Seven Presidents and One Professor Dr. George Braswell
The picture of Dr. George Braswell on the back of this volume perfectly announces the content of this tome. Relaxed, scholarly, and displaying a hint of the mischievous little boy that Braswell remains until now shouts the much-needed humor for a riotous day along with shrewd insights and a sure testimony of Christianity! Braswell has it all!
What are the chances that one professor could serve under seven different presidents, gaining the love and respect of each? And could this be achieved without compromise when some of these presidents were as different from each other as an orca is from a five-hundred-pound African feline? A mind less creative than that of Braswell would never have conceived such a project even if it transpired!
In Braswell’s thirty years as Professor of Missions at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, he served the Lord under presidents Sydnor L. Stealey, Olin T. Brinkley, W. Randall Lolley, Lewis A. Drummond, L. Paige Patterson, Bart C. Neal, and Daniel L. Akin. That voyage is fraught with danger, opportunity, and adventure! Braswell’s reflections on these men are worth a hundred times the price of the book.
As one of those cited, honesty compels the confession that this Professor of Missions must not only have been immersed in water at his baptism but also in the kindness, long-suffering, and mercy of our Lord. His assessments of the presidents are not hagiography, but they certainly are ringed with the presence of faith and the tendency to see every man in the best light possible. Nevertheless, this volume is an exciting adventure, a psychological examination of the minds and actions of leaders, a spiritual pilgrimage of a remarkable professor. Miss this book and experience your own deprivation! Read it and learn how to be the Christian God intended us to be.
Braswell’s sometimes electrifying insights into his years relating to these leaders, writing priceless books on missions, traveling to the ends of the earth on mission for Christ, and walking with three generations of students invites the readers into a workload of intrigue that most cannot imagine. And if that were not sufficient, the book is published by the upstart conservative publisher Northeastern Baptist Press out of Bennington, Vermont, where a former student of Braswell’s, Dr. Mark Ballard, has established an incredible new Baptist College and Publishing House in the heart of New England, thus demonstrating Ballard’s versatility and love for the truth.
Do you find yourself wishing you knew a little more about George Braswell? Well, in the back of the book, Braswell lets you in on the family secrets. I read many books. I love most of them. Only on rare occasions is there a monograph so unique, so riveting, so inspiring that I long for every Baptist to read it. Seven Presidents and One Professor is one such book! Purchase a copy here.
Paige Patterson, President Sandy Creek Foundation Dallas, Texas