1909-1912. AGE 21-24
The purpose of his life had been “to turn many to righteousness.”
.. The Bible was the source of all his power. He learned it, he loved it, he lived it. It made him what he was. And 1 am hearing from all parts of the world testimonies from men and women who were drawn to give their lives to the Saviour through his teaching. That is a noble purpose to live for, is it not?‒Written of the Rev. Prebendary Webb Peploe, by his widow.
BORDEN’S LIFE AT PRINCETON was strenuous almost beyond belief, for in addition to his studies, many outside claims were crowding upon him. He was now of age and had considerable share in the management of large financial interests. His mother had come to live at Princeton, partly in order that his younger sister might see as much of him as possible. Their home was a center of hospitality, and as Mrs. Borden was still far from strong, upon William devolved the keeping of household accounts as well as a host’s responsibilities. His studies were absorbing, even more so than he had anticipated, and the pressure of other interests was not allowed to encroach upon the time they demanded. All this meant a heavy program and no little exercise of self-discipline.
He had decided upon taking the full course at Princeton Seminary largely on account of questionings that had disturbed his mind during his senior year at Yale. When urged to return as graduate secretary of the Y.M.C.A. he exclaimed to a College friend:
“Gee whiz! I want to pull out for a while and see where I am. I must take time for thought and study rather than rush on in the same sort of activities.”
So honest and earnest a nature could not be satisfied with uncertainty in the most vital issues. Three years of close mental application was a price he willingly paid for the strength that comes from knowledge and settled convictions. He was at the same time enlarging his missionary outlook by a special course of study for his Yale M.A. This had been gone over in detail with Professor Harlan P. Beach before leaving College. Professor Beach wrote:
The ground covered was enough Arabic to secure the degree if offered alone, and in addition a broad course of missionary reading, mostly having to do with the science of missions, Mohammedanism and missionary biographies. He was duly entered as a graduate student with permission to pass his examinations at his convenience. Had he done so, he would have covered more than even the best Master’s Degree men are required to take. “Factors in Missionary Efficiency” was the theme decided upon for his thesis.
Borden did not share the view expressed by some Student Volunteers that it will be time enough when they reach the mission field to study missions. Even amid the pressure of College and Seminary life he was following out a steady course of missionary reading, which made him always interesting and helpful at the Band meeting and gave definiteness to his prayers. There was nothing halfway about such a preparation. It was deep and thoroughgoing.
“Thus Bill entered upon three years of busy, happy life at Princeton,” wrote his friend Campbell. “The studies were absorbing and the social life congenial. He was a member of the Benham Club, the oldest eating club of the Seminary. He played most of the games, but was especially fond of tennis. He was a leader among the Student Volunteers and was always present at the early morning prayer service of the Band each Wednesday.
“In addition to the duties and pleasures that centered about his life in the Seminary, Bill had many responsibilities outside Princeton itself. In the fall of 1909 he had been made a trustee of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. In the spring of 1910 he was appointed a delegate to the Edinburgh Missionary Conference by the China Inland Mission, and in the fall was made one of the directors of the National Bible Institute of New York City. He also became a member of the North American Council of the China Inland Mission and of the American Committee of the Nile Mission Press.
“It is easy to see that the calls on his time would be many. Few men of his age could so well have handled the duties that pressed upon him from all these quarters. His singleness of purpose helped him and gave such direction to his life that no one, even among his nearest friends, saw anything but a quiet, consistent, unhurried doing of each task that came. Almost every month he went to New Haven to look over the work of the Yale Hope Mission. The unusual feature of his relationship to all such organizations was that he was never satisfied with merely giving generous financial aid. In addition, he always gave time, thought and counsel, usually conducting a service at the Mission when he went to New Haven. New York, New Haven and Chicago trips succeeded one another, and still he never seemed to neglect his work, though he carried a much heavier schedule than the average man. More than this, he stood very high in scholarship.
“Life at Princeton was brightened by the happy home influences that surrounded him. The Borden home was hospitably open to all. Students, missionaries and prominent lay workers were frequent visitors. The tennis court, back of the house, was the scene of many hotly contested games. In spite of his busy life, Bill never neglected his body. He made it a point to get an hour’s exercise daily if it was possible. Flow his eyes would light up at the prospect of a good game of tennis! Back he would come from a class, hustle into tennis clothes and then out to the court. He was never more than an average tennis player, but he played hard all the time and gave his opponent plenty of work.”
