Articles of Incorporation
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The Articles of Incorporation was the legal document that founded Biola.
Although Lyman Stewart and T. C. Horton were collaborators in a variety of educational and ministry projects in Los Angeles as early as 1906, the official existence of Biola as an incorporated legal entity begins in 1908. The most substantive document connected with the founding is the Articles of Incorporation, dated April 14, 1908.
The document records the most important people involved with the founding of Biola, their intentions for doing so, and a Statement of Belief that is an ancestor to Biola's 1912 Doctrinal Statement.
Text
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION
of
THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS:
That we, the undersigned, a majority of whom are citizens and residents of the State of California, have this day voluntarily associated ourselves together for the purpose of forming a CORPORATION under the laws of the State of California, AND WE HEREBY CERTIFY,
First: That the name of said Corporation shall be THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES.
Second: That the purpose for which it is formed is the establishment and maintenance of a Bible Institute for the instruction and training of accredited Christian men and women in the knowledge of the Word of God and in effective service for Christ; for the conducting of evangelistical services and extension work consisting of Institutes, Bible Classes, Neighborhood visitation, Colportage and Publication work, and to do any and all acts necessary to the proper maintenance and conduct of an Institute of this nature.
The PRINCIPLES governing said Institute are as follows:
(1) No person shall be qualified for election or service as a Director who does not believe in the full and complete Divine inspiration, the infallibility and supreme authority of the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments, in the Deity of Jesus Christ, in His death as a substitutionary sacrifice, in his present intercession at the right hand of God, and His premillenial and imminent return, and in the personal presence and efficiency of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
(2) There shall be no preaching or teaching in connection with said Bible Institute that shall not accord with the spirit of this Statement of Belief.
Third: That the place where the principal business of said Corporation is to be transacted is the City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
Fourth: That the term for which said Corporation is to exist is Fifty years from and after the date of its incorporation.
Fifth: That the number of Directors of said corporation shall not be more than fifteen, and the names and residences of the Directors who are appointed for the first year, and to serve until the election of such officers, and their qualification, are as follows, to-wit:
NAME WHOSE RESIDENCE IS AT
Lyman Stewart, Los Angeles, California
A. B. Pritchard, Los Angeles, California
T. C. Horton, Los Angeles, California
R. A. Hadden, Los Angeles, California
B. C. Atterbury, Pasadena, California
Leon V. Shaw, Los Angeles, California
E. A. K. Hackett, Los Angeles, California
Wm. E. Blackstone, Long Beach, California
S. I. Merrill, Los Angeles, California
That on the 27th day of March, A.D., 1908, in the City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles, State of California, an election was held for Directors: that a majority of the members of said Institute were present and voted at such election, and that the result thereof was that the Directors hereinbefore named were declared duly elected.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, We have hereunto set our hands and seals this 14th day of April, A.D., 1908.
Signed and Sealed in the presence of (Signed)
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
County of Los Angeles
Lyman Stewart (SEAL)
A. B. Pritchard (SEAL)
T. C. Horton (SEAL)
R. A. Hadden (SEAL)
B. C. Atterbury (SEAL)
Leon V. Shaw (SEAL)
E. A. K. Hackett (SEAL)
Wm. E. Blackstone (SEAL)
S. I. Merrill (SEAL)
Lyman Stewart, Chairman, and B. C. Atterbury, Secretary, being duly sworn, depose and say that they were the officers that conducted the election for Directors above mentioned; and that said election was held, and that the time and place of said election and the result thereof, as above set forth, are true of their own knowledge.
Lyman Stewart
B. C. Atterbury
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 14th day of April, A.D. 1908
(Signed) Samuel Lewis Todd
Notary Public in and for said Los Angeles County,
(SEAL) State of California
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
County of Los Angeles
(More notary certifications and seals follow)
Doctrinal Content
The two "PRINCIPLES governing said Institute" are that first, every member of the board of directors will believe in a specified set of doctrines, and second, that all teaching and preaching at Biola will be in agreement with “the spirit of this Statement of Belief.”
There are about nine doctrines in this “Statement of Belief” (the capitalization is in the original document), which can be divided into three main articles: The Bible, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. These three major doctrines can be sub-divided as in the following analytic outline:
I. The Bible
A. Its inspiration is
1. full
2. complete
3. Divine.
B. It is infallible
C. It has supreme authority
II. Jesus Christ
A. His Deity
B. His death as a substitutionary sacrifice
C. His present intercession at the right hand of God
D. His return, which is
1. premillenial
2. imminent
III. The Holy Spirit
A. His personal presence in the Church
B. His efficiency in the Church
Especially as compared to Biola's 1912 Doctrinal Statement, Several things are notable about this 1908 statement. Many things are omitted and much is left unstated. But a high and relatively elaborate doctrine of Scripture is already prominent, a premillenial eschatology is already present, and the statement is at some pains to include both the accomplished atonement in the death of Christ and the present experience of the benefits of salvation through Christ’s intercession and the Spirit’s presence and work. The subscriptionist strategy is also present here at the very beginning: nobody will work at Biola who does not explicitly affirm these things.