Fall 1990
Reformed Quarterly Volume 9, Issue 3
In contrast to the quiet conformity of the 1950s, the 1960s hit this country like a tornado, leaving wreckage strewn everywhere. I was living in Miami, Florida, when the news came that Soviet missiles were being assembled and deployed in Fidel Castro's Cuba. Soon South Florida beaches bristled with military hardware and militia. Planes droned overhead through the night. Tension hung thickly in the air when a Naval blockade surrounded the new Soviet satellite. The drama mounted until the missiles were withdrawn. Meanwhile, the bloody war in Vietnam escalated steadily, claiming more and more American lives, soon becoming the costliest war in our history. And emotions rose at home. Then JFK was assassinated. So was Bobby. Finally Martin Luther King. It was a violent, turbulent era. Riots spread from Watts to Detroit to Newark, engulfing 58 cities in flames. Hippies became a phenomenon, staging love-ins and doing their own things. "Turn on, tune in, and drop out." That was their slogan, along with "make love, not war?" Timothy Leary championed LSD. The SDS became a force in colleges and universities. Black power flexed its muscle. There were some happy moments, too. In 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American to fly in space. In a historic moment on July 20,1969, Neil Armstrong radioed to earth, "The Eagle has landed," and then stepped onto the surface of the moon - the Sea of Tranquility. During this decade the first laser was built, and the computer came of age. But such technological feats did not alter the fact that the country was falling apart socially. Traditional values were assaulted. In fact, there was a more rapid transformation of values than in any comparable period in American history. The Puritan value system - a historic consensus - was shattered. Authority was undermined. It became unpopular to believe in the ultimate authority of the Bible as God's Word. Liberal theologians glibly announced the death of God. Mainline scholars advocated the secular city. Angela Davis received financial support from Presbyterians and other Christian groups. The mood was radical. Historical Christianity fell on hard times. It was all but impossible to place evangelical scholars on the faculties seminaries that had come under control of liberal theologians. It soon became apparent that to perpetuate biblical Christianity would require new academic institutions where faculty could hold such commitments with integrity. The birth of RTS, bathed in prayer, grew out of such adverse circumstances as the best option to perpetuate the faith of the Reformation - the faith the Bible - in the hearts of a rising generation of church leaders. Opposition from church politicians, prominent in the power establishments, was fierce and sustained. But the need was great, and the contrast of commitments was clean. So RTS, from its small beginning, grew quickly with widespread support from the Lord's people who wanted to help do something to break the stranglehold liberal theologians and church leaders in mainline denominations and most of their seminaries. The purpose of RTS was clear - to offer training for ministry based on the inerrant Scriptures so that the gospel in its fullness would be passed to a new generation. People would be won to Christ, grow in the faith, and strong, healthy churches would spring up everywhere. From the beginning, there was a wonderful alchemy of Reformed theology; evangelistic passion, and genuine piety. God's hand of blessing was evident.
In contrast to the quiet conformity of the 1950s, the 1960s hit this country like a tornado, leaving wreckage strewn everywhere. I was living in Miami, Florida, when the news came that Soviet missiles were being assembled and deployed in Fidel Castro's Cuba. Soon South Florida beaches bristled with military hardware and militia. Planes droned overhead through the night. Tension hung thickly in the air when a Naval blockade surrounded the new Soviet satellite. The drama mounted until the missiles were withdrawn. Meanwhile, the bloody war in Vietnam escalated steadily, claiming more and more American lives, soon becoming the costliest war in our history. And emotions rose at home. Then JFK was assassinated. So was Bobby. Finally Martin Luther King. It was a violent, turbulent era. Riots spread from Watts to Detroit to Newark, engulfing 58 cities in flames. Hippies became a phenomenon, staging love-ins and doing their own things. "Turn on, tune in, and drop out." That was their slogan, along with "make love, not war?" Timothy Leary championed LSD. The SDS became a force in colleges and universities. Black power flexed its muscle. There were some happy moments, too. In 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American to fly in space. In a historic moment on July 20,1969, Neil Armstrong radioed to earth, "The Eagle has landed," and then stepped onto the surface of the moon - the Sea of Tranquility. During this decade the first laser was built, and the computer came of age. But such technological feats did not alter the fact that the country was falling apart socially. Traditional values were assaulted. In fact, there was a more rapid transformation of values than in any comparable period in American history. The Puritan value system - a historic consensus - was shattered. Authority was undermined. It became unpopular to believe in the ultimate authority of the Bible as God's Word. Liberal theologians glibly announced the death of God. Mainline scholars advocated the secular city. Angela Davis received financial support from Presbyterians and other Christian groups. The mood was radical. Historical Christianity fell on hard times. It was all but impossible to place evangelical scholars on the faculties seminaries that had come under control of liberal theologians. It soon became apparent that to perpetuate biblical Christianity would require new academic institutions where faculty could hold such commitments with integrity. The birth of RTS, bathed in prayer, grew out of such adverse circumstances as the best option to perpetuate the faith of the Reformation - the faith the Bible - in the hearts of a rising generation of church leaders. Opposition from church politicians, prominent in the power establishments, was fierce and sustained. But the need was great, and the contrast of commitments was clean. So RTS, from its small beginning, grew quickly with widespread support from the Lord's people who wanted to help do something to break the stranglehold liberal theologians and church leaders in mainline denominations and most of their seminaries. The purpose of RTS was clear - to offer training for ministry based on the inerrant Scriptures so that the gospel in its fullness would be passed to a new generation. People would be won to Christ, grow in the faith, and strong, healthy churches would spring up everywhere. From the beginning, there was a wonderful alchemy of Reformed theology; evangelistic passion, and genuine piety. God's hand of blessing was evident.
