Spirit-Filled, The Life of
The Rev. James Blaine Chapman, D.D.
By
D. Shelby Corlett
a born philosopher and theology was bread to his hungry mind; but mathematics was a subject which he learned only through hard work and diligent application. Indeed, to the end of his days, he avoided being placed in a situation where he might become involved in any detailed mathematical problems.
Members of his family say that during these school years he studied until late at night and would often arise at three o'clock in the morning to study in the quietness of those morning hours before the family became active.
What a feeling of satisfaction must have been his when through his diligent study and hard work he was listed as a graduate of the Arkansas Holiness College in May of 1910 — graduating from the Greek-English Theology Course. This had whetted well his appetite to obtain a full college education, so after moving his family to Peniel, Texas, in June of 1911, he enrolled as a student of the Texas Holiness University, of which Dr. Roy T. Williams was the president.
He was no stranger to the people of Peniel; many of them were his friends of years' standing. Also he had been one of the speakers at the Christian Workers' Conference and Commencement exercises of the university at Peniel, June 3 to 8, 1910, when he gave a paper on "Christology" and an address on "Our Lord's Return." Now he returned to Peniel as a student.
With diligence he applied himself to his studies, did part-time teaching in the department of Bible and Theology, which that year was under the supervision of Dr. B. F. Haynes, who later became the editor of the Herald of Holiness. During that year he is listed also as the district superintendent of the Southeast District of the Church of the Nazarene, a territory comprising the states south of Tennessee and east of the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean. There were but few churches at that time within that vast territory, but these few churches required some of his time and supervision.
Yet he was able to complete his course.
In a report he gave of a meeting he held near Erick, Oklahoma, in late summer of 1912, he said:
"I go back to my work of teaching Bible and Theology in Peniel University ... until next May when I will return to the field for the summer." By the time of the opening of school he was announced as the Dean of the University. He pursued further studies in the University during the year sufficient to be granted the degree of Bachelor of Divinity at the time of the next commencement.
This concluded his formal education, but he was a student all of his life. He was an incessant reader and delighted to gain knowledge from many fields of study. He was especially a student of life and kept a growing and expanding outlook on life until his death.
His work as a preacher and teacher, his influence as an educator and churchman, and his scholastic attainments were recognized by his own Alma Mater when in 1918 the Peniel College conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. Later, as he became better known and his abilities and attainments received wider recognition, the Pasadena College conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1927.
Coming along a most difficult path to the attaining of an education he succeeded in obtaining the earned degrees of Bachelor of Arts, and Bachelor of Divinity; and had two colleges confer upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. Astonishing advancements attended the work and
activities of the boy preacher, who was anointed of the Spirit to proclaim the gospel, until at thirty-one years of age he had completed the hard and difficult task of securing his formal education.
Still he remained a Spirit-filled preacher of the simple gospel of holiness.
Spirit-Filled, The Life of
The Rev. James Blaine Chapman, D.D.
By
D. Shelby Corlett
PART THREE — EDUCATOR Chapter Ten
ARKANSAS HOLINESS COLLEGE
The providential leadings of God at times seem so mysterious. The turn of providential happenings, which diverted James B. Chapman from his plans to complete his college course by enrolling at Peniel University for the school year of 1910-1911 to become the president of the Arkansas Holiness College at Vilonia, Arkansas, certainly seemed strange to him. He had been the pastor of this college church for two years, and had been a student in the college completing the Greek-English Theology Course the school offered; now he had been chosen to take upon himself the responsibilities of the presidency of the school. A reporter writing of this event says: "He was pastor two years at Vilonia, the seat of the Arkansas Holiness College. During this time he, in unifying and building up the church, so won the hearts of the people that the college board asked him to become their president. He, being anxious to complete his college course, but unwilling to see the school die, reluctantly accepted the presidency for one year.
This position of college president immediately thrust him into a new field with new responsibilities and problems. But he undertook them with the same determination and earnestness which had characterized his life as pastor, evangelist, and president of the council, eager to make a success. His first task was to strengthen the faculty of the school. He did this by bringing in some well-qualified people to head different departments, retaining on the faculty those who were acceptable in their work. He states his purpose for the college thus: "Our earnest endeavor is to maintain a school that will deserve the name 'holiness' and merit the endorsement and patronage of those who love the straight way."
In addition to the responsibilities of the presidency, he taught in the Bible and Theological department of the college. One in writing of his teaching said: "Some of his students say that he is the best Bible teacher they ever had. His students in theology were well pleased with his teaching."
In the different reports of the progress of the school printed in the Pentecostal Advocate during this year, it is said several times, "The school is having the best year of its history." The enrollment reached over the one hundred mark that year. The board of trustees of the college in stating its appreciation for the year's work of President Chapman said that they had had the very best year in the history of the school; they had entered the year with somewhat of a heavy financial burden upon them, but God helped to almost clear it.
To appreciate the work done at Vilonia, something of its location and environments should be known. It is a village in the central part of the state of Arkansas, located fourteen miles from the nearest railroad depot, also the nearest town, which is Conway. During the years of the Chapmans'
residence here the roads were only graded dirt roads, in some places they were little more than trails cleared through woods with stumps still remaining in the roadway. In winter and spring the roads were practically impassable; at times in the worst of storms the town was cut off from the rest of the world. It is in a farming country, but the farms are typical of those among the hills of central Arkansas, plenty of hard rough work but not too much income to compensate for the work done. But at Vilonia resided some of the finest people God ever allowed to live on this earth, devout, consecrated, holy people, who were determined to have a holiness school where their children and others could be educated in a true Christian environment.
The Arkansas Holiness College was destined eventually to close its doors; its location was against it, stronger holiness schools within easy travel distance of modern days attracted the students, and funds were not available to keep pace with the growing educational demands of the day and of the growing church. Yet the labor done by President Chapman and other presidents and faculty members was not in vain, for many students have gone forth from that school to bless the world with the message of full salvation, or to live lives of usefulness in the various pursuits of life.
If the Arkansas Holiness College had done no more within its history than to make the contribution it did to the life of James B. Chapman and through him to the religious world, its existence would have been justified. Occasionally he would speak of his years at Vilonia and always he would recall with tenderness of heart and pleasure the fellowship and association he enjoyed with the people. It was at Vilonia that his oldest son, Harold, was born.
The statement which closes the report of his work as president of this college is: "J. B. Chapman again enters the evangelistic field." He was always an evangelist and being a college president did not lessen his passion to win souls to Christ. At the close of the school year he moved his family to Peniel, Texas, where they were to spend eight pleasant years. During these years at Peniel his three youngest children, Brilhart, Gertrude, and Paul, were born.
Spirit-Filled, The Life of
The Rev. James Blaine Chapman, D.D.
By
D. Shelby Corlett