It is interesting to see from letters written only a little later the impression Borden made upon members of the Faculty during those full years at Princeton.
“I never saw, perhaps, a finer example of mens sana in corpore sano,” recalled Professor Brenton Greene. “I used to think as I saw him from my study window dashing down Library Place on his bicycle to the early morning recitations, ‘that man is so strong and so sane that his prospect of life is better than that of any other student in our Seminary.’
“His memory was as wax to receive an impression and as marble to retain it. He had the happy faculty of seeing at once the gist of a question and going straight to the point. Yet he never relied on this power, but used every means at his command. Rarely if ever was he absent from the classes, and I cannot recall a single instance of inattention on his part. As might have been expected, he attained the natural result. He became distinguished as a scholar.... I well remember my deep regret, the feeling of positive loss, at the time of his graduation, when I read his last paper, knowing that I should never have another from him.”
“No student has exerted a greater personal influence over me than did William Borden,” wrote Professor Charles Erdman. “This was due both to the fact of our intimate friendship and to his peculiarly strong and impressive personality. His judgment was so unerring and so mature that I always forgot there was such a difference in our ages. His complete consecration and devotion to Christ were a revelation to me, and his confidence in prayer a continual inspiration.
“He had doubtless inherited unusual gifts, but these were developed by the most careful and persistent discipline, requiring great determination and fixity of purpose.... There was much in his life to tempt him to less strenuous work, to lure him to self-indulgence and content with imperfect achievement. There was also the test of resolution that comes from apparently conflicting duties. His responsibilities were great, his days crowded with a multiplicity of demands. Neither social duties, however, nor filial duties, nor the duties of Christian stewardship were allowed to draw him from the supreme duty of preparation for his chosen work. The strain of unremitting application was relieved by a keen sense of humor and a delight in the society of relatives and friends. His friendship was one of the most stimulating with which I have been blessed.”
“It was as his teacher in Church History that I knew him best,” said Dr. John de Witt. “His fidelity, high intelligence and rare grasp of the subjects brought before him made on me a deep impression. But it was his spiritual ideal of life, his absolute loyalty to it, the sound judgment he showed in actualizing it, not only in the choice of his work and field, but in the details of daily activity and the simplicity and sincerity of his character, that led me not only to respect but to reverence him. I have had a few students among the many I have taught who have distinctly called into action this feeling of reverence, and he was one of them.”
A like note is found in not a few other letters from men of experience and Christian standing. Dr. Henry W. Frost, for example, Director in North America of the China Inland Mission, invited Borden, when only twenty-two, to a seat on its Council. They had been in correspondence for years, and Dr.
Frost, who knew him intimately, felt no hesitation in asking him to become one of the burden-bearers at the heart of the Mission, sharing the prayer and faith as well as the problems of those responsible for its direction.
“The disparity in age was seldom noticed,” he recalled. “There was an equality of mind which made him one with those with whom he was associated. None could help noticing the freshness of thought and enthusiasm of spirit characteristic of youth, and the Council rejoiced in these. But they were not accompanied by immaturity of judgment. When he spoke, it was evident that he was thinking carefully and broadly. He was a constant illustration of the fact that it is no vain thing for a man, even a young man, to obey the injunction, ‘If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God.’ Christ, through the study of the Word and through prayer, was made unto him ‘wisdom.’ His advice, therefore, was sought by not a few who, in the average case, would have gone to the man of more years. And he seldom failed of help. If he did fail, his eagerness to be of assistance made him a greater help than the average man would have been, though more wise through experience.”
Borden’s love for the faith principles of the China Inland Mission was strong and growing. He owed not a little in the deeper things of the spiritual life to his friendship with Dr. Frost, whose love for him was almost that of a father for a son. William had long consulted him in matters of importance, and especially as to his prospective relations with the Mission. In this connection, Dr. Frost continued:
The first time William Borden spoke to me about offering himself to the China Inland Mission was while he was in his sophomore year at Yale. He had already come to feel that his work should be in China and desired to put himself in a position to reach that land. But I felt he was then too young to come to a positive conclusion as to the country in which he should serve, and I advised him to postpone considering the matter.
At the end of his university course he again consulted me about going to China. Once more I advised him to defer the decision, and urged him to prepare himself further by taking the seminary course at Princeton. This he did, with credit to himself and to the Seminary.
