We went on a tour of Yale yet again, this time with Jon Hinkson who retold the story of the beginning of Yale university from a Christian perspective. It was an educational tour that took us back to the early beginning when Yale was set up by faithful men who saw the importance of education, not for economic reasons but in order that they could minister the word of God rightly. Sadly, this heritage is now lost to the thousands of graduates who see the degree more as means to greater economic opportunities.
Our journey started from the Phelps Gate, the entrance to the old campus where many of the colleges that housed the freshmen are located.
We were introduced to Reverend John Davenport who first initiated the idea of a college; From a humble and difficult beginning, it has now become a great institution. Like an acorn, it has now grown into a great oak tree with its branches spread over a wide area.
We rested in the college of Jonathan Edwards who entered Yale when he was only 13 years old, he left behind a legacy of faithfulness that still inspires many of us.
We heard the legacy of Noah Webster who created the world's first dictionary, yet none of these people were rich in the sense of the word, but they gave the generations that came after them a world of opportunity through what they left behind!
We had a glimpse of the very first bible ever printed; the Gutenberg Bible displayed behind glass panels lest it is destroyed by the environment and human contact! It is located in the Beinecke Rare Books Library in Yale where the books are stored behind glass panels with a fire suppression system that would suck out all the air in the storage area creating a vacuum to put out the fire; Question: What about the librarians working in the area at the time of the fire? Your guess is as good as mine!
The interior of the Beinecke Library with the center core displaying the rare books.
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