-eyed

submission to the hand of God.

Lord, if it be thy pleasure

to bury these,

our family and friends,

in the bottom of the sea,

they are thine.

Save them.

Well, the ship was never seen again

or heard of at all.

Usually there's some flotsam or jetsam

somewhere on the sea near Bermuda,

and you figure it sunk.

Nothing.

No sign of it at all.

Well, when months rolled into a year,

the New Haveners feared the worst,

that the ship had been lost at sea.

But they prayed

and asked God to reveal to them

what had been the fate

of the ship and their loved ones.

And God answered their prayers

in a remarkable way.

We have much historical documentation

for this.

On one June day,

one hour before sunset,

New Haveners watched

to their astonishment

the great ship,

whose loss they had so long mourned,

come sailing toward them

upon a cloud in the air.

It was perfectly distinct

and visible

and came so close

that one on the shore

could have almost tossed

a stone on board,

they say.

Then suddenly,

in their sight,

the top masts

were torn apart

in a seeming gale,

the rigging tangled,

the ship lurched,

capsized before their eyes,

and sank,

disappearing into the cloud.

They watched with awe,

then heard the comforting words

of Pastor Davenport,

that God had graciously sent

the phantom ship

to show them

how their friends

had been lost at sea.

Well,

with the loss

of so many precious loved ones

came the loss

of all their hopes

for any commercial success.

The disaster

nearly put an end

to the colony itself.

There was serious talk

about moving to Ireland

or Jamaica,

but they stayed

and sought to gain

a living from the soil.

In these straightened

circumstances,

Davenport's dream

of erecting a college

would have to remain

unrealized in his soul,

a phantom

like the great ship

lost at sea.

He would never see

a college erected

in his lifetime,

though he kept

the books in readiness

for a future day,

augmenting their number

over the years.

The dream never died,

it merely lay dormant.

And happily,

the fallen torch

that slipped

from the great patriarch

of the colony

was taken up

by a noble company

in the next generation.

The forward most

in this college endeavor

had ties with

John Davenport,

and those ties

were actually

more than ideological.

In 1685,

a young minister,

James Pierpont,

here he is,

came to New Haven

under consideration

for the pulpit

there of New Haven,

Davenport's church.

Preparing to give

his trial sermon,

he boarded

with the widow

of the patriarch's

son,

John Davenport,

Jr.

Abigail Davenport

was his name.

Well, despite his

absorption with

a critical sermon

he had to preach

the next morning,

incidentally,

it went well for him

and the congregation

didn't confirm his calling

and he became

their pastor.

Two things

caught the young

Pierpont's attention

during his stay

with the widow

Davenport, Jr.

The first

was a very fine

collection of books

and the story

of John Davenport,

Sr.,

longing to see

a college established.

The second

was the widow

Davenport's

young daughter

also named Abigail.

The prosopography

gets confusing

because they tended

to name their

children after

themselves,

so there are

plenty of Abigails

and Johns.

Well, it was love,

but in the young

minister's case

love was very

patient

as Abigail

was only 12

years old

at the time.

James would

wait six more

years before

they were married,

but married

they finally

were,

making James

Pierpont

the husband

of John

Davenport's

granddaughter.

Okay, so it was

kind of a family

affair here.

Alas, sad to

relate, for all

the time they had

waited to be wed,

their wedded

life was very

short.

A few months,

merely a few

months after their

wedding, she died

of consumption,

apparently brought

on from her

attending a

mid-winter

church service

wearing her

bridal gown.

That was the

unvarying custom

of the day.

When you went

to a new

location, you

were required by

law to wear

your wedding gown,

and oftentimes if

you had had a

summer wedding,

your wedding gown

was a little bit,

you know, sparse

or parsimonious,

and you could

catch cold,

and I found

record of several

women for whom

this was their

fate.

They actually died

of cold wearing

a seasonally

mismatched wedding

gown.

So ladies, let

that be a warning

to you if you

find a temptation

to wear your

summer gown in

wintry weather.

It has taken

away many.

