Faith

Was Jesus Black? (The Crises, 1914)

Chances are pretty slim that Jesus of Nazareth was a button-nose blondy – so pink of cheek, with eyes of blue – yet, time and again, this was the manner in which he was rendered by the Christians of the Gilded Age. When the African-American magazine The Crises began to run illustrated advertisements depicting Christ as anything but a white fellow you better believe there were some letters addressed to their editors on the issue. The attached article was their response to these outraged readers.

The Faith of the Deaf (Coronet Magazine, 1971)

This is an article about St. Matthew Luthern Church for the Deaf and the good work of Reverend Daniel Hodgson.

Not a sound can be heard by most of the congregation, but that doesn’t stop them from worshiping in a full church service – hymns included.


Click here to see a directory of churches for the deaf.

The Religious Opinions of Thomas Jefferson (Sewanee Review, 1913)

The author argues that Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) was neither an atheist or an Episcopalian or a Unitarian, as many have claimed. However, his fertile mind was not entirely devoid of any religious conviction but rather his views on theology were totally undigested and lacking in order and consistency. It is an interesting piece about one of America’s most fascinating Presidents concerning a topic that keeps coming up again and again.


Jefferson’s Bible is one of the ‘curiosities of literature’. This book, called by him, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth was published by congress in 1904.


(The article can be printed: which is good because the pages are out of order; sorry for the inconvenience.)


The historian Henry Steele Commager ranked Thomas Jefferson at number 14 insofar as his impact on the American mind was concerned – click here to understand his reasoning…

‘Hello, Central, Give Me Heaven” (The American Magazine, 1943)

Recognizing that simply because he had retired from the ministry, it did not mean that he had retired from spreading the Good News; Reverend J.J.D. Hall immediately began to deliver a sermon with each and every wrong number he received. That was in 1940 – three years later his telephone number was recognized as an institution and a reliable source for those thirsting for knowledge of The Almighty.

Anticipating Soviet Imperialism (Quick Magazine, 1951)

A brief Quick Magazine report on the Christians who made their 1951 pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal. In 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution, it said that the Virgin Mary appeared before three children and interacted with them. Among other remarks, the Virgin is said to have made this warning:

Russia will spread her errors throughout the world and many nations will be annihilated.

Going Where the People Go (Pathfinder Magazine, 1937)

Fed-up with empty pews, a British pastor discovered that when he held services in a movie theater – where he discussed whatever Christian content was encapsulated within the story, he attracted a far larger crowd. The numbers were so impressive he continued this practice and even began producing Christian films in the subsequent decades.

Charles Darwin and 1920’s Society (The Literary Digest, 1922)

An article which discusses the growing number of state legislatures given the task to vote up or down on the issue as to whether or not to allow the Darwin theory of evolution to stand as a legitimate topic for discussion and instruction in their respective school systems. Mentioned in the article was one of the major players leading the charge on behalf of creationism: William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925).


Three years following the publication of this magazine article, Bryan would be standing in defense of Christian faith during the famous Tennessee Scopes Trial.

Converting Texas Protestants (The Literary Digest, 1913)

Texas is today an American state that is almost entirely Catholic, however this was not always the case, as this short article makes clear. During the young Twentieth Century the Catholic Arch Dioces saw fit to harness the wonders of the internal combustion engine and create a mobile chapel in order to help bring an end to the Protestant dominance of Texas. However, in the end it was not the Churchmobile per se that raised the number of Catholics in the region so much as the rising tide of uncontrolled immigration from the bordering nation of Mexico.

In it’s defense, however, it should be noted that the Churchmobile did get remarkable mileage.

H.L. Mencken Admonishes Catholic Hierarchy (The Smart Set, 1921)

After the slaughter of the First World War, the Christian Churches were under heavy scrutiny for essentially serving as enablers in each of the individual combatant nations – failing utterly to bring an end to the violence. In their monthly collaboration, Repition Generale, George Jean Nathan (1882 – 1958) and H.L. Mencken (1880 – 1956) launched a broadside at the Christian Bishops for their elite, bullet-proof status in the world.

In 1900 people wanted to know why men didn’t like going to church…

Why Men Don’t Like Going to Church (Literary Digest, 1900)

Assorted reasons were put forth in the attached article from 1900 as to why the Christian male prefers to remove himself from the pews every Sunday; here is one:

If we consider the minister, and his power in the pulpit, sincerity must be at the heart of all that comes from him. Men are drawn by earnestness and honesty, and frankness, more than by beauty and the fragrance of flowers. Truth is what man wants, not the straining after effect, which results in verboseness, for he will come only to hear the unvarnished truth, red-hot from a courageous heart.


Click here to read a 1929 article on the same exact topic.

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