The Bob Jones University collection of religious paintings

A museum serves the University, and the University serves the cause of religion; these two principles have determined the direction of the program. A clear vision of this function made it possible to bring together, within a period of less than three years, a collection having a well-defined character of its own. Those responsible have not looked only for pictures by the most famous painters, nor limited their interest to large and showy specimens. They did not make up a list of representative artists, and then, whenever they could locate a picture by one of them, check off his name. They did not invite wholesale gifts, regardless of quality, most of which would soon have had to be hidden away in the storeroom. Nor did they call upon outside advisers with interests unrelated to the plan in mind. Equipped with their program and their own eyes, Dr. Jones and his associates went boldly into the perilous battlefield of the present day art market. - Foreword.