Now, Davenport's

grandson-in-law,

James Pierpont,

undertook to

revive the dream.

He purchased

the languishing

library, which

was technically

owned by the

town of New

Haven, and

set in motion

a new beginning.

At Pierpont's

side, in this

rekindled

endeavor, was

another local

minister, Abraham

Pearson, Jr.

Abraham Pearson,

Jr.

His father was

also named

Abraham Pearson.

Abraham Pearson,

who would

shortly become

the first

president,

well then called

rector of the

college.

was more

than

Pearson's

Pierpont's

comrade-in-arms

for realizing

this vision.

He was also

his uncle,

for he was

brother to

the mother of

Pierpont's

deceased bride,

Abigail.

Don't worry

about it.

It's best to

look at a chart

at this point.

All this to

say, the

founding of

Yale was

largely a

family affair.

there.

There we go.

So, when the

ministers gathered

that memorable

day at that

home of

Samuel Russell,

Reverend Russell,

on the far

side of the

old Branford

Green,

to deposit

their gift of

books sometime

in 1700,

or maybe even

earlier,

it was not

something new

that they were

doing,

simply something

renewed.

President

Clapp, in

his Annals of

the History of

Yale College,

records the

incident.

Meeting at

Branford, he

writes, each

member referring

to the ten

ministers that

he had just

listed, which

he kind of

oddly designates

as the

undertakers,

because they

undertook this

thing, so the

ten undertakers

that got Yale

established,

brought a

number,

Clapp continues

to write,

brought a

number of

books and

presented them,

laying them

on the

table, and

said these

words, or

to this

effect, I

give these

books for

the founding

of a

college in

this colony.

Reverend

Russell of

Branford was

appointed to

be the

keeper of

the library,

which then

consisted of

about 40

volumes in

folio.

The

Branford

Crest,

those of

you that

know Branford

College,

this is the

Branford

College

Crest,

Crest.

This

points

toward the

books that

were the

bequest of

these ten

ministers, so

the ten

books refer

to that

founding

incident.

That's where

that crest

comes from.

It has been

charged by a

few skeptics

that this

founding event

was contrived

in the romantic

imagination of

President Clapp,

whose alone

is the

testimony, an

occasional

reference you

can find in

modern volumes

to the

legend of

the 40

folios.

The

subversive

question is

asked,

what collection

of aged

ministers could

have toted to

Branford on

horseback 40

enormous folio

volumes?

So like folio,

very, very

large.

After all, a

folio would

scarcely fit into

the saddlebag of

a minister and

might weigh as

much as a hefty

dumbbell.

So they think

that the whole

story implausible.

But Clapp does

not tell us that

the ministers

brought all the

40 folios,

simply that the

collected library

by that time

consisted of

about 40

folios.

And we can be

quite confident

that these

ministers did

indeed covenant

to donate books

from their own

scanty libraries.

We have a

letter preserved

from one of

their number,

James Noyes

of October

28, 1701.

He apologizes

that due to

his advanced

age, quote,

my will is

more than my

strength, and

that the trip

for him is a

journey over

two rivers.

He could not

present himself,

but he would

present his

books.

I do desire

and empower

my brother to

give out my

books at his

house my full

proportion.

for, quote,

in nothing I

would be behind

hand in so

public a good.

So we know

from letters that

this actually did

happen.

It's not a myth.

It's not a

legend.

Clearly, there was

the presentation of

books.

And further, it did

take place in

Brantford in the

parlor of Parson

Russell, who was

given care and keep

of the library.

In fact, we have

two independent

accounts of how

one of the books

was damaged, and

that through a

rather odd

occurrence.

It seems that a

pane of the glass

in Russell's

parlor window was

defectively

convex, and on a

particularly bright

day, concentrated

the sun's rays

directly upon one

of the bequeathed

folios, burning a

hole through the

cover and into

the first few

pages.

And this sad

loss was

remembered and

passed down by

the Russell

descendants in

Brantford, and

the damage was

noted by those

who received the

books from

Russell's care when

the college got

started.

