By Kathryn Wright
INTRODUCTION
There is a bronze statue of a man in Harvard Yard. At the base of the statue is an inscription identifying the figure as “John Harvard·Founder·1638.” However, by examining the university’s history, we find that all three of these “facts” are either misleading or incorrect.
A JOKE OF A STATUE
First, the figure is not actually a depiction of John Harvard. There are no surviving images of the man. Therefore, when the statue was created by Daniel Chester French, he used a student as a stand-in model. The result is that when people walk by the statue today, they aren’t seeing a rendition of John Harvard at all, but of some random student from years later.
Second, John Harvard was not the founder of Harvard. At best, he might be called a founder. While Harvard was a significant donor to the school, the school was technically established by an act of the Massachusetts legislature. John Harvard supported the school and donated his money and his library to further its cause, but he did not start the institution.
Third, the date is wrong. The school was founded in 1636, not 1638.
For a school so well known for its academic rigor and prestige, the statue’s lack of accuracy is ironic. As a result, John Harvard’s monument has become a point of mockery, an inside joke among students. What was meant to honor the man has become a source of laughter instead. That’s the problem with human honor and praise: It often gets corrupted over time.
ANOTHER KIND OF MONUMENT
When I heard this story, I thought of a statue or monument mentioned in the Bible. In the book of Revelation, when speaking to the faithful church at Philadelphia, the Lord says:
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more…” Rev 3:12a (emphasis added).
In this passage, the Lord addresses persecuted believers (vv 8-9). He instructs them to hold fast to their Christian confession amid their difficulties (v 11). In verse 12, He describes the rewards they will receive if they overcome and persevere until the end. It should be noted that the perseverance of the church in Philadelphia was not a foregone conclusion. There is no guarantee that any believer will remain faithful to the Lord.
Scripture shows that believers can fall away. This is especially true of believers who, like those in the church at Philadelphia, are facing severe persecution. They can choose not to hold fast. If they do not hold fast, they will still enter the kingdom. Eternal life can never be lost. But believers can miss out on the rewards the Lord offers. We can lose honor and privileges in His kingdom.
If believers are faithless, the Lord remains faithful to His promise that whoever believes in Him shall not perish (2 Tim 2:11-13; John 3:16). However, if they persevere and hold fast, the Lord promises them a great reward. That is what Rev 3:12 describes.
Notice that the reward for overcoming is not eternal life. Eternal life is not earned by overcoming but is received by faith alone. Here, the Lord is not discussing how someone receives eternal life. He is talking about something in addition to that gift. He says that He will make the overcomer a pillar.
This pillar will serve as a way of honoring such a believer, as the statue of John Harvard sought to do.
WHAT IS THIS PILLAR?
The concept of a temple pillar evokes the image of a monument. While not a statue like that of the fake John Harvard, the idea is similar. The believer who faithfully serves the Lord will be a “pillar of the community” in the coming kingdom, publicly honored for his faithfulness.
Claeys comments on this verse:
The term pillar (stylos) is used three other times in the New Testament. In Galatians 2:9, the word refers to the stalwarts of the church, James (the half-brother of the Lord), Peter, and John… The temple was the center of service to, and worship of, God. Just as the pillars of James, John, and Peter were looked up to by the early church (and even today by believers who love God’s Word), to be a pillar of God’s temple would be seen as a great honor or as being connected to God in a significant way. In addition, a pillar is in a position of prominence; thus the overcomer will be a prominent display of his or her faithfulness to God (John Claeys, Revelation: The Road to Reward, Grace in Focus Commentary Series (2025), p. 111).
WHAT WILL THE SIGN SAY?
In addition to the believer’s being a pillar, there will be an inscription describing him. However, this inscription will differ substantially from that on John Harvard’s statue. The Lord goes on to describe three things that will be written on the overcomer: the name of God, the name of the city— New Jerusalem—and the Lord’s new name.
“…I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name” Rev 3:12b.
The overcomer will not only enter the kingdom but will be publicly identified and honored as one who faithfully followed the Lord. He will be recognizable as one of His own, a walking monument that will proclaim His name for all to see.
CONCLUSION
John Harvard donated his money and resources to further the theological education of others,i and that is admirable.ii But human attempts to honor him fell short. We find that monuments intended to celebrate men are often destroyed or give distorted information, as in the case of this statue in Harvard Yard.
But the work done for the Lord is different. The honor He gives to the faithful will endure for all eternity. John Harvard died, and a bronze statue stands as man’s poor attempt at praise. The pillars of the coming Kingdom, however, will be live, walking monuments to the Lord’s work through them. Their inscriptions cannot be incorrect, distorted, or corrupted, for they will bear His name.
John Harvard’s statue carries three lies, but the overcomer will bear three truths. While John Harvard’s monument has become a source of ridicule and even shame, the faithful believer can be assured of glory and honor forever because of faithful work done for the King. The praise of men is fleeting, and their opinions are often corrupt, distorted, or both. In response, believers should seek to please the Lord, for He never forgets; His opinion is always true; and His praise will endure throughout eternity.
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Kathryn Wright and her husband, Dewey, live in Columbia, SC. She is the GES missions coordinator, women’s conference speaker, writer, and Zoom teacher.
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i Editor’s note: Harvard (originally Massachusetts College) was established to train Puritan pastors for the ministry. It remained a school of theology for over a century.
ii Editor’s note: John Harvard was British and a graduate (bachelor’s and master’s degrees) of Cambridge University (Emmanuel College). He emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 and was chosen to be a teaching elder and assistant preacher at a Puritan church in Charlestown. Less than a year and a half later, on September 14, 1638, he died of tuberculosis at the age of thirty or thirty-one. He left £779 pounds (the equivalent of about $2 million today) and his library of 400 volumes to Massachusetts College.
