Articles for tag: Throwback Thursday

Barton W. Stone Restoration Movement History

God’s Love for a Lost World

We continue our monthly series of excerpts from Christian Standard, circa 1909. The magazine devoted one issue each month that year to articles of particular interest to our movement. Today we feature a sermon by Barton W. Stone, who allied with Alexander Campbell to form the Restoration Movement (aka, the Stone-Campbell Movement). No date is attached to this sermon, which we will prune some, as it is quite long. Here’s Barton W. Stone (1772–1844): _ _ _ God’s Love for a Lost World A Sermon by Barton W. Stone (Published April 10, 1909; p. 6) The love of God is

April 18, 2019

A Curious Start to Easter ‘Coverage’

“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

April 11, 2019

A Sampling of Editorials from April 1939

We go back 80 years with today’s column to see what was being discussed on Christian Standard’s editorial pages on April 8 and 15, 1939. Easter fell during that time—April 9—and of the 13 editorials published during that short span, the longest two focused on Jesus’ resurrection and on the folly of “trying to accomplish the aims of Jesus without the methods or the help of Jesus.” Our next column will center on Easter, but this week we will zero in on some shorter editorials. The subjects of these pieces include: dead churches, Adolf Hitler, Pentecost, and immersion. The first,

April 4, 2019

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Preaching

Effective Preaching

Cecil J. “C. J.” Sharp wrote hundreds of articles that appeared in Christian Standard through the years. The first appeared in 1912, while he was still minister with First Christian Church in Hammond, Ind., which he served from about 1903 through 1929. Prior to that, he was a high school principal. He joined Standard Publishingâformer parent company of Christian Standardâin January 1930 as head of the Teacher Training Department. He retired in 1951. At the time of his death in 1953, his New Training for Service had sold more than 250,000 copies. Sharpâ™s version of that book dates to 1934,

March 28, 2019

Christian Living

Let the Church Be the Church

I recently came upon this “Reflections” column by Floyd Strater from our December 12, 1982, issue. For many decades, as I recall, the editor of Christian Standard would ask a group of 12 or 13 people—a new group annually—to contribute four essays during the year. The topics were not assigned. Sam E. Stone told me he would strive for a variety of writers each year: men, women, preachers, professors, missionaries, and others from a broad geographical area. Floyd Strater was serving as minister with Knott Avenue Christian Church in Anaheim, California, at the time he wrote this. He preached there

March 21, 2019

Baptism Theology & Bible

The New Birth

We feature today an editorial on baptism from 1866, the inaugural year of Christian Standard, written by founding editor Isaac Errett. This editorial comes by way of a series of articles published throughout 1909, a year we celebrated “One Hundred Years—A Century of Progress in America’s Greatest Christian Union Movement.” The magazine devoted one issue each month to articles that explained our movement, its history, and our beliefs. Carrying that theme forward another 110 years, we are devoting one “Throwback Thursday” each month to items that appeared in those special issues. Today’s article was published—or republished—in March 13, 1909. I

March 14, 2019

Revisiting Two ‘Epistles from Thistle’

For 45 years, Christian Standard regularly published a feature called “An Epistle from Thistle.” Editor Burris Butler introduced the feature with a brief editorial on page 4 of the May 3, 1952, issue. Beneath the headline, “Do You Like Thistle?” Butler wrote: “Let us introduce you to Thistle (page 14), our lighthearted and lightheaded friend. In his breezy way he corresponds with his unweighty friend, Down, on both light and heavy subjects, generally dealing directly or indirectly with religion. We hope you like him. If you do, we may be able to induce him to share more of his gems

March 7, 2019

Restorer of Gospel Evangelism

As promised last week, here is an article about Walter Scott by Enos E. Dowling, who was then serving as librarian of the School of Religion at Butler University in Indianapolis. This article is from January 27, 1945. Dowling begins the article by describing what some call “the most important sermon ever delivered on American soil.” _ _ _ Restorer of Gospel Evangelism Walter Scott Logically Comes First in a Series on ‘Great Evangelists of the Restoration Movement’ By Enos E. Dowling January 27, 1945 Every seat in the meetinghouse of the Baptist church was filled. Many stood around the

February 28, 2019

Church Life Restoration Movement History

Have We Restored New Testament Christianity?

In his editorial of February 20, 1954 — 65 years ago — Christian Standard editor Burris Butler shared a rather harsh assessment with readers. _ _ _ This Is News (an editorial) February 20, 1954 When members of a local church recently pledged themselves to practice the Golden Rule for one month, the story was carried in newspapers across the land. Why? What was the “man bites dog” factor that made this experiment in Christian living noteworthy? The Golden Rule is only a small part of the teaching of Jesus. It is just a fraction of the Sermon on the Mount.

