1 Sunday, January 6, 2012 Grace Life Schl f Thelgy Grace Histry Prject Lessn 87 Early Mid-Acts Leaders f the 1920s: C. R. Stam Intrductin In additin t Harry Bultema and J.C. O Hair, anther imprtant preacher that came t understand aspects f mid-acts Pauline dispensatinalism during the 1920s was Crnelius R. Stam. In this lessn we want t cnsider the backgrund f Pastr Stam and hw he came t understand the wrd f Gd rightly divided. Frtunately, Pastr Stam left a hst f infrmatin behind t help the student f histry understand his persnal backgrund and dispensatinal thinking. Fr the purpses f this lessn we will cnsider the fllwing pints: Wh Was C.R. Stam? Pauline Truth is Understd Wh Was C.R. Stam? In 2003 the Bearan Bible Sciety published The Memirs f Pastr Crnelius R. Stam. Much f the bigraphical infrmatin cntained in this lessn has been gleaned frm this resurce. Peter Stam was brn in the Netherlands in May, 1866 and grew up t be an ld-cuntry cmedian n accunt that his father ran a theater in Nrth Hlland. Accrding t Crnelius, his father never heard the gspel preached in self-righteus Nrth Hlland. There was n radi r TV in thse days, and very little gspel literature in his part f the cuntry. Indeed, the lcal state church was s liberal that n Sundays they alternated between a Prtestant minister, a Cathlic priest and a Jewish rabbi. (Stam, Memirs, 13) In 1889, at the age f 23, Peter Stam came t America. Upn arrival Peter barded with a Dutch family in Pattersn, NJ where he was first expsed t the Bible. The family he was barding with wuld read the Bible tgether every night after the evening meal. Eventually Peter left the barding huse cmplaining that he did nt want t pay bard mney t hear that bk read. S, t get away frm the Bible and learn English faster, Peter tk up barding with an Englishspeaking family in Hackensack, NJ. (Stam, Memirs, 14) In the prcess f time, while sitting n a park bench, struggling t understand an English magazine, Peter asked an elderly wman sitting n the end f the bench the meaning f a wrd. She surmised that he was frm Hlland and ffered him a bk t help him learn English faster. When Peter realized that he had been handed a cpy f a parallel Dutch/English Bible he tld Crnelius that he almst threw it in the garbage because he did nt like t be insulted by what he read. Peter s reading f the Gspels, Acts, and the Epistles f Paul led him t acknwledge himself as a sinner and t trust Christ as His Savir. His life was revlutinized and he immediately began t tell peple that he had been saved. (Stam, Memirs, 14-15)
2 Thinking that Baptist, Presbyterian, Refrmed, Methdist, Lutheran, and s n were just names like Philadelphia, Chicag, and San Francisc, Peter decided t jin the Christian Refrmed Church. It was als arund this time that Peter Stam married Elizabeth Alleta Alida Gertrude Willems, a descendent f the Huguents. (Stam, Memirs, 15-16) Crnelius R. Stam was brn n May 27, 1908. (Stam, Memirs, 17) In 1916 at the age f fifty when Crnelius was nly 8 years ld, Peter Stam retired frm full time emplyment t fund Star f Hpe Missin and devte his life t city missinary wrk. Accrding t Crnelius his father cntributed heavily f his wn funds t invest in a big livery stable in the heart f Patersn, NJ t huse the missin. It had a 125 ft frntage and was tw stries high; Peter and sme helpers gutted the whle thing and rebuilt it t huse Star f Hpe Missin. Once cmpleted, the building had a large auditrium, a suite f five rms fr administrative ffices, twelve private rms fr staff members, and tw large meeting rms capable f seating between 60 and 70 fr smaller meetings. The auditrium alne seated sme 500 peple, hwever, by adding chairs t the aisles and balcnies, crwds f 900 culd be accmmdated at the missin. (Stam, Memirs, 37-38) In his Memirs, Pastr Stam recunts that he and his brther Jhn were under deep cnvictin f their sins in their early teens. One Sunday Evening they went t a meeting at the Star f Hpe and heard Pastr T. Hudsn preach the gspel with great clarity and pwer. Accrding t Stam, it was later that night at hme that he and his brther decided t trust that Christ died fr their sins and rse again. (Stam, Memirs, 29-30) Regarding his early educatin and wrk life, Pastr Stam recunted the fllwing, I was a hardwrking by at an early age. I never made it t high schl, but I did skip tw grades in grade schl and then spent a year and a half at business schl, s I started wrking at Patersn s Bank f America when I was nly 13. A few years later I switched t the Citizen s Trust Cmpany, but the wrk there was n easier... Fewer bys went t high schl in thse days, and fewer still t cllege. But sn I began wrking nights at the Star f Hpe Missin and finally full time. Never after that did I ever apply fr any psitin f any kind: business, pastral, evangelistic, r therwise. There just always seemed t be things that needed ding as the Lrd pened ne dr f service after anther. (Stam, Memirs, 33) Crnelius recalls that his father made a pint f filling their hme with the right kind f reading material in the huse. Bks by the likes f Irnside and Gaebelein were rutinely read in the Stam husehld. (Stam, Memirs, 35) At the age f 23 (1931), Crnelius married Henrietta, a graduate f Mdy Bible Institute. She prved t be a valuable helpmeet fr Crnelius fr 41 until she passed away in 1972. (Stam, Memirs, 47-48) The Star f Hpe Missin was nt, strictly speaking, a rescue missin... basically the Missin was a Bible teaching and gspel center. Large audiences came t hear the Wrd f
