« Park Street Church in Boston | Home | Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling »
Views of Harvard
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, October 16, 2009
During my trip to New England last week, I was able to visit Harvard University. I had not been back to my alma mater since my final graduation there in 1992. Of course I enjoyed plenty of nostalgia, which I generously shared with my wife. I thought I’d share a bit with you, through some pictures.
Photo below: Harvard Square, with my freshman dorm in the background. I was on the first floor of Straus Hall, with my bedroom window facing Harvard Square. Quite an experience for a formerly suburban Californian!
Photo below: The Charles River, with Harvard houses (dorms) in the background. During my freshman year, my job was washing dishes in Dunster House, the building with the white tower and red dome.
Photo below: The steeple of the Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. I heard some fascinating sermons there, some of which were right on. Others pressed the edge of acceptability, while some plummeted over that edge. One Palm Sunday, a visiting preacher’s point was the “Jesus was a turkey” because he let people think he was the king. That wasn’t the set up to something more. It was the point. Oh well . . . .
Harvard, as you may or may not know, was founded for the purpose of training people for Christian ministry. Among the college’s founding precepts you find this statement:
Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the maine end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and Learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisedome, Let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seeke it of him (Prov. 2:3).
Thought the university seems to have lost sight of this goal, I’m pleased to report that many students and faculty at Harvard continue to uphold it. Thanks be to God!
Topics: Vacation |
One Response to “Views of Harvard”
Comments
Thanks for your willingness to make a comment. Note: I do not moderate comments before they are posted, though they are automatically screened for profanities, spam, etc., and sometimes the screening program holds comments for moderation even though they're not offensive. I encourage open dialogue and serious disagreement, and am always willing to learn from my mistakes. I will not delete comments unless they are extraordinarily rude or irrelevant to the topic at hand. You do need to login in order to make a comment, because this cuts down on spam. You are free to use a nickname if you wish. Finally, I will eventually read all comments, but I don't have the time to respond to them on a consistent basis because I've got a few other demands on my time, like my "day job," my family, sleep, etc.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
October 16th, 2009 at 6:40 am
My own Alma Mater was likewise founded on the same notions, in essence to glorify Jesus Christ and spread His gospel. Unfortunately, it seems that the best I can say for it is that there is a remnant that has not bent the knee to Baal, but generally the faculty actively promotes the opposite of the founding goals.
It left me extremely conflicted when I visited the campus many years ago.