Billy Graham Center
Archives

Papers of Carl F. H. Henry - Collection 628


[Note: What follows is a description of the documents in this collection which are available for use at BGC Archives in Wheaton, Illinois, USA. The actual documents are not, in most cases, available online, only this description of them. Nor are they available for sale or rent.]

Table of Contents

Title Page and Restrictions

Brief Description of This Collection

Biography

An Essay on the Contents of the Collection (Scope and Content)

Lists of Oversize Materials, Photographs (Location Records)
    Oversize Materials
    Photographs
List of the Contents of Boxes of Paper Records in This Collection (Box List)

Collection 628                                                                                                      [January 2, 2008]
Henry, Carl Ferdinand Howard; 1913-2003
Papers; 1925-1984

3 boxes (3 DC), Oversize materials, Photographs (1.3 cubic feet)




Restrictions: None



Brief Description. A small miscellany of correspondence, reports, notes, minutes, and manuscripts deal mainly with theologian and author Carl Henry’s work with the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies, but which also touch on a few other aspects of his life, including his association with Wheaton College and with the magazine Christianity Today.

Biography

Full name

Carl Ferdinand Howard Henry

Birth

January 22, 1913, in New York City

Death

December 7, 2003 in Watertown, Wisconsin, USA

Family

 

Parents

Karl and Johanna (Vaethroeder) Henry

 

Siblings

Eleanor, Isabella and Johanna

 

Marital Status

Married Helga Irmgard Bender August 17, 1940, at the chapel of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois, USA

 

Children

 Paul Brentwood, Carol Jennifer

Conversion

At the age of 20 through conversation with acquaintance Gene Bedford

Ordination

By the Council of Baptist Churches of the Chicago Baptist Association on January 19, 1941

Education

 

1929

Graduated from Islip High School in Islip, New York, USA

 

1935-1938

Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, USA; graduated with B.A.

 

1939-1940

Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, USA; M.A. in theology

 

1940-1941

Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois, USA; B.D.

 

1941-1942

Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois, USA; Th.D.

 

194?-1949

Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Ph.D. in philosophy

Career

 

1929-1933

Started as proofreader at the Smithtown Star newspaper in Nassau County, New York, USA; eventually became editor. He also worked at various times as a stringer for the New York Times, New York Herald Tribune, and Chicago Tribune.

 

1938-1947

Taught theology for brief periods at Wheaton College during these years

 

1940-1942

Assistant professor of theology at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary

 

1942-1947

Chairman of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary

 

1947

Acting Dean of Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California, USA

 

1947-1956

Professor of Theology and Christian Philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California, USA

 

1947

Published The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism

 

1948

Published Remaking the Modern Mind

 

1948-1956

Co-chairman of the annual Sunrise Easter Service at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, USA

 

1952-1953

Daily radio program, Let the Chips Fall, station KPOL, Los Angeles, California, USA

 

1956-1970

Member of the Board of Administration of the National Association of Evangelicals. He had been associated with the NAE in one way or another from its founding in 1943.

 

1956-1968

With L. Nelson Bell and Billy Graham helped plan Christianity Today; served as the magazine’s first editor

 

1957-1969

Editor of the Contemporary Evangelical Thought series

 

1957

Published Christian Personal Ethics

 

1966

Chairman and one of the chief planners with Billy Graham of the World Congress on Evangelism, which met in Berlin, Germany

 

1967

With Billy Graham convened the meeting of church leaders that resulted in the Key ‘73 national evangelistic effort

 

1967-1970

President of the Evangelical Theological Society

 

March 1967

Incorporation of the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies (IFACS). Henry was one of the founders and a member of the first board of directors

 

1969-1974

Professor of theology, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

1971

Program chairman of the Jerusalem Conference on Biblical Prophecy

 

1971-1974

President of IFACS

 

1973

Editor of Baker’s Dictionary of Christian Ethics

 

1974-1987

Theologian-at-large, World Vision International

 

1976-1983

Published God, Revelation, and Authority in six volumes 

 

1976-1979

Member of the board of directors of IFACS

 

1979-1980

President of the American Theological Society

 

1981-1985

Member of the board of directors of IFACS

 

1986

Published Confessions of a Theologian: An Autobiography 

 

1987

Carl F. H. Henry Study and Resource Center was established in his name, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, USA

Other significant information

 