3 Gd expunded by Bible teachers like Gaebelein, Irnside, Pettingill, Gray, Gregg, Barnhuse, Ottman and thers. Als we had many widely knwn missinaries with us: Mr. Hward Taylr, the brther-in-law f J. Hudsn Taylr, the funder f the China Inland Missin, and Bill Pntier f Africa, and Dr. Tm Lambie, the missinary t Ethipia... As t men f Gd wh visited ur hme, mst f my brthers were married by the time ur Bible Cnferences reached their zenith, and Jhn had gne t Mdy Bible Institute s I was the frtunate ne t be at hme when mst f these Bible teachers were with us. I shall never cease t thank Gd fr the years I gt t hear their discussins n dctrinal matters. A great deal was t be learned frm these keen students f the Wrd. (Stam, Memirs, 51-54) At the Star f Hpe Missin, as at Fundamentalist churches all ver the cuntry, capacity audiences were gathering t hear the Wrd f Gd taught. The peple wuld cme, Bibles in hand, t see whether these things were s. Thse were the days f great thelgical cntrversy and f live, active churches. This, in my judgment, was America s last real revival. It was nt varius frms f entertainment that drew the peple, but the study f the Wrd alng with Scriptural gspel preaching and withut all the entertainment that usually accmpanies evangelism tday t draw audiences. (Stam, Memirs, 53) Pauline Truth Is Understd The Stam s alng with Harry Bultema were excmmunicated frm the Refrmed Church fr hlding dispensatinal views with respect t the Rapture f the church (Stam, Memirs, 57). In his Memirs Crnelius recunts that this led t further light and understanding f the truth. Previusly ur whle family f ten had been excmmunicated frm ur denminatin because we believed in the imminent Rapture f the Church t be with Christ, and the Baptist pastr frm whm we learned this truth wuld nt accept us as members f his church because we had nt been baptized by immersin. This led us t a mre thrugh study f water baptism, with the result that sme f us, at least, were led t cnclude that the s-called great cmmissin and water baptism have n place in the prgram f Gd fr the present dispensatin f grace. And this, in turn, led us int the bdy f truth that Paul calls the mystery, the mst precius truth in all the Wrd f Gd. (Stam, Memirs, 54) Accrding t Chapter One f The Cntrversy, Pastr Stam came t understand the blessed truth f the mystery with its ne bdy and ne baptism in 1926 thrugh the ministry f a New Yrk investment cnsultant whm he des nt name. This brther was a frequent guest at ur hme, and as we discussed the Scriptures tgether, dad and several thers f the family were cnvinced that the rite f water baptism had n place in Gd s prgram fr the Bdy f Christ, having been superseded by a divine baptism in which the Hly Spirit eternally and inseparably unites individual believers t Christ and His Bdy. I still have and prize a bklet which this friend later gave us n the subject. It was written by Pastr J.C. O Hair and cntained tw messages,
4 ne entitled Jesus Christ a Minister f the Circumcisin, and the ther, The Twelve Apstles and Paul. (Stam, Cntrversy, 21) When The Cntrversy was riginally published in 1963 Pastr Stam did nt share the name f this man wh shared these dctrines with the family. Shrtly after becming the Pastr f Preakness Bible Church in Preakness, NJ in 1930 Crnelius published a bklet titled, Water Baptism, Is It Included in Gd s Prgram fr This Age? Sn after the bklet was published (1932) the brther frm New Yrk cntacted Pastr Stam and asked him nt t tell thers that he believed similarly with respect t water baptism. This meeting was fllwed by a secnd meeting in which this brther frm New Yrk asked Crnelius nt t press the subject further publically, warning me that if I did I wuld ruin my ministry in a shrt time. Furthermre, he argued that if I were an Irnside r a Gaebelein, I might put it acrss, but I had nt yet arrived at that psitin. While the yung Stam prmised that he wuld nt mentin his name, he wuld nt prmise t never speak r write abut the truth regarding baptism. (Stam, Cntrversy, 21-22) Later, when he penned his Memirs in 2003, Pastr Stam shared the name f this annymus man that intrduced the Stam family t Pauline dispensatinalism. His name was Mr. Erling C. Olsen, president f Fitch Investrs Service, f New Yrk City. Nt nly was Mr. Olsen a Wall Street brker but he was als a lay preacher. In 2003, Mr. Stam remembered Mr. Olsen fndly stating, Erling was a dear brther and a dear friend f the family, wh helped us t see mre clearly the distinctive character f Paul s apstleship and his ministry... (Stam, Memirs, 58) Prir t accepting the Pastrate f Preakness Bible Church in 1930, while he was still labring with his father at Star f Hpe Missin, the yung Crnelius was a first hand witness t varius candid thelgical cnversatins with sme f the natin s leading fundamentalist preachers. Pastr Stam recunts these days in his Memirs: The men f Gd I have referred t shwed keen insight as they discussed the Scriptures, but there was ne subject n which they were far frm agreed indeed, n which, cllectively and individually, they seemed cnfused. That subject was the s-called great cmmissin, with its miraculus sign gifts, its message, and its baptism! These great men simply culd nt agree as t these matters. Dad brached may a questin t them, as gently as he culd, but clear answers simply were nt frthcming, and the disagreement amng them was prnunced. Dr. Barnhuse, fr example, expressed surprise that dad wuld invite Dr. Arn C. Gaebelien t speak at the Star f Hpe. D yu knw, asked Dr. Barnhuse, what Dr. Gaebelien believes as t baptism? Such questins by ne Bible teacher abut anther were by n means singular. But, graciusly, Gd used the cnfusin n these subjects t prepare us t understand mre clearly the greater cmmissin given t Paul, the glrius message f recnciliatin, with its ne bdy and ne baptism.
