ACU Brown Library Monograph Series

The ACU Brown Library Monograph Series is a collection of scholarly books published by the ACU Library and ACU Press in an effort to increase the free exchange of information and the practice of Open Access publishing.

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100 Years of African Missions: Essays in Honor of Wendell Broom

Stanley E. Granberg

The wide-ranging essay collection is organized into four main sections. Section I introduces Wendell Broom. Secton II is "God's Call to a Continent: People and Places." Section III is "Mission Strategies and Issues." Section IV, is entitled "Concluding Thoughts" and shares some concluding thoughts on the future of African missions and the African church. The final chapter offers a speech by Wendell Broom from 1997 to 178 Nigerian evangelists and church leaders which challenged them (and us) to fill in the unevangelized gaps of Africa with a deliberate church-planting strategy to join the churches of West and East Africa by "meeting in the middle." The book concludes with an extensive bibliography of books, research, and articles on African missions by missionaries and authors associated with the Churches of Christ.
Barton Warren Stone: Early American Advocate of Christian Unity

William Garrett West

Based on the Reed Lectures from 1967, Smith traces the anti-clerical message that accompanied the frontier religious preaching of Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone. Their hopes were that congregations could appoint their own leaders without the undue influence of outsiders. These evangelists were to be first and foremost servants, with no distinction between lay members and ministers. Smith, then traces the development of a professional ministry system within Disciples of Christ into the 1960s as churches called for greater levels of training among their preachers. Chapters include: ▪ A Nineteenth Century Revolution: A Free Ministry in a Free Society ▪ Pastors-Evangelists-Bishops and Sometimes Deacons ▪ Changing Ministries for Changing Times
Campbell and the Colleges

Perry Epler Gresham

Based on the Reed Lectures from 1971, Gresham, the twelfth president of Bethany College, explores how the school's founder Alexander Campbell articulated his philosophy of education. He then, demonstrates how leaders affiliated with Disciples of Christ went on to found other institutions of higher education. This study shows the variety of entrepreneurial institutions begun within the Stone-Campbell tradition and the challenges of survival that schools faced even in the early 1970s. Chapters include: ▪ Campbell on Education ▪ Campbell's Bethany ▪ Subsequent Colleges and the Campbell Heritage ▪ The Present Predicament of the Colleges
Cane Ridge in Context: Perspectives on Barton W. Stone and the Revival

Anthony L. Dunnavant and James M. Seale

The year 1991 was the 200th anniversary year of the construction of the Cane Ridge Meetinghouse by a Presbyterian congregation in frontier Kentucky. To celebrate this event, the Disciples of Christ Historical Society hosted a number of special events, including lectures and addresses on the legacy of Barton W. Stone as well as on the background and meaning of the revival. This volume brings together several of these addresses and the chapters are arranged to proceed from reflections upon the various ways Barton W. Stone has been remembered in the Stone-Campbell traditions. Contributors include Anthony L. Dunnavant, Richard L. Harrison Jr, Paul Blowers, C. Leonard Allen, D. Newell Williams, Ronald P. Byars, Newton B. Fowler, Samuel S. Hill, and Howard E. Short.
Debating for God: Alexander Campbell's Challenge to Skepticism in Antebellum America

Richard J. Cherok

Historians have recognized Alexander Campbell as the leading figure in an important American Christian reform movement, an advocate of Christian unity, and an educator, but his role as an apologist has been forgotten. This book focuses on Campbell's career as a defender of the faith, arguing that he was "the most significant Christian apologist of America's antebellum period." He contended with some of the most notable skeptics of his era, most famous among them Robert Owen, founder of New Harmony. Martin E. Marty says regarding Campbell, "No clergyman of his time exerted himself more vigorously in combat of the infidels of the period." This groundbreaking book supports this claim with in-depth treatment of these debates.
Disciple Preaching in the First Generation: An Ecological Study

