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The Influence of the Herald of Truth

by Bill Hall

The following is from Restudying Issues of the ‘50s and ‘60s – A Historical Perspective by Bill Hall (pp. 26, 27):

"Now, obviously the sponsoring eldership that created the greatest division was the Herald of Truth, where the elders of the Highland church in Abilene took the oversight of the Herald of Truth radio and television program. A huge number of churches sent to the Highland church. An interesting outgrowth of the sponsoring church arrangement that I had never thought of was brought to my attention recently in the book that I have already mentioned by Richard Hughes, Reviving the Ancient Faith. Richard Hughes is a professor at Pepperdine University. He and I would be poles apart in our thoughts concerning how to use the Scriptures. But he made a point about the Herald of Truth that I never thought of. He said in his book that the anti-institution people missed this, and the Herald of Truth people missed this; it was such a subtle thing that people were not aware of what was taking place. But he says that when the Herald of Truth began, the greatest influence among churches of Christ shifted from the brotherhood papers to the Herald of Truth. People all over the country were supporting it, and people all over the country were listening to it. He further says that a major change took place in the preaching of the Herald of Truth. He says that when the Herald of Truth first began, the preaching was focused on the one true church, baptism for the remission of sins, no instrumental music, the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week. It was convincing people regarding the idea of restoring New Testament Christianity. That was the first teaching on the Herald of Truth. But by the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, they had begun to realize that the radio and TV programs that were really attracting the audiences the audience were those emphasis was more on family relationships, finding inner peace for yourself, how to build a strong self-image. Eventually the preaching of the Herald of Truth shifted from this more doctrinal, controversial type of teaching into this more "finding peace for the soul and a good self-image" type of preaching. Now, he said, all of the preachers of the country were listening to Herald of Truth, and as the Herald of Truth made that shift, the preachers made the same shift, so that by the ‘70s and ‘80s you could attend most churches of Christ and never hear a sermon on the one true church, restoring New Testament Christianity, or instrumental music. You might hear the plan of salvation given, but that’s about it.

"And let me tell you something. There are some (I’m not going to say a lot. I believe most of the preaching I hear is good preaching) church of Christ right now that are considered to be opposed to institutionalism that rarely every get any sermons that are distinctive at all from what you could hear in denominations all over the country. And I want to make sure you hear me and hear me well. If you attend worship at some church where you never hear the question of instrumental music, or baptism for the remission of sins, or the Lord’s Supper every Sunday, or the one true church – if you never hear teaching along some of those distinctive lines, you need to get out and you need to go somewhere else. You’ll use your conviction.  We have to give our support to the kind of preaching that helps people see that we’re different from the denominational world around us. Be sure you get that point. That was a shift, and the shift was led by a centralized program. This is not me saying this; this is Richard Hughes, a professor, giving a history of churches of Christ in America." 

 Other Articles by Bill Hall
The Church's Purpose
Selecting a Companion
The "Misleading" of the Holy Spirit