Christian schools unfortunately change through the years as do churches and preachers. Some change for the better and others for the worse. This is the story of Bob Jones University.
‘Earlier we documented Bob Jones University (BJU) stepping into ecumenical compromise with Franklin Graham. See BJU Embraces Franklin Graham’s Ecumenical Movement. That was the latest among many excursions, engineered by BJU president Steve Pettit, into non-separatist evangelicallism and the ecumenical movement. From Dr. David Beale’s new book Christian Fundamentalism in America I included a brief excerpt in the BJU/Graham article above and in the BJU: Compromised Spiritual Sanctification for Secular Pragmatism article. Dr. David Beale has written an article to expand on and bolster his argument. That article follows. (Originally appeared 12/14/21).
“After being the premier fundamentalist academic institution for eighty-seven years, BJU elected Dr. Steve Pettit in 2014, as the president who steered the University out of separatist Fundamentalism into the inclusive, Broad Evangelical movement,” David Beale, Christian Fundamentalism in America (Maitland, FL: Xulon, 2021), 179, 530.
• Dr. Andy Naselli, in his 2006 BJU dissertation, scorns independent, Fundamental Baptists for giving invitations to “surrender oneself to God.” Naselli criticizes the practice and calls it a “second blessing.” Naselli unsuccessfully tried to identify the Fundamentalist movement with Keswick extremes on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Naselli then identified with Broad Evangelicalism. He now serves on the faculty of John Piper’s College and Seminary, which are Reformed Charismatic schools urging every Christian to seek all NT gifts, including tongues and healing. Piper claims that “Signs and wonders” and all spiritual gifts of 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 are valid for today and must be “earnestly desired.” Piper says, “Prophecy and tongues will continue until Jesus comes.”1 Naselli is a pastor of Piper’s Bethlehem Baptist Church.
Naselli seeks to transform Fundamentalists into Evangelicalism. In 2019, Dr. Pettit brought Naselli back to BJU to present the lectures for the annual Steward Custer Lecture Series. Naselli’s books were promoted. The late Dr. Custer all his life had been a stalwart Fundamentalist. Naselli represents Broad Evangelicalism. The bond between BJU and Evangelicalism has been clear since the beginning of Pettit’s administration.
• Dr. Sam Horn was executive vice president for enrollment and ministerial advancement at Bob Jones University when, on 2-7-2020, Dr. Pettit announced to all, “Dr. Horn is greatly honored today, and BJU is honored to have one of its own become the next president of The Master’s University and Seminary.” Horn succeeded Dr. John Stead. Dr. John MacArthur, a leading Evangelical, had led The Master’s University and Seminary as president from 1984 to 2018. Dr. Pettit preached for John MacArthur in a conference that year (2020). John Street, Chair of Biblical Counseling at The Master’s University, spoke at BJU’s CoRE Conference March 9–10, 2020. Street is an adjunct professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. By claiming that the word Fundamentalism can have no single definition,2 BJU leaders claim the label separatist but practice non-separatism (inclusivism). With such a notion, BJU attempts to sit on both sides of the fence—Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism—at the same time.
• Under Dr. Pettit’s administration, BJU students are permitted to bond with churches of denominations harboring apostasy.3 The following churches (underscored below) are among those approved for BJU students to attend.
• Covenant Community (Taylors, SC): An Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). On one of their website videos, the pastor poured water on a little child’s head and said, “This is like Abraham’s ‘baptizing his whole house’” (Genesis 17). The pastor substituted the word baptism for the word circumcision and called it regeneration. Augustine and Roman Catholicism devised and standardized this doctrine, which assumes an OT circumcisional regeneration for Jewish males.4 Romanism transformed that doctrine into NT water baptismal regeneration to elect infants. Forms of that doctrine passed into Reformed theology. John Calvin insisted that OT circumcision engrafted the Jewish infant into the covenant [elect] family of God; thus, NT baptism engrafts a newborn child into the body of Christ.5 Reformed doctrine leads many to believe the seed of regeneration is implanted at infant baptism, though salvation might occur later.6
• Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church (Simpsonville, SC), PCA church.
