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.
Periodical |
||
Title |
Years |
Comment |
Historical Background to Church of God (Seventh Day) Periodicals | ||
History and Background to the periodicals | Interesting information on the history of these publications are contained in the folder. Information on the historical evolution of the title of this publication is below. | |
History of CG7 Publications | ||
Messenger of Truth | 1853-58 | Refer to text below explaining the background and history to the periodical. NB: only 3 copies are known to have survived (11"x17" size). Refer to the explanation below. |
The Main Church of God (Seventh Day) Periodical | ||
The Hope of Israel | 1863-72 | |
Advent and Sabbath Advocate and the Hope of Israel | 1872-73 | Refer to information below. |
Advent and Sabbath Advocate | 1874-1892 | Refer to information below. The statement of beliefs appears in the periodical |
Sabbath Advocate and Herald of the Coming Kingdom | 1892-1900 | |
The Bible Advocate and Herald of the Coming Kingdom | 1900-72 | |
Bible Advocate | 1972-date | Many past issues are available online here |
Other Church of God (Seventh Day) Periodicals | ||
The Little Preacher | 1864-65 | Commenced 1864 for children and no one knows when it was discontinued. |
Voice of the Truth | 1865-67 | These are the only known issues available. NB: only 3 issues are available. |
Sabbath School Missionary | 1884-1993 | Children's periodical commenced 1884 and discontinued in 1993. Most of these were scanned by John Lemley. |
The Field Messenger | 1921-22 | Published in 1921-22. Presumably this was re-named and started anew as the Harvest Field Messenger. |
Harvest Field Messenger | 1923-93 | Commenced publication in 1923 to provide reports about evangelistic efforts. It was discontinued in 1993. These were scanned by John Lemley. |
Christian Youth Herald and Gospel Call | 1935-59 |
Youth periodical commenced 1935 and was replaced by Aim in 1959. |
Aim | 1959-78 | Youth magazine commenced 1959 (it replaced The Christian Youth Herald and Gospel Call) and discontinued in 1978. |
Ministerial Forum | c1949-to date | A periodical for ministers. |
Periodicals by Independent Evangelists | ||
Remnant of Israel | 1915-31 | Published by G.G. Rupert, an associate of the Church of God (Seventh Day). NB: a few issues are unavailable. |
The
Gathering Call (Riverside, California) |
1913-1960s | The editor was A.F. Ballenger. Mentioned by G.G. Rupert in his 'Remnant of Israel' periodical. Further copies of 'The Gathering Call' being sought to see if any have survived. |
Torch of Israel | 1915-1946 |
Published in Washington, DC by
David Ziegler. According to the New York
Public Library catalog:
"Ceased publication with v. 31, no. 1 (March
1946). "Israel's prophetic witness." "Successor to the Evangel of Hope." |
Bible Banner | Early 1900s | Mentioned by Richard Nickels as the magazine of the loosely associated Church of God (Unattached Congregations) (not a legal title as far as is known, but a 'tag'} based at Stanberry, Missouri established in 1905 after splits from the mother Church. W. C. Long was the editor for a short while. The majority of members of this loose association were, however, based in Michigan. |
The
Evangel of Hope (Joplin, Missouri) |
Early 1900s | Mentioned by G.G. Rupert in his 'Remnant of Israel' periodical. Copies are being sought to see if any have survived. Apparently succeeded by the 'Torch of Israel' (above). |
The Shining Light (Almira, New York) | Early 1900s | Mentioned by G.G. Rupert in his 'Remnant of Israel' periodical. Copies are being sought to see if any have survived. |
The Mispah
(Enid, Oklahoma) |
Early 1900s | Mentioned by G.G. Rupert in his 'Remnant of Israel' periodical. Copies are being sought to see if any have survived. |
Religious Liberty (Washington, DC) |
Early 1900s | Mentioned by G.G. Rupert in his 'Remnant of Israel' periodical. Copies are being sought to see if any have survived. |
Official Church of God (Seventh Day) Periodical | ||
The Bible Advocate | 1933 - | The rival publication of the Church of God based in Salem, WV after the split in late 1933. |
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.
"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)
“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)
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)
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.
=================
“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)
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
1900–1972, The
Bible Advocate and Herald of the Coming Kingdom
1972–date, Bible
Advocate
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.”