TheKing'sBusines Story
By Mrs. Betty Bruechert
EDITOR'S NOTE: 1960 is the ,50th anniversary of The King's Business. The history of this God- blessed publication has proved to be so inter esting that Mrs. Betty Bruechert has been com missioned to prepare a monthly column of back ground information. T h e K in g ’ s B u s in e s s was bom Jan uary 1, 1910. In 1960 this maga zine will be fifty years of age, and is therefore one of the most venerable Christian publications in the United States. In preparation for this jubilee, a review of its history as revealed in its pages over the years, begins with this issue. The chief value of such a “ backward look” will be the unmis takable evidences of the goodness and faithfulness of God, and thus the past should inspire faith in the future. This month, Volume I, Number I, January 1910, will be given primary attention. This initial issue, composed of 18 pages, was printed in good brown ink on excellent dull-finish cream stock which has stood the test of time without yellowing or becom ing brittle. The original format meas ured the width of the present-day Reader’s Digest and two inches more in length. There were no pictures or photographs and no price was indi cated. Evidently the magazine was d i s t r i b u t e d without charge until November 1910 when the subscription p r i c e wa s p r i n t e d o n t he cover: “Twenty-five Cents a Year.” That one copy alone now costs that sum reveals much about the changes that have taken place in half a century! The cover of Volume I, Number I carried three quotations. The first was Hebrews 4:12, erroneously printed as 12:4 (evidently editors and printers were not infallible even in those good old days!), in the American Standard Version translation: “The Word of God is living and active.” The second was from Napoleon Bonaparte which reads as follows-: “ The Gospels pos sess a secret and mysterious efficacy, a warmth w h i c h penetrates and soothes the heart. The Gospel is not a book, it is a living being, with vigor, a power that conquers every thing that opposes.” The third com ment was from the pen of Philip Mauro, the distinguished lawyer and Bible teacher: “When we read ‘The Word of God is living,’ we are to understand thereby that it lives with a spiritual, an inexhaustible and in extinguishable life — in a word, a Divine life. If the Word of God be
indeed living in this sense, then we have a fact of most tremendous signi ficance.” The location of the Bible Institute was shown to be 260-264 South Main Street, Second Floor. No editor’s name appeared on the masthead until No vember 1910, but nine officers and directors of the Bible Institute are listed, with Lyman Stewart as presi dent and T. C. Horton as superintend ent. After a statement to the effect that the school was to be “ interdenomina tional,” the doctrinal position was thus declared: “ Its chief text is the Bible. The management holds to the Divine origin, inspiration, integrity and supreme authority of the Scrip tures in the Old and New Testament. It is in accord with the historic teach ings of the church and holds neither new theologies, fads nor vagaries.” The purpose of the school was stated in these words: “ The Institute trains accredited men and women, free of cost, in the knowledge and use of the Bible.” Ten departments were listed, including classes, e x t e n s i o n work, evangelistic meetings, Jewish evange lism, Bible women’s work, Spanish Mission, sale of books and tracts, and ministry pertinent to those times: “Shop work, regular services in shops and factories all the year; aqueduct, work among the 4,000 men on the new aqueduct; and oil fields, a mis sion to the men on the oil fields.” In this last-named evangelistic effort the influence of Mr. Lyman Stewart is seen, for his name was synonymous with oil as well as with evangelism and Bible study. (See “ Black Gold and Souls to Win,” by James O. Henry, The King’s Business, February 1958). It is not known who was responsible for the selection of the name for the new magazine but certainly it was an inspiration to borrow it from I Sam uel 21:8, and to apply the title king to our Lord Jesus Christ, who truly is King of kings and Lord of lords. Over the years Christian friends have called The King’s Business “ The Magazine with the Most Beautiful Name.” The first editorial appropriately was en titled “ The Business of the Believer,” and while there is no by-line, and indeed by-lines did not appear for several months, it has all the earmarks of that vigorous soul-winner, T. C. Horton. As one might have expected
from the cover quotations, the eight een pages were filled with helps for Bible study: Bible Briefs; Themes for Young People’s Meetings; Fulfillment of Prophecy; Warning against Chris tian Science; Expositions on the Sun day School Lessons; a Chart Outline of Matthew. Indications were that this publication would be concerned with young people, with escatology, and with cults, then beginning their infiltration of the Far West. It was clear that The King’s Business would take a positive stand for something and an equally definite stand against something; this position was inevit able if the Word of God was to be the criterion. Volume I, Number I contained an announcement of the opening that month, January 1910, of a Book Store (still thriving as BIOLA Book Room) which would “ carry books and tracts calculated to stimulate Bible study and to deepen Christian lives . . . such books as we can conscientiously rec ommend.” The back page carried ads for books of this type and the Scofield Bible. On Page 4 appeared this moving testimony: “ There has been an in creasing spirit of prayer in the school and an intensified spiritual atmos phere is the result. The Fishermen fellows do a great deal of knee work and the influence of their example is contagious. We have set aside a small room adjoining the auditorium as a prayer room, where all who desire may retire for intercession.” On the same page the Bible Women are com mended for these labors within one year: visiting 6,040 homes; holding 493 special interviews; leading 90 to Christ and reclaiming 60 backsliders; conducting 568 Bible Classes and 358 “ other meetings” ; distributing hun dreds of tracts and Gospels. Thus from this first issue emerge several highly significant facts per taining to the Bible Institute and The King’s Business, which hence forth was to be its official organ. With a background of prayer, personal soul winning, public evangelistic effort, dedication to the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, the new little magazine was indeed “ well-born” on January 1, 1910! (Next Month: The King’s Business Editors)
APRIL, 1959
47
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