• Second Presbyterian Church (Greenville, SC): A Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). This church’s senior pastor is Dr. Richard Phillips, adjunct professor and member of the Board of Trustees at Westminster Theological Seminary, which enforces no dress codes and allows the use of alcoholic beverages.7
➢ Richard Phillips is also on the Board of Directors of (1) the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals; (2) the Council of The Gospel Coalition, and (3) the Council of the Gospel Reformation Network.8
➢ On October 12, 2019, at Phillips’ Second Presbyterian Church, Dr. Pettit participated in a Conference on Reformed Theology.
• To begin chapel on February 5, 2018, Dr. Pettit announced, “We are honored this morning to have as our guest Dr. Gene Fant,” president of North Greenville University, a Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) school. Fant was welcomed with a standing ovation.9 The so-called “SBC Conservative Resurgence” has now spiraled into a deadening mix.10
• Calvary First Baptist Church (Greenville, SC): SBC church.
• Roper Mountain Baptist Church (Greenville): SBC church.
• Rock Springs Baptist Church (Easley, SC): SBC church. Dr. Pettit, BJU President, spoke here October 6, 2019.
• White Oak Baptist Church (Greenville, SC): Affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and the Greenville Baptist Association. Their lead pastor is Lonnie Polson, BJU Division Chair of Communication of the School of Fine Arts. Their music director is Jeff Stegall, BJU Associate Professor in the Theatre Arts Department.
• For the article, “Bob Jones University Embraces Franklin Graham’s Ecumenical Movement: HaveYou Finally Seen Enough?” click the following link: BJU Embraces Franklin Graham….
• Dr. Steve Pettit permits dress style, music, and entertainment of the world’s style. For the Artist Series of January 27, 2015, he brought in the music group, “Cantus,” which includes beer drinkers and known homosexuals.11
• The following letter was sent to me on 10-14-2021 from a concerned grandfather who has grandchildren at BJU:
In 2021, at Bob Jones University, the first of the fall semester’s artist series was conducted on October 7 in the FMA. The program was titled “Symphonic Hollywood: Featuring the Music of Lee Holdridge.” The guest conductor was Richard Kaufman. The featured selections were beautifully done, and each was announced by Kaufman, interspersed with lavish praise on BJU and its leadership. Kaufman mentioned his background which included his participation with a Los Angeles orchestra in which he played violin for the recording of music for “Animal House,” a raunchy R-rated movie. He expressed no regret for its production. On the contrary, he mentioned that his contribution helped launch his career as a conductor. Not once did he mention any conflict between Christian beliefs and the moral cesspool of Hollywood. Nor did he give any confirmation of Christian belief. Yet he gave the impression that a believer could function contentedly in such an environment. Toward the end of the program, Jay Matthews and another representative, on behalf of the University, awarded Kaufman with a certificate and plaque granting him lifetime membership as an honorary alumnus of BJU. In the program notes on Kaufman, the bio states that “his wife Gayle is a former dancer and actress in film, television, and on Broadway, and his daughter, Whitney, is a highly successful singer and actress.”
All of this conveys to BJU students that a vocation in the worldly Hollywood scene is perfectly acceptable and, indeed highly commendable. The artist series productions have in recent years included more Broadway-type productions, mingled with the brilliant work of such Christian artists as Dan Forrest. “Broadway” sums up the philosophy of the new Bob Jones University— broad and inclusive.
Students are not learning to distinguish the true from the false kinds of entertainment, evangelicalism, and life-styes. This is lamentable and tragic. There was a day when Bob Jones University could be trusted to instill in its students the virtues of a separated godly lifestyle. Now the University simply wants to “fit into” the culture, to accommodate and even imitate its behavior.