Toward the end of his studies at Princeton, he again offered himself to the Mission for work in China. This time I was persuaded that God was indeed in the matter of his application. But to further test him, I asked if he had considered offering himself to the Presbyterian Board rather than to us. He replied that he had; that he highly esteemed the Presbyterian Board, but that there were three reasons why he was more drawn to the China Inland Mission―firstly, on account of its inter-denominational character; secondly, because of its emphasis upon evangelistic work; and thirdly, because it held the personal and pre-millennial coming of Christ. So at last we considered his application and accepted him for service in China.
This was only ten days before Borden’s graduation from Princeton, so that he had already been for more than two years a member of the Council. It was an unusual coincidence when his case came up for final consideration and, as a candidate, he had to be asked to withdraw while the Council proceeded to accept one of its own members as a probationer of the Mission.
But all this took place gradually, while the busy years at Princeton were passing on. During his first summer vacation from the Seminary, Borden went to Europe, as we have seen, representing the China Inland Mission at the Ecumenical Missionary Conference in Edinburgh (1910), where he was the youngest of two thousand delegates. It was there that Mrs. Borden learned for the first time that his decision was taken to give himself definitely to work for Mohammedans in China, if that proved to be the Lord’s will. Miss Annie Van Sommer had arranged for a gathering of representative workers from Mohammedan lands at the house where she was staying. Dr. Zwemer was chairman, and Mr. (now Canon) Gairdner and Dr. St. Clair Tisdall, all from Cairo, were there. In order to introduce people to one another; Dr. Zwemer asked each to rise and give his or her name and field. When Borden’s turn came, he mentioned without hesitation as his prospective field the Mohammedans of Northwest China.
That was a full summer! The missionary gatherings in Edinburgh were followed by a brief visit to Norway with Mr. Robert P. Wilder, who was then working among students in England and on the Continent. Of Borden’s stay in their Norwegian home Mr. Wilder wrote:
He took a real interest in our home life and all our doings. He helped the children to learn to ride their bicycles, running by each of them in turn. Mrs. Wilder specially remembers how, when a box of aerated water had come by train and she was thinking of sending to the station for it, we saw to our surprise William Borden coming up the steep hill with the box on his shoulder.... He and I had long talks over God’s Word and work, frequently pausing to pray about the matter we were discussing. He seemed never out of sight of the Mercy Seat.
A week in the Engadine gave Borden the conquest of the Piz Pallu and the Piz julier as glorious memories, and a few days at Lucerne brought delightful fellowship with Mr. and Mrs. Charles Campbell, who were there on their wedding journey.
He joined us in Lucerne. There were also a young Irishman and his bride in the same Pension, and for several days we five had a great time! We went to the Glacier Garten; went rowing on the lake and swimming in it, and altogether acted like a bunch of kids. Our afternoon teas were a wonderful mixture of assorted cakes and unlimited cups of tea.
Three weeks in Hanover were given to intensive study of German, and opened Borden’s eyes to threatened dangers. To Dr. Frost he wrote: Hanover, July 20, 1910
Only today I read in a London paper “Unity of Christendom―gigantic task! Twenty-four American Episcopalians have undertaken to bring about a union of Christians all over the world―Protestants, Greek Catholics, Roman Catholics, everybody, everywhere!” Things are certainly rushing to the climax. I wonder what will come next?
People talk about peace in Peace Congresses, but in reality here in Europe they are preparing for a great struggle I believe.... How wonderful that we have “that blessed hope” to look forward to, “the glorious appearing of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ”!
On the voyage home he was deep in Arabic with a view to the advanced course he was taking in that language and Aramaic. “I spent most of my time in London buying books,” he wrote to his friend Campbell, “and am taking home a small library of theological and Oriental literature.”
Back in Princeton he threw himself as before into all the religious and other activities of seminary life. Letters from many of his classmates might be quoted, but the following from the Rev. James M’Cammon, now a missionary in China, will suffice to give an impression of his influence.
His thoroughness, especially in his studies, was evident to us all. He kept up his work from day to day, so that he was not “rushed” as many of us were when examinations came round. So well did he have his knowledge in hand that long before the three hours’ period for an exam was over he would have finished his paper and handed it in, to the plaudits of his fellow-students. It was my habit to look in on a classmate in Alexander Hall daily, and there, two or three afternoons in the week, I was sure to find Bill Borden and his friend, Mr. Fowler, doing extra-curriculum work on Arabic. On one such occasion I discovered that they had formed the project of making an Arabic Concordance of the Bible, and had actually begun work upon it. I had known of their studiousness before, but this more than astonished me.
