The SBJT Forum: Testimonies to a Theologian

Editor’s Note: Readers should be aware of the forum’s format. D. A. Carson, Timothy George, Harold O. J. Brown, C. Ben Mitchell, Carl Trueman, Mark Dever and Hutz H. Hertzberg have been asked specifi c questions to which they have provided writ- ten responses. These writers are not responding to one another. The journal’s goal for the Forum is to provide signifi cant thinkers’ views on topics of interest without requiring lengthy articles from these heavily-committed individuals. Their answers are presented in an order that hopefully makes the forum read as much like a unifi ed presentation as possible.

SBJT: We know that during the last chatting them up with real interest and quarter-century you developed a close without a trace of condescension. My friendship with Carl F. H. Henry and daughter’s fi rst exposure to Carl came his wife Helga. Would you share any when he was preaching one Sunday personal reminiscences? evening at Eden Baptist Church, Cam- D. A. Carson: Although my wife and I are bridge. Our daughter, then fi ve years old more than a generation younger than Carl and beginning to read and write, chose and Helga Henry, that would never have that evening to follow, for the fi rst time, deterred them from friendship. The reason what she had observed in her parents: was threefold: fi rst, they made common she decided to take notes of the sermon. cause with anyone who was passionate The great Carl Henry delivered his soul about the gospel, and age had nothing to on Ecclesiastes 12: “Remember your do with it; second, as they became more Creator in the days of your youth, before infi rm, they learned, however reluctantly, the days of trouble come, and the years to accept help from those willing to give it, approach when you will say, ‘I fi nd no precisely because they were never proud; pleasure in them’”—followed by colorful D. A. Carson is Research Professor and third, and most important, Carl and biblical description of physical decay: of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Helga were never inclined to dwell only the grinders cease because they are few Divinity School in Deerfi eld, Illinois. He in the past. They were always looking (i.e., one’s teeth fall out), the doors to the is the author of numerous commentar- ahead to the future—and that meant they street are closed and the sound of grind- ies and monographs, and is one of this welcomed younger friends. ing fades (we become deaf), the daylight country’s foremost New Testament A few paragraphs cannot do jus- fades as our eyes grow dim, and we are scholars. Among his many books are tice to the shape of the friendship we so arthritic that we drag ourselves around Divine Sovereignty and Human Re- forged, especially during the last twenty like crippled grasshoppers, clumsy and sponsibility (John Knox Press, 1981; years—and in any case, some matters inept. The silver cord is fi nally severed reprint, Baker, 1994), The Gagging of should remain private. Nevertheless, it is (our spinal column falls apart). The dust God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism easy to recall things that should be shared. returns to the ground it came from. So (Zondervan, 1996), and Love in Hard Occasional meals at our home would fi nd remember your Creator in the days of Places (Crossway, 2002). both Carl and Helga quizzing our kids, your youth. Our daughter wrote, “Grass- 82 hoppers are good. Silver cords break. The world leaders had become intoxicated by ground is dusty.” Carl, Carl, you may not his own signifi cance, if a man who had have got through to our fi ve-year-old on confronted deep disappointment and that Sunday evening, but your whole life excruciating bereavement in his family preached Ecclesiastes 12. had become bitter. It would, I say, have Carl and Helga traveled all over the been understandable. But the grace of God world, preaching and lecturing. But was strong in this man. He remained a although they could tell a prodigious theological thinker to the very end, but number of interesting stories, some of without a trace of pretension. On one them evocative or even funny, their over- memorable occasion about ten years ago, riding concern was the advance of the when one of our students picked Carl gospel. As I started traveling a bit more up from O’Hare and drove him onto our myself, Carl wanted more than updates campus so that he could teach a modular of esoteric places: he wanted to know course, the student, more than a little how the gospel of Jesus Christ was far- in awe of the great man, pointed to the ing in each place. In his declining years, large extension to the Rolfi ng Library, and even when Carl was largely confined asked, “What does it feel like to have your to a wheel chair or a bed and his mind name on a great building?” Carl replied, was somewhat dulled by pain-killers, “It feels like I should be dead!” our visits up to Watertown could fi nd One of my favorite memories springs us talking about our respective families, from something we organized at Trinity places we had visited, books we had read, more than a decade and a half ago. We the ups and downs of theological educa- invited both Carl Henry and Kenneth tion—but invariably, invariably, those Kantzer, then in their seventies, to lecture discussions ended up looking forward, on the previous half-century of evan- not backward. Invariably, invariably, that gelicalism in America and beyond. These forward-look stance had a worldwide lectures, delivered to the entire student fl avor. Some senior Christians only look body, were videotaped. The next day, I backward; not Carl, not Helga, not ever. was charged with interviewing the two Some senior Christians become cranky men. I did not tell them in advance what whiners; not Carl, not Helga. Increased questions I would ask. Inevitably I probed infi rmity sometimes made them home- their thinking about many individu- sick for heaven, but not once did we fi nd als (e.g., Billy Graham) and movements ingratitude or bitterness in them. And in (even the SBC!). Invariably they replied private moments, as my wife and I took with careful understanding, including our leave, Carl and Helga would sing, in some astute observations. Then, toward now wavering voices, one of their Chris- the end of the session, I asked a question tian choruses, a life-long habit springing along the following lines: “Many old men from more than sixty years of Christian begin to tear down what they built. They service and faithful marriage. become jealous of younger leaders coming I suppose it would be understandable along, or they focus on peripheral mat- if a man who had written forty infl uen- ters and lose their passion for the gospel. tial books had become arrogant, if a man They frequently become arrogant and who had walked with Christian and defensive. But both of you are gospel- 83 centered, and given to encouraging a new vision for the Berlin Congress on World generation. Despite your vast infl uence in Evangelism, and much more. He thought many quarters, you do not come across as strategically, and sought to bring about arrogant. How have you managed that? the goals he clearly envisaged. And do not simply say, ‘By the grace of (2) Carl developed what I call a pro- God.’ That is true, of course—but I want phetic voice from the center. That is an to know how this grace has worked out extraordinarily difficult achievement, in your lives.” Both of them sputtered for but one of the most important. While a bit, and then Carl blurted out, “How serving as editor of Christianity Today, he can anyone be arrogant when he stands strove to make the “thought magazine” beside the cross?” It was the best moment (as he called it) as broad as confessional on the videotape. evangelicalism, and broader still in its Carl understood, as well as any of us, reporting, while preserving a stance that that the grace that saves us is the grace focused on the central things, the non-nego- that sustains us and enables us to bear tiables, the common truths and realities: he fruit. From this perspective, we are all, was prophetic from the center. This is a at best, unprofitable servants—even far cry from many would-be “prophetic” Carl F. H. Henry. Still, that same grace is voices today that almost always focus on heard when the trumpets sound, and a something at the periphery as if it were Carl Henry enters eternity, and hears the at the center. Carl was too faithful a Bible voice of the Master saying, “Well done, reader for that. good and faithful servant. You have been (3) Because of this prophetic stance faithful over a few things. I will make you from the center, he could call the church ruler over many things. Enter into the joy to reformation along very different lines, of your Lord.” We rejoice with you, Carl, depending on what he saw going on, what as with one who has fought the good fi ght weaknesses seemed to be prevailing at of the faith; we rejoice with you, and we that point. Yes, he could defend propo- miss you more than we can say. sitional revelation (though his stance on If I had to list a few items for which this matter is today more often parodied Carl should be remembered—a few items, than understood and appreciated), but he I say, from what could be a very long could also call the church back to massive list—they might include the following: social engagement, as in his enormously (1) In some ways Carl reminds us that infl uential 1947 volume, The Uneasy Con- God gifts certain people in peculiar ways science of Modern Fundamentalism. He never in order to respond to specifi c challenges. sang only one tune. Carl was not simply a theologian. In some (4) All his life, he strove to practice ways, he was a sophisticated theological what he preached. The stories that are told journalist, able to understand what was in this arena are legion. going on around him, read it theologi- (5) He was a great encourager of others, cally, and explain it to fellow Christians. not least younger men and women. His In addition to his interest in theology, correspondence was voluminous, much of indeed because of his interest in theology, it cast in the guise of encouragement. Both he was also an entrepreneur: hence his he and Helga penned thousands, prob- long commitment to Christianity Today, his ably tens of thousands, of personal notes 84 and letters to encourage other Christians lost the common touch. He could lecture along their way. at Harvard and Yale on existentialism (6) Although he learned to think strate- and process philosophy one week, and gically, and therefore valued well-placed preach a revival in a country church the leaders who could use their influence next week, and do both with integrity for good, he was never snookered by the and credibility. Henry’s God, Revelation high and the mighty—proved, no doubt, and Authority is a monumental statement by the way he interacted constantly with of theological epistemology that still the most humble and needy. rewards careful study today. Carl Henry (7) He was gospel-centered and for- was an evangelical statesman, a world ward-looking. He was interested in pre- visionary, a networker of unparalleled paring people for tomorrow and the next skill, and a shaper of institutions that still day, not merely in enabling them to under- bear the imprint of his mind and heart. All stand yesterday and the day before. of this, and much more, made him great. And in my mind’s eye, I can still con- But there is something else about Carl jure him up. I can still hear him exhorting Henry that those who only knew him as a us: Remember your Creator in the days great mind, famous author, and evangeli- of your youth, before the days of trouble cal activist might well have missed. He come and the years approach when you was an unfl agging encourager of others. will say, “I fi nd no pleasure in them.” Those who knew Henry well, including some of the contributors to this issue, SBJT: In your view, what made Carl F. will have their own stories to tell. I want H. Henry so great? to mention just three incidents from my Timothy George: What made Carl F. H. own encounters with him. Henry great? The answer to this question Dr. Henry came to The Southern Bap- is as myriad as the varied movements, tist Theological Seminary in the 1980’s institutions, and initiatives to which this to teach a short-term course while I was remarkable man gave himself on behalf a member of the faculty there. His pres- of the evangelical church during his long ence on the campus was opposed by some and productive life. Along with Harold members of the faculty who resented the John Ockenga, the mover and shaker of intrusion of a “Yankee evangelical” who neo-evangelicalism, Henry established was “not one of us.” Henry deflected a platform for Bible-believing Christians such criticism by his gracious demeanor, against obscurantist fundamentalism on humble spirit, and brilliant engagement Timothy George is the founding Dean the one hand and compromising liberal- with students and faculty alike. At a of Beeson Divinity School of Samford ism on the other. Ever committed to the time when there were few conservative University in Birmingham, Alabama, and life of the mind, Henry was the “brains” scholars on the faculty, Henry modeled an an executive editor of Christianity Today. behind the National Association of Evan- intelligent, winsome evangelicalism that A prolifi c author, he has written more gelicals, Fuller Seminary, Christianity put to shame the kind of closed-minded than 20 books and regularly contributes Today, and much more. His trumpet-call “openness” of his critics. He was unstint- to scholarly journals. Dr. George has pas- in Uneasy Conscience set the direction of ingly generous with his time and encour- tored churches in Tennessee, Alabama, evangelical social and cultural engage- aged me and others to pursue scholarly and Massachusetts, and previously ment for the next half-century. Henry efforts in the wider academy and to seek served as professor at The Southern was a journalist by training; he never broader contacts with Christians beyond Baptist Theological Seminary. 