Lewis Sperry Chafer | |
|---|---|
 Chafer, circa 1929 | |
| Born | (1871-02-27)February 27, 1871 Rock Creek, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | August 22, 1952(1952-08-22) (aged 81) Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Theologian,author |
| Spouse | Ella Loraine Case (1896–1944) |
| Parent(s) | Thomas Chafer Lomira Chafer |
Lewis Sperry Chafer (February 27, 1871 – August 22, 1952) was an Americantheologian. He co-foundedDallas Theological Seminary with his older brother Rollin Thomas Chafer[1] (1868–1940), served as its first president, and was an influential proponent ofChristianDispensationalism in the early 20th century. John Hannah described Chafer as a visionary Bible teacher, a minister of the gospel, a man of prayer with strong piety.[2] One of his students,Charles Caldwell Ryrie, who went on to become a theologian and scholar, stated that Chafer was an evangelist who was also "an eminent theologian."[3]
Chafer was born inRock Creek,Ohio to Thomas and Lomira Chafer and was the second of three children. His father, aparson, died from tuberculosis when Lewis was 11 years old, and his mother supported the family by teaching school and keeping boarders in the family home. Chafer attended the Rock Creek Public School as a young boy, and the New Lyme Institution inNew Lyme, Ohio from 1885 to 1888. Here he discovered a talent for music and choir.
Chafer quit his studies at Oberlin to work with YMCA evangelist, Arthur T. Reed of Ohio.[4] From 1889 to 1891, Chafer attendedOberlin College, where he met Ella Loraine Case. They were married April 22, 1896 and formed a traveling evangelistic music ministry, he singing or preaching and she playing the organ. Their marriage lasted until she died in 1944.
Ordained in 1900 by a Council ofCongregational Ministers in the First Congregational Church in Buffalo and in 1903 he ministered as an evangelist in the Presbytery of Troy inMassachusetts and became associated with the ministry ofCyrus Scofield, who became his mentor.
During this early period, Chafer began writing and developing his theology. He taught Bible classes and music at the Mount Hermon School for Boys from 1906 to 1910. He joined the Orange Presbytery in 1912 due to the increasing influence of his ministry in the south. He aided Scofield in establishing thePhiladelphia School of the Bible in 1913. From 1923 to 1925, he served as general secretary of the Central American Mission.
When Scofield died in 1921, Chafer moved toDallas,Texas to pastor the First Congregational Church of Dallas, an independent church where Scofield had ministered.[5] Then, in 1924, Chafer and his friendWilliam Henry Griffith Thomas realized their vision of a simple,Bible-teaching theologicalseminary and foundedDallas Theological Seminary (originally Evangelical Theological College). Chafer served as president of the seminary and professor ofSystematic Theology from 1924 until his death. He died with friends while away at a conference inSeattle, Washington in August 1952.
In 1953, the newly built chapel was designated the Lewis Sperry Chafer Chapel after the recently passed leader.[6]
During his life, Chafer received three honorary doctorates:Doctor of Divinity fromWheaton in 1926,Doctor of Letters from Dallas in 1942, andDoctor of Theology from the Aix-en-Province, France, Protestant Seminary in 1946.[7]
Chafer had a tremendous influence on the evangelical movement. Among his students wereJim Rayburn, founder ofYoung Life (as well as many of Young Life's first staff members),Kenneth N. Taylor, author ofThe Living Bible translation, and numerous future Christian educators and pastors, includingHoward Hendricks,J. Dwight Pentecost,Charles Caldwell Ryrie,J. Vernon McGee, andJohn Walvoord, who succeeded him as president of DTS.
Chafer was recognized among his friends and peers for his balanced, simple life. He was a well-spoken and relaxed leader and was not afire and brimstone preacher. Chafer believed the basic truths for Christian living are found inRomans 5, a chapter which teaches about peace, grace, weakness, hope, sacrifice, love, and joy.[8]
In recognition of this, Dallas Theological Seminary offers a commencement award, the Lewis Sperry Chafer Award, every year to the graduating master's student who: "in the judgment of the faculty because of his well‐balanced Christian character, scholarship, and spiritual leadership, best embodies and portrays the ideals of Dallas Theological Seminary." An additional award, the Lorrain Chafer Award, is awarded to the graduating international master's student who: "in the judgment of the faculty, best evidences well‐balanced Christian character, scholarship, and spiritual leadership."[9]
The Dallas Seminary Foundation has also set up a charitable giving program called the Lewis Sperry Chafer Legacy, recognizing the graciousness in Chafer's life.[10]
Chafer is widely recognized as one of the founders of modernDispensationalism[11][12][13][14] and was vehemently opposed tocovenant theology.[15] Yet, he did not reject the idea of a covenant of redemption, covenant of works, and covenant of grace. He affirmed all three along with the Edenic, Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Palestinian, Davidic, and New Covenant.[16] He was apremillennial,pretribulational dispensationalist. His overall theology could be generally described as based on the inductive study of the entire Bible, having similarities toJohn Nelson Darby of thePlymouth Brethren, a mild form ofKeswick Theology on Sanctification, andPresbyterianism, all of these tempered with a focus on spirituality based on simple Bible study and living.
Chafer's theology has been the subject of much study and debate in and out of the theological community since his death,[17][18][19] especially on the two larger topics of dispensationalism andChristian Zionism,[20] specifically that the Jews are a people called unto God with a separate historical purpose and plan from the Church. Chafer held much in common withFree Grace theology and influenced many of its later advocates. Similarly toCharles Ryrie, Chafer defined repentance as being a mere synonym for faith, denying that it refers to sorrow for sin.[21][22]
Lewis Sperry Chafer affirmed the doctrine of theeternal generation of the Son, arguing that eternal generation is implied by many passages of the Bible, such as those referring to the begottenness of the Son. He also believed that in the work of redemption, there exists a subordination of order in the trinity where the Father sends the Son but not vice versa. He believed that this order is grounded in the eternal generation of the Son, not by any essential divine attributes.[23]
In 1933, Dallas acquired the periodicalBibliotheca Sacra and began publishing it in 1934. Chafer wrote about 70 articles for this journal (seeexternal links below).
In 1947, after 10 years of work, he completed hisSystematic Theology in eight volumes. This was the first time that a premillennial, dispensational framework of Christian theology had been systematized into a single format. The books were so popular that it sold out the first printing in six months and needed a third printing within two years.[24] The series has been printed many times since by a number of publishing houses.
Chafer'sSystematic Theology is a standard dispensational systematic theology at Dallas Theological Seminary. Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote, "These pages represent what has been, and is, taught in the classrooms of the Dallas Theological Seminary".[25] It has been claimed that "This is the definitive work to use in understanding what Dispensationalism teaches and believes. If you are going to use “straw men” to defeat dispensational theorists, make sure your scarecrow favors Lewis Sperry Chafer."[26]
Many of Chafer's books have been reprinted multiple times by several different publishing houses. Some of these include:
HisSystematic Theology includes, practically word-for-word, some of his other works.
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