Christian Courses

Dr. J. Oliver Buswell, Jr., is the former President of Wheaton College (Wheaton, Illinois) and Shelton College (New York City, New York) and Dean of Covenant Theological Seminary (St. Louis, Missouri). He earned an A.B. from the University of Minnesota, a B.D. from McCormick Theological Seminary, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. from New York University. He was granted two honorary degrees—a D.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary (formerly Evangelical Theological College) and a LL.D. from Houghton College.

A lifelong learner known for his deep theological insights, Dr. Buswell’s legacy as a chaplain, administrator, and professor endures at the numerous institutions he served. Following a chapel appearance in which his scriptural exposition stirred the student body, Dr. Buswell, who was barely in his 30s, was invited to become the third President of Wheaton College, a position he would hold from 1926–1940. In this capacity, Dr. Buswell stood strong against a tide of rising theological liberalism while strengthening the academic and athletic standards of Wheaton College. Following a controversial departure, he spent a year as Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology at Faith Seminary in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr. Buswell then spent the next 15 years as the President and Professor of Theology and Philosophy at the National Bible Institute of New York City (now Shelton College). His career culminated at Covenant Theological Seminary in Saint Louis, MO, where he was Professor of Systematic Theology and Academic Dean of the newly formed seminary (1956–1970). Both Wheaton and Covenant’s libraries today bear his name.

In addition to his contributions to higher education, Dr. Buswell’s prominence as a moving orator is well documented. After preaching on the outskirts of Chicago, Dr. Buswell’s career began as a military chaplain during World War I. There he bravely ministered to soldiers and won both a Purple Heart and a Silver Star. Following an honorary discharge, Dr. Buswell, who was ordained as a Presbyterian minister, accepted his first pastorate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1919–1922). He then moved to New York where he served as Grace Church’s pastor from 1922–1926, where he continued to fearlessly preach the gospel. It was at the higher levels of the Presbyterian denomination, however, that Dr. Buswell’s impact was the greatest. The 1930s found Dr. Buswell in the center of several battles. As churches shifted their doctrine, Drs. Buswell, Cornelius Van Til, Harold S. Laird, and Rev. C. J. Gresham Machen, among others, refused to comply and sought to curb the rise of liberalism. The result was the formation of a new Presbyterian denomination. Dr. Buswell would later be elected as the moderator of various General Synods on three separate occasions (1936, 1944, and 1956). He was on the 1965 Fraternal Relations Committee that formed the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod and served on various missions boards over his career as well.

Nonetheless, Dr. Buswell’s most enduring legacy might be the multiple writings he left behind. He contributed 32 articles to various encyclopedias and another 128 to various periodicals including The Christian Beacon and Sunday School Times. He also penned 11 books including Behold Him, What Is God?, and Sin and Atonement. His work A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion remains a key text used and referenced in seminary classes around the globe to this day.