85 our own denominational cocoon. ministries and institutions shaped by the In 1988 I moved to Samford University legacy of Carl Henry, not only Beeson, but to begin the work of Beeson Divinity also Wheaton College, Prison Fellowship, School. I asked Dr. Henry to present the Christianity Today, the Institute on Religion main address at my installation as dean. and Democracy, First Things, and others. He spoke on “The Future of Evangelical A few months before Carl died, Dr. Greg Theological Education” challenging us to Waybright, President of Trinity Interna- forge a unique paradigm—a community tional University, and I went to see him of faith and learning committed to the and his beloved Helga at the Moravian classical theological disciplines, a robust nursing home where they lived in Water- spirituality, and a global vision for mis- town, Wisconsin. Though he could no sions and evangelism. From its inception, longer walk, his eyes still sparkled with Beeson was intended to be an evangelical, the joy of Christ, and, in his high, wispy interdenominational theological school, voice, he whispered words of encourage- conservative theologically but ecumeni- ment and blessing to both of us. Before cal in its contacts and outreach across the we left, I read Psalm 46, on which Luther’s body of Christ. More than anyone else, hymn, “A Mighty Fortress” is based, we Carl Henry showed us how this could be prayed, and said farewell. done. He also encouraged us to emphasize Carl Henry was once asked to name racial reconciliation given the “steward- his greatest treasure. He mentioned the ship of geography” presented by our loca- Scriptures, the most read book of his life, tion in Birmingham, Alabama. his family and friends, and waiting before Carl Henry felt a special responsibil- God in prayer. “Heaven,” he said, ity to encourage younger pastors and scholars in their work for the Lord. On will be an unending feast for the soul that basks in his presence. And his subsequent visits to Beeson as a visit- it will be brighter because some will ing professor and conference speaker, he be there whom I brought to Jesus, and others whom I encouraged to always took time to be with students. He become pastors and missionaries Harold O. J. Brown is John R. would preach in their churches on the and teachers, or to invest their God- Richardson Professor of Theology and weekend, eat Chinese food (one of his entrusted gifts in other constructive Philosophy at Reformed Theological careers. The tides of history that favorites) with them over lunch, and invite seem to us so all-important and Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. them to his apartment for “theology and all-consuming in this lifetime will With former United States Surgeon tea.” The last time he preached in chapel fade overnight into a vast panorama in which Christ and not modern General C. Everett Koop, M.D., Brown at Beeson, he spoke from a chair as he was celebrities will hold center-stage. It co-founded the Christian Action Coun- not able to stand. He talked about his con- is Christ alone who will give unend- cil. He is the director of the Center on version to Jesus Christ and what it meant ing meaning to a future that will become and remain ever present. Religion and Society at the Rockford to be born again. In his later years, Henry Institute and teaches in the International became more pointed in his criticism of SBJT: In your view and in your life, Seminar on Jurisprudence and Hu- certain trends within the evangelical com- what has been the lasting contribution man Rights in Strasbourg, France. Dr. munity, but he never lost his confi dence of Carl Henry? Brown has written numerous articles in the truth of the gospel, nor his hope for Harold O. J. Brown: The late George H. and several books, including Heresies the future of the church whose sovereign Williams, the dean of American church (Doubleday, 1984) and The Sensate King, Jesus Christ, reigns in glory. historians, once dreamt of writing a Culture (Word, 1996). Today I fi nd myself involved in many comprehensive church history, “The Pil- 86 grimage of God’s New Testament People.” Zwingli, and Bullinger, one from that of The Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of us the English-speaking Baptists: Karl Barth as “strangers and pilgrims in the earth.” and Carl F. H. Henry respectively. During that pilgrimage, there have been The former we may thank for check- leaders who stood head and shoulders ing the juggernaut of liberal theology, the above the masses, so that we may call latter with rebuilding the sapped founda- them giants. If some of us who follow tions that the former neglected. Both of them imagine that we can see more or these men are so near in time to this writer farther, it is because we can stand on their that it may be appropriate to refer not to shoulders. One such giant was Carl F. H. history but to his own experiences with Henry. Perhaps those of us who stand their thought and example, and in the on his shoulders do not see farther into case of Carl Henry, with the man himself. the future than he did, but we can see Barth was a direct descendant of Calvin, a the things of God and of this generation minister and theologian in the Reformed more clearly because he has lifted us up Church of Switzerlan d but it was Carl high enough to be above the fog clouds of Henry, the son of the Baptist tradition, conceit and misguided scholarship that who caught the falling fl ag of Calvinism have blinded the eyes of so many. and carried it with vigor into the churches There have been giants of the intellect, and seminaries of America. capable of seeing more than the mass of Barth claimed Calvin as his guide, mortal men. If we recount the names of and like Calvin he influenced Protes- some, we would be rash to claim that tant past ors all over Switzerland and we see as well or as far. For example, Protestant theology around the world, think of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in but he could not hand the fl ag on to the ancient Greece, of Kant, Fichte, and Hegel third generation. During my own service in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century as a pastor in Switzer land, almost all of Germany. Their heads rise high above the biblical ly-sound and evangelically- those of contemporaries and successors. oriented colleagues I met were former If they could sometimes see farther, the students of Barth’s, either directly or epigones, those born later, could do so through his writings. They were all senior only because they stood on the shoulders servants, and as they passed from the of the giants. The Christian faith too has scene, Barth’s direct infl uence declined. had its giants. We can identify some from Today his enthusiasts are to be found past centuries such as Augustine, Anselm, among American evangelicals, who are Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John encouraged and emboldened to fi nd a Calvin, Thomas Cramner, and Menno thinker of his stature not afraid to affi rm Simons, to name just a few. In our own fundamental Christian articles of faith. day, it is harder to be sure to identify the Barth can be an inspiration, but he is less giants, yet among those in whose time reliable as a teacher. Francis A. Schaeffer, a we have lived, surely two men of the last contemporary and critic of Barth, blamed century produced theological opera rival- Barth for failing to rebuild the founda- ing those of Aquinas and Calvin in scope tions undermined by a century of biblical and stature. One came from the heritage criticism, and this may explain why the of the Swiss Reformation, of Calvin, orthodoxy of Barth’s “neo-orthodoxy” is 87 not surviving. Who dared and knew bet- introduced into the tangled web of early ter how to restore the foundations? Carl Christian doctrines and disputes by Prof. F. H. Henry, the man on whose shoulders Ernst Benz. Sensing a call to the ministry, younger Christians may dare to stand, or at least to understanding what the assuming that they are competent to ministry was supposed to be and to do, climb high enough to reach them. I decided to continue in theology on my return to the U.S.A. A Personal Perspective But where should I go? A Harvard Son of an inactive Southern Baptist classmate, also in Germany, suggested father and a Roman Catholic mother, Harvard Divinity School, which, he said, given a Jesuit