Columbia Theological Seminary Bulletin, 12, number 6, January 1921

Vol. XII JANUARY, 1921 No. VI

BULLETIN

COLUMBIA

THEOLOGICAL

SEMINARY

COLUMBIA, S. C.

Published Quarterly by the Board of Directors of the Theological
Seminary of the Synods of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama
and Florida of the Presbyterian Church in the United States

Entered as Second-Class Matter July 11, 1908, at the Postoffiee at Columbia
South Carolina, Under the Act of July 16, 1894)

FACULTY

THORNTON WHALING, D. D., LL. D.,

PRESIDENT OF THE SEMINARY,
PROFESSOR OF DIDACTIC AND POLEMIC THEOLOGY.

WILLIAM M. McPHEETERS, D. D., LL. D.,

PROFESSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT LITERATURE AND EXEGESIS.

HENRY ALEXANDER WHITE, Ph. D., D. D., LL. D.,

PROFESSOR OF NEW TESTAMENT LITERATURE AND EXEGESIS.

RICHARD C. REED, D. D., LL. D.,

PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY AND CHURCH

POLITY.

MELTON CLARK, D. D.,

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH BIBLE AND HOMILETICS.

HUGH R. MURCHISON, A. B., B. D.,

DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS WORK AND EXECUTIVE SECRETARY.

EDGAR D. KERR, A. B., B. D.,

INSTRUCTOR IN THE HEBREW AND GREEK LANGUAGES.

GEORGE S. FULBRIGHT, A. B.,

INSTRUCTOR IN ELOCUTION.

WILLIAM H. MILLS, A. B., D. D.,

INSTRUCTOR OF RURAL SOCIOLOGY.

IN MEMORY OF REV. WILSON JAMES McKAY, D. D.

This edition of the Seminary Bulletin is devoted
largely to the memory of Dr. McKay, who departed this
life December 10, 1920, at his home in Sumter. S. C. He
was a member of the Board of Directors of this Seminary
from the Synod of South Carolina for fifteen years, and
for ten years was President of the Board.

We are doing this because Dr. McKay had sustained a
close, loyal and official relationship to the Seminary for
the past fifty years. He entered this Institution as a
student in 1870, graduating in the class of 1873. He
spent his entire ministry in the Synod of South Carolina,
and was always loyal to the Seminary in the Church
Courts, and was naturally selected upon its Board of
Directors in 1905. During all of these years he has
shown more than usual interest in the Institution. It is
rare that you will find an alumnus who has shown such
a long sustained interest in an Institution, and on this
account he will be greatly missed whenever matters per-
taining to Columbia Seminary are up for discussion in
our Church Courts.

In this connection, we may be permitted to say Dr.
McKay is a model in most respects as a Trustee and a
Director. These offices bestowed upon our brethren by
the Synods are too often looked upon as an empty compli-
ment. Many institutions suffer by reason of the uncon-
scious neglect of duty on the part of those who have been
entrusted with their management. Dr. McKay was a
striking example to the contrary.

On succeeding pages we print words of appreciation
spoken by Dr. Whaling, President of the Seminary, and
the representative of the Faculty at Dr. McKay's funeral.
Also a statement by Dr. Walter L. Lingle, of Union Sem-
inary, and President of the Board of Trustees of David-
son College, with whom Dr. McKay was so long associ-

ated, and also a statement by Dr. J. P. Marion, of Sum-
ter, S. C, who is the close friend and pastor of Dr.
McKay's family. We feel that such words of appreciation
will make a fitting record in the annals of Columbia
Theological Seminary.

REMARKS BY REV. THORNTON WHALING, D. D.,
AT THE FUNERAL OF DR. McKAY.

Truly a great man and a prince in Israel, has fallen this
day, and the loss of the Church is great in the departure
of this honored brother, whose funeral obsequies we are
celebrating here today.

