Harvard University (1636) founded by the General Court of Massachusetts only sixteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims, is the oldest university in the United States. Originally called the College at Cambridge, being established in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it was renamed after its first major benefactor, Rev. John Harvard (1607-1638), who donated his library and half of his estate. The declared purpose of the college was:
<To train a literate clergy.> 1636HU001
The Rules and Precepts observed at Harvard, September 26, 1642, stated:
<1. When any Scholar...is able to make and speak true Latine in Verse and Prose....And decline perfectly the paradigims of Nounes and Verbes in the Greek tongue...[he is able] of admission into the college.
2. Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the maine end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternall life, John 17:3 and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and Learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisedome, Let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seeke it of him Prov. 2,3.
3. Every one shall so exercise himselfe in reading the Scriptures twice a day, that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein, both in Theoreticall observations of Language and Logick, and in practicall and spirituall truths, as his Tutor shall require, according to his ability; seeing the entrance of the word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple, Psalm, 119:130.
4. That they eshewing all profanation of Gods name, Attributes, Word, Ordinances, and times of Worship, do studie with good conscience carefully to retaine God, and the love of his truth in their mindes, else let them know, that (notwithstanding their Learning) God may give them up to strong delusions, and in the end to a reprobate minde, 2Thes. 2:11, 12. Rom. 1:28.
5. That they studiously redeeme the time; observe the generall houres...diligently attend the Lectures, without any disturbance by word or gesture....
6. None shall...frequent the company and society of such men as lead an unfit, and dissolute life. Nor shall any without his Tutors leave, or without the call of Parents or Guardians, goe abroad to other Townes.
7. Every Scholar shall be present in his Tutors chamber at the 7th houre in the morning, immediately after the sound of the Bell, at his opening the Scripture and prayer, so also at the 5th houre at night, and then give account of his owne private reading....But if any...shall absent himself from prayer or Lectures, he shall bee lyable to Admonition, if he offend above once a weeke.
8. If any Scholar shall be found to transgresse any of the Lawes of God, or the Schoole...he may bee admonished at the publick monethly Act.> 1636HU002
Ten of the twelve presidents of Harvard, prior to the Revolutionary War, were ministers, and according to reliable calculations, over fifty percent of the seventeenth-century Harvard graduates became ministers. Of note is the fact that 106 of the first 108 schools in America were founded on the Christian faith.
Harvard college was founded in "Christi Gloriam" and later dedicated "Christo et Ecclesiae". The founders of Harvard believed that:
<All knowledge without Christ was vain.> 1636HU003
The word Veritas, on the college seal, means divine truth. The motto of Harvard was officially:
<For Christ and the Church.> 1636HU004
The dedication inscribed on the wall by the old iron gate at the main entrance to the Harvard University campus, as well as in the catalog of the Harvard Divinity School, reads:
<After God had carried us safe to New England and we had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God's worship and settled the civil government, one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches when our present ministers lie in the dust.> 1636HU005
On Election Day, May 31, 1775, Harvard President Samuel Langdon addressed the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. The message had a profound impact, resulting in it being published and distributed throughout the colonies:
<We have rebelled against God. We have lost the true spirit of Christianity, though we retain the outward profession and form of it. We have neglected and set light by the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy commands and institutions.
The worship of many is but mere compliment to the Deity, while their hearts are far from Him. By many, the Gospel is corrupted into a superficial system of moral philosophy, little better than ancient Platonism....
My brethren, let us repent and implore the divine mercy. Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpositions of providence for our deliverance....
May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble....We will rejoice in His salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners!...
Wherefore is all this evil upon us? Is it not because we have forsaken the Lord? Can we say we are innocent of crimes against God? No, surely it becomes us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand, that He may exalt us in due time....
My brethren, let us repent and implore the divine mercy. Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpositions of Providence for our deliverance....
If God be for us, who can be against us? The enemy has reproached us for calling on His name and professing our trust in Him. They have made a mock of our solemn fasts and every appearance of serious Christianity in the land....
May our land be purged from all its sins! Then the Lord will be our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble, and we will have no reason to be afraid, though thousands of enemies set themselves against us round about.
