I met Carl F. Henry once. I was an undergrad at Calvin College and I am a dedicated breakfast eater. I stumbled into the Commons dining hall one weekend morning (because I ate weekdays at Knollcrest) only to find among the meager weekend diners one rather grizzled old man dining alone. A bit of compassion welled up in my heart for this solitary breakfast eater and so I sat down with him. I asked him his name and he told me. At that point I didn’t know who Carl F. Henry was but I got a sense he was an academic. I told him I was pre-sem. He gave me some advice. He said “go to a seminary that majors in a classic theological education rather than a ‘practical’ one. CTS is a good one.”

Later I found out who he was and so I remember not only the breakfast but the advice he gave me. I wound up going to CTS rather than Fuller, incidentally not because of the advice he gave me, but I now see the value in the words he shared.