January 18, 2024
Christians gathered at The Lexington Cemetery in 1909 to hear J.W. McGarvey offer his recollections of eight "pioneer preachers" who are buried there, including John T. Johnson, Raccoon John Smith, Robert Milligan, and more. (Part 2)
January 11, 2024
Christians gathered at The Lexington Cemetery in 1909 to hear J.W. McGarvey offer his recollections of eight "pioneer preachers" who are buried there, including John T. Johnson, Raccoon John Smith, Robert Milligan, and more. (Part 1)
March 9, 2023
This brief anecdote was the shorter, secondary item in J. W. McGarvey’s weekly “Biblical Criticism” column for the issue dated May 11, 1907. It is notable mainly because Restoration Movement pioneer “Raccoon” John Smith plays the pivotal role in the story.
April 7, 2021
Today, on this 155th anniversary of Christian Standard, we share an article from five years ago by Richard Cherok that describes how this journal has both informed and influenced the Stone-Campbell Movement from the time of its first issue in 1866.
July 25, 2019
We continue our monthly series of excerpts from Christian Standard, circa 1909, a year the magazine devoted an issue monthly to articles of particular interest to our movement. And again this month, as we did in January, we feature an essay by J.W. McGarvey. McGarvey was born in 1829 and died in 1911. Upon the 100th anniversary of McGarvey’s death, Andrew Paris wrote of him in Christian Standard: Although McGarvey enjoyed great success in the located ministry as the preacher of several Lexington churches (including Main Street and Broadway), the great work for which he is best known and esteemed
April 18, 2019
“Coverage” of Easter in Christian Standard seems to have started rather slowly. The magazine began publishing in 1866, but the first original articles topically categorized as “Easter” didn’t appear until the 1890s. There were essays about Jesus’ resurrection, to be sure, but the lagging start to “Easter” references in the magazine’s centennial index seems curious. One might wonder, did the magazine opt not to write about “Easter” each spring because the Bible offers no description of annual observances of Jesus’ resurrection . . . and certainly not by that name? These two articles seem to offer some enlightenment. The first
February 7, 2019
Today we feature another item from a series that appeared throughout 1909, a year Christian Standard was celebrating “One Hundred Years—A Century of Progress in America’s Greatest Christian Union Movement.” The magazine devoted an issue each month that year to articles explaining our movement, its history, and our beliefs. The item we shared Jan. 10 was J. W. McGarvey’s personal reminiscences of Thomas Campbell (printed in the Jan. 9, 1909, issue). This month we focus on a portion of correspondence written by Christian Standard founding editor Isaac Errett. In January 1909, the magazine published—republished, actually—part one of “Historico-Doctrinal Sketch of
January 29, 2019
By Steve Carr “What religion are you?” “Christian.” “Well I get that, but what kind of Christian?” “Um, just Christian.” Growing up on Cincinnati’s west side, where Roman Catholicism reigned supreme, I constantly had this exchange with kids at school. Raised in a Restoration Movement congregation, I was taught that our church was simply Christian—nothing more, nothing less. It wasn’t until years later in seminary that I learned another biblical name that could describe my tribe. Alexander Campbell was repulsed that some referred to his group as “Campbellites,” so he sought a more biblical description of our fellowship. Terms like
January 10, 2019
– Jan. 9, 1909 – Among the crucial earliest triggers of the Restoration Movement, I typically think of two: The Cane Ridge Revival led by Barton W. Stone (1801) and the Declaration and Address penned by Thomas Campbell (1809). In January 1909, Christian Standard began a year-long series under this banner headline: “CENTENNIAL SPECIAL FOR JANUARY” with the subhead, “After One Hundred Years—A Century of Progress in America’s Greatest Christian Union Movement.” A number of articles in the issue carried that theme forward. In a moment, I will zero in on what probably is the most personable of them (“Reminiscences
September 27, 2018
In an article Wednesday, we wrote about a celebrity golf tournament Sept. 10 that raised $56.6 million for the endowment fund of Mountain Mission School in Grundy, Va. It was the largest single-day PGA-sanctioned fund-raiser ever. In that article, we noted that Mountain Mission School was founded in 1921 by successful Grundy businessman Sam Hurley. The first president of the school was Josephus Hopwood, who had served as president of Milligan College. A little more study this morning revealed Hopwood attended the College of the Bible at Kentucky University where he studied under Robert Milligan and J.W. McGarvey. In 1875
April 2, 2016
A 150-year history of CHRISTIAN STANDARD—from its 1866 founding to its role in evangelism, theological controversy, and conservative cooperation—showing how the magazine shaped the Stone-Campbell Movement.