Conclusion
Believers identified with the SBC, PCA, OPC, etc. are lending credibility to false teachers and false gospels. The believer who willingly does such is living in sin. People all over the country know that BJU is Evangelical. It is old news. Evangelicals often say, “Identification is a non-essential.” That mindset constitutes the difference between Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism! Indifference is dangerous! It is a path God forbids! “For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (2 John verse 11). One’s personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ determines his church identification! “Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward” (2 John vs. 8). We must never entangle the message of the gospel with man-made organizations and institutions that harbor false gospels.
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers…. After my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:28–30).
Every moment of our lives, we are building our ministries upon either the foundation of gold, silver, and precious stones, or upon a foundation of wood, hay, and stubble. “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (1 Corinthians 3:11–13). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:10–11a). “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” (First John 2:28). In Romans 1:1, Paul introduces himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.”
Charles H. Spurgeon promised his church, “That I might not stultify [invalidate] my testimony, I have cut myself clear of those who err from the faith, and even from those who associate with them. What more can I do to be honest with you?”12
Dr. Bob Jones Sr. so often cried, “Earnestly contend for the faith. Stand up and fight.”
David Beale (Enlarged 12-8-21)
David Beale taught courses on Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism for some thirty years at Bob Jones University and Seminary. He is a prolific writer and historian. Since Dr. Beale retired in 2010 he has taught and preached in schools and churches.
Originally Published December, 14 2021.
FOOTNOTES:
1) John Piper, Signs and Wonders: Then and Now.
2) Letter from a BJU leader to David Beale (2021).
3) BJU Representative Church List
4) Augustine, City of God, 6.26–27; Enchiridion: On Faith, Hope, and Love 43; cf. 93; Sermon 294; and On Forgiveness of Sins, and Baptism 1.27.
5) John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (4.15.1—22).
6) L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1939), 632–42.
7) Letters from a recent graduate to David Beale (2021); see Paul M. Elliott, Christianity and Neo-Liberalism: The Spiritual Crisis in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and Beyond (Unicoi, TN: Trinity Foundation, 2005).
8) https://www.bestbiblecommentaries.com/revelation-commentary-richard-phillips/.
10) George Houghton, “Are Conservative Southern Baptists Fundamentalists?” Faith Pulpit, January/February 2004 at: https://faith.edu/faith-news/are-conservative-southern-baptists fundamentalists/; J. Gerald Harris, The Rise and Fall of the Conservative Resurgence: The Southern Baptist Convention: 1979-2021 (Taos, NM: Trust House, 2021); and David Beale, “SBC Today,” in Baptist History in England and America: Personalities, Positions, and Practices (Maitland, FL: Xulon Press, 2018), 581–83.
11) Typical Cantus music and culture
12) Charles H. Spurgeon, “No Compromise,” Sermon No. 2047, delivered on the Lord’s-Day morning, October 7, 1888.’https://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2021/12/facts-enlarged-discussion-by-dr-david.html
‘A Christian teacher who refused to use gender-neutral pronouns at a school in Ireland has been jailed for breaching a court order after turning up to work following a suspension.
Enoch Burke has described the ordeal as “insanity,” after he was arrested on Monday morning for attending his place of work, despite being requested to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath, pending an investigation.
During a court hearing, Mr. Burke, who teaches German, history, and politics at the school, told the presiding judge: “I am a teacher, and I don’t want to go to prison. I want to be in my classroom today, that’s where I was this morning when I was arrested.
“I am here today because I said I would not call a boy a girl,” he told the court, adding that “transgenderism is against my Christian beliefs. It is contrary to the scriptures, contrary to the ethos of the Church of Ireland and of my school.”
Mr. Burke was suspended from his teaching duties while his employers conducted an investigation into allegations of gross misconduct, a move he described as “unreasonable, unjust, and unfair.”
“It is extraordinary and reprehensible that someone’s religious beliefs on this matter could ever be taken as grounds for an allegation of misconduct.
“My religious beliefs are not misconduct. They are not gross misconduct. They never will be. They are dear to me. I will never deny them and never betray them, and I will never bow to an order that would require me to do so. It is just not possible for me to do that.”
He insisted the suspension had “tarnished [his] good character” and lamented the fact that teachers around the country “are being forced to participate” in the promotion of transgenderism, claiming “they are being forced to use the pronoun ‘they’ instead of either ‘he’ or ‘she’.”
