Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 120:479 (Jul 1963)
Article: Dr. Charles A. Blanchard and the Book of The Revelation
Author: George W. Dollar

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BSac 120:479 (Jul 63) p. 243

Dr. Charles A. Blanchard and the Book of The Revelation

George W. Dollar

Dr.Charles Albert Blanchard was president of Wheaton College from 1882 to 1925, succeeding his father, Jonathan Blanchard, “a man of oak and iron…one of the old prophets dropped down into the Nineteenth Century.”1 The influence of Charles Blanchard extended far beyond the limits of the Midwestern college in Illinois, reaching to great numbers of churches, public platforms, and rostrums of other institutions. In a day when American fundamentalism was seeking an honored spot in the theological sun this learned and gracious scholar filled an important niche in shaping the theological framework and spiritual tone of the movement. His contributions were many; one of the more significant was in the realm of eschatology. One chronicler of Wheaton’s history has stated that Blanchard’s creed could be summed up in four words, namely, he believed the Bible and was premillennial.2 President Blanchard did not produce a carefully worked out system of eschatology but he authored a book on the last book of the Bible and this is at once an arresting and interesting volume since it reflects his own mature study and conclusions concerning God’s program for future days and years. The book of Revelation had been studied by him for over twenty-five years and he wrote that “during the last three years [1910-13]

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I have made it a continuous study.”3 His interest in publishing this book was sharpened by his conviction that the book of Revelation was “Planned for all the people of God as we approach the end of the church age.”4

The book itself was dedicated to Miss Emma Dryer, “the friend who first opened my mind to the dispensational teaching of the Word of God.”5 The Miss Dryer referred to was Emeline E. Dryer who, it will be remembered, was the human instrument in impressing upon D. L. Moody the need of a training school in Chicago and, in reality, must be considered as a cofounder of the Chicago Evangelization Society (1886) which later developed into the famed Moody Bible Institute. Richard Ellsworth Day has designated her as “the indomitable little lady” who engaged in such “heroic pioneering” that Moody’s eyes were opened to the training of “gap men who are trained to fill the gap between the common people and the ministers.”6 Miss Dryer was evidently a lady of domineering personality as well as gifted in Bible teaching and it was ...

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