In 1869 Southern Seminary elected C. H. Toy as their next professor of Old Testament.* Toy’s compelling and engaging style of lecture meant that students loved him and were drawn to him. When Southern elected Toy to the faculty, he defended traditional orthodoxy, the inspiration of the Bible, and the inherency of the Scriptures. These convictions, however, would be short lived. Toy began to hold to a division between the historical and divine elements of Scripture. Toy asserted that the divine elements were inspired, inerrant, and authoritative, but the historical elements could be proven wrong by science. For Toy the first conflict between science and the Bible came in the creation narrative. He fully embraced darwinian evolution and sought a way to read evolution into the Genesis account of creation. At first Toy succeeded in his task, but eventually he determined that the Genesis account could not support the claims of darwinian evolution. Determining that science and the Bible could not be held in tandem proved to be a watershed moment in the theological journey of C. H. Toy. At this point Toy had a decision to make. Would he allow the Bible to determine what was true, or would he reject the Bible and fully embrace the authority of science. Ultimately he sided with science and stated that Genesis had to be wrong on this issue. The decision to side with science on this one issue set Toy on a trajectory that over the next 30 years ended with Toy rejecting absolute truth and Christianity.
So, what happened to C. H. Toy? What led this once brilliant theological mind to eventually reject truth, Christianity, and the authority of the Scriptures? I would argue that Toy’s problem was a matter of ultimate presuppositions. An ultimate presupposition is a foundational belief held by an individual that determines how that person thinks, acts, and feels. This foundational belief establishes the framework through which the individual views the world around him. For example, a Christian would hold that the Bible is the final authority for how a person should think, act, and feel. Therefore, any thoughts, actions, or feelings that go against what the Bible teaches are false and should be rejected. If a Christian consistently holds to a biblical worldview, then his ultimate presuppositions are derived from the Bible. In the case of C. H. Toy, his ultimate presuppositions shifted during his theological journey. It seems that this shift took place when he determined that Genesis could not support the claims of evolution and he sided with Darwin. At that moment a fundamental shift occurred in Toy’s thinking. The foundation for his ultimate presuppositions moved from the Bible to science. From that point forward, he allowed the conclusions of science to determine what was true for him instead of the Bible. And as a result he ended up rejecting truth and Christianity.
What then can we learn from the tragic theological journey of C. H. Toy? First, Toy’s journey highlights the dangers in even what may seem to be small insignificant compromises. Toy’s theological demise began with one seemingly harmless decision to reject the historicity of Genesis 1-11. He believed that this one compromise would not have a major impact on his theological system. He believed that that the divine meaning of Scripture could be held on to while eroding the foundation the divine meaning depends upon. For Toy this one compromise set the trajectory for the rest of his theological development which ended up with him rejecting Christianity all together. In the end, Toy realized that if the foundation was destroyed, then the theological house of cards would fall. Now I am not saying that every person who rejects the historicity of Genesis 1-11 will automatically end up where Toy did. I am, however, saying that when compromises like that one are made a trajectory is set. This trajectory may not end with you rejecting Christianity, but it may push people who follow you to that logical end. They may see that if the foundation is eroded, then the house has nothing to stand upon.
Second, Toy’s theological journey demonstrates the importance of ultimate presuppositions. It is so vital to understand what it is that directs the thoughts, actions, and convictions of our lives. If we allow science, emotions, or anything other than Scripture to control our lives, then we will never end up closer to biblical Christianity. We will not become more like Christ and have a stronger theology. Toy allowed science to become his ultimate presupposition, and at that point his life changed. It changed, not for the better, but for the worse. Christians must hold strong to the Bible as our ultimate presupposition. It must guide and direct everything in our lives. Only when the Bible is our guiding force will we find happiness, freedom, and consistency in thought and action. The theological journey of C. H. Toy ended in a sad train wreck. Learn from him, guard your presuppositions, do not compromise, and stand firm on the foundation of God’s Word.
*The information on C. H. Toy in this post came from Gregory A. Wills, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1859-2009 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).
