Home to Bethphage

by Cloyd Goodnight and Dwight E. Stevenson

      Robert Richardson was an intimate associate of two of the greatest Disciple pioneers--Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott. His direct contribution to these men was great; the points at which he influenced them, or strengthened them, or differed with them are significant for present-day church history. Both in the field of higher education and in the field of religious literature, Richardson made a distinctive contribution to the life and thought of the early Disciple movement.

      Furthermore, Richardson was a glowing human personality. His story is rich and warming to the human heart. To know him is to make one's life a finer, more inspiring adventure; to miss him is to suffer loss.

      Cloyd Goodnight was president of Bethany College from July 18, 1919, until his death, on October 15, 1932. Previous to his presidency of Bethany College, he was pastor of Central Christian Church, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, for six years. He served the Disciple brotherhood in many prominent positions, including the presidency of the Board of Higher Education.

      In 1906 he received the A.B. degree from Butler University and in 1907 the M.A.; in 1929 Butler conferred on him an LL.D. degree. The University of Pittsburgh honored him with a D.D. degree in 1921.

      Among Dr. Goodnight's previous writings is A Century of Achievement, a brief history of the Disciples of Christ, published in 1930. He devoted his spare hours over a period of about fifteen years to research into the life of Robert Richardson, leaving at the time of his death an unfinished manuscript of letters and other personal records which lie at the base of the present volume.

      Dwight E. Stevenson is professor of homiletics at the College of the Bible, Lexington, Kentucky, coming to that institution from Bethany College in 1947.

      In 1929 he received the A.B. degree from Bethany College and in 1933 the B.D. degree from Yale Divinity School. Graduate work has been done at the University of Chicago. In 1947 Bethany College honored him with a D.D. degree.

      In 1944, after an eleven-year ministry at Bethany Memorial Church, Bethany, West Virginia, he became head of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Bethany College.

      Dr. Stevenson has been a member of the Curriculum Committee; Board of Managers of the United Christian Missionary Society, and a member of the Board of Higher Education. He has lectured widely before colleges, seminaries, and ministerial associations.

      Among his other writings are A History of the Bethany Church of Christ CYF Study Manual, Faiths That Compete for My Loyalty, and Walter Scott: Voice of the Golden Oracle.