[Note: In the Scope & Content section, the notation “folder 2-5" means “Box 2, Folder 5"]

Series: Oversize Materials

The following items are in the OVERSIZE FILE. Request by collection number and folder location (in parentheses).

CERTIFICATES (OS 28). Henry graduation certificates from the Grammar Department of Central Islip (New York state) Public School (1925) and from Islip High School (1929). Both certificates are black and white and signed by the board of education and the principal.

*****

Series: Photographs

The following items are located in the PHOTO FILE; request by folder title (in bold) at the beginning of each entry below.

GRAHAM, RUTH BELL. Ruth Bell with Harold Lindsell at a Wheaton College banquet. Picture was used in the 1939 Wheaton yearbook. Circa 1939. 1 b&w.

HENRY, CARL. Portrait photos, including the photo used in Wheaton College yearbook; shots of Henry with V. Raymond Edman and the yearbook staff; 1937-1945. 8 b&w.

HENRY, HELGA (BENDER) . Portrait photo. Undated. 1 b&w.

IRONSIDE, HARRY. Closeup of Ironside preaching at Wheaton College. Circa1939. Picture was used in the 1939 yearbook. 1 b&w. SAULNIER, HARRY. Saulnier by himself holding a book, probably a Bible; Sauliner with Carl Henry, who is giving him a copy of his book, The Pacific Garden Mission. Both pictures are badly faded. Circa 1942. 2 b&w.

*****

Series: Paper Records (Box List)

Arrangement: Alphabetical by title; titles are based on those on the original folders

Date Range: 1925-1984

Volume: 1.2 cubic feet, 3 boxes

Geographic Coverage: United States

Type of Documents: Correspondence, reports, memos, manuscripts of articles, grant applications, minutes of meetings

Correspondents: Robert Clouse, Edward Coray, V. Raymond Edman, Paul Ericksen, Herman Fischer, Robert Frykenberg, Frank Gaebelein, Wayne Grudem, Carl Henry, Helga Henry, Paul Hiebert, Arthur Holmes, Calvin Linton, Ruth E. Eckert McComb, Ronald H. Nash, Richard Pierard, John W. Snyder, Merrill Tenney, Marlin J. Van Eldern, Keith Yandell

Subjects: Henry’s early years, the beginnings of his career as theologian and teacher of theologians, his involvement in IFACS (Institute for Advanced Christian Studies), developments in Evangelical Protestant theology in the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s

Notes: This collection consists of a few files sent to the BGC Archives by Henry and in no way represents his full range of thought, interests or activities. The materials are concerned mostly with his leadership in the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies, encouraging theological studies from an Evangelical Protestant perspective relating Christian faith to contemporary problems and current scholarly thought. But there is also some materials about his involvement with Wheaton College as a student, alumnus, and teacher and a very items from other aspects of his life. All of the materials have been refiled into new, archival folders; where the original manila folders had notes scribbled on them by Henry, the original folders are also in the new file.

Exceptional items:

Henry’s certificate of membership in the First Baptist Church of Babylon (New York) is in folder 1-2; his transcript from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary is in folder 3-8; his ordination certificate as a minister is in folder 3-5; an invitation to the Henrys’ wedding is in folder 3-9.

There are a few personal letters in folder 3-6, mostly relating to the settlement of his mother’s estate, but there is also one from his wife Helga.

Folder 1-1 contains a list of possible contributing editors to the new magazine Christianity Today, with a few notes by Henry.

Folder 3-12 contains the program of Wheaton College’s 1939 commencement (it mentions Henry, but his actual graduating class was the previous year); folder 3-11 contains the Bulletin of Wheaton College for December 1938, with a description by Henry of the weekly College prayer meeting. There are also some photos of Henry as editor of the 1939 yearbook, described in the photo Location Record in this descriptive guide. His active involvement in the alumni association for a number of years after his graduation is documented in folder 3-10, mostly in documents materials from 1946-1947, when he served as president of the association. This folder also contains the typescript of an address, “The Idea of a Christian College,” which was apparently given by college president V. Raymond Edman to a faculty retreat under a slightly different title. Henry may have assisted in the preparation of the talk and his own response can be found in the November 1946 Faculty Bulletin in folder 3-14. Other materials in folder 3-10 are concerned with fund raising and construction efforts of the college in immediate post World War II era. There is a 1947 booklet consisting of messages from the class of ‘38 with many members including Henry describing their current activities. The folder also has some issues of the alumni magazine for 1945-1946, showing the impact of the war and is endings on the college.

Folders 3-14, 3-15, 3-16 and 3-18 document Henry’s brief stint of teaching theology at the college in 1946-1947 and there are several documents, such a faculty handbook, that illustrate the school’s academic and intellectual life at that time and its administrative policies.

Folder 3-18 has a brief paper Henry wrote on the theology of Emil Brunner.

The vast majority of the documents in this collection relate to Henry’ service on the board of IFACS in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Henry had been instrumental in founding the institute a decade earlier, but there is nothing in these files about that period, except for a ten- year history written by Ruth E. Eckert in folder 3-3. The institute was intended to encourage Evangelical Protestant scholars to apply their knowledge to contemporary thought and problems. This was done by grants for promising projects, and sponsoring relevant conferences and publications. The IFACS minutes, correspondence, reports and applications in boxes 1 through 3 illustrate Henry’s involvement in the work, and particularly his concern for a series of books by Evangelical scholars in different fields that would develop a Christian world view (see especially folder 2-5). Discussion of particular books and projects in the various documents often contain Henry’s comments on particular points of Christian doctrine. Folder 2-4 contains a handwritten draft of an article entitled, “Some Reflections on a Christian Lifestyle,” possibly by Henry. A good overview of IFACS activities and interests can be gotten by looking at the two IFACS Bulletins in folder 1-4.