Donald Grey Barnhouse (March 28, 1895 – November 5, 1960), was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
Christian preacher, pastor,
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
, radio pioneer, and writer. He was pastor of the
Tenth Presbyterian Church
Tenth Presbyterian Church is a congregation of approximately 1,600 members located in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Tenth is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a denomination in the Reformed (Calvi ...
in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
from 1927 to his death in 1960. As a pioneer in radio broadcasting, his program, ''The Bible Study Hour'', continues today and is now known as ''Dr. Barnhouse & the Bible''.
Career
Barnhouse pastored the
Tenth Presbyterian Church
Tenth Presbyterian Church is a congregation of approximately 1,600 members located in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Tenth is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a denomination in the Reformed (Calvi ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
from 1927 until his death in 1960.
He was a pioneer in preaching over the radio; his program was known as ''The Bible Study Hour''.
["Donald Grey Barnhouse" (biography)]
Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals His broadcasts were taped, and today the program continues to air as ''Dr. Barnhouse & the Bible.'' In 1949, he began a weekly, in-depth study of the
Book of Romans
The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that salvation is offered through the gospel of J ...
on his program, which lasted until his death in 1960. He also wrote many articles and books. For many years, Barnhouse held a Bible class on Monday evenings at
St. Luke's Lutheran Church
Saint Luke's Lutheran Church, also known as The German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Saint Luke's and St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church, is a historic Lutheran church located on Restaurant Row at 308 West 46th Street between Eig ...
near
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, which lasted until his death.
In 1931, Barnhouse began publishing ''Revelation'', a magazine which published his sermons, expositions, and religious interpretations of current events. ''Revelation'' was published until 1950.
Barnhouse also founded ''
Eternity
Eternity, in common parlance, means infinite time that never ends or the quality, condition, or fact of being everlasting or eternal. Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas sempit ...
'' magazine in 1950 and was editor-in-chief of the monthly publication.
He wrote a "Window on the World" column for each issue between 1931 and 1960 and discussed contemporary concerns from a biblical perspective.
In September 1956, ''Eternity'' magazine published his article, "Are the
Seventh-day Adventists
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and i ...
Christians?" He answered affirmatively, but in the past, he had excluded them for some of their teachings.
The article was described as a "blockbuster" by his wife, Margaret Barnhouse, in her biography, ''That Man Barnhouse'' (1983). She wrote that the "reaction was immediate: outraged canceling of subscriptions or grateful commendation because
ehad the courage to... admit he had been wrong in the past about the Adventists."
[ Along with fellow ]evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
Walter Martin, Barnhouse argued that the "Adventists hold all the basic doctrines of Christianity" with some heterodox
In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek: , "other, another, different" + , "popular belief") means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". Under this definition, heterodoxy is similar to unorthodoxy, w ...
teachings. ''Eternity'' published a cover story and memorial issue tribute to Barnhouse shortly after his death.
C. Everett Koop
Charles Everett Koop (October 14, 1916 – February 25, 2013) was an American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and served as the 13th Surgeon Ge ...
, the former U.S. Surgeon General
The surgeon general of the United States is the operational head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. Th ...
, attended the Tenth Presbyterian Church for more than twenty years. He said of Barnhouse:
"His authoritative voice held my attention, his physical appearance was arresting, and his preaching was teaching of the highest intellectual order ... I always marveled at the simplicity of the faith of this very intelligent and learned man."
Personal life
Barnhouse was born March 28, 1895, in Watsonville, California
Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, located in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 according to the 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and Democratic, Watsonville is a self ...
. His parents were Theodore and Jennie Carmichael Barnhouse. After graduating high school, he enrolled at the Biola Institute, in 1912. He also studied at the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
and Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...
. He enlisted in the army in 1917 before completing his studies at Princeton. First Lieutenant Barnhouse of the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps was ordained in April 1918 by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.[Donald Grey Barnhouse Papers Finding Aid "http://www.history.pcusa.org/collections/findingaids/fa.cfm?record_id=480"]
Barnhouse married Ruth, and they had four children: sons Donald Jr. and David, and daughters Ruth and Dorothy. Wife Ruth died of cancer in 1944.
Several years later, he married his second wife Margaret (née Nuckols) Bell, the widow of Douglas Bell. They made their home on an farm near Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Doylestown is a borough and the county seat of Bucks County in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Trenton,
north of Center City, Philadelphia,
southeast of Allentown, and southwest of New York City.
As of the 2020 ...
. Donald Grey Barnhouse died in a Philadelphia hospital one month after being diagnosed with a large, malignant brain tumor
A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...
.
Works
Many of the books authored by Donald Grey Barnhouse have been re-published since his death, some in their tenth or more printing. Some of his works include:
* ''Acts'' (1979), Zondervan
* ''Bible Truth Illustrated'' (1979), Keats
* ''The Cross Through the Open Tomb'' (1961), Eerdmans Publishing
* ''Genesis'' (1970), Zondervan, 2 vols.
* ''God's Methods for Holy Living'' (1949), Revelation Publications
* ''Guaranteed Deposits'' (1949), Revelation Publications
* ''The Invisible War'' (1965), Zondervan
* ''Let Me Illustrate'' (1967), Revell
* ''Revelation'' (1971), Zondervan
* ''Romans'' (1982), Eerdmans Publishing, 4 vols.
* ''Teaching the Word of Truth'' (1940), Eerdmans Publishing
* ''Thessalonians'' (1977), Zondervan
* ''Words Fitly Spoken'' (1969), Tyndale House Publishers
* ''Your Right to Heaven'' (1977), Baker Book House
Archives
The Presbyterian Historical Society
The Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) is the oldest continuous denominational historical society in the United States.Smylie, James H. 1996. ''A Brief History of the Presbyterians.'' Louisville, Kentucky: Geneva Press. Its mission is to col ...
in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, has a large collection o
Barnhouse’s papers
including correspondence, photographs and audio records documenting his personal and professional life. The collection includes materials from his media ventures including his broadcasts and the magazines ''Revelation'' and ''Eternity''. The material includes sermons, radio scripts, correspondences, articles, and a diary of his personal life. The Barnhouse collection also includes photographs that depict his family, friends, ministry and travels.
References
External links
Dr. Barnhouse & the Bible on OnePlace
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnhouse, Donald
American Calvinist and Reformed theologians
American evangelicals
1895 births
1960 deaths
American radio personalities
Clergy from Philadelphia
Burials in Pennsylvania
American Presbyterian ministers
20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians
People from Watsonville, California
Biola University alumni
University of Chicago alumni
Princeton Theological Seminary alumni
20th-century American clergy