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Christian Heritage Center

Walk Among the Giants of our Christian Faith!

We stand on the shoulders of noble Christians who have gone on before us and left a heritage of faith in God. The Crown College is home to the one-of-a-kind Crown Christian Heritage Center. This center encompasses 30,000 sq. ft. within the main campus and includes hundreds of displays highlighting the lives of Christian men and women who contributed greatly to the cause of Christ. As Crown students attend daily classes, they walk among these faithful servants of the Lord, some well-known and some unknown. The lives of these faithful Christians serve as a powerful testimony to our generation, inspiring us to continue believing God’s Word and to make our lives count for the cause of Christ. We desire to continue “the heritage of the servants of the Lord.” (Isaiah 54:17)

Tour the Christian Heritage Center

Christian Heritage Center tours are given daily to visitors and guest groups. When traveling through the Knoxville area, please visit with us! See the church pew that America’s first missionary sat on as God worked in his heart to lead him to the foreign field. Learn about the history of the English Bible and those who died to give us God’s Word in our language. Hear the stories of hymn writers, martyrs, explorers, military heroes, and many others who demonstrated great faith in God that challenges us today. You will be strengthened and encouraged to continue in this wonderful Christian heritage.

The Only Bible to Survive the Titanic

The Bible of Rev. Robert Bateman is on display now in the Crown Christian Heritage Center with a history like no other. This is the only Bible to survive the sinking of the Titanic. Bateman was one of a handful of ministers on board the vessel when she met her fate on April 12, 1912. Robert was a gospel preacher who had established several mission works in the United States, including The People’s Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, around 1896. He had traveled home to England to study the organization of George Mueller’s orphanages, so that he might implement those lessons learned in a city mission work he started in Jacksonville, Florida. On his return trip, the Titanic struck an iceberg in the Atlantic. He safely boarded his sister-in-law, Ada Ball, upon a lifeboat, and bequeathed his treasured Bible, an interlinear Greek-English New Testament, into her possession. It is said that Bateman is the one who asked the orchestra to play “Nearer My God to Thee” before the great ship went down. Bateman, along with over 1,500 others, died in the icy waters. His body was discovered several days later floating alongside the bodies of two millionaires. He left behind an amazing testimony as a preacher of the gospel and a Bible that reminds us of his genuine faith in the Word of God.