New Blog

I have moved to a new location. My Brother has created my own page that is connected to our website. You click on this link.

www.matthewsblog.waynesborochurchofchrist.org

Five Greatest Moments

On last nights LOST, Charlie was making a list of his five greatest moments. As the show was progressing, I found myself trying to develop a list of my own. So here is a not well thought out list:
1. Feeling the overwhelming presence of God in baptism.
2. Meeting Charity at church and experiencing instant connection.
3. Holding my daughter for the first time at the birth center.
4. Shaking the hand of Burnice Wesbrooks at Highland Park church of Christ.
5. Receiving a Master's of Arts in Biblical Studies.

As I compiled this list, there are other moments and memories that have touched my life. There are the small moments that are rewarding and satisfying to me. Here is a list of five small moments too:
1. Having Gabrielle run to my arms after work.
2. Sitting on Kure Beach with a great book.
3. Preaching a great sermon.
4.Going on a date with Charity.
5.Watching the Nashville Predators in Nashville.

The Role of Religious Journals in the Restoration Movement

“Christian freedom and academic freedom are enjoined in common cause—to seek truth without interference” (Diekema 75). Religious journals were significant in the formation of the Restoration Movement. Through the various journals, the Stone-Campbell movement solidified as well as progressed. One could not completely understand the Restoration Movement without a comprehension of the role of the journals because of the considerable influence the editors of these publications wielded.

This paper will survey the various major journals in the restoration movement. It will begin with the early journals of influence and progress to the modern journals of today. Also, these modern publications will be categorized into the major theological groupings of conservative, liberal, and scholarly. Moreover, the importance of the journals will be discussed by examining the unifying power of the papers as well as the divisive nature of the papers. The journals in the restoration movement either unite or divide the body of Christ.

Journals Past and Present

The Scholarly Journals in the Stone-Campbell Movement

Most of the publications in the Restoration Movement were not scholarly in the treatment of scripture. They were written by the common student of the Bible for the common man in the pew. But there have were endeavors to present a scholarly voice in the church of Christ wing of the Stone-Campbell tradition. The Restoration Quarterly was started in 1957 by J.W. Roberts, who was a professor at Abilene Christian College, which is now Abilene Christian University. This Journal was the first attempt at scholarly journal among the churches of Christ (Hooper 229). This journal is still in circulation on a quarterly basis but mostly serves professors and graduate students in the restoration tradition. The Restoration Quarterly typically deals with exegetical concerns in the Bible while another scholarly journal called the Discipliana focuses on a scholarly treatment of restoration history. This journal was first produced by Claude Spencer in 1941 and continues in circulation today.

Another attempt to produce a semi-scholarly quarterly publication was produced in 2002. James Farris and Odis D. Duncan produced the Journal of Biblical Interpretation and Application. This journal was an attempt to provide a more conservative voice in church of Christ scholarship. Unfortunately, this journal is not being published any longer, and has been transformed into a digital journal that one can only read on the internet (Duncan and Farris i).

The Foundational Journals in the Stone-Campbell Movement

The next group of journals laid the foundation for the tremendous spread of the restoration ideal. These early papers were directed toward the average man in search of God. The first journal ever officially produced for the Stone-Campbell movement was the Herald of Gospel Liberty. This publication was edited by Elias Smith and lasted from 1808 to 1817 (Hooper 328).

Probably the two most influential journals in the early years of the churches of Christ were both edited by Alexander Campbell. The first publication that Alexander Campbell produced was called the Christian Baptist to appeal to a Baptist audience. Campbell started this paper in 1823 and ceased running it in 1830. At that time, he began to produce the Millennial Harbinger from 1830 to 1870. Also, W.K. Pendleton was the editor after Campbell died. These two journals were seen as an authority on the various issues that were circulating throughout the Stone-Campbell churches (Hooper 328).

Two other influential restoration leaders had journals. Barton W. Stone produced the Christian Messenger from 1826 to 1845 and Walter Scott printed the Evangelist from 1832 to 1842. Both of these journals had an important voice in the early years of the movement, but it was Campbell’s journals that carried the thought of the movement along.

There are some other early major journals that influenced the Restoration Movement. A survey of religious journals in the Stone-Campbell movement would not be complete unless one mentions the Gospel Advocate and the Christian Standard. The Gospel Advocate was started by Tolbert Fanning in 1855 but had to cease publication during the Civil War years. After the war, David Lipscomb became editor of this major influence in the churches of Christ. The Gospel Advocate was the voice in the church for the south while the Christian Standard, which was founded in 1866 by Isaac Errett, spoke for the churches in the North. The Gospel Advocate and the Christian Standard were most widely circulated journals, but the American Christian Review, the Lard’s Quarterly, and the Apostolic Times were read through the middle decades of the 1800’s (Hooper 328).

Modern Journals in the Stone-Campbell Movement

Douglas Foster in his book Will the Cycle be Unbroken? identifies some of the major modern journals within the churches of Christ. Though the book is dated because it was published in 1994 and some of the listed journals are no longer published, nevertheless it is a valuable source in highlighting the spectrum of religious thought within the movement. Foster lists eight journals and surveys the editors on various theological views (82). The magazines that he listed are: Christian Chronicle (which functions more like a newspaper than a biblical journal), Contending for the Faith, Firm Foundation, Gospel Advocate, Image, 21^st Century Christian, World Evangelist, and Wineskins. In Foster’s survey, Wineskins, Image, 21^st Century Christian and the Christian Chronicle were more on the progressive side of religious controversy while the Gospel Advocate, World Evangelist, Contending for the Faith, and Firm Foundation were more on the conservative side. Wineskins was the most progressive paper while the Firm Foundation and Contending for the Faith were the most conservative journals (Foster 82).

