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In 1934, [[John R. Rice]] (1895-1980) founded '''''The Sword of the Lord,''''' a bi-weekly publication that has grown into the foremost Fundamentalist newsletter in the world. With Rice as editor until his death, it vigorously exposed the evils of liberalism and Communism (as well as the supposed evils of Catholicism and the civil rights movement), and various other vices, including dancing, alcohol, smoking, and motion pictures.  

'''''The Sword of the Lord''''' is a bi-weekly publication published in Murfreesboro, [[Tennessee]].  It is owned and operated by '''Sword of the Lord Ministries''' which also publishes books, pamphlets, and tracts, from a [[fundamentalist]], [[Independent Baptist]] point of view.

 

The Sword was founded in 1934 by [[John R. Rice]] (1895-1980) who served as its editor until his death.  [[Curtis Hutson]] then took over as editor until his passing.  Shelton Smith then became its current editor.

 

The name of the ministry and publication is taken from a phrase in [[Book of Judges|Judges]] 7:20: "And they cried, The Sword of the LORD, and of [[Gideon]]."  The verse is featured in the banner, as is the newspaper's stated purpose:<ref>{{cite web|title= The Sword of the Lord |type= sample |url= http://www.swordofthelord.com/pdf/Sword-of-the-Lord-Sample.pdf |date= 2015-02-27 |website= The Sword of the Lord |accessdate= 2015-12-19}}</ref>

 

<blockquote>"An Independent Christian Publication, Standing for the Verbal Inspiration of the Bible, the Deity of Christ, His Blood Atonement, Salvation by Faith, New Testament Soul Winning and the Premillennial Return of Christ; Opposing [[Modernism]] ([[Liberalism]]), Worldliness and Formalism."</blockquote>

 

Because of its Independent Baptist stance, it is highly anti-[[Calvinist]] and will not publish sermons by Calvinist preachers, although an exception has been made for the noted nineteenth-century Calvinist [[Charles Spurgeon]]. Nevertheless, Spurgeon's sermons have been edited to remove Calvinist-leaning passages.<ref>In 1950, John R. Rice wrote of his editing practices, "If there are paragraphs which are not acceptable doctrinally, I indicate that they are to be left out." ''The Sword of the Lord'', (September 22, 1950), 1. A scholarly study by Howard Moore discovered that Rice had deleted passages in many sermons, including those of [[Charles Finney]], Talmage, and even [[Jonathan Edwards (theologian)|Jonathan Edwards]]', "[[Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God]]."  But, said Moore, "No other ancient worthy seems to have suffered as much from Rice's editorial license...as Charles H. Spurgeon." Howard Edgar Moore, "The Emergence of Moderate Fundamentalism: John R. Rice and 'The Sword of the Lord,'" Ph.D. dissertation, George Washington University, 1990, 502-10.</ref>  It is also a proponent of the [[King James only]] movement, though not to the extreme of some supporters such as the later [[Peter Ruckman]].

 

 

[[Category:Christian Media]]

[[Category:Christian Media]]

[[Category:Fundamentalism]]

[[Category:Fundamentalism]]

[[Category:Religion and Politics]]

[[Category:Religion and Politics]]