I have known Dr. McKay for considerably more than
one-third of a century, when I was the pastor of his father
and mother and brother and sisters. I often admired the
unity and mutual affection and regard that bound together
the members of this household, and he carried over into
his own home, when it was established, this powerful
domestic affection, which belonged to his family line. As
husband and father, his wealth of tenderness and affection
and wise helpfulness was a model to all who saw these.

As a preacher, Dr. McKay was sound, scholarly, satis-
factory, and a volume of his discourses would make a val-
uable contribution to the exposition of our system of doc-
trine. His usefulness as a pastor is evidenced in the
strong and loyal Church, which was largely molded by his
ministration.

As a Presbyter in his own Presbytery and Synod, this
honored brother commanded great respect. The balance
of his judgment, the breadth of his vision, the poise and
symmetry of his fine powers, his accurate acquaintance
with ecclesiastical law and history, all fitted him for large
influence in our Church Courts, and for more than one-
third of a century, no minister in the Presbytery or Synod
left his mark so indelibly upon the policies and works of
these bodies.

Perhaps his chief work was the great contribution
which he made as an administrator and executive on the

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Boards of two of our chief educational institutions. For
a long period he was on the Board of Trustees and the
Executive Committee of Davidson College, and it is
believed that the splendid and growing success of that
noble school owes much to the wisdom, caution, foresight
and fine grasp of the needed policies for the day, which
this honored brother gave without stint to this school of
which he was an alumnus. He rendered the same kind of
service to the Columbia Theological Seminary, of which
he was also an alumnus and of whose Board he was a
member for many years. No member of this Board com-
manded greater confidence and influence during the entire
period of his services upon it, and this famous school of
the prophets will always place his name high on the roll
of its most efficient servants and loyal sons.

Back of all this service was the Christian character of
this beloved brother. His strong faith in his God and
Saviour, his genuine love for the Christian Brotherhood,
and the unfailing hope which nothing could obscure made
him a marked Christian saint and minister. His corona-
tion day has come ; he has fought the good fight, finished
his course and kept the faith, and now, the crown is placed
upon his head by the only hand that is fit to bestow it, the
hand of the Divine Lord and Saviour, whom he loved and
served and to whom he gave everything that he had to
bestow.

WORDS OF PERSONAL APPRECIATION OF
DR. McKAY.

Rev. J. P. Marion, D. D.

On account of a close association with Dr. McKay and
his family for the past fourteen years, I have been asked
to give a brief estimate of him. I count it a privilege and
a pleasure to do this, for we were friends.

I first knew Dr. McKay in his home, where I visited
frequently as a friend and the pastor of his family. As
soon as one entered his home they breathed the atmos-
phere of Christian culture and knew that it was a home
where the Master was always the honored guest. He

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was a devoted and tender husband and father; a lover
of home, finding his chief delight in the simple joys and
quiet, loving associations of the family circle. He did
not make friends hastily and he was never effusive in his
expressions of friendship; but the friendship he gave
was strong and deep and unchanged by the untoward cir-
cumstances of life. He was always loyal to his friends
and sympathetic in their seasons of trial and sorrow. He
delighted in the public and social worship of God's house,
and when he sat in the pew with his family he was always
a sympathetic and helpful listener. He was a wise and
judicious counsellor for the many who sought his advice.
Endowed with unusual mental ability, a hard and
thorough student, a clear thinker, possessing a rich
vocabulary and a thorough knowledge of the Bible, Dr.
McKay was an able preacher, gifted especially in the
exposition of the great fundamental truths of God's word.
His sermons, which were always carefully prepared, were
always instructive and edifying. "Saved By Grace" was
the hymn he loved best, and he was often heard humming
this hymn as he went about his work. Salvation by grace
through faith was the great theme of his preaching.
Modest and humble, he never pushed himself forward;
but when any task was laid upon him he gave it his best
thought, with the result that his ability was readily rec-
ognized. In the Presbytery he was a patient, faithful,
diligent worker, and in all matters coming before the
Presbytery he was a wise and prudent guide. Others
who were associated with him on the Boards of Davidson
College and Columbia Theological Seminary, which insti-
tutions occupied so large a place in his thoughts and affec-
tions, can testify to the splendid work he did for these
church institutions. Serving the congregation at Con-
cord for more than a quarter of a century, as a faithful,
sympathetic, discreet pastor he won and held the undi-
vided love and confidence of the people. A rare tribute
to the man and the preacher was the love and reverence
given him by the children of his congregation. "Know
ye not that a great man and a prince of Israel is fallen
this day?"

