American Minute with Bill Federer
John Harvard and Harvard University
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John Harvard's
grandfather
lived in Stratford-upon-Avon and was an associate of
Shakespeare's father.
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His father was a butcher and owner of
Queen's Head Inn and Tavern.
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John Harvard
was born in London and baptized on November 29, 1607, in the
old St. Savior's Parish
near the London Bridge (present-day Southwark Cathedral).
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Most of his family died when
a plague swept England in 1625,
the same year the pilgrims sent a shipload of beaver skins to London for trade, but it was captured by Muslim pirates.
John Harvard's mother
and surviving brother
died not long after the plague, leaving
John
the entire family estate.
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John
is believed to have attended the grammar school at
St. Savior's,
where the rector, Nicholas Morton, would have diligently prepared him for acceptance into
Cambridge,
a amazing achievement for someone of the commoner class.
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John Harvard
entered
Cambridge's Emmanuel College,
known for its
Puritan views,
the same school
Connecticut founder Rev. Thomas Hooker
attended.
Harvard
received his bachelor's degree in 1632 and his master's degree in 1635.
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He was later memorialized by a
stained glass window
in
Emmanuel College chapel.
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A classmate of his at
Emmanuel College
was
John Sadler,
who became
London's town clerk,
a
Member of Parliament,
and
private secretary to Oliver Cromwell.
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John Sadler
was a contemporary of other notable figures, such as:
Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, Samuel Pepys, Samuel Hartlib,
and
John Milton.
John Sadler
was a
Puritan
who was also a student of
Hebrew,
called a
"Christian Hebraist."
I
n 1649,
Sadler
wrote
The Rights of the Kingdom,
which examined
ancient Israel's influence on the British Commonwealth,
particularly the separation of powers.
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Other
Christian Hebraists
included:
Thomas Erastus
(1524–1583);
Bonaventure Vulcanius
(1535–1614);
Joseph Scaliger
(1540–1609);
Johannes van den Driesche
(1550–1616);
Isaac Casaubon
(1559–1614);
Johannes Buxtorf
(1564–1629);
Daniel Heinsius
(1580–1655);
Hugo Grotius
(1583–1645);
John Selden
(1584–1654);
Thomas Hobbes
(1588–1679);
James Harrington
(1611–1677); and
Petrus Cunaeus
(1586–1638), who published
The
Hebrew Republic
in 1617.
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Christian Hebraists
were Protestant and Catholic scholars, who, in the
century after the Renaissance and Reformation,
intensely studied:
- the ancient Hebrew republic;
- the Hebrew language;
- Jewish historian Josephus (37–100);
- the Jerusalem Talmud (2nd century AD);
- the Babylonian Talmud (4th century AD);
- Jewish philosopher Maimonides (1135–1204); and
- Rabbinic literature.
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In England,
the Universities of
Oxford
and
Cambridge
taught
Hebrew.
In America,
Harvard
students were required to study
Hebrew.
In 1685,
Harvard
had a
commencement address
delivered in the
Hebrew language.
Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia,
and other early American colleges had
requirements
for students to learn
Hebrew.
In 1722,
Harvard
hired
Judah Monis,
its first full-time
Hebrew instructor,
who published
A Grammar of the Hebrew Tongue
(1735) - the
first Hebrew textbook published in North America.
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Columnist
Don Feder
gave an address to the Friends of Israel, titled
"America & Israel–Two Nations Joined At the Heart"
(Grand Rapids, MI, May 15, 2014):
"More than Athens ... more than Roman Law, and English Common Law –
Israel shaped America."
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John Sadler's sister
was
Ann,
with whom
John Harvard
fell in love.
They were married at
St. Michael the Archangel Church
in 1636, the same year the
College at Cambridge
was founded in
Massachusetts.
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In 1637,
John and Ann Harvard
sailed for
Massachusetts
where he took "the freeman's oath," and served as a
teaching elder
and an
assistant pastor
at the
First Church of Charlestown,
under
Rev. Zechariah Symmes.
Charlestown,
at that time, had about 150 families.
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At age 31,
Rev. John Harvard
contracted tuberculosis and
died on SEPTEMBER 14, 1638.
The record of where his grave was located was lost during the Revolutionary War.
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Having no male heir,
John
left half of his
1,600 pound estate
to the
College at Cambridge
, along with
a library of over 400 volumes.
John Harvard's library
included
Bible commentaries,
volumes in Hebrew and Greek,
an
Aramaic lexicon of the Talmud,
and books by
Homer, Plutarch, Aquinas, Bacon, Calvin,
and
Luther.
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After his library was used by colonial scholars for over a century, a fire in 1764 destroyed all
John Harvard's
books, except one,
The Christian Warfare Against the Devil, World and Flesh And Means to Obtain Victory
(1634), written by John Downame.
The
General Court of Massachusetts Bay
voted in 1639 to rename the
College at Cambridge
after
John Harvard.
It is the oldest institution of higher learning in America.
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On the wall by the
old iron gate
at
Harvard University's main campus
entrance, and also noted in
Harvard Divinity School's
catalog, is the statement of
Harvard's founders:
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"After God had carried us safe to New England, and wee had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, rear'd convenient
places for God's worship, and settled the Civill Government:
One of the next things we longed for, and looked after was to advance Learning and to perpetuate it to Posterity;
dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to the Churches, when our present Ministers shall lie in the Dust ...