Visiting professor or special lecturer at many universities and seminaries around the world (including Asian Center for Theological Studies and Missions, Bethel Theological Seminary, Christian Theological Seminary, Columbia Bible College, Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary, Gordon Divinity School, Hillsdale College, Hong Kong Baptist College, Latin American Theological Seminary, Soong Sil University, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Winona Lake Summer School of Theology) and author of many articles and more than twenty-five books

 

1963

Honorary Litt. D. Degree from Seattle Pacific College

 

1966

Freedoms Foundation Medal

 

1968

D. Letters, Wheaton College

 

1971

Distinguished Social Service Award, Wheaton College Alumni Association

 

1973

L.H.D., Houghton College

 

1975

Religious Heritage of America Foundation award in America

 

1979

Northwestern College, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

 

1984

LL.D., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

 

1990

National Association of Evangelicals: J. Elwin Wright Award

 

1992

Christian Life Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Distinguished Service Award

 

1993

Religious Heritage of America Foundation, gold award for fifty years of spiritual and moral leadership


Scope and Content

[Note: In the Scope & Content section, the notation “folder 2-5" means “Box 2, Folder 5"]

Arrangement: Alphabetical by title; titles are based on those on the original folders
Date Range: 1925-1984
Volume: 1.2 cubic feet
Boxes: 1-3
Geographic coverage: United States
Type of documents: Correspondence, reports, memos, manuscripts of articles, grant applications, minutes of meetings
Correspondents: Robert Clouse, Edward Coray, V. Raymond Edman, Paul Ericksen, Herman Fischer, Robert Frykenberg, Frank Gaebelein, Wayne Grudem, Carl Henry, Helga Henry, Paul Hiebert, Arthur Holmes, Calvin Linton, Ruth E. Eckert McComb, Ronald H. Nash, Richard Pierard, John W. Snyder, Merrill Tenney, Marlin J. Van Eldern, Keith Yandell
Subjects: Henry’s early years, the beginnings of his career as theologian and teacher of theologians, his involvement in IFACS (Institute for Advanced Christian Studies), developments in Evangelical Protestant theology in the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s
Notes: This collection consists of a few files sent to the BGC Archives by Henry and in no way represents his full range of thought, interests or activities. The materials are concerned mostly with his leadership in the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies, encouraging theological studies from an Evangelical Protestant perspective relating Christian faith to contemporary problems and current scholarly thought. But there is also some materials about his involvement with Wheaton College as a student, alumnus, and teacher and a very items from other aspects of his life. All of the materials have been refiled into new, archival folders; where the original manila folders had notes scribbled on them by Henry, the original folders are also in the new file.

Exceptional items:

•    Drawer OS28 contains Henry’s certificates of graduation from grade school and high school; his certificate of membership in the First Baptist Church of Babylon (New York) is in folder 1-2; his transcript from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary is in folder 3-8; his ordination certificate as a minister is in folder 3-5; an invitation to the Henrys’ wedding is in folder 3-9. There are a few personal letters in folder 3-6, mostly relating to the settlement of his mother’s estate, but there is also one from his wife Helga.
•    Folder 1-1 contains a list of possible contributing editors to the new magazine Christianity Today, with a few notes by Henry.
•    Folder 3-12 contains the program of Wheaton College’s 1939 commencement (it mentions Henry, but his actual graduating class was the previous year); folder 3-11 contains the Bulletin of Wheaton College for December 1938, with a description by Henry of the weekly College prayer meeting. There are also some photos of Henry as editor of the 1939 yearbook, described in the photo Location Record in this descriptive guide. His active involvement in the alumni association for a number of years after his graduation is documented in folder 3-10, mostly in documents materials from 1946-1947, when he served as president of the association. This folder also contains the typescript of an address, “The Idea of a Christian College,” which was apparently given by college president V. Raymond Edman to a faculty retreat under a slightly different title.. Henry may have assisted in the preparation of the talk and his own repose can be found in the November 1946 Faculty Bulletin in folder 3-14. Other materials in folder 3-10 are concerned with fund raising and construction efforts of the college in immediate post World War II era. There is a 1947 booklet consisting of messages from the class of ‘38 with many members including Henry describing their current activities. The folder also has some issues of the alumni magazine for 1945-1946, showing the impact of the war and is endings on the college. Folders 3-14, 3-15, 3-16 and 3-18 document Henry’s brief stint of teaching theology at the college in 1946-1947 and there are several documents, such a faculty handbook, that illustrate the school’s academic and intellectual life at that time and its administrative policies. Folder 3-18 has a brief paper Henry wrote on the theology of Emil Brunner.
•    The vast majority of the documents in this collection relate to Henry’ service on the board of IFACS in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Henry had been instrumental in founding the institute a decade earlier, but there is nothing in these files about that period, except for a ten- year history written by Ruth E. Eckert in folder 3-3. The institute was intended to encourage Evangelical Protestant scholars to apply their knowledge to contemporary thought and problems. This was done by grants for promising projects, and sponsoring relevant conferences and publications. The IFACS minutes, correspondence, reports and applications in boxes 1 through 3 illustrate Henry’s involvement in the work, and particularly his concern for a series of books by Evangelical scholars in different fields that would develop a Christian world view (see especially folder 2-5). Discussion of particular books and projects in the various documents often contain Henry’s comments on particular points of Christian doctrine. Folder 2-4 contains a handwritten draft of an article entitled, “Some Reflections on a Christian Lifestyle,” possibly by Henry. A good overview of IFACS activities and interests can be gotten by looking at the two IFACS Bulletins in folder 1-4.