So the gift of

books at the

act of founding is

quite true.

Quite true.

But it is also

quite telling.

What did these

donated books

represent?

Well, they

certainly represented

a personal

sacrifice.

They were not

cast-off volumes

or duplicates.

Rather, they were

the marrow of

often very

slender

ministerial libraries.

Books were

prized possessions,

and they had

likely been passed

down from earlier

generations.

So one historian

refers to these

books as dusty

theological folios.

But as Bainton

writes, they were

not dusty, and

their owners would

rather have parted

with ten cords of

cut wood in a New

England winter.

These were prize,

prize volumes to

them.

And they gave their

treasure because

that's where their

hearts were, as

Christ would say.

But these books

also represented an

endowment of faith.

These were not

works of literature

or science.

They were almost

without exception

works of theology

and from the

reformed tradition

of the continental

Protestantism.

They were works

of Beza,

Bullinger,

Busser,

Calvin.

This was the

heritage of faith

that they had

received and

sought to pass

on and pass

on without

adulteration.

Thus, in that

memorable phrase

of Bainton, Yale

was conservative

before she was

born.

They sought to

preserve and

propagate the

faith of their

fathers.

And by 1700,

the need for this

was thought to be

acute, for it was

in danger of

lapsing in the

perception of

many a conservative

Connecticuter,

Connecticuter,

Connecticuter,

sorry.

New Englanders

at this time

were beginning

to name their

children Ichabod

after 1 Samuel

4.21.

And she named

the child

Ichabod,

saying,

the glory is

departed from

Israel.

Harvard,

that intended

school of the

prophets,

this is your

hiss line,

there you go,

okay.

Harvard,

that intended

school of the

prophets,

was becoming

theologically

wobbly,

and it was

feared too

elastic in its

doctrines,

what they called

latitudinarianism,

taking too much

latitude with the

faith once delivered

to the saints.

The degenerate

graduates of

Harvard that

were being

turned out

were the sad

tokens of

paradise lost.

There we go.

Here's an

increased

Mather who had

a front row

seat right up

at Harvard

and is watching

all these

kids graduate.

He writes

the book

Ichabod,

or a

discourse

showing what

cause there

is to fear

that the

glory of the

Lord is

departing from

New England,

and on and

on.

So,

such sad

realities

made the

matter timely,

even urgent.

The driving

motives of the

founders were

made explicit in

their meeting

in Saybrook,

November 11,

1701,

where they

declared,

quote,

it was the

glorious public

design of our

now blessed

fathers in their

removal from

Europe into

these parts of

America,

both to plant

and under the

divine blessing

to propagate

in this

arid wilderness

the blessed

reformed

Protestant religion

in purity of

its order and

worship.

And we,

their unworthy

posterity,

lamenting our

past neglects

of this grand

errand,

and sensible of

our equal

obligation to

prosecute some

end,

the same end,

sorry,

prosecute the

same end,

we do now

undertake to

erect, form,

and regulate a

collegiate school.

So, there you

have it.

Oh, oops,

sorry, no,

this is not,

I'm sorry,

where's the,

oh, I'll go

backwards.

So, this is the

Yale charter

here, from

which I just

read.

This, then,

was the design

of Yale in

its inception,

to be a

means of,

quote,

planting and

propagating the

blessed Protestant

reformed religion.

This did not

mean that they

would exclusively

train ministers,

though that would

be a principal

part, for the

effective planting

and propagating

of the faith,

would also

require those

equipped for

service in the

civil sphere.

As the

charter puts

it, you

could, if

you could, if

that were a

little more

clearer, you

could read it,

as the

charter puts

it,

1701, a

collegiate

school wherein

youth may be

instructed in the

arts and

sciences, who

through the

blessing of the

almighty God,

may be fitted

for public

employment, both

in church and

in civil state.

So remember

the three-legged

stool.

The college

leg, the

academy, was

the feeder for

both the other

legs of the

church and the

state.

And then you

would get

stability in

society.