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WORDS OF APPRECIATION OF DR. W. J. McKAY.
Dr. Walter L. Lingle.

My first acquaintance with Dr. McKay dates back to
my college days. When I entered Davidson College as a
freshman he was a member of the Board of Trustees, and
when I graduated from Davidson he was President of the
Board. During those years I saw him as he came to the
Board meetings from time to time and was introduced to
him and sat at the same table with him on several occa-
sions; but he was a member of the Board and I was
only a student, and I cannot say that I was intimately
acquainted with him. But in those days I got the impres-
sion that he had a certain warmth and geniality about
him in his attitude towards the students which I did not
observe in the average member of the Board.

In after years I was thrown with him rather intimately
for a period of nearly five years in the Synod of South
Carolina, and after that, for about fifteen years, I worked
side by side with him on the Davidson Board, and for
the larger part of that period in the most intimate way.
I learned to admire and love him, and I count it a priv-
ilege to have an opportunity to pay a tribute to his mem-
ory, though I know it is not possible to transfer to paper
the inner feelings of one's heart.

Dr. McKay was a man of deep and abiding convictions.
He had clear-cut ideas as to what was right and what
was wrong and as to what was wise and what was unwise.
His mind was of the positive type and there was no neu-
trality in his make-up. Not only so, but he always had
the courage of his convictions, and nobody ever had any
doubt as to his position on any question that was up for
discussion. In standing for his convictions he was will-
ing to stand alone if need be. As Regent Morton stood
by the new-made grave of John Knox he said : "Here lies
one who neither feared nor flattered any flesh." These
same words could be truly said of Dr. McKay.

Dr. McKay was a man of clear mind and sound judg-
ment. His Presbytery and Synod, recognizing this, elected

him to the membership of numerous Boards of Trustees,
among them to the Davidson Board. On these Boards
he rendered a noble service, not only to his Presbytery
and Synod, but to the church at large. In working with
him on the Davidson Board I was always struck with his
fine common sense and clear judgment. When he spoke
on any subject his counsel was always listened to with
great respect. When the histories of the institutions on
whose Boards he served are written up it will be found
that every one of them is deeply indebted to him, not only
for faithfulness and loyalty, but for an efficiency which
was largely increased by his unusual insight and common
sense.

Dr. McKay was a warm and loyal friend. He had an
unusually tender and affectionate nature, and his friends
could always feel the warmth of that nature radiating
from him. I feel a keen and deep personal loss in his
going, for I loved him, and always felt sure of his love
after I had learned to know him.

There was no cant about Dr. McKay, but he was a man
of God, and was deeply interested in everything that con-
cerned our church and the whole Kingdom of God. We
who have worked by his side for so many years will sorely
miss him, but we shall confidently expect to see him face
to face again in the Father's house,

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

It is with pride we record the successful closing of the
Million Dollar Campaign for Presbyterian Education in
the Synod of South Carolina. It would hot have been
unusual had the prosperous conditions which prevailed
at the beginning of the year of 1920 continued, but when
we consider the financial depression commencing the first
of September, it makes us wonder at its achievement.
The total amount subscribed is $1,163,689.82. Of this
amount $100,000 is the gift from the citizens of Columbia
to Chicora College to aid in its removal program to the
suburbs. Of the total amount, Columbia Seminary and
Thornwell Orphanage are to receive 12 1/9 per cent, each,
Chicora College 25 per cent, and Presbyterian College 50
per cent. The largest individual gift was $100,000 from
Mr. C. E. Graham, of Greenville, S. C, and next $50,000
by Colonel LeRoy Springs, of Lancaster, S. C. There
were quite a number of special large gifts designated to
different institutions.

