Batsell Barrett Baxter ( September 23, 1916, Cordell, Oklahoma – March 31, 1982,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

) was an influential preacher and writer within the

Churches of Christ The Churches of Christ, also commonly known as the Church of Christ, is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations located around the world. Typically, their distinguishing beliefs are that of the necessity of baptism for salvation ...

.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, 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 (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 ...

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

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

(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 the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

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

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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 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 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'' 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 Radio evangelists