Spirit-Filled, The Life of
The Rev. James Blaine Chapman, D.D.
By
D. Shelby Corlett
October 13, 1908, he was again made editor of the "Church Work" department of this paper; and after the union his name appears among the "special contributors." The Holiness Evangel was merged in 1910 with The Pentecostal Advocate, printed in Peniel, Texas, but no articles appear in this united paper from the pen of Rev. J. B. Chapman.
The General Assembly of the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene held in Nashville, Tennessee, in October of 1911 voted to merge the papers of the different churches which had united to form the present denomination to make one denominational paper, the Herald of Holiness. Dr. B. F. Haynes was chosen as the editor of this merged periodical, and the first issue was printed under the date line of April 17, 1912. The first article written by J. B. Chapman in the Herald of Holiness, of which he was later to become editor, was printed in the issue of August 7, 1912. It was a discussion on "How to Live the Sanctified Life." The message is epitomized in this one sentence, "The whole secret of living the sanctified life is to maintain an unbroken consecration and to exercise constant faith in the cleansing blood."
During the first five years of the existence of the Herald of Holiness only five of his articles were printed; fourteen of his messages were printed in this paper during 1919, ten during 1920, and one in 1921 before he became associate editor in April of that year.
The early years of the Herald of Holiness were very. busy years for Rev. J. B. Chapman; he was completing his education, was president of two holiness schools performing the many duties associated with the leadership of such institutions, and was always engaged in preaching and evangelistic appointments. This may account for the few contributions from his pen which appear during those early years, for after he severed his connection with Peniel College in 1918 his articles appear more frequently in the Herald of Holiness. Before this time it seems that the greater number of his articles were written by request, for they fitted into the plan of some special emphasis stressed in the different issues. Several series of articles were printed, one on "The Second Blessing" or Holiness, and another on "The Church and the Ministry."
One of the most interesting articles not directly connected with a series is on "Why the Long Sermon?" — a question church goers have been asking for centuries. He says, in part: "Preachers, as well as others, have observed that the preacher is often inclined to continue longer when he has the least unction. He goes on, hoping that he will finally secure the Spirit's blessing. After he has gone for thirty minutes of the sermon without it, he will probably decide that there is nothing better for him than to hasten at once to the conclusion, or if necessary, quit without a conclusion. If the preacher will always be careful to be brief when he has but little unction, he may very well risk preaching a long sermon when he has special help from the Spirit."
In a series of lectures on Christian Journalism which Dr. Chapman gave before the Nazarene Theological Seminary within the eighteen months prior to his death, he gave this insight into his attitude toward writing and of his habits of preparing manuscript from the beginning of his writing career:
"From the beginning," he said, "I have treated my literary efforts as poems, and have never valued them in parts. I have thought of them somewhat as living entities that must be whole to preserve life.
Severed, even in the process of production, I think of them as mutilations. Whatever I write, I begin at the beginning and write right through to the finish. I seldom rewrite. If what I produce does not stand up, I throw it away and try to forget that I was the victim of a false urge. I follow this method in writing brief articles for the press, longer articles of a technical nature, sermons, and full length books. During a recent 'vacation' I wrote four full length books, three of which are listed to see the light and dark of paper and ink this calendar year, and I wrote these by the same plan. That is, I just commenced at the beginning, wrote the introductory section, followed along with the next section in order — just as it is designed the printer will do — and came out to the end and quit. I do not say that I always see the end from the beginning, but I do see the way as I go along, and follow through until I think I have made out my case and given a complete product, according to the design by which the effort was dictated. I do not know that this is the way to write. I have not been told that it is. I just know that it is the way I write."
Spirit-Filled, The Life of
The Rev. James Blaine Chapman, D.D.
By
D. Shelby Corlett