The school’s managing board said they had no other choice but to request that Mr. Burke be sent to prison, as he simply refused to comply with a court order to stay away from his place of employment.
“It is a coercive order we are seeking, not a punitive order. We are simply seeking to have Mr. Burke comply with the order,” counsel for the managing board told Judge Michael Quinn.
“Mr. Burke is knowingly in breach of this order; he is therefore in contempt, and he has made it clear that if he is not committed to prison, he will attend the school, and the concerns of the school regarding the ongoing disruption to the students remain,” she added.
Mr. Burke was sent to Mountjoy prison and said that he could agree to willfully comply with the court order at any point should he choose to do so.
A disciplinary hearing at the school is scheduled to take place later this month.’https://rmx.news/ireland/christian-teacher-who-refused-to-call-boy-a-girl-is-jailed-in-ireland-for-contempt-of-court/
This was an email from The Voice of the Martyrs.
‘When Fu Xuanjuan saw a way to share God’s Word under the watchful eye of China’s Communist authorities, she prayerfully acted on it with help from other believers.
Her company, Shenzhen Tree of Life Technology Development, produced digital media players that contained a narrated recording of the Bible as well as sermons and hymns. The players were especially helpful to elderly Christians. But Chinese authorities discovered the devices’ content and came after those who developed them.
On July 2, 2020, Fu Xuanjuan was arrested for the production and distribution of Christian literature. Her husband, Deng Tianyong, and two other employees were also detained. After being convicted of “illegal business operation,” Fu Xuanjuan was sentenced to six years in prison. Her evangelist husband, who managed content for the digital players, received a three-year sentence. Feng Qunchao, a technician, was sentenced to 30 months in prison. And the company’s receptionist and accountant, Han Li, received an 18-month sentence and has since been released.
Fu Xuanjuan and Deng Tianyong’s adopted 14-year-old daughter and Deng Tianyong’s widowed mother have been cared for by church members since the arrests.’
‘Broadlawns Medical Center is a government entity. And it supposedly prides itself on “diversity, equity and inclusion.” But only the diversity, equity and inclusion it believes in — not the actual idea of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Freedom Blend Coffee is a Christian organization that helps young adults get into the workplace. It falls under the umbrella of Freedom for Youth, which has a “Statement of Faith” that all employees are expected to abide by, except for youth participants in their programs.
Among its beliefs is the biblical view on marriage and sexuality. Ideas such as:
*God created each person as either male or female.
*The rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person.
*Marriage only means the union of one man and one woman.
*God intends for sexual intimacy to happen only between a man and woman married to each other.
*God has commanded no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.
*Any form of seuxal immorality (adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest or use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God.
*God offers restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
*Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any person are to be repudiated and not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Freedom for Youth Ministries.
Pretty basic biblical beliefs.
But those beliefs will not be tolerated, ironically, by those in charge of the tolerance train at Broadlawns Medical Center.’https://theiowastandard.com/broadlawns-severs-agreement-with-christian-organization-over-religious-beliefs-hardman-again-at-center-of-punishing-someone-for-exercising-first-amendment-rights/
May these two videos be a blessing to you as they were to me!
‘Having been politically active while in the employment of housing provider L&Q since 2015, I was perplexed to suddenly find myself facing disciplinary action for political activity.
I had stood four times for Parliament, including in the Lewisham East by-election, as well as being No.1 on the list for the Christian People’s Alliance (CPA) for the London Assembly last year.
None of this activity caused any problems for L&Q.
The only problem arose when I stood this year to be mayor of Lewisham. As part of the process, each candidate is granted a full page in the mayoral booklet which goes out to every resident of Lewisham — over 200,000 people. For my contribution I produced a six-point plan which, along with plans to tackle knife crime and fly tipping, included the following statement:
I pledge to cut through political correctness and simply state the truth that natural marriage between a man and a woman is the fundamental building block for a successful society, and the safest environment for raising children.
