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Lewis Sperry Chafer
Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871–1952) was an American preacher, theologian, and educator whose influential ministry shaped 20th-century evangelicalism, particularly through his role as a founder and the first president of Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS). Born on February 27, 1871, in Rock Creek, Ohio, he was the second of three children to Thomas Franklin Chafer, a Congregational minister, and Lomira Sperry. His father’s death from tuberculosis when Lewis was 11 left the family in financial strain, supported by his mother’s work as a teacher and boarding house keeper. Chafer attended Oberlin College from 1889 to 1892, where he developed a passion for music and met Ella Loraine Case, whom he married in 1896. Initially a traveling evangelist and gospel singer, he was ordained in 1900 by a council of Congregational ministers in Buffalo, New York. Chafer’s preaching career evolved from music ministry with evangelists like Arthur T. Reed to a focus on Bible teaching, influenced by C.I. Scofield, whom he met in 1901 at Northfield Bible Conference. He served as a Bible lecturer, assisted Scofield in founding the Philadelphia School of the Bible in 1913, and pastored First Congregational Church in Dallas (later Scofield Memorial Church) starting in 1921. In 1924, he co-founded DTS with his brother Rollin, serving as its president and professor of systematic theology until his death, shaping it into a leading dispensationalist institution. Author of over 20 books, including Systematic Theology (1947–1948), an eight-volume work, he preached a premillennial, pretribulational dispensationalism that emphasized grace and biblical authority. Chafer died on August 22, 1952, in Seattle, Washington, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose scholarship and leadership trained generations of evangelical leaders.
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Lewis Sperry Chafer emphasizes the importance of preaching the Gospel to every creature as a world-wide ministry that continues through each generation until the heavenly Church is gathered. He explains that the goal is not to reach every person in one generation, as countless individuals have passed away without hearing the Gospel. The evangelizing work will eventually be completed when the last member of Christ's body is gathered, leading to His return and the establishment of His righteous kingdom on earth, as taught in the Bible.
Our Object in Service
We are appointed to announce the Gospel to every creature. We have no commission to christianize the world. So long as man can act in free will and reject God’s grace, this can never be done. We cannot force men to be saved. Salvation must be the free choice of the heart. Nor is our object to reach all people of some one generation with the Gospel. The ideal is unbiblical. Nothing vital would be gained by it since countless millions have already gone down to death who did not hear the Gospel. Preaching the Gospel to every creature is a world-wide ministry which must be repeated with each succeeding generation. It goes on and on: not until the world is saved, or until some one generation has heard; but this preaching is to continue until the bride of Christ, the heavenly Church, is gathered out. The seed is to be sown in the whole field, but only a fourth part is said to develop into wheat, — the children of God. The evangelizing work will someday be completed. The last member of His body will be gathered in. He will then come, and by His resistless power He will banish evil and establish His kingdom of righteousness in the earth. This is the consistent teaching of the Book of God. (Note Matthew 24, 25; Acts 15:13-18; 2 Thess. 2:1-12; Rev. 19:11 to Rev. 20:6.)
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Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871–1952) was an American preacher, theologian, and educator whose influential ministry shaped 20th-century evangelicalism, particularly through his role as a founder and the first president of Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS). Born on February 27, 1871, in Rock Creek, Ohio, he was the second of three children to Thomas Franklin Chafer, a Congregational minister, and Lomira Sperry. His father’s death from tuberculosis when Lewis was 11 left the family in financial strain, supported by his mother’s work as a teacher and boarding house keeper. Chafer attended Oberlin College from 1889 to 1892, where he developed a passion for music and met Ella Loraine Case, whom he married in 1896. Initially a traveling evangelist and gospel singer, he was ordained in 1900 by a council of Congregational ministers in Buffalo, New York. Chafer’s preaching career evolved from music ministry with evangelists like Arthur T. Reed to a focus on Bible teaching, influenced by C.I. Scofield, whom he met in 1901 at Northfield Bible Conference. He served as a Bible lecturer, assisted Scofield in founding the Philadelphia School of the Bible in 1913, and pastored First Congregational Church in Dallas (later Scofield Memorial Church) starting in 1921. In 1924, he co-founded DTS with his brother Rollin, serving as its president and professor of systematic theology until his death, shaping it into a leading dispensationalist institution. Author of over 20 books, including Systematic Theology (1947–1948), an eight-volume work, he preached a premillennial, pretribulational dispensationalism that emphasized grace and biblical authority. Chafer died on August 22, 1952, in Seattle, Washington, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose scholarship and leadership trained generations of evangelical leaders.