high school education in was becoming “really conservative,” hav- Florida and enabled to travel north to ing called new professors, John Wild, Paul Harvard, I expected to fi nd some vigorous Lehmann, and Paul Tillich! My familiar- Calvinism in the Puritan commonwealth. ity with Francis Schaeffer and his work, This expectation shows that I was more which was later to prove invaluable, had familiar with earlier colonial history than to wait almost twenty years. Naive in my with more recent developments. Boston, approach to Protestantism, “based on the once hailed as the intellectual Athens of Bible,” as I thought it to be, I was mysti- America, was becoming its moral Corinth. fi ed, puzzled, and perplexed by teachings I was not encouraged to study Calvin, and teachers who seemed to treat as naive but was requir ed to read a good deal of the gospel faith of my German veteran Luther’s writings during my college stay. friend and who viewed the Bible as an I thought that I had begun to understand object to be dissected. The Harvard of the that salvation is a gift of grace received by late 1950s was “liberal” in the old sense. faith, not earned by merit. Comprehen- The instructors did not impose their theol- sion, however, is not appropriation. ogy, or the lack of it, but few could repress After graduation I enrolled at the Uni- indulgent amusement at the naiveté of the versity of Marburg in Germany, which few students who held to what one man happens to be the fi rst university founded called “the orthodoxy of yesteryear.” on a Protestant basis. It was not the univer- Those of us who had sought Harvard sity itself, where Rudolf Bultmann, though Divinity School for its reputation and emeritus, still preached occasionally, but a other connections soon encountered German war veteran returning after years theology without faith. We were not suffi - of imprisonment in the Soviet Union who ciently mature to move to an academically taught me to understand the need for a less elegant but biblically more faithful personal conversion and commitment to scho ol, of which there were very few at the Jesus Christ, something that transformed time, and even the best of which seemed my moralistic background of Jesuit-taught rude and uncouth to those intoxicated rigorism into a new gospel freedom. To with the elegance of Harvard. As I look understand what as a newly committed back, I do not think that I could have follower of His I was supposed to believe, recognized the problem or understood I switched from Germanistik to theology, what could have been gained by moving and in addition to some very pedantic to Westminster or in the Golden West to instruction in the biblical languages was Fuller. Having a tendency to intellectual 88 rebellion as I did, I was doubtless safer back. We already knew that there was a rebelling against the genteel liberalism faith worth contending for (Jude 3) and we of Harvard than against the determined discovered that there were men of faith doctrinal orthodoxy of Westminste r, and learning capable of doing it. where my own local pastor sought to send Harvard Professor Georges Florovsky, me. The diffi culty was that merely being who was defi nitely not ashamed of the skeptical was not suffi cient in that liberal gospel of Christ, said, “Around here they environment. It kept me unconvinced by call me a fundamentalist because I actu- the biblical and theological criticism of ally do believe in God.” The scholars to our often pious liberals and may have whom Carl Henry introduced us showed protected me from soaking up much error, that there was no need to be intellectually but it did not teach me what I needed to ashamed of being called an “evangelical.” know, much less where to go. No sacrificium intellectus was required It was at this crucial juncture in several actually to believe in the infi nite, tri-per- young lives that Carl Henry stepped in, sonal God and to accept the authority of not in person, but in the magazine that he Scripture as the work of the Holy Spirit. had just founded, Christianity Today (CT). CT was a theological life-preserver cast Billy Graham and J. Howard Pew had into the troubled sea where so many of provided the means and the energy to us were bobbing about. challenge the leftward-drifting Christian When Carl Henry left CT in 1968 under Century. Weyerhauser and Pew furnished difficult circumstances, its approach the money for free subscriptions to every and its mission changed. Today it is no Protestant seminary student in the coun- longer as necessary since now there are try. For many of us, adrift in the liberal many more seminaries where the Bible is milieu, it was Carl Henry and the theo- believed and taught; the old ones are still logical leaders he recruited for CT who there, for the most part still faithful, and showed us not only that we had nothing new ones have been founded. Seminar- to be ashamed of in biblical orthodoxy ies, even entire denominations that were but had much to learn from it. It was CT slipping have recovered or been won that brought to our desks the work of back: The Southern Baptist Theological solid and brilliant Christian thinkers and Seminary in Louisville and Concordia doers, such as Henry himself, G. C. Berk- Seminary in St. Louis are stellar examples. ouwer, Gordon Clark, Edward Carnell, Evangelical publishing houses are no lon- F. F. Bruce, Wilbur Smith, John T. Muller, ger little huts in cucumber fi elds, but huge J. I. Packer, and many others. They did and prosperous. At least one has become not fl inch but counter-attacked. Before the takeover target of secular finance we grew enough to read their full-length simply because it makes money. Sound books, we found their essays on our desks works of evangelical scholarship are eas- every other week. No doubt, some stu- ily available everywhere. The Evangelical dents quickly put CT in the wastebasket Theological Society has gone from a timid but others, including me, waited eagerly little band of scholars to an organization for each issue as ammunition to resist the where 700 scholarly papers can be read at debilitating skepticism of the school and an annual meeting. as a source of inspiration actually to fi ght Is all this the work of CT or of Carl 89 Henry alone? No, surely not. It was not ham, of course, is the great evangelist of simply a matter of good articles. Before, the century. Kantzer is remembered as during, and after his tenure as editor, Carl the educator/networker. Dr. Henry con- Henry himself wrote an immense number sistently receives the title: “theologian of of books, including his six-volume mag- evangelicalism.” There is a certain sym- num opus, God, Revelation and Authority, metry and propriety about this descrip- and these are of lasting value. However tion. Like all sketches, however, this one the magazine did pave the way for the blurs reality just a bit. spread of more comprehensive works. In fact, Ken Kantzer was quite a theo- I have emphasized only one feature of logian in his own right. Yet, his theologi- Carl Henry’s immense life work, because cal contributions were mostly personal it is the one that helped me when I most rather than prosaic. Dr. Kantzer wanted needed it. Together with many others, less to write more than he did, but other duties erudite, perhaps, but equally committed, seemed more pressing. In fact, while he Carl Henry made contemporary evangeli- was teaching at Wheaton, the senior class cal faith respectable without allowing it gave Dr. Kantzer a monetary gift