Having the

mind of

Christ was

absolutely

critical, not

simply in the

church, but in

all of society.

Whether you

were going to

be a lawyer, or

a doctor, or an

engineer, or a

farmer, our

vocation can

and must

express kingdom

truth and

kingdom values.

This is part of

the vision that

we need to

keep reviving.

And there

was another

aspect of the

vision of the

four fathers

that the

founding members

recognized and

embraced in

their founding,

for as they

carefully noticed,

our blessed

fathers sought

to plant and

propagate the

blessed Protestant

reform religion,

quote, not only

to their

posterity, but

also to the

barbarous

natives.

Their language,

not current

language.

They were not

mistaken in

this, and well

might they have

remembered, for

Abraham Pearson,

so the

founding, the

first rector and

one of the

founders, his

father, Abraham

Pearson, senior,

okay, had

served as a

missionary to

the local

natives, the

first missionary

sent out from

New Haven

Colony, and

I think I,

yeah, here it

is, and this

is, so Abraham

Pearson, senior,

this was one of

the first tracks,

indeed, he

learned their

language and

published for

them, this was

the first work,

some helps for

the Indians,

showing them how

to know the

true God and

the true Christian

religion, 1658.

1858.

So, this, thus,

it was part of

the original

design of Yale,

not simply to

secure the

Christian faith

among the

settlers, but

also to extend

it among the

Indians.

So, we have a

missionary design

right at the

founding of Yale

College, and

over the course

of this class,

we shall observe

how Yale has

fulfilled those

hopes of her

founders to be a

missionary sending

ground.

Incidentally, this

was also the

case for

Harvard.

Oops, here we

go, okay, yes.

Indeed, her

charter,

Harvard's

charter,

specifically

mentions the

college being

of service to

the natives, and

a dorm was

provided expressly

for their use,

simply for Native

Americans at

Harvard.

Harvard.

Indeed, many a

Puritan father

saw the

missionary design

of God in

transplanting them

from Old

England to New

England, as

John Eliot.

So, this is

actually the

crest of

Massachusetts Bay

Colony, 1630.

And notice, they

have the Indian

there, the Native

American, and out

of his mouth is

coming the words,

come over and

help us.

Those are the

words you

recall of

Paul's vision

of the

Macedonian that

prompted his

missionary work

to Europe.

So, this was

very much at

the center of

their efforts.

As John

Eliot wrote,

one end of

God sending so

many saints to

New England was

the conversion of

these Indians.

And he,

incidentally, gave

his whole life to

reaching them.

He was one of

the first Puritan

full-time

missionaries to

the Indians.

It's interesting,

if you were to

interview, which

he did, interview

the Indians, the

commonplace Native

American speculation

as to why all of

these English

people kept showing

up on their

coastline was that

they must have

lacked sufficient

firewood where

they came from.

You see that in

the accounts.

You need firewood,

you can go to

some lengths to

get extra

firewood if you

need it,

apparently.

Well, Abraham

Pearson was

selected by his

fellow ministers to

become the first

rector.

At this earliest

beginning, Yale

was not in

New Haven.

Neither was it

yet called Yale.

The first

instruction took

place in Abraham

Pearson's Killingworth

parsonage.

So, there's

actually the

statue that if

you're on the

Yale campus that

you see of

Abraham Pearson

has its twin at

the Killingworth

green.

Very, very same

one because that's

where he had his

first parsonage.

His congregation

loved him.

The plan was

always to bring

the college to

New Haven, but

his congregation

loved him so

well and his

ministry among

them that they

conspired to keep

him from moving

to New Haven from

Killingworth.

And they

concocted a plan

that no one,

they covenanted

that no one

would buy his

house or farm.

So, he

couldn't sell his

house or farm to

anyone there.

They didn't have

bridge loans or

what have you.

So, he was

stuck and hence

they got the

college to start

in Killingworth for

many, many years

until 1718.

So, that's where

Yale began, although

not yet called Yale

as his congregation

would not release

him.

