The Overflow
We Liked This Letter
We are receiving many letters of encouragement and good wishes since the first issue of the Gospel Guardian went out. We appreciate them all and are grateful for the good will. But here is an extract from one written by Bro. H. F. Sharpe of Steele, Missouri, that we really appreciate: "First issue of the Gospel Guardian was read with delight. This summer my work shall bring me into 15 meetings in five states. It shall be my desire to send a number of subscriptions to the Guardian from each place. My goal for the summer is 500 subscriptions. Hope to do even better."
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Long articles Ordinarily we hesitate to print articles of more than a page in length, but we have on hand two articles that simply defy cutting. One of them is "Affirmations of Atheism" written by Jack Dunn and the other is "Fornication and Adultery" written by Jas. W. Adams. We will publish the Dunn article next week and the Adams article two weeks hence.
—O—
The Bartlesville school Concerning his acceptance of the presidency of the new school at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, L. R. Wilson writes, "One thing I promise, is to try to keep the school sound doctrinally, clean morally, and as strong scholastically as our means will permit." It is of interest to all to know that the Bartlesville school has provided in its by-laws that it will "neither solicit nor accept" contributions from churches.
—O—
Obnoxious atheist One of the most obnoxious atheists in the nation is Harry Elmer Barnes. He has written book after book ridiculing and belittling the Christian's faith. It is with no great surprise, therefore, that we learned recently his book, Society in Transition, has been thrown out of the reading list of the University of Oklahoma's Sociological department. It was banned not on the grounds of atheism, but because it was "subversive of American democracy". Dr. Barnes seems bent not only in destroying belief in God, he would like also to destroy the nation of which he is a citizen. Atheism is a religion, as surely as is Christianity. It is a religion of destruction, anarchy, and the deification of man.
—O—
More to come In this issue we have a fine article, "The Reasonableness of Belief in God", by Pat Hardeman. The author, son of John B. Hardeman, will go with Jim Cope to join the faculty at Florida Christian College this fall. Additional articles on Christian Evidences will be coming from Brother Pat at fairly regular intervals.
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Squeeze till the buffalo grunts We ought to quit giving buffalo nickels to the Lord—the days of animal sacrifice are over.
Foy E. Wallace, Jr.
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Contribution returned We hear that Robert Bell, elder in the Preston Road church of Dallas, and on the Board of Directors of Abilene Christian College, recently refused to accept a contribution from a church for ACC. We know other ACC board members who have the same conviction—and we rejoice in it. But we don't think they all have it.
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"Billington's balderdash"
That's quite a mouthful. But those are the appropriate words with which Chas. M. Campbell of the Brown Street church in Akron, Ohio, describes the antics of a certain premillennial Baptist publicity hound of his city. It seems this Billington character has made quite a splash in the Ohio city, building a huge tabernacle and quite modestly admitting that he is the pastor and "Founder" of this church.
One day last month this premillennial 'Baptist church showered down the city of Akron with announcements that the great Frank (ugh!) Norris would speak in Billington's pulpit. The publicity was a thing to behold. Sky-rockets, Roman candles, and an elephant parade with blaring calliopes would have been tame in comparison. The din reached a shrieking hysterical crescendo with the incredible implication in an announcement that the mighty J. Frank (ugh!) Norris occupied an equal station with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The identical words were applied to Norris that John had applied to Christ "Come, See A Man" (John 4:29).
Campbell immediately informer the Akronites (via the radio) as to who this "Man" was they were being invited to see. He told of the very unsavory reputation this person carries in the south; that he is well known to the law enforcement agencies, and on more than one occasion has been haled into court to answer for crimes charged again him. He then offered to mail to any body who might ask it a copy of the "Extra Special Edition" of the Bible Banner which carried a full account of Norris' nefarious activities in his efforts to escape the stinging defeat he and his doctrine suffered at the hands of Foy E. Wallace, Jr. in the Fort Worth debate. He also re-issued a challenge which has stood in Akron for a long, long time: challenge for Norris to meet Wallace in Akron in a public debate on the identical propositions discussed in Fort Worth.
As to be expected, Billington and Norris suddenly began to develop conscientious scruples against debate: They had rather, much rather, forge the Fort Worth affair. The Akron brethren pressed Norris' "great and good friend", Dr. Jake L. Hines to negotiate with "The Man" for a debate. But to no avail.
And so the matter stands. If and when Norris and Wallace should ever debate in Akron, we believe shortly thereafter the passerby will notice a new sign decorating the facade of Billington's huge bliss hangar. The legend will read, "Opened by mistake".
—O—
Biggest on record The church at Dickson, Tennessee, last summer conducted a Vacation Bible School that, so far as we know was the biggest in attendance of assembly such school ever conducted among the churches of Christ. Attendance ran to nearly a thousand pupils. The local preacher who encourage the church to this great accomplishment was J. T. Marlin. When comes to Vacation Bible Schools, he knows his way around. Read the article in this issue.