5 We sn learned, hwever, that Gd has recvered lst Bible truths t faithful saints, nt all at nce, but ne great truth at a time, and t the men referred t abve it was evidently given t recver fr the Church the blessed hpe f the imminent, premillenial cming f Christ fr his wn at a time when mst f the denminatins were either pst- r premillennialists, r badly cnfused abut the whle subject. These men, therefre, preached against great ppsitin. Well d I remember when sme telephne ples in Patersn bre signs with Dr. Gaebelein s picture and the warning that his preaching might invlve his hearers in the errr r pre-millennialism. (Stam, Memirs, 55) During the early 1930 s Pastr Bultema in Muskegn, Michigan was ging thrugh a baptism crisis f his wn and had asked Peter Stam t cme t his church fr eight days f special meetings t address the matter (we will study mre abut this in a future lessn). When the time came fr meetings, Peter Stam was in Hlland n business fr the Star f Hpe Missin. Rather than cancel the meetings, Bultema gt apprval frm his bard t have the much yunger Crnelius (nt clear n his exact age at this pint) make the trip in place f his father. Crnelius recunts in his memirs that during the pening hymn f the first Sunday mrning service Bultema whispered in is ear, There are 1200 peple here this mrning. (Stam, Memirs, 83) In The Cntrversy, Pastr Stam recunts hw he was chastised by Dr. Grey Barnhuse fr accepting the invitatin t speak at Bultema s Church. In June, 1933, Dr. Barnhuse, deplring the fact that I was scheduled t cnduct a week f meetings n these subjects at the Berean Church f Muskegn, Michigan, asked me pint blank whether any thers amng ur mutual friends had accepted this hellish heresy. I then tld him we had been led int this truth thrugh the brther referred t abve, but Dr. Barnhuse insisted that I was wrng and that this brther believed in the sprinkling f infants. He was certain f this since this brther had s ften ccupied his pulpit at the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and they had enjyed clse fellwship tgether. This prmpted me t write ur brther directly abut that matter. In his reply dated July 6, 1933, he said amng ther things, that he believed that infant baptism was a relic f the Rman Cathlic Church, but was careful t add: That is cnfidential, remember. (Stam, Cntrversy, 23) The main lessn Crnelius learned frm this experience was cnveyed t his readers in The Cntrversy. This experience shwed me what small cnsideratins smetimes serve t clse the muths f men f Gd t truths they believe and shuld penly prclaim. The brther in questin was, at that time, the executive vice president f a New Yrk investrs service, and did nt need t clse his muth r hide his cnvictins frm anyne. But where financial need des nt cause men t capitulate, the fear f man ften des, and where the fear f man fails t
6 silence them, lve f psitin and ppularity ften succeeds, as it did with certain spiritual leaders f ur Lrd s day. (Stam, Cntrversy, 24-25) By the late 1920s and early 1930s the battle lines within premillennial Fundamentalism were being drawn. Many wh had rejiced in the dispensatinalism f The Scfield Reference Bible wuld nt fllw this new generatin f dispensatinal thinkers as they pressed the resurgence f Pauline truth further. What was their stumbling stne? Water Baptism. Wrks Cited Stam, Crnelius R. The Cntrversy. Germantwn, WI: Berean Bible Sciety 1963. http://www.gracegspel.eu/grace-bks/stami20.pdf. Stam, Crnelius R. The Memirs f Pastr Crnelius R. Stam. Germantwn, WI: Berean Bible Sciety, 2003.