In Brief: December 06, 1999

1. Robert D. Van Kampen, 60, antique-Bible collector and multimillionaire investor, died of a viral heart condition October 29 in Chicago. The founder of Van Kampen mutual funds created a Scriptorium of ancient Christian manuscripts in Grand Haven, Michigan. Holdings include the book of Daniel from the 1455 Gutenberg Bible, Hebrew Torah scrolls, and papyrus and clay tablets dating back to 2000 B.C. A graduate of Wheaton College, Van Kampen also wrote several books on eschatology, including The Rapture Question Answered, The Fourth Reich, and The Sign.
2. Betty Chapman, who founded the Bible League with her husband William in 1938, died October 7 in South Holland, Illinois, at age 97.
3. Despite Hindu opposition, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), on the heels of its Jewish evangelism prayer guides (CT, Nov. 15, 1999, p. 18), has released a prayer guide for Hindu evangelism in time for Divali, the Hindu Festival of Lights celebrated in November.
4. George W. Murray has been named president of Columbia (S.C.) International University. Murray has served as president of The Evangelical Alliance Mission since 1994.
5. James Guy Jr., dean of the Graduate School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary, has been named the eighth president of Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.

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