Asbury Seminary has released (October 2010) The
Story of Asbury Theological Seminary, written by Kenneth Cain
Kinghorn. In 1910 Henry Clay Morrison became president of Asbury
College, and that year the school began a special course of study
for those planning to enter full-time ministry. At that time, the
college constructed a two-story frame dormitory solely for those
ministerial students. These divinity students soon formed a Theologues Club, which grew impressively until the Seminary was
officially launched in 1923. The year of 1910 was a year of
beginning, so in a sense this institutional history is a centennial
volume.
The 498-page Story of Asbury Theological
Seminary is a comprehensive chronicle of the Seminary, carefully
documented with endnotes following each of its twenty chapters.
Kinghorn has written a faithful, factual, and fair account, devoid
of his personal opinions. He said, “Although the chronicles of the
Seminary are filled with numerous instances of God’s miraculous
intervention, guidance, and blessing, this book is not intended to
be hagiographic. The Story of Asbury Theological Seminary is not
without misunderstandings, missteps, and mistakes―and this book does
not avoid them.”
Kinghorn's writing style makes real history
easy to read like a fascinating story, except there is nothing
fictitious or unreal within these pages. Kinghorn carries the
reader along with the inclusion of sagas of heroic drama, inspiring
episodes, accounts of courage, examples of faith, and incidents of
divine providence. An added feature of this book is its inclusion of
more than 300 photographs. The appendices consist of a chronology, a
list of faculty members from 1923 to 2010 (with their dates of
service), an index of subjects, and an index of photographs. The
author closes the book with the following words: “Charles Wesley’s
hymn―And Can It Be That I Should Gain?―is the Seminary’s official
hymn. . . . Considering the challenges that the founders faced and
the obstacles the generations have overcome, Asbury Seminary’s very
existence and the global work of theological education in which it
is engaged are at once unlikely and astonishing. Indeed, one might
ask, ʻAnd can it be?ʼ ”
