Lewis Sperry Chafer (27 February 1871 - 22 August 1952) was born at Rock Creek, Ohio. Graduating from Oberlin College in 1892, he studied under Dr. Frank E. Finch and was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry in 1900. Chafer launched into evangelism, demonstrating talent as a Gospel singer, as well as a preacher. He toured as a renowned Bible lecturer from 1914 until 1924, when he founded Dallas Theological Seminary and became its first president. Chafer was widely honored, receiving a D.D. from Wheaton (1926), Litt.D., Dallas (1924), and Th.D. from the Protestant Seminary in Aix-en-Provence, France (1946). He wrote prolifically, producing his widely-read Grace, Salvation and True Evangelism and his monumental eight volume Systematic Theology.