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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