16
October 1701 A.D. Yale Founded
to Combat Liberalism
Graves,
Dan. “Yale Founded to Combat
Liberalism.” Christianity.com. Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/yale-founded-to-fight-liberalism-11630185.html. Accessed 2 Jun 2014.
It may come as surprise that when Yale University
was founded on this day, October 16, 1701,
it was by Congregationalist ministers unhappy with the growing liberalism at
Harvard. It wasn't called Yale then, of course, but rather the Collegiate
School. The ministers donated forty books and declared their objective, that
"Youth may be instructed in the Arts and Sciences who through the blessing
of God may be fitted for Publick employment both in Church and Civil
State."
The huge campus of today, with
over one hundred buildings was not conceived. In fact, the first classes were
held in the residence of Rev. Abraham Pierson, its first rector. Not until 1745
was the school moved to New Haven and renamed Yale.
The name change was in honor of
Elihu Yale, a successful merchant who made a donation of goods valued at
$2,800. This was equivalent to the annual income of about fourteen medical doctors.
The purpose of the renamed school was "To plant and under ye Divine
blessing to propagate in this Wilderness, the blessed Reformed, Protestant Religion, in ye purity of its Order and Worship."
Students were required to
"live religious, godly and blameless lives according to the rules of God's
Word, diligently reading the Holy Scriptures, the fountain of light and truth;
and constantly attend upon all the duties of religion, both in public and
secret." Prayer was a requirement. Furthermore every student was
instructed to "...consider the main end of his study to wit to know God in
Jesus Christ" and "to lead a Godly, sober life."
For many years these high ideals
were followed. One faculty member wrote around 1800, "It would delight
your heart to see how the trophies of the cross are multiplied in this
institution. Yale College is a little temple: prayer and praise seem to be the
delight of the greater part of the students."
But fathers cannot ensure the
fidelity of their sons. Today Yale's original ideals have faded. The school is
a liberal institution with utterances and actions that are politically correct.
One suspects that students are less likely to pray persistently than to engage
in political protests.
Bibliography:
2. Avery, Elroy McKendree. History of the United States and its People.
Cleveland: Burrows Bros, 1904. Source of the image.
3. Oviatt, Edwin. The Beginnings of Yale (1701 - 1726).
Yale University Press, 1916.
4. Yale, Eli. Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Scribner, 1958 -
1964.
Last updated April,
2007.
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