that to become empty. Former contributors, was to enable him to take a year off from new scholars, men and women, have teaching in order to write a book. Instead, studied, worked, witnes sed, and prayed, Dr. Kantzer sacrifi cially became dean of evangelists have preached, musicians Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and have sung and played. The general condi- graciously gave the money back to the tion of Christendom in the United States students. may be pale and wan; the growth of the Likewise, Billy Graham has been not movements that trust Scripture and are only an evangelist, but also an educator. not ashamed of it represents a potentially Through his preaching and the more than redemptive counter-current to the drift. twenty-fi ve popular books he has writ- This is not the achievement of Carl Henry, ten, he educated an entire generation of or of any one man or group of men and evangelicals. women; to the extent that it is biblically That brings us to Carl Henry. Obvi- sound, it is the work of God, of the Holy ously, he was a fi rst-rate theologian. His Spirit. When Christians today hear that monumental six-volume God, Revelation God “has not left himself without wit- and Authority remains a classic of twen- nesses,” and want to know where to fi nd tieth-century evangelical theology. He one, point them to Carl F. H. Henry. was likewise an able educator, having served on several faculties, including SBJT: Carl F. H. Henry has been called being a member of the founding faculty C. Ben Mitchell is Associate Profes- the “theologian of evangelicalism.” at Fuller Seminary. He was also a skilled sor of Bioethics & Contemporary Culture Does this title aptly describe this great networker; a point that was not over- at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Christian leader? looked by several organizations who Deerfi eld, Illinois, Editor of the journal C. Ben Mitchell: Conversations about the relied on his leadership on their boards, Ethics & Medicine, and Fellow of the evangelical movement of the mid-twen- including Prison Fellowship, The Ethics Institute on Biotechnology and the tieth century usually end up pointing to & Public Policy Center, and the Institute Human Future at Chicago-Kent School a remarkable triumvirate: Billy Graham, for Religion and Democracy. His notion of Law. Kenneth Kantzer, and Carl Henry. Gra- of broad-based evangelical “co-belliger- 90 ency” is legendary. teach, I received a letter from Dr. Henry, His skill as a networker was made even encouraging me to share the gospel with more acute through his discipline as a others. Urged Dr. Henry, “I wish you well letter-writer. Each morning Dr. and Mrs. at Trinity. Don’t forget—if I may exhort Henry would retrieve their voluminous a colleague—to witness one-on-one to mail and spend the bulk of the morning others about the Savior who met with answering letters, never with a computer, Nicodemus and the woman at the well.” and often by hand. One friend and col- And I will always cherish the memory league received over 200 letters and cards of spending a crisp winter day with the from the Henrys! Henrys in their Watertown retirement Dr. Henry’s gift as a correspondent apartment, along with Paul House and benefi ted me personally in many ways. Greg Thornbury. Dr. and Mrs. Henry In one case, while I was still in graduate were such kind hosts, Mrs. Henry even school, I wrote Dr. Henry to ask if he serving us lunch she cooked in her tiny knew any other evangelicals who were apartment-sized kitchen. On more than interested in bioethics. Within just a few one occasion during that day, even as age days, Dr. Henry had introduced me to had weakened his voice, Dr. Henry spoke Nigel M. de S. Cameron, then a theologian to us of the urgency of reaching the lost at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and for Christ. within a year the founder of The Center The ministry of Carl F. H. Henry rightly for Bioethics and Human Dignity. I was earned him the title “theologian.” But privileged to be part of the founding of like every good theologian, Dr. Henry the Center—all because of Dr. Henry’s was also an evangelist; and anyone who expertise as a networker. spent much time in his presence must Less famous, yet just as important, was have felt a little like Timothy, to whom Dr. Henry’s passion for evangelism. He Paul famously said: “As for you, always was Chairperson of the World Congress be sober-minded, endure suffering, do on Evangelism held in 1966 in Berlin the work of an evangelist, fulfill your Carl Trueman is Associate Profes- and spent a great deal of his life visiting ministry” (2 Tim 4:5). sor of Church History and Historical mission fields on every continent. But Theology at Westminster Theological his evangelistic passion was not only SBJT: Carl F. H. Henry has clearly played Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. institutional, it was personal. This was a vital role in shaping modern day evan- He has written a number of scholarly evidenced by his intimate involvement gelicalism. What would you identify as articles and is the author of Luther’s in establishing Easter Sunrise Services the most signifi cant strengths and weak- Legacy: Salvation & English Reformers in whatever community he lived. For nesses of the evangelical movement as a 1525-56 (Oxford University Press, instance, he was co-chair of the Rose Bowl result of Henry’s infl uence? 1994) Claims of Truth: John Owen’s Easter Sunrise Service from 1948-1956. Carl Trueman: The death of Carl Henry Trinitarian Theology (Paternoster, 2002), And when he and Mrs. Henry moved to is a signifi cant moment for evangelical- and The Wages of Spin: Critical Writ- the little Wisconsin village of Watertown ism. If Timothy George is perhaps guilty ings on Historic and Contemporary in 1992, he helped begin an Easter Sunrise of understandable hyperbole in calling Evangelicalism (Christian Focus, 2004). Service as a way of bringing Christians him the inventor of modern evangelical- Dr. Trueman also serves as editor of together in visible witness to the power ism, Henry was without doubt one of the Themelios, an international theological of Christ’s resurrection. key fi gures who set the agenda for the journal published by the Religious and In 1999, after moving to Trinity to movement, both through his writings Theological Studies Fellowship. 91 and through the various institutions and Christianity Today, and the Evangelical organizations that he helped to found Theological Society, was for a cultur- and to defi ne. ally-engaged evangelicalism, winsome The questions surrounding the legacy and engaging in manner yet orthodox of an infl uential fi gure are always complex in beliefs, which would represent a and the answers are rarely straightfor- popular Christian front in the challenges ward and unproblematic. I would suggest facing American society in the decades that, in the future when we look back after World War II. Theologically, Henry on the course of evangelicalism since saw inerrancy, and the close connection the 1940s, Henry will emerge as a fi gure between God and the Bible, between a more signifi cant ultimately for his abil- sound doctrine of God and a correct doc- ity to mobilize others and to get things trine of scripture, as being central to the done than he will as a signifi cant thinker program. This received its greatest expres- beyond the bounds of his own time; and, sion in his magnum opus, God, Revelation furthermore, that his legacy to evangeli- and