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Frank E. Gaebelein | |
|---|---|
 Gaebelein in 1963 | |
| Born | (1899-03-31)March 31, 1899 |
| Died | January 19, 1983(1983-01-19) (aged 83) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | evangelical educator, author, and editor |
| Known for | general editor for the 12-volumeExpositor's Bible Commentary |
Frank Ely Gaebelein (March 31, 1899 – January 19, 1983) was an Americanevangelical educator, author, and editor who was the founding headmaster ofThe Stony Brook School inLong Island, New York. He is the author of more than twenty books, and also served as editor forOur Hope (which later merged with Eternity),Christianity Today, andEternity magazines, style editor for the translation committee of theNew International Version of the Bible, and general editor for the 12-volumeExpositor's Bible Commentary.
Gaebelein was born inMount Vernon, New York, the youngest of three sons, to German immigrantsArno Clemens Gaebelein and Emma Fredericka (née Grimm) Gaebelein. His father was a noted preacher and outspoken early leader of thedispensationalist andfundamentalist movements. Frank graduated from Mount Vernon High School, where he was editor of the yearbook withE. B. White (later contributor toThe New Yorker magazine and author ofCharlotte's Web andStuart Little). He earned hisB.A. fromNew York University (1920), where he was the piano soloist performing with the University Glee Club. Gaebelein's studies were interrupted briefly in 1918 to serve in theU.S. Army, where he was commissioned as aSecond Lieutenant. He earned hisA.M. fromHarvard University (1921), where he studied English and comparative literature. In 1923, Gaebelein married Dorothy Laura (née Medd), with whom he had three children: Dorothy Laura G. Hampton, Donn Medd, and Gretchen Elizabeth Gaebelein Hull (who later gave birth to artist Jeff Hull (1955), Dr. Rev. Sanford Hull (1956), and Meredyth Hull Smith (1957)).
Shortly after graduating from Harvard in the spring of 1921, Gaebelein was approached by John F. Carson and Ford C. Ottman to be the headmaster ofThe Stony Brook School, which was an outgrowth of theStony Brook Assembly. Frank Gaebelein began organizing The Stony Brook School, which opened in the fall of 1922. He held the position of headmaster for more than four decades. During this time, he also served as an ordained deacon and presbyter at theReformed Episcopal Church. In 1954 he served as vice-chairman forOxford University Press's preparation of theNewScofield Reference Bible. Toward the end of his tenure at Stony Brook, Gaebelein and the school came under pressure fromfundamentalists because of their embracing "new evangelicalism". One of the leaders of this movement,Harold Ockenga, invited Gaebelein to be the dean of the newly foundedFuller Theological Seminary, an offer he considered but ultimately declined.[1] Gaebelein served on the executive committee of evangelistBilly Graham's famous sixteen-week crusade atMadison Square Garden in 1957. Following the close of the crusade in September, Graham visited Stony Brook and spoke to a crowd of 6,000 on the campus. It was due to this that the Stony Brook Assembly ceased its summer conferences, which had been conducted on the campus since 1909.
After retiring from Stony Brook in 1963, Gaebelein joinedCarl F. H. Henry as co-editor ofChristianity Today. While covering the 1965Selma to Montgomery marches during theCivil Rights Movement, he was criticized for abandoning his role as a reporter and joining as a protester. In 1968 he served as style committee chairman for theNew International Version of the Bible. From 1969 to 1972, Gaebelein was director of the faculty summer seminar on faith and learning atWheaton College of Illinois. In 1971, he took on the role as general editor for theExpositor's Bible Commentary, an endeavor he continued until his death (supervising, in order of publication, volumes 10, 11, 1, 9, and 12).
In October 1982, Gaebelein attended the dedication of the Frank E. Gaebelein Hall at The Stony Brook School. In November 1982, he underwent adouble bypass surgery, and never fully recovered. Gaebelein died two months later at theMayo Clinic inRochester, Minnesota.