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... And as wee were thinking and consulting how to effect this great Work, it pleased God to stir up the heart of one
Mr. Harvard,
a godly gentleman and a lover of learning there living amongst us,
to give the one half of his estate ... towards the erecting of a college and all his Library."
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Harvard's
declared purpose was:
"To train a literate clergy."
This was consistent with
106 of the first 108 schools in America,
which were founded on Christianity.
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Ten of the twelve presidents
of
Harvard
prior to the Revolutionary War were
ministers.
Fifty percent of the 17th-century
Harvard
graduates became ministers.
Harvard College
was founded in "In Christi Gloriam" as its founders believed:
"All knowledge without Christ was vain."
In 1692, the motto of
Harvard
was:
"Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae" ("Truth for Christ and the Church").
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The word
"Veritas"
on the
college seal
referenced divine truth, and was embedded on a shield, which can be found on
Memorial Church, Widener Library,
and numerous
Harvard Yard dorms.
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The shield has on top
two books
facing up and on the bottom
a book facing down,
symbolizing the limits of reason and the need for
God's revelation.
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Harvard's Rules & Precepts,
September 26, 1642, stated:
"1. When any Scholar ... is able to make and speak true Latine in Verse and Prose ... And decline perfectly the paradigims of Nounes and Verbes in the Greek tongue ... (he is allowed) admission into the college.
2.
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 eternall 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.
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3. Every one shall so exercise himselfe in reading the Scriptures twice a day,
that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein, both in Theoreticall observations of Language and Logick, and in practicall and spirituall truths, as his Tutor shall require, according to his ability; seeing the entrance of the word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple, Psalm, 119:130.
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4. That they eshewing all profanation of God's name, Attributes, Word, Ordinances, and times of Worship, do studie with good conscience carefully to retaine God, and the love of his truth in their mindes,
else let them know, that (notwithstanding their Learning) God may give them up to strong delusions, and in the end to a reprobate minde, 2Thes. 2:11, 12. Rom. 1:28.
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5. That they studiously redeeme the time; observe the generall houres ... diligently attend the Lectures, without any disturbance by word or gesture ...
6. None shall ... frequent the company and society of such men as lead an unfit, and dissolute life. Nor shall any without his Tutors leave, or without the call of Parents or Guardians, goe abroad to other Townes.
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7. Every Scholar shall be present in his Tutors chamber at the 7th houre in the morning, immediately after the sound of the Bell, at his opening the Scripture and prayer, so also at the 5th houre at night, and then give account of his owne private reading ...
But if any ... shall absent himself from prayer or Lectures, he shall bee lyable to Admonition, if he offend above once a weeke.
8. If any Scholar shall be found to transgresse any of the Lawes of God, or the Schoole ... he may bee admonished at the publick monethly Act."
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In 1790, the requirements for
Harvard
stated:
"All persons of what degree forever residing at the College, and all undergraduates ... shall constantly and seasonably attend the worship of God in the chapel, morning and evening ...
All the scholars shall, at sunset in the evening preceding the Lord's Day, lay aside all their diversions and ... it is enjoined upon every scholar carefully at apply himself to the duties of religion on said day."
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Samuel Langdon
was a colonial chaplain and pastor before being chosen as
President of Harvard
in 1776.
In an
Election Day address,
May 31, 1775,
Harvard President Samuel Langdon
spoke to the
Massachusetts Provincial Congress:
"We have rebelled against God. We have lost the true spirit of Christianity, though we retain the outward profession and form of it.
We have neglected and set light by the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy commands and institutions.
The worship of many is but mere compliment to the Deity, while their hearts are far from Him. By many, the Gospel is corrupted into a superficial system of moral philosophy, little better than ancient Platonism ...
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My brethren, let us repent and implore the divine mercy. Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpositions of providence for our deliverance ...
May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble ...
We will rejoice in His salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners! ..."
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Langdon
continued:
"Wherefore is all this evil upon us? Is it not because we have forsaken the Lord?
Can we say we are innocent of crimes against God? No, surely it becomes us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand, that He may exalt us in due time ...
My brethren, let us repent and implore the divine mercy.
Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpositions of Providence for our deliverance ..."
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Harvard President Langdon
concluded:
"If God be for us, who can be against us? The enemy has reproached us for calling on His name and professing our trust in Him.
They have made a mock of our solemn fasts and every appearance of serious Christianity in the land ...
May our land be purged from all its sins!
Then the Lord will be our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble, and we will have no reason to be afraid, though thousands of enemies set themselves against us round about.
May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble ... We will rejoice in His salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners."
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After being
President of Harvard, Samuel Langdon
was a delegate to the
New Hampshire Convention
which
ratified the United States Constitution
in 1788.
Samuel Langdon
gave an address
"The Republic of the Israelites an Example to the American States":
"The Israelites
may be considered as a pattern to the world in all ages, and from them we may learn what will exalt our character, and what will depress and bring us to ruin.
Let us therefore look over their constitution and laws, enquire into their practice, and observe how
their prosperity ... depended on their strict observance of the divine commands both as to their government and religion."
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American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.
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Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924
[email protected]
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