Dwight E. Stevenson

Based on the Reed lectures from 1969, Stevenson examines the Old-World origins and the impact of the early American frontier on early Disciples preaching up to the time of the Civil War. He notes the preaching forms that early leaders rejected—mere flowery or rhetorical messages and harangues against established Protestant sects—and what was accepted in its place. Stevenson's essays draw into sharp relief the difference between debate and preaching, a line that has often been blurred within the Stone-Campbell tradition.
Early Christians Speak: Faith and Life in the First Three Centuries

Everett Ferguson

These studies in early church history cover various aspects of the church life of early Christians. They focus on the second century. What did the second century Christian leaders say about faith, baptism, infant baptism, worship services, the Lord's Supper, prayer, singing, church organization, mercy and the role of women? New Testament texts bearing on the topic are listed at the beginning of each chapter. We are talking about the same community of people, the same church, as existed in the New Testament. Such writings have an important bearing on the interpretation of the Scriptures.
Explorations in the Stone-Campbell Traditions: Essays in Honor of Herman A. Norton

Anthony L. Dunnavant, Richard L. Harris, and James M. Seale

This important collection of essays honors Herman A. Norton (1921-2002), Dean of the Disciples Divinity House at Vanderbilt University from 1951 until his retirement in 1986. Topics from all three branches of the Stone-Campbell Movement are treated including early leaders like Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell, as well as later studies after the Civil War and into the early 1940s.
Footnotes to Disciples History

Rice Haggard, John M. Imbler, J. T. M'Vay, William A. Gerrard, Alexander Campbell, Eva Jean Wrather, and Perry E. Gresham

From the mid 1950s through the 1990s, DCHS printed short publications to remind its readers about the importance of the past. The series included reprints as well as new historical studies. Footnotes to Disciples History collects this wide-ranging series into one volume.

⁃ Rice Haggard's An Address to the Different Religious Societies, on the sacred import of the Christian Name (1804)

⁃ John M. Imbler's Beyond Buffalo: Alexander Campbell on Education for Ministry (1992)

⁃ Report of the Proceedings of a General Meeting of Messengers from Thirteen Congregations (J.T. McVay and Alexander Campbell, 1834)

⁃ William A. Gerrards's Christian Unity, Our Heritage (1986)

⁃ Alexander Campbell's Lunenburg Letter (1837)

⁃ Eva Jean Wrather's Alexander Campbell and His Relevance for Today (1959)

⁃ Perry Gresham's The Broncho That Would Not Be Broken (1986)
God’s Faithfulness to Promise: The Hortatory Use of Commissive Language in Hebrews

David Ripley Worley

David Worley's 1981 Yale University dissertation--revised with foreword by James Thompson and bibliographical addendum by Lee Zachary Maxey--explores the use commissive language, promises, and hortatory literature in the book of Hebrews. The author concludes that the use of commissive language in the book of Hebrews was not prompted by criticisms within the church over a delay in God’s promise keeping; rather that our author seized upon God’s commissive activity and the behavior of promisees of scripture as a way of emboldening a people tempted to withdraw from one another and from God to endure social and financial difficulties and to remain confident in the face of threats to the promise.
Hearing God's Voice: My Life with Scripture in the Churches of Christ

Thomas H. Olbricht

In times of change, Christians have always sought enduring answers from the pages of Scripture. Our hermeneutic—our method of organizing and understanding the message of the Bible—predetermines what answers we will glean. But is our process of understanding based on the Bible, or on our cultural and historical assumptions? In this autobiography, Thomas H. Olbricht (1929–2020) looks back on the last sixty years in Churches of Christ and offers his observations of how our perceptions of Scripture have changed and evolved. He clears a path through the shifting thickets of an unsteady world; a path that leads toward the Everlasting—a way to hear God's voice.
He Loves Forever