Of the 200,000 residents, one of them decided this was “hate speech” and put forward a complaint to Lewisham Council demanding that the booklet be withdrawn. Lewisham Council politely informed them that it is up to each candidate to write what they like and they do not dictate the wording.
Next, however, came a complaint to my employer. Constant vicious posts were going up on social media with cries of feigned outrage and accusations of “hate speech”. Elements of the media began to pick them up and to contact the party headquarters and then myself.
An article appeared in the Guardian which was quite mild, followed by another much more forthright article in Pink News. Its article was headed “Christian candidate attacks same sex marriage in disgusting election leaflet”. My leaflet was called “anti-gay bile” though I didn’t actually mention homosexuality in the manifesto.
Pink News contacted my party’s office demanding answers. We sent a series of research pieces with evidence that demonstrated how children need a father and how married couples are significantly better parents, as well as some research which examined graduation rates and concluded that children of same-sex parents are significantly worse off. We also gave clear testimony from children who have grown up in same-sex households, demonstrating the detrimental effects it had on their lives. We asked Pink News to provide some research to back up its position that children are better off with same-sex parents — or at least no worse off. It couldn’t come up with anything at all.
This publicity, however, provoked a total of three complaints to my employer. The complainants accused me of being “homophobic” and discriminatory towards the LGBT community. All three demanded that I should receive “anti-oppressive training” and face disciplinary action.
I was immediately suspended pending investigation, but I still felt confident as I assumed Christian beliefs were protected under the Equality Act as much as homosexuality is. After all, I had not insulted or even criticised anyone — I had merely stated a clear Christian value.
Prevented from campaigning while suspended, I was investigated by L&Q and told that my case had nothing to do with Christianity. Although I outlined how L&Q was breaching articles 9 and 10 of the European Court of Human Rights, my employer was simply not interested.
Article 9 gives me the right to freedom of thought, belief and religion, and Article 10 the right to hold my own opinions and to express them freely without interference. These articles take precedence over companies’ diversity and inclusion policies.
Nonetheless, L&Q acted quickly. As soon as the election was over, it told me I was dismissed with immediate effect for defying the company’s inclusion policy, which appears not to include Christianity.
This is the first time that a political candidate has been penalised by their employer for political speech which is protected for very obvious reasons. The ramifications of this case cannot be overstated. Free speech is being attacked and eroded by cancel culture rapidly in the UK and around the world.
I believe free speech and Christian freedoms are fundamental aspects of democratic societies and must be protected at all costs. Our ability to freely express our views and openly disagree with each other is the core essence of democracies. The alternative is forced censorship and the threat of losing everything if you don’t comply.
What has happened to me does not bode well for the ordinary citizen who hopes to make a difference in their community and nation. What message does this vicious attack on a Christian politician and my Christian values send to other Christians who want to engage with politics? I am deeply concerned that what has happened will deter them, and that is why I have no choice but to fight for justice.
My case illuminates how cancel culture intimidates dissenters into silence by making examples of employees so that anybody else who considers being openly honest about their views on controversial subjects will think twice or face a similar fate.
Corporations such as L&Q are willing participants in the erosion of free speech. They do the dirty work of the woke mob under the guise of internal inclusion and diversity policies. This is not diversity, but a narrow commitment to progressive social values.’https://thecritic.co.uk/sacked-for-christian-beliefs/
This article is quite lengthy but well worth the read so just click the link and enjoy the rest of this inspiring testimony.
‘He never desired to be an educator, this remarkable man whose distinguished academic career spanned 68 years and eight decades. And yet, as Dr. David R. Boylan turns 100 on Friday, July 22, 2022, he is still teaching to anyone who will lend a listening ear. And he is still brilliant.
“I never expected, intended, or even thought about being in education,” said Dr. Boylan in a recent interview with Faith Baptist Bible College. “I was an engineer. I had no idea I was going into teaching.”
