A Shifting Foundation

G. Thomas Sharp • October 4, 2015

It is historically certain that most of American’s founders maintained a clear Biblical perspective about life’s ultimate purpose, i.e., to honor God and His Word, and they carefully guided the development of government to reinforce and encourage this ideal. Their efforts were not perfect, but their efforts reasonably maintained our Republic for more than 200 years.

The first significant chink in this armor came in 1870 when evolutionist Charles Elliot became the president of Harvard. He transitioned the classical and scriptural base in Harvard’s curriculum for one that was more in tune with the goals and philosophy of the Enlightenment.

At the time of the War Between the States (1860-1864), there were a few more than a hundred colleges and universities in the U.S., and they were either for the training of the clergy and/or were administered by the clergy.  But by the death of Queen Victoria (1901), Princeton University, the last of these universities, fell under the administrative savvy of non-clerical oversight. This signaled the beginning of a total secular control in higher education in America.

A more noticeable change came in 1925. This was caused from one of the many pegs that has been driven in the heart of Biblical Christianity and Judeo/Christian during the 20th century in America. The place was Dayton, TN, and the milieu was the debate between William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow (an influential ACLU attorney) that took place during the Scopes’ Monkey Trial—which was a contest concerning the Constitutionality of the Butler Act. The Butler Act was a law in Tennessee that forbade the teaching of evolution in the public schools of Tennessee. Even though Bryan won the legal battle, he lost the public relations contest, and as the result evolution has taken an ever greater posture in the education of America’s children ever since.

It wasn’t long after the Scope’s trial until John Dewey (certainly by the 1930s), a social progressive, that was heavily invested in Darwinism, took the leadership of the America’s state schools. So, what’s the point? After the Bible was effectively removed as the primary premise for American thought, especially for our origin, our reason for being, our identity and our destiny, and was replaced by Darwinism, everything established on that foundation began to shift. So that by the 1960s it wasn’t a stretch to think that America’s school children must be protected from the so-called “myths” of the Bible.
Thanks so very much for your continued prayer and financial support for this ministry.

G. Thomas Sharp
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lined up books
By Matt Miles June 18, 2025
Over the course of time a person can accumulate many things. Most of the stuff we collect is meaningless to most everyone else, but when a person collects books, they can be treasured for a lifetime and even beyond. In this age of digital media, physical books seem to be less important to many people. Digital books are searchable, and copy/paste functions make it easy to use those great quotes. Yet, there is still something great about a physical book, things you can’t get digitally: the turning of pages, the feel of it in your hand, and the “book” smell. For our founder Dr. Sharp, physical books could never be replaced by digital. While my collection of books is growing each year, it is dwarfed by Dr. Sharp’s collection. Over the years he collected thousands of titles for research and enjoyment. Through the course of his ministry he had to sell his book collection a couple of different times to support his family, only to start collecting again when he was able to do so. When Doc passed his office full of packed bookshelves to me and said he would clear the shelves, I laughed out loud at the prospect of having loads of empty bookshelves. So I urged him to instead leave his books for my, and anyone else’s, use. Little did I understand that the four bookcases in my office were only a fraction of his entire collection. A couple of years back when Doc moved from his house, it was decided that his book collection would be stored at the office. Our thought was to establish a library, yet none of us had time to plan, organize and catalog all 79 boxes of books. They sat piled in his office until last year when my daughter Megan joined our ministry. She has a love of books, both reading and writing. So we offered her the task of cataloging and establishing Doc’s library. Can you picture me, a bbq lover, being offered a table full of succulent smoked offerings - brisket, sausage, ribs, pulled pork, chicken, turkey and all sides? Yep, that was Megan’s response to the library. For over four months she cataloged and organized the entire collection. The Dr. G. Thomas Sharp Library was completed earlier this year in his old office space, with overflow into my office. The entire 2700+ volume agglomeration is digitally cataloged for searching and locating. As you might expect, there is an extensive collection of creation and evolution subject matter, yet the library is full of many different categories. It very much reflects Doc’s love of gaining knowledge and research. An extensive commentary collection and multiple Biblical reference sections are invaluable to our ministry. There is even a whole bookcase housing books that are over 100 years old. Our desire was not to just house books but to also make a place of honor and inspiration. One wall exhibits Doc’s many diplomas, and throughout the library we have placed personal memorabilia of the mission trips he took over the years. Come, grab a book, relax in the sitting area and allow Doc’s handwritten notes from the margins or post-it notes bring a smile to your face. For those who may be more ambitious, Doc's office chair resides at the credenza for anyone to sit and be inspired to study. This is a place to honor Doc’s life and love for books. We at CTF have already utilized this great resource for further study, and we are so thankful to Diane and their family for donating these books for continued Kingdom growth. Blessings.
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