Authority. Ecclesiastically, he saw that calism will be shown to have both great the transcending of old denominational strengths and significant weaknesses. boundaries and old battles was crucial That these are, ironically, functions of to generating the critical mass of sup- each other is perhaps the peculiar tragedy port necessary to achieve any infl uence. of the new evangelicalism. Infl uential movements need institutions; Surely the strength of Henry, beyond institutions cost money; and money is his incredible ability simply to “get things generally only found through the creation done,” lay in his desire to see Fundamen- of large movements. talism move out of its obscurantist ghetto This is where the strength and the and engage with the wider culture at all weakness of the new evangelical project levels. The 1948 tract, The Uneasy Con- become so evident. On the one hand, the science of Modern Fundamentalism, is a clas- sidelining of many issues of interdenomi- sic manifesto of the new evangelicalism, national disagreement in the interests of and it was released at just that moment a popular front enabled the movement to in time when, in broad terms, a post-war overcome the kind of fragmentation and America was seeking to understand its narrow factionalism that had rendered place in the new world order and, more much of the old style Fundamentalism narrowly, when evangelicals were them- impotent, both intellectually and socially. selves trying to find their own place On the other hand, the whole idea of a within the U.S. The old debates, whether popular-front evangelicalism proved to be on Prohibition or radical separatism, had a highly unstable phenomenon in terms effectively run their course and offered no of theological identity, as any examina- foundations for a renewed church life. As tion of the history of Fuller Seminary, Fundamentalism had retreated from the Christianity Today, or the Evangelical public square, so it had lost its vitality as Theological Society shows. All three were a culturally signifi cant force. involved in making signifi cant gains for Henry’s vision, laid out in The Uneasy the evangelical cause, Fuller through the Conscience, and brought to fruition in his pioneering of scholarship, CT through the work for Fuller Theological Seminary, articulation at a popular level of thought- 92 ful Christian engagement with culture, and current states of Fuller, Christianity and ETS through providing a forum for Today, and the Evangelical Theological intellectual exchange among those of Society all bear witness to the problems like minds. Yet all three demonstrate the to which the new evangelicalism is prone. problem of building a movement on an What started out as an attempt to articu- interdenominational front. late orthodox theology in the context of The main problem is, of course, pre- the wider world has degenerated over cisely the one that makes such inter- the years into something very different. denominational activity attractive: the All three, Fuller, CT, and ETS represent sidelining of issues that divide and an evangelical consensus that can only weaken the common Christian cause. His- be described as minimal with reference torically, Christianity has operated on the to its commonly agreed upon doctrinal basis of creeds and confessions connected content and its connection to the great to specifi c structures of accountability, creedal and confessional traditions of the namely, denominations and churches. church; and all three, in their different There is a sense in which such denomi- ways, represent capitulations to the wider nations have witnessed to the unbiblical culture, whether scholarly, commercial, fragmentation of Christ’s body and under- or therapeutic. This is most noticeable mined the church’s witness to the world of in the case of Christianity Today, which the one way of salvation. Yet the reasons has moved from being a middle-brow, for the existence of denominations are not print-and-argument-oriented journal at its entirely without weight. To take the divi- inception to a glossy, commercial-packed sion between Baptists and Presbyterians: (and commercial–dependent) organ, a we can and should lament the fact that Christian alternative to People or In Style. such division exists; but it would surely As for ETS, the recent indecisive struggles be even more lamentable if each side over open theism expose the problem for abandoned belief in the importance of its all to see: if you have a minimal, sub- view of baptism as a basis for ecclesiastical Christian doctrinal basis, you really have unity. Divisions over baptism are tragic; no constitutional basis to complain or to but I would suggest they are not as tragic take decisive action when sub-Christian as any move to dismiss baptism as basi- views surface among the membership. cally unimportant. The problem with interdenomina- This, of course, is where the new tional, popular-front evangelicalism is evangelical project of Henry is peculiarly that, by its very nature, it serves to rela- vulnerable: as noted above, the forma- tivize signifi cant theological distinctives tion of a popular-front evangelicalism and thus, ironically, to weaken the theo- sidelined issues for the sake of co-opera- logical dimension of evangelical Christian tion; but in so doing it also embodied a identity. It is, in a sense, always doomed certain tendency towards lowest-com- to be sub-Christian because it forecloses mon-denominator theology. This kind of the debate on many of those things that minimalist theology, combined with the are important to Christian orthodoxy. rather fl abby accountability structures to Now, do not misunderstand me: the which interdenominational organizations new evangelical project was worthwhile, are prone, bore strange fruit: the history even necessary, precisely because it gave 93 a denominationally-fragmented evan- this side of eternity—appear to have gelicalism a power-base and a momentum excelled him. Historically, his connection that was much needed; but it tended to with envisioning, founding, or lending prioritize the interdenominational over encouragement to so many associations the churchly. In other words, what it and institutions is amazing. From Fuller lacked was a doctrine of the church. It Seminary to Christianity Today, from the is the church that is the normal place for Evangelical Theological Society to Prison theological activity; and it is the church, Fellowship, Carl Henry was there—more in its individual denominational incar- often than not, providing crucial leader- nations, that allows for a truly Christian ship. theology in terms of its creedal expression My refl ection for this forum is more of a full-orbed doctrinal faith, not simply personal. I share it with you out of per- a theological minimalism determined by sonal indebtedness, in the interest of boards, commercial sponsors, academic historical completeness, and because I respectability, or whatever. If the new assume that his legacy includes many evangelicalism is ever to be revitalized, if such stories as mine. When I fi rst met Dr. Henry’s dream of an articulate orthodoxy Henry, I was an undergraduate student at is ever to be realized, I am persuaded that Duke University, and he was lecturing on this will come about only in the context the campus as the president of the Ameri- of a churchly evangelicalism that under- can Theological Society. He was in his stands the necessary and helpful, but late 60’s, a scholar of international repute, limited, subordinate, and