Wheaton College | Alumni Pages

Scriptural Rationale for Thunder mascot
With over 1,500 alumni back on campus for Homecoming Weekend 2000, the new Wheaton College mascot was announced at Homecoming Convocation on Friday, September 29th in the King Arena of the new Sports and Recreation Center. The althletic teams of Wheaton College will now be sent out on the courts and playing fields as THE WHEATON THUNDER

Imagine a late afternoon on the Wheaton College campus. Steel-blue clouds build on the prairie sky. The wind whips around orange-red brick buildings. Large droplets pelt, flashes of light illuminate briefly the falling darkness, and in the distance the earth and sky rumble.

Who among Wheaton's constituents does not recognize the coming storm? We know the foretelling intensity with which it builds, the awesome force of its presence, and the strange, but wonderful atmosphere it leaves in its wake.

"Thunder" is one of the Creator God's natural phenomona with which he himself identifies:

"And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?" - Job 26:14 (NIV)

Do you have an arm like God's, and can your voice thunder like his?" - Job 40:9 (NIV)

"The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon." - Psalm 29:3-5 (NIV)

"Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder..." - Psalm 81:7 (KJV)

"The seas have lifted up, O LORD, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea--the LORD on high is mighty" - Psalm 93:3-4 (NIV)

"And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder." - Revelation 14:2 (NIV)

What does "thunder" offer as a mascot, particularly to our athletic teams? As an intangible force of nature, one cannot see thunder, however, like the Spirit of God, one can neither deny its presence. Who can dispute the booming crash of thunder? Indeed, its strength lies in its fearsome sound. A thunderclap can be so forceful as to cause the earth to tremble. Yet, distant thunder may, strangely, be peaceful.

Thunder as an invisible force, moves the earth. As Christians indwelled by the Spirit of the Living God, we, like thunder, may attest to the power in us by shaking the earth (or shaking down the opponent on the field or court!) Thunder presents team players and fans with the opportuntity for creative expression of team spirit: thundering voices, hands, and feet in the crowd and along the sidelines.

"Thunder" as the image of the powerful voice of God represents the power of his word by which we live, learn, work, and play.