The Presbyterian Guardian

The Presbyterian Guardian was a monthly conservative Presbyterian magazine. Founded by conservative theologian John Gresham Machen in 1935, it acted as the de facto publication of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, whose members made up most of its readership, despite being officially unaffiliated with any one denomination. In 1979, it merged with The Presbyterian Journal, which had a significantly larger circulation and similar conservative theological stances.[1]

The Presbyterian Guardian
TypeMonthly
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Presbyterian Guardian Publishing Corporation
Founder(s)John Gresham Machen
PublisherPresbyterian Guardian Publishing Corporation
PresidentO. Palmer Robertson
EditorJ. Cameron Fraser
Managing editor, designRobert E. Smith
Founded7 October 1935
Political alignmentRight
LanguageEnglish
Ceased publicationOctober 1979
Headquarters7401 Old York Road Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19126
Circulation3,500 (1979)
ISSN0032-7522
Free online archiveshttp://www.opc.org/guardian.html

History

On 7 October 1935, Rev. John Gresham Machen established The Presbyterian Guardian to serve as the voice of conservative Presbyterianism in the United States, the main denomination of which, the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, had become fairly liberal and modernist. James T. Dennison, Jr., compiler of a cumulative index to the magazine, wrote that The Presbyterian Guardian was "conceived it controversy."[2] Machen had been encountering significant theological disagreements with Dr. Samuel G. Craig, editor of Christianity Today (1930–1949) (not to be confused with Christianity Today, the magazine founded in 1956). In response to perceived modernism in the magazine, Machen began publishing The Guardian with a small group of conservative ministers and laymen, hiring Rev. H. McAllister Griffiths as the first Editor.[2]

The magazine saw eight more editors during its tenure, including Machen himself, as well as Revs. Ned Stonehouse, Charles Woodbridge, and Paul Woolley. Machen's name was proudly displayed on the masthead of the magazine from January 1938 until 1979, reading: "J. Gresham Machen, Editor 1936-37."

In April 1978, the Board of Trustees asked J. Cameron Fraser, a native Scot who was then a graduate student at Westminster Seminary to take the position of Managing Editor for 14 months while they contemplated the newspaper's future. On 30 August 1979, the Board voted to merge The Presbyterian Guardian with The Presbyterian Journal. Fraser's term as Managing Editor was extended into autumn and the final issue was published in October 1979. The Presbyterian Journal ceased publication in 1987, and in the same year the magazine World was created by Joel Belz. World, unlike its predecessor, is not explicitly Presbyterian, but of the same conservative Protestant slant.[3]

List of editors
Editor Tenure Coeditor Tenure
Rev. H. McAllister Griffiths 1935–1936 none 1935–1936
Rev. John Gresham Machen 1936–1937 Rev. Ned B. Stonehouse 1936–1937
Rev. Ned B. Stonehouse 1937 none 1937–1945
Rev. Charles J. Woodbridge 1937
Rev. Ned B. Stonehouse 1937–1948
Rev. Paul Woolley 1945–1947
none 1947–1956
Rev. Leslie W. Sloat 1948–1958
Rev. Ned B. Stonehouse 1956–1958
Rev. Robert E. Nicholas 1958–1970 none 1958–1979
Rev. John J. Mitchell 1970–1977
J. Cameron Fraser 1978–1979

Board of Trustees

The following made up the last Board of Trustees of The Presbyterian Guardian:

  • Rev. O. Palmer Robertson, Acting President
  • Rev. LeRoy B. Oliver, Secretary
  • Rev. George E. Haney, Treasurer
  • F. Kingsley Elder, Jr.
  • Leonard Lowrey
  • James R. Peaster
  • Rev. John H. White
  • Hugh Brown
  • Rev. John P. Galbraith
  • Rev. Robley J. Johnston
  • Rev. Arthur W. Kuschke, Jr.
  • Rev. Paul Settle
  • John H. Van Voorhis
  • Glenn H. Andreas
  • Rev. Edmund P. Clowney
  • Rev. Joseph A. Pipa, Jr.
  • Rev. Robert L. Reymond
  • Rev. A. Michael Schneider III

See also

References
  1. Fraser, J. Cameron (October 1979). "From the Editor" (PDF). The Presbyterian Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  2. Dennison, Jr., James T. (1985). A Cumulative Index to The Presbyterian Guardian, 1935-1979 (PDF). Escondido, California.
  3. "The Presbyterian Guardian, 1935-1979". The Aquila Report. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
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