May 11, 2015
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the May 10 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone Last week we considered the first half of 1 Corinthians 12, and this week we will study the last half of the chapter. J. W. McGarvey wrote, “In the early church the Spirit of God . . . endowed certain members with miraculous gifts . . . As gifts were bestowed on different individuals, some of them became a source of
August 18, 2014
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the August 17 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone In the section of 2 Corinthians just before today”s printed text, the apostle Paul discussed why Christians must resolve differences (5:11-21). Compelled by Christ”s love, we are to practice “the ministry of reconciliation” (v. 18). Paul reminded the church that God”s forgiveness of us is a model of how we should forgive others (compare Matthew 6:12). Corinthians” Need 2
August 11, 2014
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone Paul”s suffering is mentioned throughout this second letter to the Corinthians, especially in chapters 4, 6, and 11. When the Lord called him into his service, he revealed his plan to use Paul as a “chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles.” He added, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:15, 16). The apostle”s
July 14, 2014
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the July 13 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone Paul guided the Corinthians to live as a community of believers. In chapter 8 he answered their questions about eating meat that had been sacrificed to an idol. In chapter 9 he responded to an inquiry about his apostleship. Paul then warned about the possibility of becoming a “castaway” (9:27, King James Version). Here in chapter 10 he
June 30, 2014
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. ______ By Sam E. Stone First-century Corinth was not an easy place for a Christian to live. Paul”s letters to the church there deal with a number of challenges believers had to face. In 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 he mentions lawsuits; in today”s text he turns to sexual laxity. In chapter 5 he dealt with fornication as an occasion for exercising church discipline. Some of the people were arguing, “I have the right to do anything.” Evidently they were trying to take
April 28, 2014
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. ______ By Sam E. Stone This month concludes our study of “Jesus” Fulfillment of Scripture,” as we see how he used the Old Testament so powerfully in his teaching and ministry. The giving of the Law through Moses is recorded in the book of Exodus. Much of the material is related again in the book of Deuteronomy (literally “Second Law”). It repeats and renews the message delivered to the people before they were to enter the promised land. Our New Testament
February 20, 2014
By Daniel Schantz This compact Bible commentary from Standard Publishing has been helping teachers since the days of President Eisenhower. I had no idea how big Sunday school was until I read Robert Lynn”s book, The Big Little School. Turns out, some very big names were once Sunday school teachers, including Francis Scott Key and General Robert E. Lee. Several U.S. presidents were Sunday school teachers: James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter. Numerous business tycoons were teachers, including John D. Rocke- feller (Standard Oil), William Colgate (toothpaste), James Kraft (cheese), and H.J. Heinz (ketchup).
February 10, 2014
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. ______ By Sam E. Stone Some Bible teachers suggest that Paul and James disagree with each other about the place of faith and works in a person”s salvation. They don”t, however. In today”s text James did not attack Paul”s teaching that a Christian is saved by God”s grace. Instead he corrected what A. T. Robertson called “the ceremonial ritualism of the Pharisees.” Evaluating Genuine Faith James 2:14-19 Real faith isn”t something you just talk about. Biblical faith includes trust and
January 20, 2014
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. ______ By Sam E. Stone The parable we study today follows directly the story that Jesus told about the unjust steward (Luke 16:1-15). J. W. McGarvey suggested, “If the parable of the unjust steward teaches how riches are to be used, this parable sets forth the terrible consequences of a failure to so use them.” Rich and Poor Luke 16:19-21 Luke explains that it was the rich man”s habit to wear costly and well-made clothing. He was literally “making merry brilliantly,”
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