So, the students

all came to him

and in consequence,

his dear wife's

kitchen became the

refectory.

She would make the

meals as well as

the extra rooms.

People often would

board among others

in the town.

They had no

designated college

building at the

time.

Thankfully, the

classes were

small.

Four-fifths of

all the students

who graduated

under Pearson

became ministers

and went on to

shine his

distinguished lights

in the churches

of New England.

And I suppose a

lot of them

decided they might

as well go into

the ministry given

the fact that the

curriculum was

basically a

preparation for

that vocation

anyhow.

So, whether you

were a candidate

for the ministry

or not, the

courses were

all the same

for you,

including heavy

doses of

Greek, New

Testament, Hebrew,

Old Testament, and

the Westminster

Catechism in

Latin, along with

William Ames'

Mero of Theology,

and this sort of

thing.

So, hey, you

might as well.

You were trained.

It was not until

1718 that the

college permanently

settled in New

Haven.

So, lots of

ministers, lots of

people became

ministers.

Cotton Mather said,

there's nothing

cheap in New

England except for

milk and ministers.

Plenty of both of

those things, I guess.

Well, in 1718, the

college then was

permanently settled

in New Haven and

also came to take

the new name of

Yale College, both

on account of a

sizable bequest of

one Connecticut-born

but world-traveled

trader, one Elihu

Yale.

There he is.

The opulence is

evident in the

attire there.

He made a fine

fortune in the

East India Company.

Apparently, the way

you make a fortune

in gems is what he

did in India, is he

had this preternatural

knack of when people

would show him all

of these gems in the

rough, he would be

able to make some

very accurate estimate

as to what they were

going to be worth

when cut and sold,

so could put in

really good,

bids and know his

margin of profit.

Apparently, this

amazing skill he

had, so he made a

huge, huge fortune

doing this.

Well, it was

Cotton Mather who

prompted the

benefaction.

Cotton Mather wrote

to Elihu Yale,

certainly, if what

is forming at

New Haven might

wear the name of

Yale College, it

would be better than

a name of sons and

daughters, and your

munificence might

easily obtain for you

such a commemoration

and perpetuation of

your valuable name, as

would indeed be much

better than even an

Egyptian pyramid, or so

he wrote.

Always, I guess, these are

the sorts of things that

you do and say when

you're trying to squeeze

out a bequest.

Well, if Elihu was

considering an Egyptian

pyramid, he ended up

preferring to go with

the Endowa College

route for perpetuating

his name, though there

was one rather sizable

hesitation that he did

have.

Elihu Yale was an

Anglican, and yet the

Connecticut College was

decidedly not.

Remember, the first

settlers here had been

under the persecuting

whip, or I should say

brand, you would

actually brand them, of

the Anglicans that were

in power in England, so

they disliked Anglicans.

So if you came to New

Haven Colony in the first

generations, you had a

special tax on you just

for being an Anglican, the

Anglican tax, because we

don't really like you

here.

So such were those

days.

So there was this

problem, but this

scruple was overcome by

the cunning observation

of the agent that Yale

sent over to talk to

Elihu Yale.

His name was Jeremiah

Dummer, and he told

Elihu, if the discipline

of the Church of

England be most

agreeable to Scripture

and primitive practice,

there's no better way to

make men sensible of it

than by giving them good

learning.

And I would say, if

Anglicanism is the way

that's clearly

scriptural and supported

by church history, hey,

endow an institution that

studies the Scripture in

church history.

You'll do nothing but

make Anglicans on your

assumption.

So Elihu was convinced,

and he handed over

sacks and sacks of gems

and money.

And Elihu's munificence

was swiftly turned into

a handsome new building

named Yale College.

So technically, Yale

College was the name of

the first building, not

the whole college, not

until about 30 years

later did actual Yale

College refer to the

whole college rather than

the little building.

But for Jeremiah's

dumber services of kind

of angling this bequest,

they originally wanted to

name the college after

him.

But then as they kind of

rolled that around in

their hearing, dumber

college didn't have as

robust a sound to it.

