Batsell Barrett Baxter ( September 23, 1916,

Cordell, Oklahoma New Cordell is a city in, and county seat of, Washita County, Oklahoma, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 183. The population was 2,915 at the 2010 census. The community was previously established a few miles from the current site, but was ...

– March 31, 1982,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

) was an influential preacher and writer within the

Churches of Christ The Churches of Christ is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations based on the ''sola scriptura'' doctrine. Their practices are based on Bible texts and draw on the early Christian church as described in the New Testament. T ...

.Samuel S. Hill, Charles H. Lippy, Charles Reagan Wilson, ''Encyclopedia of Religion in the South'', 2nd Edition, Mercer University Press, 2005, , , 854 pages, entry on ''Baxter, Batsell Barrett''

Biography

Baxter was the son of

Batsell Baxter Batsell Baxter (November 17, 1886 – March 4, 1956) was one of the most important leaders and educators in the Churches of Christ in the first half of the 20th century. Biography He received his early education from David Lipscomb and Jame ...

, another influential leader within the Churches of Christ. The younger Baxter preached his first sermon in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1933.Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, ''The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, entry on ''Baxter, Batsell Barrett'' He received his post-secondary education at

Abilene Christian College Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a private Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Southwestern United States and has one of th ...

(B.A.),

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(M.A., Ph.D.), and

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

(B.D.). Baxter "was the first person in the Churches of Christ to receive a Ph.D. in speech communication," receiving that degree from the

in 1944.Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, ''The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, , , 854 pages, entry on ''Preaching'' He was appointed head of the

Speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...

Department at David Lipscomb College in 1945. Later he headed the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

department at David Lipscomb College after his father died. Baxter preached in Nashville at the Trinity Lane Church of Christ from 1946 to 1951,Richard Thomas Hughes and R. L. Roberts, ''The Churches of Christ'', 2nd Edition, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, , , 345 pages and preached at the Hillsboro Church of Christ in Nashville for 29 years from 1951 to 1980 when he retired. During much of this time, his sermons were recorded for broadcast on

WLAC WLAC (1510 AM) – branded ''Talkradio 98.3 & 1510'' – is a commercial talk radio radio station licensed to serve Nashville, Tennessee. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station covers the Nashville metropolitan area. The WLAC studios are located i ...

radio on Sunday nights. He was considered by many to be "the best preacher of the Churches of Christ during his lifetime." He advocated a method of preaching that focused on meeting the particular needs of his listeners and tailored the content and techniques used to the "life-situation" of the particular audience. Baxter's style was very different from the harder style that originated in the

debating Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a Discussion moderator, moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred ...

tradition of the Churches of Christ, emphasizing a "softer" gospel of love. He trained hundreds of younger preachers and his influence was such "that at one time many could readily tell if a preacher had trained at Lipscomb college." Baxter was also a writer for the ''

Gospel Advocate The ''Gospel Advocate'' is a religious magazine published monthly in Nashville, Tennessee for members of the Churches of Christ. The ''Advocate'' has enjoyed uninterrupted publication since 1866. The ''Gospel Advocate'' was founded by Nashville-a ...

'' and '' 20th Century Christian''. He wrote eleven books including ''Speaking for the Master'', ''I Believe Because'', and ''When Life Tumbles In''. He coauthored two books, and coedited seven more. He became the regular speaker for the ''Herald of Truth'' television program in August 1959. When the program went to a radio series, he was featured periodically. In his youth, Baxter was an avid tennis player, winning the city championship in the boys' (14 and under) classification in Nashville, Tennessee.

References

External links

Batsell Barrett Baxter
at therestorationmovement.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Bastell Barrett 1916 births 1982 deaths People from New Cordell, Oklahoma Abilene Christian University alumni American members of the Churches of Christ Lipscomb University alumni Lipscomb University faculty Ministers of the Churches of Christ University of Southern California alumni Vanderbilt University alumni