Boylan excelled in his career, both in research and in teaching. An oil canvas photo of him as the sixth dean of the College of Engineering at Iowa State University hangs in the conference room of Marston Hall as evidence. Advancements in the fields of fertilizer and agriculture are results of his extensive research and patents. The changed lives of those who sat under his teaching in his college Sunday school class are living testimonies. And Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary in Ankeny, Iowa, has a 100-year legacy of its own whose longevity can be partially credited to the contributions of Dr. Boylan as a former president, faculty, and board member.
Early Years
David Ray Boylan was born in Belleville, Kansas, a city of 2,000 people located 155 miles northwest of Topeka near the Nebraska border. His father, an accomplished man in his own right, was an Air Force major who flew combat missions in World War I. The Boylans moved from Belleville to Kansas City early in David’s life, and he spent the majority of his childhood there.
“My young career, I picked up the idea of building things, mechanical things,” said Boylan. “I remember as a young kid in Belleville, Kansas, (I was a little kid), they dug the ditches for the pipelines by hand. I noticed they were using tree limbs to clean their shovels out, so right then, I made little shovels out of orange crates. That was the only place I could get some wood as a kid. I guess I had a desire to do things and that grew. Even until now, I still like engineering.”
Boylan accepted Christ when he was in his early teens. Both his mother and father were Christians, and he was raised in a Christian home. They attended a Baptist church in Kansas City during most of his teenage years and later attended Central Bible Hall where he sat under the teaching of Walter L. Wilson, who co-founded and was the first president of Kansas City Bible Institute, which later became Kansas City Bible College, and finally merged with Midwest Bible College to form Calvary Bible College. The spiritual nourishment David received while attending Central Bible Hall wasn’t the only positive development that occurred. It was also where he met his eventual wife, Juanita.
Engineering Career
Following graduation from high school, David attended the University of Kansas where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1943. He and Juanita married on March 24, 1944, around the time she also graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Bacteriology. The newlyweds moved to the East Coast where David began his engineering career with the General Chemical Company in Camden, New Jersey. He advanced rapidly in his field, becoming a project engineer at General Chemical, then a Senior Chemical Engineer at American Cyanamid Company. David was successful and happy with his work. He had no intention of changing careers. God had other plans.
“All of a sudden, things began to happen,” said Dr. Boylan. “Some would call it coincidence. When coincidences begin to pile up, it’s no longer coincidence.”
The Boylans had settled into life on the East Coast. Mrs. Boylan was a homemaker with a two-year-old and a new baby. A young married couple with multiple children and a stable income did what most people do at that stage of life: they bought a new washing machine. By the 1940s more than half of American households had electric washing machines. Many of these featured new technology; not all of it was perfected, from an engineering standpoint.
“We bought a new washing machine with a powered wringer,” recalled David. “My wife caught her arm in the wringer. She had a new baby and couldn’t take care of the baby, and a two-year-old she couldn’t help.”
It was right at this same time that David had changed jobs to another company as a plant manager. As fate would have it, the company unexpectedly went out of business. The combination of unfortunate events all at once convinced David that these happenings were no longer just coincidences.
“I didn’t have a job,” said Boylan. “We had a baby. We had a family…but no income. I had no choice but to go home (to Kansas).”
Before they settled back into life in “The Wheat State,” David was approached by a friend who gave some advice that changed the course of the rest of his life.
Moving to Ames, Iowa; Early Years at Iowa State College
“Somebody said, ‘Why don’t you go up to Ames, Iowa, and see if you can get a job?’” recalled Boylan. “I had never been to Iowa. I went to Ames on a weekend and got a job as a graduate assistant at Iowa State College (as it was called in those days) and stayed there 60 years. I started off getting my PhD in engineering, and I taught in engineering. I enjoyed every moment.”
Boylan’s illustrious career at Iowa State began in 1948. The College of Engineering (one of the oldest and largest programs in the nation) was so impressed with his real-world experience that he was named Assistant Professor of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and a graduate assistant in Chemical Engineering. Boylan completed his Doctor of Philosophy from Iowa State College in 1952 (it was renamed Iowa State University on July 4, 1959).