handmaiden and yet, when I spoke to him after one of role that interdenominational evangelical his lectures, he was kind and interested. co-operation must play in relation to the Little could I have suspected when I was church. The tragedy of the new evangeli- listening to his lecture that day that he calism is that its ecclesiastical ambitions would become one of the most infl uential far outstripped its ecclesiological refl ec- people in my life. tions. Dr. Henry was, of course, infl uential on me theologically. His careful work SBJT: What impact has Carl F. H. Henry’s sorting through the philosophical founda- legacy had on your life and ministry? tions of modern epistemology was use- Mark Dever: Since Carl Henry’s passing ful reading for me. He was writing and Mark Dever is Senior Pastor of Capitol in December, 2003, writers, friends, and publishing God, Revelation and Authority Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D. C. students have written of their apprecia- throughout my bachelor’s and masters’ He received his Ph.D. from Cambridge tion for him. Reading these pieces, there studies. His careful work, combined with University in Cambridge, England. Dr. emerges a perfectly consistent picture his journalist’s sense of the important Dever serves as the Executive Director across the various authors. All refl ect the headlines of the story, aided and shaped for 9Marks Ministries in Washington, life of the same man, marked by a remark- me. This aspect of his legacy has been D.C., and is adjunct faculty both at able combination of vision, energy and often recorded. Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, action, intellect, piety, and humility. Dr. Henry was also infl uential on me Alabama, and at The Southern Baptist Carl Henry’s legacy looms large across more personally. While he, of course, had Theological Seminary. He is the author the evangelical landscape. Considered his faults, as every man does, it was his of Nine Marks of a Healthy Church either historically or theologically, he has virtues that were so striking to me. And (Crossway, 2004). few peers and none who—at least from above them all—perhaps even above his 94 intellect and vision—was his humility. vention—was undergoing severe theo- The mere fact that over the years from logical struggles during these years, and 1986 until just a couple of years ago, Dr. it was my desire to be a part of the future Henry wrote me dozens of letters by hand, solution to those pressing problems. A often reminding me of his appreciation seminary seemed the most likely place for me, his care, and his prayers, was for such a ministry. Dr. Henry had always encouraging. Over the years, his kind- agreed with me in this matter. nesses to me were legion. When we were And then came this letter. I was sur- together, he would typically share with prised, and didn’t immediately feel the me things that he felt he could learn from idea was a good one. But my respect for me, and that he regularly felt challenged Dr. Henry was great, and I assumed that by our times together. This boggled my he had wisdom that I lacked. I contacted mind! When this man in his mid-70’s him and another member of his church would share with me that being around who was on the search committee and me always made him want to be more arranged to preach at the church that evangelistic, I was encouraged in my summer, when I would be back in the evangelism, but far more encouraged to States (I was doing my Ph.D. in England). work and pray to have a heart of humility, I can’t say that I was excited by the oppor- a heart like his, willing and able to learn tunity, and not much intrigued by it, but from anyone around me—even if they felt obligated, and trusted Dr. Henry. were one-third my age! From that fi rst weekend visiting the But it was his letter to me in January church in the summer of 1993, until I of 1993 that would come to shape my life wrote accepting the congregation’s call more than any other personal letter I have six months later, the fact that Dr. Henry ever received. In that letter—hand-deliv- had encouraged me to consider the ered to me through a mutual friend—Dr. opportunity was a signifi cant factor. I Henry told me of his own congregation’s assumed that he of all people could well need for a pastor, and his desire for me understand the importance of evangeli- to consider whether this was God’s will cal academic work. And if he felt that I for me. could best be used in a small, inner-city Frankly, I was surprised by the let- congregation, then I thought that he may ter. Dr. Henry had always encouraged be right. me in my academic pursuits, and was I don’t want to give the wrong idea— apparently eager for me to give my life to that letter from Dr. Henry didn’t deter- academics, teaching either in a university, mine my life. The second half of 1993 was or in a Christian seminary. From 1982 a time for me and my wife to engage in until receiving that letter, that had, by much prayer, consideration, and discus- and large, been my assumption for what sion with many friends. We had a lot of I would do with the years the Lord would questions to be answered, and a number give me. I enjoyed academic studies, and of concerns to be addressed. But after we had done sufficiently well in them to considered as much as we could, both make me feel that it was probably God’s my wife and I concluded that it was the will for me to serve in that way. My own right thing for us to move to Washington, denomination—the Southern Baptist Con- D.C., and for me to become the pastor of 95 what was then called the Capitol Hill Met- to pioneering missionary parents, Carl ropolitan Baptist Church. And I would and Hedwig Bender. The youngest of six become Dr. Henry’s pastor. children, Helga came to the United States Since going to D.C., much has hap- after World War I when her parents settled pened in my own life, in my family, for a furlough in Watertown, Wisconsin, and in our congregation. I have recently with her father serving as pastor of the celebrated my 10th anniversary as their First Baptist Church. During that time, pastor, and pray that God may allow me Helga attended Douglas School until the to see many more. I have no thoughts of family moved to Chicago. She returned going elsewhere, but assume that my life to Watertown for her senior year of high is to be lived out pastoring this local con- school. After graduation, she went on gregation and helping other pastors and to earn her B.A. and M.A. degrees from church leaders. This will, therefore, be one Wheaton College in Illinois, and later part of the legacy of Carl F. H. Henry, a the M.R.E. degree from Northern Baptist part Dr. Henry probably never imagined Theological Seminary in Chicago. when he wrote me that letter in January For more than twenty-fi ve years, Helga of 1993. taught in colleges and seminaries. She The Lord used one letter from a great was the Dean of Women and Instructor in man to change the rest of my life. I am German at the University of North Dakota one person living out my life in a place Teachers College in Ellendale, 1937-40; that God assigned to me through the Librarian and Instructor in Religious instrumentality of Carl F. H. Henry. Education at Northern Baptist Theological Small faithfulnesses can have dramatic Seminary, 1940-47; Instructor in German effects in the intricate beauty of God’s at Wheaton College, 1945-47; Associate providence. Dr. Henry’s letter was one Professor of Education at Pasadena (CA) of