May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble....We will rejoice in His salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners.> 1636HU006 In 1790, the requirements for Harvard stated:
<All persons of what degree forever residing at the College, and all undergraduates...shall constantly and seasonably attend the worship of God in the chapel, morning and evening...All the scholars shall, at sunset in the evening preceding the Lord's Day, lay aside all their diversions and....it is enjoined upon every scholar carefully at apply himself to the duties of religion on said day.> 1636HU007
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1636HU001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Harvard University, 1636. Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 32.
1636HU002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Harvard University, 1636, Rules and Precepts, Old South Leaflets. Benjamin Pierce, A History of Harvard University (Cambridge, MA: Brown, Shattuck, and Company, 1833), Appendix, p. 5. Peter G. Mode, ed., Sourcebook and Biographical Guide for American Church History (Menasha, WI: George Banta Publishing Co., 1921), pp. 74-75. Robert Flood, The Rebirth of America (Philadelphia: Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), p. 41. "Our Christian Heritage," Letter from Plymouth Rock (Marlborough, NH: The Plymouth Rock Foundation), p. 2. Pat Robertson, America's Dates With Destiny (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), pp. 44-45. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 40. Rosalie J. Slater, "New England's First Fruits, 1643," Teaching and Learning America's Christian History (San Francisco: Foundation for Christian Education, 1980), p. vii. Stephen McDowell and Mark Beliles, "The Providential Perspective" (Charlottesville, VA: The Providence Foundation, P.O. Box 6759, Charlottesville, Va. 22906, January 1994), Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 3. D.P. Diffine, Ph.D., One Nation Under God-How Close a Separation? (Searcy, Arkansas: Harding University, Belden Center for Private Enterprise Education, 6th edition, 1992), p. 4.
1636HU003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Harvard University, 1636. Stephen K. McDowell and Mark A. Beliles, America's Providential History (Charlottesville, VA: Providence Press, 1988), p. 91. Nancy Leigh DeMoss, ed., "How Christians Started the Ivy League," The Rebirth of America (Philadelphia, PA: Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), p. 41. Peter Gay, A Loss of Mastery: Puritan Historians in Colonial America (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1966), p. 23. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 41. "Our Christian Heritage," Letter from Plymouth Rock (Marlborough, NH: The Plymouth Rock Foundation), p. 2. Samuel Eliot Morison, "Harvard Seals and Arms," The Harvard Graduates' Magazine (Manesh, WI: George Barna Publishing Co.), September 1933, p. 8.
1636HU004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Harvard University, 1636. Samuel Eliot Morison, "Harvard Seals and Arms," The Harvard Graduates' Magazine (Manesh, WI: George Barna Publishing Co.), September 1933, p. 8. Stephen K. McDowell and Mark A. Beliles, America's Providential History (Charlottesville, VA: Providence Press, 1988), p. 91. "Our Christian Heritage," Letter from Plymouth Rock (Marlborough, NH: The Plymouth Rock Foundation), p. 2.
1636HU005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Harvard University, 1636, dedication inscribed on the wall by the old iron gate at the main entrance to campus, and in the catalog of the Harvard Divinity School. Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 75. Robert Flood, The Rebirth of America (Philadelphia: Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), p. 41. Also found in the catalog for the Harvard Divinity School. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 41.
1636HU006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Harvard University, May 31, 1775, in the Election Day sermon, titled "The Wall," delivered to the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts by Harvard President Samuel Langdon. A.W. Plumstead, ed., The Wall and the Garden, Selected Massachusetts Election Sermons, 1670-1775 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1968), pp. 364-373. Verna M. Hall, Christian History of the American Revolution-Consider and Ponder (San Francisco: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1976), p. 506. Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1977), p. 278. Lucille Johnston, Celebrations of a Nation (Arlington, VA: The Year of Thanksgiving Foundation, 1987), p. 77. Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1977), pp. 277-278. Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Glory of America (Bloomington, MN: Garborg's Heart'N Home, Inc., 1991), 6.3. 1636HU007. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Harvard University, 1790, requirements.