Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Spring 2013 | Page 4
letter
from
the
editor
c
hiseled in stone above the doors to the main building of a premier
university are these words: “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall
make you free.” What might this statement mean to the thousands of
daily passersby? Is it a call toward worthwhile academic pursuits, an
inspirational goal, or just a sentiment to live by? Or would passersby
know that these were Jesus’ words, as he spoke promises to those
who believed in him and continued in his word (John 8:32)?
Chiseled in the cornerstone of Blanchard Hall, Wheaton’s main
building, are the words “For Christ and His Kingdom.” Passersby who
know something about Wheaton likely recognize this as the expression
of the College’s ongoing mission, vision, and identity.
Every Wheaton magazine demonstrates this commitment to the
integration of faith and learning. In this issue is an article (p. 6) about
an on-campus exhibit displaying original letters written by Jonathan
Edwards (1703-1758), the noted philosopher-theologian and prominent
figure of the Great Awakening.1 Edwards had a brilliant mind, entering
Yale in 1716 when he was not yet thirteen and graduating four years
later as valedictorian. For a short while before his death, he was
president of Princeton University. “Truth, in the general,” he wrote,
Georgia I. Douglass
’70, M.A. ’94
Editor
“may be defined after the most strict and metaphysical manner: ‘the
consistency and agreement of our ideas with the ideas of God.’” 2
Moving from the topic of truth in the 18th century to that in the 21st,
read a Chapel address by Wheaton alumnus Todd Komarnicki ’87,
an acclaimed novelist, producer, and director of film and television
1
Editor’s note: Find information
(pp. 58-59):
on Jonathan Edwards’ thought
and ministry in the several books
written or coedited by Wheaton
Remember [God’s] promises. They’ve outlived every generation
alumnus Douglas A. Sweeney
and they still clap out like thunder with their truth. . . . If we dare to
’87, chair and professor of
believe Romans 8:28, “All things lead together for good to those
church history and the history of
Christian thought, and director
of the Jonathan Edwards Center,
at Trinity Evangelical Divinity
School. Forthcoming from Oxford
that love God”; 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love, but perfect
love drives out fear”; and Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can
be against us?”—then we are free.
University Press is another of his
books that deals with Edwards’
view of the relationship between
Passersby might look at what has been revealed yet not see it—or
Editor
Georgia I. Douglass ’70, M.A. ’94
Editorial Consultant
Katherine Halberstadt Anderson ’90
Director of Marketing Communications
Kimberly Medaglia
Design Consultants
Alice Isoz Chrismer ’70
Ellen Mardock
Chrismer + Mardock Communication
Class News Editor
Donna Antoniuk
Editorial Adviser
Dr. R. Mark Dillon
Wheaton Alumni Association
President
Christopher A. Jahns ’82
President-Elect
Kurt Tillman ’78
Executive Director
Cindra Stackhouse Taetzsch ’82
Professor Emeritus
Leroy H. Pfund ’49
Alumni Trustee Representatives
Christopher A. Jahns ’82
Kurt Tillman ’78
Timothy A. Stoner ’82
Wheaton College
President
Dr. Philip G. Ryken ’88
Provost
Dr. Stanton L. Jones
Vice President for Finance
Dale A. Kemp
Vice President for Student
Development
Paul O. Chelsen ’91
Vice President for Advancement
and Alumni Relations
Dr. R. Mark Dillon
Executive Assistant
to the President
Marilee A. Melvin ’72
Wheaton is published autumn, winter,
and spring by Wheaton College,
reason and revelation: Edwards
even reject it. “What is truth?” Pilate asked when Truth incarnate stood
the Exegete: Biblical Interpretation
before him. Judging and dismissing Jesus, he passed him by, in the
630/752-5779, and mailed free of charge
end choosing bondage over freedom.
Postmaster: Please send address changes to
and Anglo-Protestant Culture on
the Edge of the Enlightenment.
2
Whether emblazoned across the façade of a building or etched into
Jonathan Edwards, “The Mind,”
in The Works of Jonathan Edwards,
our hearts and minds, ultimate truth cannot be known apart from the
501 College Ave., Wheaton, IL 60187-5593,
to alumni and friends of Wheaton College.
Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL 60187-5593.
Wheaton magazine is an expression of the
College’s commitment to biblical faith and
practice as expressed in our Statement of
vol. 6, Scientific and Philosophical
Lord Jesus Christ, through the work of the Spirit and the Word in
Faith and Community Covenant. In fulfilling
Writings, ed. Wallace E. Anderson
our lives. Trusting in his promises frees us to serve. And serving Christ
complete discretion over its form and content.
and his kingdom is not for mere passersby.
www.wheaton.edu
(New Haven: Yale University Press,
1980, 341-42).
2 S P R I N G 2 0 1 3
this purpose, the magazine exercises
© 2013 Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL