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John William McGarvey
Born: Hopkinsville, Kentucky, March 1, 1829. FEW men among the Disciples have obtained a more enviable reputation, and enjoyed more generally the confidence of the brethren, than the subject of this notice. Blessed with more than an average amount of practical common sense, and having faithfully done his duty in all the positions he has occupied, it is not strange that he should now be regarded as one of the safest and truest men in the Church of Christ. JOHN W. M'GARVEY was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, March 1, 1829. His father was born in Ireland, and, when grown, came to America, and settled at Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where, with a small capital, he went into the dry-goods business. His mother was a Miss THOMSON, of old Virginia stock, and was born and reared near Georgetown, Kentucky. In 1833, his father died, and, some time after, his mother was married to Dr. G. F. SALTONSTALL. In 1839, the family removed to Tremont, Tazewell County, Illinois, where he was trained to industry by his step-father, and thoroughly instructed in primary and academic branches by Mr. JAMES K. KELLOGG, a successful educator of that place. In April, 1847, he entered the Freshman Class of Bethany College. While at college he made the good confession, and was immersed, by Professor PENDLETON, in April, 1848. So soon as he became a Christian, he determined to devote his life to the preaching of the Gospel, and it was not long before he gave very conclusive evidence of fitness for the work. In July, 1850, he graduated as one of the honor men, delivering the Greek speech, and receiving marked tokens from the faculty of their high appreciation of his scholarship. Meantime, his family had removed to Fayette, Missouri, at which place, soon after leaving college, he taught a male school for ten months. In June, 1851, his step-father died of cholera, while on his way to attend the commencement of Bethany College. He was a warm friend of the college, and gave it twenty-five hundred dollars while living, and left it a child's part in his estate. At the call of the Church in Fayette, Brother M'GARVEY gave up his school, and, in September, 1851, was ordained to the work of the ministry, and afterward preached for the Church at Fayette and neighboring county churches until February, 1853, when he removed to Dover, Lafayette County, Missouri. In March, 1853, he was married to OTTIE F. HIX, of Fayette. He resided at Dover nine years, and, during this period, he spent about half of the time at home, and, the remainder, preaching extensively over the State of Missouri, holding five public debates with various religious parties; he also collected money to erect a boarding-school in his village, and conducted the school two years. In the spring of 1862, he accepted the pastoral care of the Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where a large field of usefulness was open to him. During the same year he published his "Commentary on Acts," which had occupied all the time he could devote to it for three and a half years. This is a work of decided merit, and at once fixes his reputation as a fine Biblical scholar. On the removal of Kentucky University to Lexington, in 1865, he accepted a chair in the College of the Bible, with the understanding that only a small portion of his time was to be devoted to teaching, such as would not materially interfere with his labors in the Church. Under his ministry, the Church had reached a remarkable degree of prosperity, and his labors were highly appreciated by the entire congregation. But, finding that his whole time was needed in the university, in 1866, he resigned his charge of the Church; but, as the Church has not succeeded in obtaining the regular services of a suitable man, he has not yet been relieved. President GRAHAM, however, now shares the labor of preaching with him. Brother M'GARVEY is a little below medium size, has dark hair, light hazel eyes, and a very youthful appearance for one of his age. He is very strict and regular in his habits, and this fact explains why it is that he has been able to accomplish so much mental labor without impairing his health. That which most distinguishes him as a writer and speaker is clearness; there is never the slightest confusion in his ideas. He has very little imagination, and relies almost exclusively on facts for effect. His mind is well stored with these, and, in the construction and management of an argument, he uses them with great ease and success. In debate he is one of the safest and ablest men among the Disciples, and not the least source of power here is his remarkable coolness--he is never thrown off his guard.
As a teacher, he has very few superiors. Knowledge is what a student needs;
hence, the matter-of-fact man is always the best teacher--all other things being
equal. But Brother M'GARVEY is also an excellent preacher, and, as a pastor, has
been eminently successful. He has a kind, generous nature, but is not very
demonstrative. He attends strictly to his own business.
Text from Moore, W.
T.
(editor), Living Pulpit of the Christian Church. Cincinnati: R. W. Carroll &
Co., Publishers, 1871. Pages 325-326. This online edition © 1996, James L.
McMillan.
Profile Of Faith: J.W. McGarvey
Great men multiply themselves in other men, a kind of self-multiplication by
inspiration. Alexander Campbell sent out trained men
from Bethany College such as Moses E. Lard,
W.K. Pendleton and John William McGarvey.
"Brother McGarvey," as he affectionately was called, was a second generation
Restoration leader. As a serious student, he was willing to pay the price to
become a Bible scholar. By budgeting his time and caring for his health he was
able to contribute liberally to Restorationism.
As a young boy, McGarvey heard very little constructive preaching. He entered
Bethany College as a non-Christian. However, in a short time he obeyed the
gospel under the preaching of Pendleton, one of his professors. He was baptized
in Buffalo Creek. McGarvey heard Campbell preach frequently in the little
Bethany congregation. He graduated in a class of 12 and gave the valedictory
address in Greek, which was the custom of those commencement exercises.
After graduation from Bethany, McGarvey preached several years in Missouri, and
the last nine were with the Dover church. While living in Dover, he conducted
discussions in which Ben Franklin and Lard debated denominational preachers. In
preaching, McGarvey spoke with plainness of speech. A child could follow his
sermons, and adults wondered why they could not speak like him.
McGarvey believed in the verbal inspiration of the Bible and promised to defend
the Bible through thick and thin. He believed that Isaiah was Isaiah, Jonah was
Jonah, there was a great fish, and Balaam's ass spoke Hebrew as well as his
master.
McGarvey was a preacher who was easy to hear and hard to forget. He was a strong
doctrinal preacher and enjoyed preaching from the book of Acts. His favorite
preaching method was to take a New Testament text and illustrate it with an Old
Testament story.
Concerning the issues of his day, McGarvey took a strong stand against
instrumental music. He refused to hold membership where it was used. He favored
cooperation among congregations and lent encouragement to the missionary
society. He wrote opposing Christians engaging in carnal warfare.
He moved to Lexington, Ky., from Missouri because he spoke out against
Christians participating in war and preached to a number of blacks, which some
brethren opposed. When McGarvey became the preacher for the Main Street church
in Lexington, it was the fourth largest in town. In a short time it was the
largest.
Later, he preached 10 years for the Broadway church in Lexington. He also served
there as an elder until 1902 at which time he resigned because of deafness.
Within the same year, the McGarveys left Broadway because of the introduction of
instrumental music into the congregation. They identified with the Chester
Street church.
After graduating he was offered a position on the faculty three times, but he
refused because he wanted to teach only the Bible. The opportunity came in 1865
to teach Bible survey at the College of the Bible in Lexington. He taught there
for 40 years, served as president for 16 years, and resigned as president at the
age of 80.
The classroom was McGarvey's throne, as he knew what he taught and then taught
what he knew. It has been said the McGarvey never read a lesson text in the
classroom but quoted the lesson from the Old or New Testament. The London Times
wrote, "In all probability, John W. McGarvey is the ripest Bible scholar on
earth." Some of the preachers he trained were eloquent and some were not, but
all were oriented with a strong biblical foundation.
McGarvey was a very prolific writer. For more than 40 years articles flowed from
his pen to such periodicals as the Millennial Harbinger, American Christian
Review, and Lard's Quarterly. He produced commentaries on Matthew,
Mark, Acts, the Gospels (in conjunction with P.Y. Pendleton), and six of the
epistles. In his books McGarvey dealt with criticism against Jonah, the
eldership, the authorship of Deuteronomy, Christian evidences, and other topics.
The earthly struggles of this distinguished scholar ended Oct. 5,1911. His final
words were, "Lord, I come, I come." The funeral was conducted at the Central
building in Lexington. His body was laid to rest in the Lexington cemetery near
the graves of "Raccoon" John Smith,
I.B. Grubbs and Henry
Clay.
One great lesson can be learned from the life of this scholarly servant, and
that is that he gave his very best whether he was a gospel preacher, an elder or
a member of the congregation. He became a man of one book and was not content
with a superficial knowledge of this book, the Bible.
James Thomas McGarvey, a son, complimented his father by saying, "The prodigious
amount of reading which he did was done for the purpose of acquiring the fullest
possible knowledge of the Book." In joyful service did J.W. McGarvey fill life's
cup.
—Dabney Phillips, Gospel Advocate, July 16, 1987, pages 434,435
GPS Location
Directions To Grave: Lexington Cemetery is one of the most
beautiful old cemeteries in America. It is located on West Main Street heading
away from downtown Lexington toward Leestown Pike. Turn right into the main
entrance past the office. Stay on Main Avenue passing Henry Clay Monument on the
left. Go until you see Section "F" on the left. The grave is not far from the
road.
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