Provenance
The materials in this collection were given to the Archives of the Billy Graham Center by Carl Henry in 1981 and 1987.

Accession: 81-9, 87-13, 87-164 
January 2, 2008
Bob Shuster
K. Haywood


LOCATION RECORD
Accession: 87-13
Type of material: Oversize Materials
The following items are in the OVERSIZE FILE. Request by collection number and folder location (in parentheses).

CERTIFICATES (OS 28). Henry graduation certificates from the Grammar Department of Central Islip (New York state) Public School (1925) and from Islip High School (1929). Both certificates are black and white and signed by the board of education and the principal.

*****

LOCATION RECORD
Accession: 87-13
Type of material: Photographs
The following items are located in the PHOTO FILE; request by folder title (in bold) at the beginning of each entry below.

GRAHAM, RUTH BELL. 1 b&w. Ruth Bell with Harold Lindsell at a Wheaton College banquet. Picture was used in the 1939 Wheaton yearbook. Ca. 1939.

HENRY, CARL. 8 b&w. Portrait photos, including the photo used in Wheaton College yearbook; shots of Henry with V. Raymond Edman and the yearbook staff; 1937-1945.

HENRY, HELGA (BENDER) 1 b&w. Portrait photo. N.d.

IRONSIDE, HARRY. 1 b&w. Closeup of Ironside preaching at Wheaton College. Ca. 1939. Picture was used in the 1939 yearbook.

SAULNIER, HARRY. 2 b&w. Saulnier by himself holding a book, probably a Bible; Sauliner with Carl Henry, who is giving him a copy of his book, The Pacific Garden Mission. Both pictures are badly faded. Ca. 1942.


BOX LIST

Box

Folder

Title

Dates

1

1

Christianity Today Contributing Editor Lists

1955

1

2

Church Membership Certificate

1939

1

3

IFACS: Audits

1979-1983

1

4

IFACS: Bulletin

1980-1983

1

5

IFACS: Christian Focus Symposium on Crucial Issues correspondence

1979

1

6

IFACS: Correspondence

1979

1

7

IFACS: Correspondence

1980

1

8

IFACS: Correspondence

1981

1

9

IFACS: Correspondence

1982

2

1

IFACS: Correspondence

1983

2

2

IFACS: Correspondence

1984

2

3

IFACS: Grant Applications

1979-1983

2

4

IFACS: Manuscript, “Some Reflections on a Christian Lifestyle”

n.d.

2

5

Paper Back Series Correspondence

1979

3

1

IFACS: Minutes

1978-1984

3

2

IFACS: Nominating Committee

1980

3

3

IFACS: 10 Year Survey

1979

3

4

IFACS: Symposium Materials

1978-1979

3

5

Ordination Certificate

1941

3

6

Personal Correspondence

1935-1946

3

7

Press Passes

1937-1938

3

8

Transcript

1941

3

9

Wedding Invitation

1940

3

10

Wheaton College: Alumni Association

1945-1951

3

11

Wheaton College: Bulletin

1938

3

12

Wheaton College: Commencement Program

1939

3

13

Wheaton College: Directory of Wheaton College and Academy

1939

3

14

Wheaton College: Faculty Bulletins

1945-1946

3

15

Wheaton College: Faculty Handbook

1946

3

16

Wheaton College: Faculty Planning Materials

1945-1946

3

17

Wheaton College: Scholastic Honor Society Annual Report

1953

3

18

Wheaton College: Teaching

1946-1947, 1957


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