those small faithfulnesses in my life. College, 1951-60; Visiting Instructor in How many others had their lives so dra- Religious Education at Eastern Baptist matically affected? God alone knows the Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, from full story of Carl Henry’s legacy. My life 1961-66, later serving on the Board. is one part of it. On August 17, 1940, Helga married Carl F. H. Henry, whom she met at Wheaton SBJT: Given the close friendship you College. They had two children. Paul, a developed with the Henrys, tell us about United States Congressman in Michigan Carl’s wife Helga and her life together who was elected for fi ve terms until his Hutz H. Hertzberg serves as Director with her husband. death in 1993. Their daughter Carol is a of Church Planting for the Great Lakes Hutz H. Hertzberg: It has been said that Musicologist and former Instructor at the District of the Evangelical Free Church of behind every great man, there is a great University of South Carolina. Carl and America. Prior to this, he served as Dean woman. While that statement may or may Helga had fi ve grandchildren. of Students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity not be true in general, it certainly rings After many years in education, Helga School and Dean of Chapel at Trinity true when one refl ects on the life and and Carl moved to Arlington, Virginia, International University in Deerfi eld, Illi- legacy of Helga Bender Henry, wife of the where Carl served as founding editor of nois. Dr. Hertzberg also serves as the late Dr. Carl F. H. Henry. Christianity Today. Helga worked with him Senior Protestant Chaplain for Chicago Helga Bender Henry was born in as an editorial assistant and continued O’Hare and Midway Airports. Cameroon, West Africa, on May 30, 1915, her own interest in writing and editing. 96 Helga and Carl lived in Arlington for over time I was grieving the loss of my dad. In thirty years. Besides preparing teacher a serendipitous way, they subsequently training and curriculum materials, she “adopted” me as their surrogate son. The translated, from German to English, blessing of such a special relationship can History of Evangelism by Paulus Scharpff only be attributed to God’s grace to me as I used in numerous schools as a textbook became a very grateful benefi ciary of Carl and distributed in West Berlin at the 1966 and Helga’s love, concern, and prayers World Congress on Evangelism. Helga over the ensuing years. also wrote a 1955 centennial history, Mis- The fruit of their special concern and sion on Main Street, concerning the nation’s interest in me resulted in, among other then largest Gospel rescue mission located things, receiving more than a couple hun- in Los Angeles. dred letters from Helga and Carl over the Helga and Carl went on many overseas years. These Henry “epistles” are priceless lecture and teaching tours, addressing reminders of their personal interest in my groups in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, life and ministry. and New Zealand. Helga gave lectures In one particular letter, Helga spoke of at Evangelism International, Singapore; the “banes” and “benefi ts” of marriage to China Evangelical Seminary, Taipei; and a famous man. In her own unique way, she addressed Christian women’s groups in described such banes as lack of privacy; Seoul, Korea, and elsewhere. Helga and loss of time together with frequent separa- Carl also lived for a year in Cambridge, tions due to ministry commitments; the England, 1969-1970, for research and writ- challenge of child-rearing often borne by ing before traveling to Eastern Europe for one parent; and the need to handle many a stint of teaching and lecturing, mainly of the exigencies of life (i.e., plumbing, in Yugoslavia. electricity, yard-work, automobile, pay- In 1992, the Henry’s moved to Water- ing bills, tax records, illness, etc.). Helga town, Wisconsin. They continued a very went on to describe how others often active retirement of writing and editing, misperceived Henry’s family life because with Helga publishing Cameroon on a Clear of Carl’s “celebrity” status. She bemused, Day, in 1999, an account of her parents’ “one’s own family is well aware of the missionary work in Africa. Helga assisted ‘celebrity’s’ own weaknesses, foibles and Carl in many ways up to his death on eccentricities!” December 7, 2003. Helga did not “sugar-coat” the banes or My friendship with Carl and Helga challenges of marriage to Carl, but neither began around 1992, just prior to the death did she minimize the great blessings of of their son, Paul. It was during this time being married to a man of his stature. I was serving as Dean of the Chapel at She indicated such blessings included Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in seeing what God can do in a life commit- Deerfi eld, Illinois. Carl and Helga would ted to the Lord’s service—past, present, travel from Wisconsin to the Trinity cam- and future. She went on to say that such pus in order for Carl to teach a modular opportunities for public ministry don’t course each Spring. Our friendship come overnight or automatically, or by deepened especially as Carl and Helga “inheritance”—rather they are earned mourned the loss of their son at the same because of faithful adequate preparation 97 as well as faithful previous service. of us. Helga also stated that being married In one of the last letters Helga wrote to to Carl provided a platform to help oth- me, and speaking of Carl’s departure, she ers—both those young in the faith as well reminded herself and me that “we and as those more mature, professionals, and others follow in the train of witness he others. She talked of the opportunity of (Carl) sought to maintain life-long to the being a role model in an honest, not arti- glory of God and His Kingdom.” Helga fi cial way and thus being able to disciple was such a witness for the glory of God others with integrity. Helga was also and His Kingdom right up to her death quick to add that all these blessings come on November 1, 2004. I will be eternally from God, and should be reinvested for grateful for the powerful example of such God to His glory and for the nourishment a life-long faithful witness so lived by of the Kingdom. Helga and Carl Henry. In the months after Carl’s death, Helga wrote poignantly about missing Carl, “I’m thankful that Carl is with the Lord and must keep alert to my affairs, and trust God’s presence and help.” She wrote another time that “the Lord knows best and is in charge of the when’s, why’s, how’s, etc. A new depth of spiritual trust and faith must and does take place.” Helga was brilliant and gifted in so many ways. She was a powerful teacher, not only in words, but in the priorities of her life. Her quick mind and witty person- ality made her a joy to be around. Helga served and gave herself to others without seeking attention or credit. This was true throughout her life including her later years. For example, in their retirement home she would awaken early, delivering the morning paper to other seniors. However, perhaps Helga’s greatest contribution was her lifelong support of Carl and his work. For those who had opportunity to observe their sixty-three year partnership, it is impossible not to see her signifi cant infl uence on her husband and his work. Together Carl and Helga were used greatly of God and in His work. Their faithful, loving marriage committed to the Lord’s service resulted in a power- ful synergy and serves as example to all 98