Cyrus Ingerson Scofield

Born in Lenawee County, Michigan, August 19, 1843, Cyrus Scofield became one of the foremost names among Bible students. His mother died at his birth, but before she died she prayed that this boy might become a minister. This was not told to Cyrus until after he entered the ministry. His family moved to Tennessee, where he received his early education.

The Civil War prevented him from entering the university and he never did receive a formal collegiate education. At seventeen he entered the Confederate Army, and because he was an excellent horseman, he became an orderly. He frequently carried messages under gunfire. The Confederate Cross of Honor had awarded him for bravery at Antietam.

When the war was over, Scofield studied law in St. Louis, and afterward moved to Kansas, where he was admitted to the bar in 1869. He served in the Kansas State Legislature and at the age of twenty-nine was appointed by President Grant as United States District Attorney for Kansas. Later he returned to St. Louis and reentered law practice. During this time, he began to drink heavily. However, his passion for drink was completely removed when he received Jesus Christ through the witness of Thomas S. McPheeters, a YMCA worker.

Scofield immediately became active in Christian work. He was ordained in Dallas, Texas, October 1883, and there began his ministry as pastor of the First Congregational Church. As a result of diligent and systematic study of the Scriptures during his years of ministry, he produced the Scofield Reference Bible and the Scofield Bible Correspondence Course.

Through the influence of private talks with Hudson Taylor of the China Inland Mission and a book by a brilliant journalist traveler, William Eleroy Curtis, Scofield felt God directing his attention toward the Central American region for missionary activity. The church at Dallas began giving more to missionary work than to the home work. They established the Central American Mission in 1890.

Scofield died on Sunday morning July 24, 1921, at Douglaston, Long Island.
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