So he graciously declined

and said, name it after

Elihu Yale.

Did he go on to be

governor of Massachusetts?

Elihu Yale?

Dumber.

I think probably he did.

Yes, yes.

He was the one, at least

in his family.

That's right.

That's right.

Yes, alas.

We try to hide these

facts from other states,

but such is the

egregious truth.

Yes.

So hence, then,

Yalies are known as the

sons of Eli.

Those of you who are

biblically literate,

though, know what the

Bible says about sons of

Eli, which is a great

thrill to me as a

Princeton man.

And the sons of Eli

were wicked in the sight

of the Lord.

But moving back to

historical matters,

1745 was also the year

that President Clapp,

and technically that was

the year that 1745 is

when the name Yale

College actually was

transferred to the

college itself and not

simply the building.

And 1745 was also the

year President Clapp drew

up a new charter and a

list of college rules,

which were an explication

of the founders' original,

the original rules that

they had had.

Clapp had a gift for

spelling things out that

no one might wonder,

as student or otherwise,

what Yale College was

about and how the aim was

to be attained.

So, the Yale College rules

state, every student,

quote, every student shall

consider the main end of his

duty to wit, to know God in

Jesus Christ and answerably

to lead a godly, sober life.

Interesting.

Times have changed.

Times have changed.

As each incoming student would

read again from the quill of

Clapp above the list of books

that they were to digest.

So, this would have been the

first paragraph that every

college student would see

right above the list of books

that they were going to be

examined in, and it was this.

Above all, have an eye to

the great end of your studies,

which is to obtain the

clearest conception of divine

things, to lead you to a

saving knowledge of God in his

son, Jesus Christ.

Isn't that extraordinary?

So, here we have an academic

institution that clearly

identifies as its aim, not an

academic, not an educational

aim, but a spiritual aim.

Our chief aim as this

institution, Yale College, is

that every student that comes in

here experiences regeneration.

That's our chief aim.

Isn't that extraordinary?

I'll read it one more time.

Above all, have an eye to the

great end of all of your

studies, which is to obtain the

clearest conceptions of divine

things, and to lead you to a

saving knowledge of God in his

son, Jesus Christ.

In fact, the original, if you go

back, a lot of it's written in

huge caps and bolded, just to make

sure you're not going to miss it.

No.

And that was the president of Yale

in September?

This is, that was 1745.

Yeah.

But he was just making explicit the

things that were earlier.

And this is clap.

Yeah.

And what daily regimen would

conduce to this?

Well, as another college rule

stated, quote, every student shall

exercise himself in reading the

holy scriptures by himself every

day that the word of Christ may

dwell in him richly and that he

may be filled with the knowledge

of the will of God in all wisdom

and spiritual understanding.

So this was the holy errand of

these beginnings, these the

beginnings of Yale.

And what became of this godly

foundation in subsequent

generations will be the topic of

some of our following lectures this

week.

Well, let me stop there because I

don't always do a good job about

allowing time for questions.

Yes.

I just, you know, as a Hopkins grad,

Hopkins was founded in 1660.

1660.

Yeah.

So was that considered like a feeder

to educate the young folks so they'd be

prepared?

Yes.

For when the university would

eventually, when a university would

eventually be founded?

Yes.

That's right.

So their children would be literate and

already have a head up in Latin and

That's exactly right.

So they had, if you read through it,

there's instantly a desire to set up

what they would call a Latin school that

at least would teach the boys Latin and

then rudiments of these, the basic

trivium.

And this would be, Hopkins school, 1660

was one of those.

Now at the time, they had hoped that they

would have a college right there locally.

But then what would happen is the new

Haveners that would go to Hopkins would

then go to Harvard.

Yeah.

And that's, that happened for a long

time.

Yeah.

So, yes, you're right.

But isn't that extraordinary?

That's preparatory.

Hopkins, even older than Yale, 1660

as opposed to 1701.

And again, it was just a matter of

expense.

It just, they couldn't quite make the

cut of getting enough to get a college.