Thomas H. Olbricht

Despite popular opinion, the primary characteristic of God in the Old Testament is love. His love is intense and unremitting. His love is forever. This point can’t be stressed too much. The central focus of the Old Testament is God’s love. Written in an easy-to-read and well-documented style, Dr. Thomas Olbricht’s book provides us with an inspiring look at the steadfast, immeasurable love God has for his children by examining the following: Creation, blessings through Abraham, deliverance in the Exodus, protection in the wilderness, promise through the covenants, love through the law, victory in the conquest, inheritance of the land, and Psalms, Proverbs, and the prophets. Dr. Olbricht writes, “The storyline of the Old Testament is easier to follow if one is familiar with the basic contours. This book is designed to identify certain foundational affirmations in the Old Testament and to trace the threads which bind the whole together.”
Illusions of Innocence: Protestant Primitivism in America, 1630-1875

Richard T. Hughes, Leonard C. Allen, and Robert N. Bellah

History helps us understand who we are and what we should become. This book demonstrates that primitivism is central to American religion. Primitivism is the dream of restoring religion to a purer order, as found in former times.
Juan Antonio Monroy: An Autobiography

Juan Antonio Monroy and Carolina Tolosa Archer

Juan Antonio Monroy was a Marxist atheist as a young man, but since his conversion his passion has been to tell everyone he meets about Jesus. He has traveled to all of earth's continents except Antarctica and to many of the countries of those continents. He has experienced religious and political persecution and, as a result, helped found what became known as Amnesty International. Juan Antonio Monroy's footprints are seen around the world. His books, pamphlets, and articles are read in English and Spanish, and his radio programs are heard across Europe, the Caribbean, and much of Central and South America. In this long-awaited autobiography, he tells his fascinating story. • A militant atheist turned Christian evangelist • Baptized in Morocco, Africa, in 1950 by a Cuban missionary • Joined the Herald of Truth evangelistic team in 1964 • Presented his first radio broadcast in 1967 • In 1985, he became the first minister with Churches of Christ to enter Cuba since the revolution • He continues to travel and teach at a pace that belies his age
Lectures in Honor of the Alexander Campbell Bicentennial

Lester McAllister, James M. Seale, Dwight T. Bozeman, Robert O. Fife, Richard L. Harrison Jr., Samuel S. Hill, Thomas H. Olbricht, William J. Richardson, D. Newell Williams, Eva Jean Wrather, and Barbara Brown Zikmund

In 1984, the Disciples of Christ Historical Society set forth a program to celebrate the 200th birthday of Alexander Campbell. This book launched a renewed interest in Stone-Campbell history and inspired research that shaped numerous historical projects. Contributors include T. Dwight Bozeman, Robert O. Fife, Richard L. Harrison, Samuel S. Hill, Thomas Olbricht, William J. Richardson, D. Newell Williams, Eva Jean Wrather, and Barbara Brown Zickmund.
Many Mansions: Lessons of Faith, Family, and Public Service

Kathryn Boyer

Kathryn T. Boyer, the wife of Ernest L. Boyer (1928-1995), offers a window into the life she shared with her prominent husband and the constant balancing act they faced in relation to their faith, family, and public service. Often cited but seldom understood, Ernest L. Boyer (1928-1995) was one of the most influential voices in education in the latter-half of the twentieth century. The reports he wrote while heading the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of teaching influenced the way we view students from pre-school through college. This heart-warming memoir of the life offers an inside look into what truly defined him. Having moved approximately twenty times over the course of their lives together, Kathryn details with winsome yet honest prose the challenges and joys that came with the balancing act of faith, family, and public service. Those indebted to Ernest Boyer's legacy will find this work indispensable reading.
Power of the Press: Studies of the Gospel Advocate, The Christian Standard, and the Christian-Evangelist

Richard T. Hughes, Henry E. Webb, and Howard E. Short

Based on the 1986 Reed Lectures, Power of the Press illustrates the important role that the Gospel Advocate, the Christian Standard, and the Christian-Evangelist played in shaping the identity of all three streams of the Stone-Campbell Movement in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The essays also offer explanations as to why publishing offered such remarkable influence in this period.
Quest for a Christian America: The Disciples of Christ and American Society to 1866