February 7, 2019

A Basic Lesson on the Bible and God (by Isaac Errett)

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 17, 2019

Addiction Ethics & Moral Issues

‘Strictest Sobriety’ (a Sampling of Articles about Prohibition)

It has been 100 years since ratification of the 18th Amendment prohibiting “intoxicating liquors in America. (Of course, Prohibition was countermanded by the 21st Amendment less than 15 years later.) But neither the passage of laws nor the passage of time has ended the debate over liquor. In the January 2019 issue of Christian Standard we published two essays responding to this question: “Is alcohol really a stumbling block?” Ken Idleman answered “Yes,” while Zach Spiering answered with a question of his own: “What if abstinence is the stumbling block?” (Check out the issue to read their “In the Arena” essays

December 27, 2018

What’s New? [‘Standing . . . at the Edge of 1969’]

– Dec. 28, 1968 – Please forgive me for rerunning yet another classic editorial. This, by my count, is the third week in a row. And yet, after scouring a half-dozen end-of-the-year issues searching for something to share, I think this editorial from the final issue of 1968—one of the most turbulent years in our nation’s history—will stimulate the most thoughts. Editor Edwin V. Hayden wrote this one. _ _ _ What’s New Standing as we do at the edge of 1969, with the moving hand of time prepared to push us into it whether we like it or no,

December 20, 2018

‘Glory to God’ Must Come First

– Dec. 22, 1945 – As promised last week, here’s another Christmas editorial—this one from Dec. 22, 1945, just a few months after the end of World War II. The tone of this editorial by Burris Butler is revealing. There is relief that the war is over, but a high degree of unsettledness that is predictive of the decades to come. _ _ _ ‘GLORY TO GOD’ MUST COME FIRST We all need to pause a little while to listen with the shepherds of long ago to the song of the angels which rang out across the Judean hills and

December 13, 2018

New Testament Theology & Bible

God Touched Man

– Dec. 24, 1932 – It’s fitting to focus on Christmas writings both this week and next. To kick things off, here’s an editorial that appeared on page 14 of the Dec. 24, 1932, issue. It most likely was written by editor Edwin Reeder Errett. _ _ _ GOD TOUCHED MAN The glorious thing about the act of Jesus in cleansing the lone leper who came to Him saying “If thou wilt”—, was not merely the fact that Jesus cleansed him, or even the fact that Jesus said “I will.” The thing that throws a flood of glory around the

December 6, 2018

Our Plea Restated

– Dec. 12, 1903 – In “‘Our Position’ Revisited,” from the June 2018 issue, Jerry Harris summarized Isaac Errett’s “Our Position” editorial from 1872. Harris then wrote: I have always heard the term “Restoration plea,” but outside of this work by Isaac Errett, I couldn’t find any good explanation of its meaning besides the quoting of our mottoes or references to the writings of some of the great pioneers of our movement. As Alexander Campbell’s protégé and the original publisher and editor of Christian Standard, I think it’s important to study Errett’s writings on “Our Position.” That’s one reason

November 15, 2018

Early Reporting on the Missionary Convention

The International Conference On Missions met for its annual gathering Nov. 15 to 18 in Cincinnati. According to ICOM’s website: In March of 1948, J. Russell Morse was in the home of John T. Chase for dinner, and asked, ‘Why isn’t there a gathering for missionaries?’ He went on to express the need for a time where missionaries can talk shop, fellowship and encourage each other. So in 1948, the day prior to the NACC started, a few dozen missionaries got together. That practice continued for several years growing to a few hundred people. Then in 1954, the National Missionary

September 20, 2018

‘Who Are the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ?’

CS Archive from September 25, 1988 _ _ _ On September 25, 1988, Christian Standard published an item that had been prepared for the Encyclopedia of American Religions titled, “Who Are the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ?” The writer was Edwin V. Hayden, who served as editor of Christian Standard from 1957 to 1977. As one might expect, the article is a straightforward introduction to our churches—part history and part snapshot in time. As you read it, I believe you’ll appreciate both the clarity of the writing the clarity of the vision for our churches. Some also will note

September 13, 2018

Culture & Public Square

Assessing the World, from Bismarck to Bernhardt

CS Archive from September 15, 1888 _ _ _ You might not think of Christian Standard as a place to turn for national and international news, but in 1888—130 years ago—it surely was. And the reader back then received not only the news, but commentary. The lead article/column, which started in the top-left corner of the September 15 issue that year, carried items under the small headline “AROUND THE WORLD.” The wide-ranging reports are layered with opinion and occasionally drip with sarcasm. It’s entertaining writing, but some items may cause one to cringe, so be advised. Then again, some news

September 6, 2018