The journals that Foster lists are just a small sample of the hundreds of local published journals that are produced by the people in the churches of Christ. In October of 2001, the Harding Graduate School of Religion compiled a list of periodicals associated with the churches of Christ. This list includes 113 journals within the churches of Christ (www.hugsr.edu).

Journals—Uniting or Dividing

If there was ever any doubt whether the printed page in the churches of Christ was powerful, all one must do is look at the empire of journals that Foy E. Wallace used to defeat Premillennialism in the churches of Christ. Wallace used journals to fight against perceived heresy within the church. He was the editor of the Gospel Advocate from 1930 to 1934. After he left the Advocate, he established his own paper called the Gospel Guardian which he used as a “watchdog” on the brotherhood. Then in 1938 he issued the Bible Banner, which was another avenue for Wallace to spread his influence and views on the church. Wallace’s papers were the uniting glue that forced the churches of Christ to remain united on the issue of premillennialism. Foy Wallace’s immense power in the churches of Christ grew through the spread of his journals throughout the brotherhood (Hughes 160-161).

Even though the religious journals in the churches of Christ were able to maintain unity, typically they were a means of division. In the Christian Church in Henderson, Tennessee, the congregation disagreed about the use of the instrumental music for eighteen years without dividing. But in 1902, an influential editor bishop from Nashville came to town to conduct a Gospel Meeting, and following the meeting, the congregation divided to form a separate church (Garrett 309). Churches divide because of powerful figures fighting over control of the correct way to interpret Bible doctrine. These powerful bishop editors rose to power and influence through the publications that they oversaw. Leroy Garrett is convinced that issues did not divide the Restoration Movement but rather the ego of powerful editors within the Stone-Campbell tradition (326-329).

Moreover, Gary Holloway and Douglas A. Foster also attribute much of the division in the Restoration Movement to religious journals and the editors that oversaw them. The authors are shocked that a movement that does not contain any ecclesiastical order above the local congregation could officially divide. The two authors charge the division to the work of traveling preachers and religious papers. They say that we “fundamentally divide as we united, congregation by congregation, through the influence of religious editors and powerful preachers” (93). Many times the powerful preachers became authoritative through the journals that they edited.

Conclusion

The role of the religious journals has been important in the development and progress of the restoration ideal of rebuilding the primitive faith of the first century Christians. Sometimes the press was used to unite the body of believers, but sadly the journals were also used to divide the Body of Christ. Nevertheless, one cannot doubt the influence of the printed page in the Restoration Movement.

WORKS CITED

Diekema, Anthony J. Academic Freedom & Christian Scholarship. Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 2000.

Duncan Odis, D and James Farris. Journal of Biblical Interpretation and Application 1
(2002) : i.

Foster, Douglas A. Will the Cycle be Unbroken: Churches of Christ Face the 21^st
Century. Abilene: ACU Press, 1994.

Garrett, Leroy, The Stone-Campbell Movement: The Story of the American Restoration
Movement. Joplin: College Press, 1997.

Holloway, Gary, and Douglas A. Foster. Renewing God’s People: A Concise History of
Churches of Christ. Abilene: ACU Press, 2001.

Hooper, Robert E. A Distinct People: A History of the Churches of Christ in the 20^th
Century. West Monroe: Howard, 1993.

http://www.hugsr.edu/library/CofC%20Journals%20List%20Oct202001.htm

Hughes, Richard T. Reviving the Ancient Faith: The Story of Churches of Christ in
America. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.

Read "Disciples and Theology"

This book was read because of the enjoyment of reading "Disciples and the Bible" by Boring. Boring's books was a insightful commentary of the hermetical develop within the restoration stream of theology. "Disciples and Theology" was written with the idea of tracing the development of theology within the Stone-Campbell movement. I did not read the entire book, but just the first three chapters. After the first three chapters the book rows down the "Disciples of Christ" movement and leaves the churches of Christ thought completely. The first few chapters were interesting because of the Campbell thought and the developments of the first and second generation disciples. The book was interesting but not completely thought provoking. Most of the material was already known.

Read "The Preaching Life"

Ever since I read "Leaving Church" by Barbara Brown Taylor, I have been drawn to this author. When I ordered this book off of Amazon.com, I expected it to be about how to preach from this master. She is a disciple of Fred Craddock's style. So I was interested in learning from her. I knew she was great author, soon I discovered she is a great preacher. The book is not how to do preaching, but living in the experience of preaching. I should have known better, she is too deep for a "how-to" book. This lady speaks to a part of the soul that few authors can reach.

Published in May's 2007 Gospel Advocate

On Monday morning, I arrived at the office, to discover a envelop from the Gospel Advocate. In the package there were three copies of the Advocate. This means that I have been published in this months edition. It has been awhile since I was published, and it feels good to be in print again. Personally, I love writing for the Advocate. The paper is more than just any church of Christ journal, it is attached to history. When you write in the Advocate, you are writing with the great minds of old. It is history in the making. I am always honored to join the stream of the Advocate in discussing Christian ideas. So check out this months Advocate.

The Symbol of Trees

Today, my wife had two trees planted in our front yard. They were good size maple trees. The trees are symbolic to us in that they represent our little girl and our future baby. Each of our children will have a tree. But these trees represent more than children to me. They represent growth. They represent my ministry. My wife and I have been in Waynesboro for alomost three years, and as we plant these trees we begin to plant roots into the community. The trees symbolize the condition of our hearts. We are happy here in this small town. There is peace and joy. It is more than trees in the yard, it is a sign that we want to stay to serve God.
On other news, Canada has won the gold in the World Hockey Championship. Anytime Canada wins in hockey is a great time. This tournament is not as significant as other events, but the gold is still sweet. Also, in regards to hockey, it was nice for the Wings to lose to the Ducks last night.