By the
time Scofield died in 1921, the reference bible was selling briskly. At
this point Gaebelein and his backers decided to open a seminary on the
buckle of the bible belt. But in 1921, a Yiddish speaking orthodox Jewish
rabbi from New York couldn’t just ride his horse into Dallas and open
a seminary. Again, Arno needed a front through whom he could operate.
In place of Scofield, he chose close friend Lewis Sperry Chafer 28 to be the first President of Dallas Theological Seminary. Unlike Scofield, Chafer had legitimate credentials and no criminal record. Frank remembers Chafer visited their home as did the other founders of DTS. 29 So once again, Arno’s home in Harlem was where it was happening.
Just as soon as Chafer had founded the new school, Gaebelein took an active role. He became one of Dallas’s first extramural lecturers. 30 He would come down one month out of the year. DTS became a bastion of dispensational premillenialism throughout the world.
Shortly before Arno died in 1945, Harry Ironside came to visit and as they talked a question was posed; “Dr. Gaebelein, have you ever been immersed?” Arno replied, “No, I have never been immersed. I have never felt that immersion was the only mode of baptism”. 31
Who was this man that spent a lifetime hiding in the shadows of an illusion he created. He wasn’t a Baptist, a Methodist or a Jew. He worked with Bolsheviks, Jesuits, Spiritualists as well as Christians. He was a national leader of the Zionist movement when most Zionists were atheists.
All men seemed to speak well of him but Jesus warned “All men speak well of false prophets”.
Scofield is known by many as one of the greatest prophets of the 20th century but the man who created him is known by few and remains an enigma.
"If you like our site you will love our bi-monthly newsletter. It is easy to unsubscribe. So give it a try.
Interesting Links
Balfour
C.I.
Scofield
C.C Carlson - The Mother of Modern
Prophecy
Dallas Theological Seminary
Dispensationalism
Hal Lindsey - Wolf In Sheep's Clothing
The Rapture Hoax
Rothchild
Theodore
Herzl
Untermeyer
Westcott
Zionism