By the time he finished graduate school, Dr. Boylan was promoted to Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and eventually Professor of Chemical Engineering in 1956. The three years that followed were some of the most pivotal of his career as his reputation in the engineering field soared to new heights due to his research and development in fertilizer processes and technology.
On March 1, 1959, Dr. Boylan was named Associate Director of the Iowa Engineering Experiment Station at Iowa State University, where he oversaw 160 engineers, graduate assistants, and hourly staff. The purpose of the station was to do research and provide engineering solutions for projects that were relevant at that time, which included the digital computer, soil analysis of highway construction, the manufacturing of fertilizer, and the color television.
Spiritual Life; Impact as a College Sunday School Teacher
While Boylan was rising in the ranks of academia during the 1950s, he didn’t let his career take priority in his life. He kept his spiritual life in a condition that would have passed the strictest Rockwell hardness testing—an important trait for one who consistently taught creation in a public university, often facing resistance from colleagues. He never caved under pressure.
As the cards have poured in for Dr. Boylan’s 100th birthday, many have mentioned his commitment to creation science in a public school environment, according to his daughter, Elizabeth McKee.
“He never ‘fought’ his opponents,” recalled Elizabeth, “but treated them with respect. In return, he gained respect, if not agreement in views.”’https://faith.edu/faith-news/the-scholarly-centenarian-dr-david-boylan-turns-100/
‘For most of my life, I had no idea what the call is. I was born into an atheistic family in the Soviet Union. Literacy was compulsory in the country for the sake of making people receptive to communist propaganda (even by now Ukraine, according to the UNESCO rating, is the most literate country in the world alongside North Korea). We loved to read and we were reading a lot.
I was reading everything interesting I get, including some “spiritual” stuff like Bhagavad Gita or Tao Te Ching. That was prohibited, and we considered it so cool to read what is prohibited. For the same reason, I even read the Gospel once (I can not recall now which one, but believe it was Luke). A grandmother of my friend kept a copy in Proto-Slavonic (Old Bulgarian), and I had to learn the language to read it! I enjoyed the story very much, though it sounded pretty sad. The good guy was killed by the authorities without any guilt or particular reason. Well, this is life! In our country, 20 million were slaughtered by the regime in the same manner.
The weird issues of the Gospel story, – like sin, redemption, resurrection, etc., – did not make any sense to me and I just skipped them. This is just a novel; it should not be absolutely consistent. Soviet propaganda was making all of us logically and morally challenged, accustomed to contradictions and inconsistencies. After all, taking the courses of Marxism-Leninism Philosophy, History of the Communist Party and Scientific Atheism was compulsory at the university, and we were quite comfortable with all that inconsistent mythology. We were trained not to ask uncomfortable questions.
I graduated as a research physicist, specializing in laser optics, and completed advanced studies in geophysics. By the age of 30 I was a Senior Researcher, had been published in scientific journals, had patented inventions in geophysics and laser optics, and was ready to defend Ph.D. theses. I knew everything a Soviet scientist should know about the Bible: most of it is just a collection of fairytales for the babushkas (illiterate elderly ladies). There are so many good and useful books around – why should I waste my time reading that one?
But God has a sense of humor, hasn’t He? He made me read the Bible by sending me almost to the North Pole alone with nothing to read but the Bible (a Norwegian pastor gave me a copy on the way). Having not much to do after the research equipment was installed and worked automatically, I decided it will not hurt to read some fairytales, and started from the very beginning. However, the account I found in its first pages sounded much more reliable than the atheistic cosmology I faced before – about nothing that exploded to well-organized something operated by sophisticated laws we try to intelligently learn now).
The biblical story of the origins sounded much more reasonable than any other explanation. Eventually, I found that everything I know from my personal experience and my science fits with this book. This was the only “spiritual” book that told the truth about “earthly things” which I experienced and could put to the test. So, if looking for a reliable source of information on matters I cannot test, on “heavenly things” — this was it. And if I accept a part of it on the basis of the facts, I have to accept the rest of it by faith.
