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Church of God Periodicals
(see Matt 13:52)

NB: Most of the old periodicals (1800s) were supplied by a minister from a group that emerged out of the WCG (JPEG format). In mid-2018 Clayton Porter assisted me for weeks in assembling these 1,000s of pages. We had to take individual pages and combine them together into single files to complete a given issue of the periodical. Then labelling them followed by uploading to the site. This meant that most CG7 periodicals for the late 1800s were now preserved for posterity. But more recently (early 2024), John Lemley and Rose Difley were instrumental in locating the microfiche with these and more on them which were subsequently converted to searchable PDF format.

A Note on missing volumes:

According to ‘History of the Church of God (Seventh Day)’ prepared by the Ministerial Students of Midwest Bible College Stanberry, Missouri, May 1965, I note the following quotes re the periodical: 

1877-80:

“Our last excerpts from the Advent and Sabbath Advocate were copied from an issue late in 1875 or early 1876.  There are no Advocate volumes on file in the Advocate office from then until in the spring of 1881.” 

1882:

“We have no Advent and Sabbath Advocate volumes on file from the spring of 1882 until the spring of 1884, but when the papers are again on hand which continued to report the activities of the Church, we find that by now a Church of God had been stablished in Stanberry.  The Ministerial Conference convened with the Church of God in Stanberry, Mo., March 18, 1884.” 

1885:

“And now, even as late as 1885 articles had been appearing in the Advent and Sabbath Advocate against organization.” 

1886:

“W.C. Long reported through the Advocate of August 24, 1886, of meeting an ex-Seventh Day Adventist minister by the name of E.G. Blackmon.” 

What this tells me is that volumes 1877-1880 are missing as is 1883 – however I have been able to source several issues for 1883.

Also, this shows that volumes 1885 and 1886 were still available in 1965 and thus should still be there in CG7 archives. I cannot find anything in that history that volumes 1892-1899 are missing either. If they are missing, I assume that is because of the office fire in 1907?  

"The file of the Advocate for 1904 is missing. The issue of August 15, 1905 beginning Vol. 40, and we note that some changes had been made." ("History of the Bible Advocate," The Bible Advocate, 13 Sept 1937, p. 10)
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Historic background to The Messenger of Truth as recorded by Richard C Nickels in his History of the Seventh Day Church of God: 

“By early 1855 James White and the Review and Herald were in serious financial trouble, possibly due to the influence of the Messenger Party.

White was ill and sought to free himself from the editorship of the paper but there was nobody to take his place. He jumped at the opportunity to move the paper to Battle Creek, Michigan where Adventist brethren agreed to finance the paper.  Headquarters of the White Party became established at Battle Creek,  and the Whites sought to gain control of the entire Sabbath Adventist movement,  and quell all opposition to the "Spiritual Gifts" of Mrs. White.

On June 20, 1855 the Whites, Loughborough, and Elder Cottrell held a meeting in Oswego, New York.  During the meeting they were harassed by a man named by Lillis who circulated some copies of the Messenger of Truth — termed "slanderous documents" — among the people.  If this was more than an isolated incident it appears that the White Party was facing considerable opposition.” (p. 11) 

“Messenger of Truth the Predecessor of the Hope of Israel 

Since almost the entirety of the available information on the Messenger Party comes from the White Party, it is difficult to arrive at a true picture of their beliefs and actions. The Messenger Party is important in that it was a direct, if not organic, precursor of the Church of God (Seventh Day). The press used to print the Messenger of Truth was the very same one which began the printing of the Hope of Israel, the first paper of the Church of God.

And the Messenger Party was further important in that it brought to the fore the two key issues which created the division of Sabbath Adventists into the Seventh Day Adventist church and the Church of God: (1) the church name — Church of God versus Seventh Day Adventist, and (2) the question of the visions of Ellen G. White.” (pp. 13-14) 

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Keith Stump, “The Origins of the Church of God’s Oldest Publication — The Bible Advocate”, Reviews You Can Use, Jan-Feb 1994:

“Case and Russell publish Messenger of Truth:

In the autumn of 1853, “anti-White" Sabbatarian adventists led by Hiram S. Case and CF. Russell began publishing Messenger of Truth at Jackson, Michigan, to counter the teachings being spread by the Whites‘ Review and Herald. Messenger of Truth was published for five years, until 1858. The Whites claimed it contained “many falsehoods."” (p. 16)

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A note on the discovery of the Messenger of Truth:

These 3 issues of the periodical were discovered by SDA academic, Theodore Levterov around 2013. You can read about this in his article "The First Anti-Sabbatarian Periodical and Its Aftermath," Adventist World, July 2013, pages 22-23. NB: by "Anti-Sabbatarian" he should really have written "anti-Ellen G White" as the Messenger of Truth was a seventh day Sabbatarian publication.

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Historic background to The Hope of Israel as recorded by Richard C Nickels in his History of the Seventh Day Church of God: 

“Origins of the Hope of Israel

It appears that The Hope of Israel was a direct successor to the Messenger of Truth, an earlier anti-White paper published in the later 1850's. According to A.N. Dugger, Church of God historian, the Church of God brethren who did not accept the name change at the 1860 Battle Creek conference met the following year at Battle Creek and began publication of The Remnant of Israel, which was later changed to Sabbath Advocate, and still later, to Bible Advocate. Possibly he had the wrong name, and the Remnant of Israel was in actuality The Hope of Israel; or possibly the Remnant was changed to The Hope of Israel in 1883.

Dugger farther reports that the Michigan Church of God brethren obtained a charter with the following names on the document: L. A. Monger, A.E. Case, Seth Monger, Will Slater, and John Campbell. In the 1930's, the Michigan Church of God brethren were said to still have the original charter.

The leader of the Michigan Church of God, termed by his stepson, M. A. Branch as "the founder of the Church of God in Michigan" and "the first president of the Church of God conference," was Elder Gilbert Cranmer.” (pp. 26-27)

“The same press that had been used to publish the Messenger of Truth published the Hope of Israel in Michigan and now was transferred to Iowa.” (p. 28)

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Evolution of title from Hope of Israel to Bible Advocate

1863–1872, The Hope of Israel

1872–1873, Advent and Sabbath Advocate and the Hope of Israel

1874–1892, Advent and Sabbath Advocate

1892-1900, Sabbath Advocate and Herald of the Coming Kingdom

1900–1972, The Bible Advocate and Herald of the Coming Kingdom

1972–date, Bible Advocate

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In the Advent and Sabbath Advocate periodical it states: 

“The Advocate is devoted to the promulgation of the doctrines about the Second Advent of Christ, the Signs of the Times, the duty of mankind to observe the Bible Sabbath (the seventh day of the week,) together with the other commandments of God, the Nature of Man, his Unconscious state in death, the End of the Wicked, the Earth restored to its original glory and conditions as the future inheritance and abode of the redeemed and the Kingdom of God, the Atonement  and redemption of Jesus Christ, the Prophecies, the Christian Life and kindred Bible subjects.”