First up, is my signed copy of The Consequences of Ideas by R.C. Sproul. In 2000 (really!? a decade ago!?) Sproul actually came to Wichita, KS and spoke at a rather large church for two days. I made the hour drive each day to see him. In between one of the sessions, he was walking back to the bookstore area, and I saw him from quite a distance and yelled, "Dr. Sproul!" He paused, turned towards me, gave me a moment to catch up with him, and then shook my hand and said, "How are you, young man?" I was dumbfounded... starstruck, really. Here was a man who had been ministering to me for at least a year or more and who had led me happily into the Reformed faith. And I had nothing to say to him. I felt so silly. Oh, and his hands were soft - really soft. He was just so kind and gracious, and he signed my book. So here it is - my Sproul autograph.
My second object may be a bit more inestimable in value. It is a letter written on a typewriter and signed by Lorraine Boettner personally. Here's the story. I went to Westminster California around 2004 or so to visit the school. I had lunch with Scott Clark and sat in on a Michael Horton class, which was a real thrill. I decided I really wanted to go to this school but would never be able to afford to live in San Diego and abandoned the whole project. But before I left, I discovered that the Westminster Library was having a clearance sale selling off some old used books, so I found two treasures - a used copy of Geerhardus Vos' Biblical Theology for $2 I think, and a badly worn copy of The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination for $1. As I opened the Boettner book, I discovered this letter hidden inside:
Several poor Westminster students were standing around me and watched as I opened the book. They were all in awe, as I also was. To think that Lorraine Boettner had held this book in his hand and personally shipped it to this man was quite a thrill. To know that he had recently met with Dr. Van Til just added more thrill to the find. One of students around me offered to give me $5 for it (had to be a Seminary student, eh!? It was probably all he had, poor guy!). There was no way I was giving it up, of course. So I returned to Arizona (where I was living at the time) with my new treasures in hand. This was a very memorable and blessed to trip to WSCAL.
So these are my theological treasures. I hope other bloggers out there will start sharing their own treasures, as well.
Incredible treasures. That first one had to be quite an event. Thanks for sharing, both of those are quite neat.
ReplyDelete