David Edwin Harrell

The Disciples of Christ, led by reformers such as Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone, was one of a number of early-19th-century primitivist religious movements seeking to "restore the ancient order of things." The Disciples movement was little more than a loose collection of independent congregations until the middle of the 19th century, but by 1900 three clear groupings of churches had appeared. Today, more than 5 million Americans—members of the modern-day Disciples of Christ (Christian Church), Independent Christian Churches, and Churches of Christ, among others—trace their religious heritage to this "Restoration Movement."
Saddlebags, City Streets and Cyberspace: A History of Preaching in the Churches of Christ

Michael W. Casey

This innovative book traces the history of preaching in the Stone-Campbell tradition, seeing how styles of rhetoric emerged and blended together. It traces the development of debaters, peacemakers, evangelists, and the influence of media on preaching (radio, television, and internet). "This book by Mike Casey is pioneering scholarship. . . Whether or not one agrees with Mike, I predict that any future studies on preaching in our movement will, of necessity, commence with this book." —Thomas Olbricht
Servants without Hire: Emerging Concepts of Christian Ministry in the Campbell-Stone Movement

William Martin Smith

Based on the Reed Lectures from 1967, Smith traces the anti-clerical message that accompanied the frontier religious preaching of Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone. Their hopes were that congregations could appoint their own leaders without the undue influence of outsiders. These evangelists were to be first and foremost servants, with no distinction between lay members and ministers. Smith, then traces the development of a professional ministry system within Disciples of Christ into the 1960s as churches called for greater levels of training among their preachers. Chapters include: ▪ A Nineteenth Century Revolution: A Free Ministry in a Free Society ▪Pastors-Evangelists-Bishops and Sometimes Deacons ▪Changing Ministries for Changing Times
The Church in Exile: God's Counter Culture in a Non-Christian World

James Thompson

Christians have become more and more a minority group in American culture, and so now find themselves in a situation similar to the early Christians-facing the challenge of living as cultural exiles. The Church in Exile draws upon the epistle of 1 Peter, which was written to "exiles," to help us learn how to live faithfully when many around us do not share Christian values.
The Core Gospel: On Restoring the Crux of the Matter

Bill Love

This book offers summaries of preaching from generations of ministers within the Stone-Campbell tradition and Churches of Christ more specifically. The Core Gospel is divided into three sections: Part One: The Core Gospel in the New Testament; Part Two: Our Restoration Proclamation of the Core Gospel; Part Three: Current Preaching of the Core Gospel (in the 1990s). This book offers one-of-a-kind synopses of preachers and preaching, and is an important source of data on religious life through more than five generations of Christians.
The Everlasting Kingdom: The Kingdom of God in Scripture and in Our Lives

Everett Ferguson

This is a small bible study on the use of the word "kingdom" in the Bible. It was in a series called the Way of Life Series and designed for church study. It begins in the Old Testament and moves through to Revelation offering a summary of what the Bible means by the reign of God.
The Fight is on in Texas: A History of African American Churches of Christ in the Lone Star State, 1865-2000

Edward J. Robinson

This groundbreaking work draws upon congregational histories and other primary sources to chronicle for the first time the story of African American Churches of Christ in Texas. Emerging out of the nineteenth-century Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, the African American churches inherited from their white mentors both a Biblicist theology and a feisty spirit. Their “fight” was against religious error and in support of the true church as they understood it. Out of that “fight” emerged a growing network of congregations that by the mid-twentieth century reached throughout Texas. This book lifts out of obscurity the African American Christians who joined Ramsey’s “fight …out West” and who made black Churches of Christ in Texas what they are today.
The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians

Carl Holladay

This commentary was part of a series called the Living Word Commentary. These volumes are designed for lay readers to give them an overview of the critical issues in various books of the Bible. In addition to commentary, this volume offers an overview of the church in Corinth, the setting, and occasion of Paul's letter to the congregation.