Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 109:436 (Oct 1952)
Article: Lewis Sperry Chafer
Author: Charles Fred Lincoln

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BSac 109:436 (Oct 52) p. 332

Lewis Sperry Chafer

C. F. Lincoln

In the quietness of the home of his very dear friends, Mr. and Mrs. Robert O. Fleming of Seattle, Washington, Doctor Lewis Sperry Chafer peacefully terminated his pilgrimage among men, concluded a long life of fruitful service for his Lord and Master, and entered into the blessed presence of his heavenly Father. A journey begun in the early days of the month of June for change of climate, fellowship with friends and former students, and for limited pulpit ministry, had taken him from his home in Dallas, Texas, to California and the Pacific Northwest. The end came in the early morning hours of August 22, 1952. Doctor Chafer had been editor of Bibliotheca Sacra for twelve years and had been president of Dallas Theological Seminary since it was founded in the year 1924.

The particulars of Doctor Chafer’s life reveal a most remarkable Christian character and manifest a most gracious provision of God to the church of Christ for the instruction, confirmation and blessing of His people. He was born at Rock Creek, Ashtabula County, Ohio, on February 27, 1871; he died in the 82nd year of his life. His parents were devout Christians; his father was a faithful Congregational minister and his mother was the daughter of a licensed Wesleyan preacher. Doctor Chafer has left among his papers numerous manuscripts of sermons prepared and delivered by his father. The bold, legible handwriting of these sermons, neatly preserved on fine heavy writing paper, shows with what care and labor the messages were prepared. This trait of painstaking study on the part of his father was reflected and magnified in the untiring dedication of Doctor Chafer

BSac 109:436 (Oct 52) p. 333

to ceaseless searching of the Scriptures in the severest of inductive study.

His father, the Reverend Thomas Franklin Chafer, died of tuberculosis when Lewis, the youngest of the three children, was eleven years of age. In order to help support his widowed mother and the children, the schooling of the lad Lewis was interrupted when he was twelve years of age, at which time he left off attending the Rock Creek school. However, in less than two years he returned to his studies, entering the nearby Institute of New Lyme, Ohio. He pursued courses of study there from 1885 to 1888, until seventeen years of age. From 1889 to 1892 he was enrolled at Oberlin College and Conservatory. He excelled in music and in the course of years has produced a number of worthy compositions. He also came to excel in congregational, choir, and orchestra conducting. When he was thirteen years of age he came to know and trust the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior. He has often recounted his conversion, emphasizing that it was by simple faith in Christ. The ev...

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