Tag Archives: Restoration Movement

Irven Lee, Part 2: The “Friendly Letter”

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This an interesting 2012 blog from Chris Cotten, which bears repeating in a time of renewed discussion among Christians who deplore the antagonism and alienation of the past. A first installment, also re-blogged here, provides some context.

Chris's avatarAnastasis

This is the second of two posts dealing with Irven Lee and his “A Friendly Letter on Benevolence” (1958). The first post provided a sketch of Lee’s life; this post will make some observations about the “Friendly Letter.”
Open division was a reality in Churches of Christ across the country in 1958. The controversy over institutions that had erupted in the years during and after WWII mushroomed by the middle of the 1950s into a heated and often very personal dispute. This is not the place for a complete timeline of the controversy, but it might be worth pointing out a few of the things that contributed to the atmosphere in which Lee wrote in 1958.

In December 1954, B. C. Goodpasture published with approval a letter written by an anonymous elder calling for a “quarantine of the ‘antis.'” This opened the door to, and gave sanction to, the kind of…

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Irven Lee (1914-1991), Part I: Biography

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This an interesting 2012 blog from Chris Cotten, which bears repeating in a time of renewed discussion among Christians who deplore the antagonism and alienation of the past. A second installment follows.

Chris's avatarAnastasis

At the conclusion of this semester’s classes, I’ll be turning my attention more fully to the Lewis research that you’ve been seeing in fragmentary form here. One of the things that fascinates me about Lewis is the degree to which one can understand him as a continuator/tradent of the Lipscomb-Harding theological synthesis among NI churches in the 1950s/60s.

But Lewis was not alone. Several other figures from a younger generation (relative to Lewis), to a greater or lesser degree, also fit this description. Interestingly, several of them can also (like Lewis) be found in North Alabama. Over the next couple of posts, I’ll be looking at one of these figures, Irven Lee (1914-1991). At the request of John Mark Hicks, I’ll offer here a few thoughts, historical and theological, on Lee and his “Friendly Letter on Benevolence” (1958).

I’ll do this in two parts: this post will…

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Revised Alexander Campbell New Testament Now Available

Revised Alexander Campbell New Testament Now Available

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Loving religious spoof — especially when it’s sort of “in-group.” I’m close enough to these folks to catch some of the allusive (and maybe some elusive) humor!

J. M. Barnes on singing and unity

J. M. Barnes on singing and unity

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Chris's avatarAnastasis

Justus McDuffie Barnes (1836–1913) Justus McDuffie Barnes (1836–1913)

In July 1896, J. M. Barnes embarked on a month-long preaching tour through the State of Texas, documenting his travels in a series of articles in the Firm Foundation. Barnes was, without question, the leading conservative in Alabama during the years between the close of the Civil War and his own death in the spring of 1913. But he also travelled extensively, and was a regular writer for, among others, the Gospel Advocate and Benjamin Franklin’s American Christian Review.

This is an illuminating series for, among other things, its insights into congregational life in the 1890s. Beginning on the first Sunday in August, Barnes recounts that he preached a ten-days’ meeting at the Pearl and Bryan Streets church in Dallas, “in some respects the most remarkable body in my whole knowledge.”

Barnes is blunt over the course of several articles as he describes the state…

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Issue of Christian History Magazine on Stone-Campbell Movement forthcoming

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Christian History Magazine

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Christian History Magazine will release in September an issue devoted to the Stone-Campbell Movement.  Doug Foster and Richard Hughes collaborated as guest editors to assemble the first issue of CHM dedicated to the Restoration Movement.  About 20 years ago Barton Stone and Cane Ridge made an appearance in issue 45 on Camp Meetings & Circuit Riders…which you can download for free as a PDF here.  Judging from past issues, this installment will be a richly illustrated and accessible overview for the average reader who has some knowledge of and a keen interest in Christian history.  If you plan to teach Restoration history, consider ordering a bundle for distribution to your class; see CHM_BulkPricing for details.  An image from this blog and a small contribution from me even made their way into the issue!

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Marshall Keeble Historic Marker, Jackson Street at 14th Avenue, North, Nashville, TN

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Frm McGarvey Ice’s blog – worth following!

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At the northeast corner of 14th and Jackson stands this historic marker:

Jackson Street Church of Christ, Nashville, Historic Marker at Jackson and 14th Avenue North

Jackson Street Church occupied the northeast corner of the intersection until a new building was built on the west side of 14th.  An historical sketch, with photo of the earlier bulding, can be seen here, click ‘About Us’, then ‘Our History.”  Further west, beyond the current facility, is Fisk University.

I snapped the pic of the marker in June 2012 as part of a tour of Nashville Restoration Movement sites for conferees at Christian Scholars Conference.  Several tour members commented to me this was a highlight of the tour.  Indeed!

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Footnote 12 – History of Hymns – Steve Wolfgang

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Click to access wolfgang.pdf

Since my lecture at Faulkner University a few weeks ago, I have received several inquiries about an article I wrote several years back, surveying the history of hymns and hymnals, especially have they hve influence hymnody in the “Restoration Movement.”  Since I have posted this reference on several other sites and FB pages, why not put it on my own? As with any human endeavor, it has some errors and other flaws, and stands in need of revision.  But it will have to do for now.

Footnote 4 – A Brief History of Hymns and Hymnals

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Footnote 4 – A Brief History of Hymns and Hymnals, by Steve Wolfgang, in Great Texts of the Old Testament: The 2007 Truth Lectures (Bowling Green, KY: Truthbooks, 2007), pp. 116-159.

Scott Harp has posted an article I wrote several years ago on the history of hymns, particularly in the context of the “Restoration Movement” on his page at http://www.therestorationmovement.com/recent.htm