But it went even farther. In the context of the Genesis first chapters, everything I learned before from the Gospel about Jesus started gradually making sense to me. From Genesis and the rest of the Old Testament I found out why the Gospel is so important, and why Christ had to come and sacrifice His life. So through science, I came to the Bible, and through the Bible, I came to Christ, and have committed my life to Him eventually.
The question disturbed me nevertheless: how did I manage to live till the age of 30 knowing a lot about the world and even knowing some about Jesus, but still not knowing Jesus personally? Why my friends and colleagues, having access to the same information, did not see this amazing truth either? The answer became obvious: there was no room for the Good News in our worldview. The story of Jesus was good enough for us but was not the Good News per se. As Paul puts it, the proclamation of Christ crucified is foolishness to Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:23). We were gentiles. The system of atheistic propaganda and education shaped our worldview with the immunity to the message of salvation. Nobody is interested in salvation without understanding the danger to the parish. The bad news is what turns the message into the good news. As gentiles, we did not know the bad news of the fall, and that is why we were deaf to the Good News of the redemption.
I still did not know what the call is, and neither I was aware of the concepts like ‘ministry’, ‘evangelism’, ‘apologetics’, or something. I just found wonderful truths that bring real sense to my life, and I wanted other people to see this truth as well. I started to share it and was surprised how little people care about the truth actually. The university administration was not happy with what I was doing at all, and I had to hold underground meetings with students, professors, and colleagues at first, and either give up on doing this or give up on my Ph.D. pursuit eventually. I can not say I was a strong bold believer who made that decision easily. It was a great challenge for me. But the treasure I found was greater than academic success anyway, and I have decided to continue sharing the truth.
I did not know any devoted Christians who could guide and instruct me back then. And love for reading helped me again. I was reading and studying everything I can find about the Bible to know more about it. Somehow I got some books by College Press published in Russian through Literature and Teaching Ministry, and they were extremely helpful in shaping my vision and understanding of the ministry.
I came to the conclusion that in a post-soviet society where people had been indoctrinated in atheism and worshipped science for several generations, the way I came to Christ could be a very effective way to win others for Him. They should hear the bad news by learning the truth about the Bible, about creation and the Creator, about the fall, and about moral absolutes. With this in mind, I have left the research activity and started the apologetics ministry that got the name Christian Center for Science and Apologetics later on (https://scienceandapologetics.com/en/). It exists for introducing the Truth to skeptics; strengthening the saints in their confidence in the Truth, and equipping God’s people to proclaim God’s Word effectively.
We started it with my wife Olga in 100 square feet room that was our bedroom, office, print shop, and warehouse at the same time. Printed materials were the key tool from the very beginning of the ministry. Because people in post-soviet culture preferred to avoid direct discussions, giving them something to read was the most effective way of outreach. The first materials were the tracts and brochures manufactured by the noisy dot matrix printer under our bed. Like with a baby in the room we were half-sleeping, half listening. But with the baby, you wake up when hearing a noise. With the printer, we had to wake up when it got silent. This meant the paper is jammed and should be fixed. Very soon however the Lord arranged our partnership with LATM and we start publishing in a much more efficient way.
Books led me to the Book, the Bible. Books helped me to grow in faith. Books became the key tool to spread the message to others. Internet and media have expanded our outreach enormously as well afterward. Most of the recourses we published were translations. But whenever we could not find a foreign book on a specific issue the ministry and national church needed, we had to write it ourselves.
Life with Christ is full of joy, blessings, and surprises. God’s vision is always greater than our one and His plans are more amazing than anything we ever can imagine. Following His guidance, our small family ministry accomplished a lot in many various areas of outreach we would never even dare to start ourselves. It grew up into an informal movement across 8 time zones in 12 post-communist countries. Our online resources are requested from about 100 countries of the world. We published more than 200 books, and some of them were reprinted more than once. Looking back it is hard to believe that all this happened to us.
God is always faithful in His calling when you obey it, even not having no idea what the call is. «Now unto him, that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen» (KJV Ephesians 3:20,21).’https://scienceandapologetics.com/en/testimony/
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