Mr. J. B. Spillman, of Columbia, is Treasurer of this
fund and upon him devolves the duty of collecting the
same. The Synod's committee in charge of this cam-
paign has employed the Rev. H. W. Pratt to be the Field
Secretary of Schools and Colleges to continue the propa-
ganda of the great importance and need of Christian edu-
cation.

We are glad to record a number of recent visitors to
our campus, who addressed the faculty and students in
the Chapel, as follows: Dr. P. Frank Price, of Nanking;
Rev. and Mrs. L. C. McC. Smythe, of Nagoya, Japan;
Rev. Paul Kanamori, of Japan ; Captain M. L. Swinehart,
of Kwang Ju, Korea; Mr. Thomas P. Tolbert, Superin-
tendent of Home Missions of West Lexington Presbytery ;
Dr. Neal L. Anderson, of the Independent Church of
Savannah, Ga. ; Dr. Julian S. Sibley, of Waycross, Ga.,
and Rev. W. S. Hutchison, of Asheville, N. C.

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The Seminary Quartette, consisting of J. B. Belk, G.
W. Belk, Jr., B. F. Yandell and E. L. Barber, will sing at
the Laymen's Conventions to be held at Meridian, Miss.,
and Greenville, S. C.

Dr. Whaling, President of the Seminary, in addition to
his work in the Theological Department, has added a spe-
cial class in the study of Calvin's Institutes. This inter-
esting course is being attended by some of the pastors in
the city, as well as some of the seniors who find it con-
venient to get in the extra hour. In this course Dr. Whal-
ing takes as his subject "What Calvin Says Himself, and
Not What Others Say He Says."

Dr. Whaling is attending a meeting of the Joint Com-
mittee on Federal Union in Philadelphia this week, and
incidental to this visit he is making quite a number of
addresses on "The Choice of a Vocation" before acad-
emies and colleges in Virginia. He will also make a visit
in behalf of the Seminary to the city of New York.

It is gratifying to note a decided revival in foreign
missions. Quite a number of the student body are vol-
unteers for the foreign field. Under the auspices of the
Missionary Society of Inquiry a splendid program is car-
ried out each week.

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REV. SAMUEL SPAHR LAWS, D. D., LL. D.
18241921.

Rev. Samuel Spahr Laws, D. D., LL. D., formerly pro-
fessor in the Columbia Theological Seminary, died at
his residence in Asheville, N. C, on January 9th, at the
advanced age of ninety-seven years. He is well remem-
bered by the students who attended his classes from 1893
to 1898. Dr. Laws was Perkins Professor of Natural
Science in connection with Revelation and Christian Apol-
ogetics.

Dr. Laws had a varied and interesting career. He was,
among other things, the inventor of the electric stock
ticker, but sold his rights before entering the ministry.
He was born in Ohio county, Virginia, in 1824, and was
educated at Miami University, Princeton, Columbia and
Bellevue Hospital Medical College. He received honorary
degrees from Washington and Lee and Westminster Col-
lege. He was pastor of a church in St. Louis, 1851-53 ;
President of Westminster College, 1855-1861 ; President
of the University of Missouri, 1876-1889 ; admitted to the
bar in New York in 1860, and was the author of a number
of books and pamphlets.

His last book, on "The Atonement," was written after
he was ninety-six years old, a copy of which was sent by
him for the Seminary Library only a few days before his
death, which will remain as a lasting memorial of his
devotion to the word of God and to the plan of salvation
through Jesus Christ.

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