He was one of the most faithful attendants we had at the Y.M.C.A. and Student Volunteer meetings in the Seminary. He took his turn in leading such meetings, and his messages were of a devotional and missionary character that evidenced thorough preparation of mind and heart. One term he undertook to go through the Reports of the World’s Missionary Conference which he had attended in Edinburgh, giving them in the form of a resume week by week. Those talks I shall never forget. His mastery of the facts was astonishing. He gave us in clear, condensed statements, from carefully prepared notes, a synopsis of each of these Reports, bringing out the spiritual bearing of the facts dealt with. It was a remarkable evidence of his knowledge as well as zeal, in connection with foreign missions....
He was a convinced believer in the personal and pre-millennial coming of our Lord. He looked for that glorious Advent as the hope of the Church and the only hope for the world. I often had conversations with him on this subject, and the extent of his knowledge and intensity of his convictions left their mark on my mind. One of my most prized possessions is a book on the Lord’s Coming he once gave me as we were talking together.
Another conviction that dominated his life was that the Bible, from first to last, is the inspired word of God. To him it was the Book of books. He had not only an intellectual grasp of its teachings such as one may get in a theological seminary, but he had the spiritual understanding of it which only comes through prayerful and devotional study in humble dependence on the Spirit of God....
The secret of William Borden’s life, as it seems to a fellow-student, was his belief in the sufficiency and abiding presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. For this was more than a belief, it was with him an experimental reality.
This reality and the strength he derived daily from his study of the Word of God made him feel intensely the drift away from these things in modern university life, a subject upon which he had written to Mr. Wilder, as leader of the Student Volunteer Movement, in the hope of inducing him to return to America:
Princeton, January 29, 1910
The spirit that prevails is this: in all scientific studies Darwinian evolution is taught, often anti-theistically, and seldom is any attempt made to harmonize it with the early part of Genesis, for example. Ussher’s chronology is still the cause of trouble, in the light of geology, etc. But these are the least serious issues Much more serious is the general agnostic atmosphere pervading everything and deadening all convictions, those as to sin and truth included. In line with this, a broad spirit of tolerance is insisted upon, especially in matters of religion, and any and all are branded as narrow who dare think otherwise. That word “narrow” is one of Satan’s deadliest weapons, it seems to me; for most people would apparently rather be shot than be called narrow. Thus it is even as Christ predicted―the broad way to destruction is thronged, but few are climbing the narrow way that leads to life.
When we come to distinctively Christian and religious matters, the situation is even worse. “Practically everyone” believes that the Bible is full of contradictions and errors, etc., etc. Even earnest Christians seem to feel that it doesn’t matter. The New Testament fares little better than the Old at the hands of critics, and the supernatural is expunged from both. And against all this scarcely a voice of any authority is raised in protest, from within the ranks. In the women’s colleges things are even worse, as I know from my sister who was at Vassar and from a recent conversation with one of the Y.W.C.A. secretaries, who is firm in the faith and alive to the situation.
In spite of everything the work of the Y.M.C.A. goes on, men are really won to Christ, and many good workers are sent into active Christian service. But it is in spite of all this.
Now the leaders, I feel, do not all of them by any means see the real tendency of this modern teaching, especially of the Biblical teaching, which in the name of Christianity really discredits Christ and the Christian faith. Either they do not clearly see the issues, or if they do, they seek to compromise. This is evident from the kind of speakers approved of, and still more so from the Bible teachers and teaching that are popular. There is tremendous zeal and energy among many students and leaders here, and my only desire is that they should find the truth. Dr. Zwemer sees all these things clearly and has helped a lot, but now he is going, and as far as I know there is no one with a theological training (which is almost essential, to enable one to see the real issues) who can take his place and help to keep the student movement pure, strong and evangelical. The need is tremendous and the opportunity immense. I should like nothing better than to get into the fight, right here in the American colleges, should the Lord close my way to the foreign field.
One other word I would like to add. The teaching about the kingdom of God is entirely with the idea that it is gradually to be brought in by our making the world better. This of course fits in with the socialistic ideas of the day, but hardly with Scripture! And here again, in the college world scarcely a voice is raised in support of God’s Word.
I do hope you will come and help. I feel sure it would mean a better quality of work here, and a better quality of really equipped men for the work abroad. And I would like to add a word about the China Inland Mission, which I am only beginning really to know and with which you doubtless are better acquainted. What I want to say is that if you join yourself with them in some capacity, you will have a praying constituency behind you such as no other organization I know of would afford.