But they could get what they call

grammar schools or typically Latin

schools, they would call it.

Yeah.

When you see universities leave their

first love, like the gospel and Christ,

is it, what's the first thing that's

attacked within the institution?

Is it the authority of scripture or the

inerrancy of scripture?

Yeah.

So, yeah, that's a, that's a, that's a

great question.

And it's extremely complicated.

So briefly.

Okay.

And there's a great book to read on this.

It's a big book.

It's by Marsden, George Marsden, called

The Soul of the American University.

It's not just about Yale, but it's mostly

about Yale.

And it kind of tells the story of going

from established, establishment faith,

Christian faith, to established disbelief.

And it traces that out.

But here's the issue.

A lot of times it's easy to think, oh, there

must have been some sort of nasty conspiracy

of, of atheists that somehow got in and

secularized this place in some dark, smoky

back room.

But actually, no.

No, what it was, was many godly people trying

to figure out what do we do with what is now a

diversity that we never had to deal with.

Because when Yale was founded, the colony of

New Haven, and even broadly in New England, was

largely religiously homogenous.

It would be hard to come across anyone who was

not your co-religionist.

You know, you weren't a believer.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

You would assert these things in public.

You would know that you were not regenerate.

But you said, oh, this is the truth.

Everybody was a Christian.

Exactly.

Oh, yeah.

This is true if only God would awaken me to

love it.

You know, so that's how people would describe

it.

And so as long as there was really the society

was religiously homogenous, you could still

have a college that was for everybody.

And nobody was going to.

Sometimes you'd have problems with what Anglicans

would say, we don't want to use what we learn

our catechism.

We don't want to use the Westminster catechism.

We want to use our own catechism.

So accommodations would be made a little bit.

But you're really only going inches in each

direction.

You know, when you're letting Anglicans use

another catechism or go by the 39 articles and

this sort of thing, there's really almost no

doctrinal difference at all.

But then you begin to get some more.

And any diversity that New England gets, you

force everybody to go to Rhode Island.

Because that's where those nasty Baptist words

were more tolerant.

You don't want that.

They called that the sewer of New England.

That's where the Baptists were with Roger Williams and those.

And that's where you have the first synagogue.

The first synagogue in America is in Providence, Rhode Island.

You know, because there was religious toleration there.

Not elsewhere.

But when society became more and more diverse.

Now, at first, with immigration, because there's lots of immigration coming in.

Now, at first, most of the immigration was from Northern Europe and Western Europe.

That is mostly safely Protestant.

But then, over the years, it began to shift.

It would begin to shift toward the south.

And you'd get some Roman Catholics coming in.

And it would even shift toward the east, Eastern Europe.

And you'd get more Jews coming in.

The potato famine in Ireland would bring a lot of Irish Catholics in.

So, already by the Civil War, it's becoming a lot more diverse.

And you remember Yale's motto, for God, for country, and for Yale.

You can almost tell the story of this in terms of what happens as long as...

Okay, yep.

As long as...

Thank you.

As long as for God and for country is always in harmony.

But what happens if for God and for country is intention?

Because not everybody in the country is for God, in your understanding.

Then they had to decide, do we make Yale a college just for our little group, or is this going to be a college for the nation?

And they decided to go for the nation.

So, they would step back on religious requirements and religious tests and that, so it would be open to the nations.

Now, some of that was very disturbing for certain of the alumni and the conservatives.

But the fact of the shift was concealed largely because you get a liberal Christianity that would use a lot of the terminology, but they would mean something very different.

So, it would sound orthodox, but it wouldn't be.

It's like one Yale professor said, how could you accuse me of denying the divinity of Christ?

I deny the divinity of no man, least of all of Christ.

I mean a mental something.

So, it was just, you know, language would, you know, conceal these things.

So, we need to run.

I think they keep flashing me because I'm an offender.

But thank you, team.

We will see you, Lord willing, next week where I think we'll take up the first great awakening at Yale and New Haven.

We'll let you hit that because I'm not sure what to hit.

Thank you.