Noel Smith, Founding editor of the Baptist Bible Tribune

Noel SmithFounding editor of the Baptist Bible TribuneBy Norma GillmingNNOEL SMITH WAS THE EDITORAND FOUNDER of the Baptist BibleTribune, published in Springfield,Missouri, and mailed to Baptist BibleFellowship adherents around the world.From June 23, 1950, until the day of hisdeath, January 12, 1974, Noel Smithwas the voice of the Tribune.A native of the volunteer stateNoel Smith was born in Greenvale,Tennessee, in Wilson County on August7, 1900. When he was a child, his parentsmoved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee,and he lived there until he was 17. Hiseducation was limited to what he receivedin grades one through eight.His salvation and call to preachSmith, at the age of 15, wasconverted to Christ in the FirstPresbyterian Church in Murfreesboro.When he was a teenager, his motherdied, and Smith left home. He becamea railway express agent for 15years. In 1918, Smith was living inChattanooga, Tennessee, and attendeda Billy Sunday meeting. At that meetingSmith gave his life to Christ andpromised he would preach the gospelas long as he lived. After this decision,he began to study his Bible and to readwidely. Soon he was holding meetingsall over the South. In the fall of 1930,Smith resigned his job with the railroadand was ordained into the gospelministry by the Second Baptist Churchof Clarksville, Tennessee.Marriage and familyIn his travels he met the womanwho was to become his wife. He hadbaptized Mattie Linda Stuart in oneof his meetings in May of 1932 inDixon, Tennessee. He married herthe following winter, and during thoseDepression days the two existed onwhat small offerings were given to theitinerant preacher. In 1935, CharlesStuart Smith was born, their only child.During the years Charles was growingup, the family served the Lord in anumber of small churches in Tennesseeand Kentucky.Association with J. Frank NorrisIn the forties, Smith became muchopposed to the climate of the SouthernBaptist Convention which was ledby Louis B. Newton. SBC presidentNewton’s views of communism beingthe child of Christendom caused Smithto “check out” of the Convention. Asa result of Smith’s stand againstNewton, J. Frank Norris invited himto come to Fort Worth and speak to hisFellowship meeting. After speakingseveral times in FortWorth, Norris offeredSmith a teaching positionat the BibleBaptist Seminary.Smith subsequentlyserved as the editorof Norris’ paper,The Funda-mentalist,from 1947 until1950.The foundingof the BaptistBible FellowshipInternationalIn 1950 Smithtook issue with Norris’dictatorial, unethicalleadership, and out of the controversythe Baptist Bible Fellowship was born.Smith played an important role in thefounding of the new fellowship. Hehad laid his career on the line, andthe first entity created as a result ofthe new fellowship was the BaptistBible Tribune. The Smiths moved toSpringfield in 1950, and the paperwas already 11 issues old when thenew Baptist Bible College started. Inthe days and months following, Norrisengaged in a sort of war of words andSmith countered with articles in theTribune. Norris called him, derisively,“Know-All Smith.” Smith returnedthe argument with wonderfully satiricarticles depicting himself as a lowlyhillbilly fighting for truth in his ownunlearned way. After a couple of years,however, the warfare pretty muchceased, and references to Norris weremade no more. Smith was a man whohad better things to do than engage inreligious controversy.The death of his wife, MattieIn 1953 Smith’s beloved wife,Mattie, died of cancer. Smith and hisson, then 18, watched as Mattie slowlywasted away. One of the most poignantNoel Smith, 1900-1974of Smith’s essay was the one publishedJune 12, 1953, entitled “Her Voice WasEver Soft, Gentle, and Low.” After herdeath, he was inconsolable. Friends atthe college were worried that he wouldsuffer a nervous breakdown, and hethrew himself with even more intensityinto his work. In addition to hiseditorial responsibilities, Smith taughtdoctrine and theology at the college.His life was extremely disciplined,and he arrived promptly at the officeat eight every morning and left at fivewith several briefcases full of work forthe evening.His marriage to Willadean BowermanIn 1954 hemarried WilladeanBowerman in Knoxville,Tennessee. Theyhad met earlier thatyear when he spokeat her church duringa seven-night revivalmeeting. She wasplaying the piano.The new Mrs. Smithmoved to Springfield,and she served as thecollege librarian untilhis death. The Smithstraveled extensivelyas the Baptist BibleTribune became morewell known. By 1974,the circulation of theTribune was 27,000.Smith’s final daysNoel Smith said in a 1958 editorial,“a great many of us, like Peter,got a bad start; let us, like him, have asplendid finish.” His health had beenfailing for almost a year, and althoughhe said little about it, those who knewhim, knew that he was not feeling well.He came into his office at the regulartime, and he stayed as long as ever, butthere was something about the way heheld himself and the way he walkedthat revealed he was having problems.There was fluid building up in hischest, and although he was treated forit, he continued to go downhill.He was working on the Tribunethe night he died. He had been writingabout the balm of Gilead the Fridayevening, and although the manuscriptwas just a rough draft, one could seewhere he was headed. He had writtenin large letters across the top of thepage: “There has always been balmand the physician for those who availthemselves of them.”A large host mourned his deathHis funeral was Tuesday, JanuaryOUR BAPTIST HERITAGE 67

15, 1974, in the High Street BaptistChurch. The officiating clergy wereDavid A. Cavin, pastor of High StreetBaptist Church; G.B. Vick, presidentof Baptist Bible College where Smithhad served as Theology Chairman for24 years; W. E. Dowell, executive vicepresidentof the Baptist Bible College;and Bob Jones, Chancellor, Bob JonesUniversity. More than a thousand peoplewere there to pay loving tributeto this man. He truly had a “splendidfinish.”He summarized his life this way:Most all my work, from my childhood,has been lonely work. But Ihave no complaints. And my workhas had, and is having, its rewards.I choose to do what I am doing. Andbecause I know it is worthwhile.Not another like Noel SmithNoel Smith? What was he reallylike? He was an original. Many timesit is possible to meet people who remindyou of other people. Not so withNoel Smith. I never met a man whoreminded me even faintly of him. Hewas unique. He saw life from a totallydifferent viewpoint. He was self-motivatedto a degree I have seldom witnessed,a man of high attainment whoseemed totally unaware of his genius.He was unaffected, modest, humble,and yet his opinion was sought byworld leaders. He did not have toprove anything to anybody; he knewwho he was. He was a realist — anidealist realist.Condensed from Norma Gillming, TheBest of Noel Smith, (Springfield, MO:Self Published, 1985).I can’t remember that I everhad an easy job. When I was a boy,it wasn’t easy to get up at 5 o’clockin the winter and makes fires inthe bedroom and in the kitchen. Asoften as not the slab wood was halfgreen. There were no old newspapers.I wasn’t allowed to use kerosene,which we called coal oil. Toodangerous. But mostly, too costly.You blew and blew — and froze andfroze.And Monday in winter wasworst of all. In addition to the fires,I had to draw water out of the wellto fill the tubs and the iron kettle,so Mama could wash. Had to get upearlier on Monday; school startedat eight. The well-bucket’s ropewas always frozen. I had no gloves.What did a strong boy need withgloves?And then, when I began to “growup” — say, about 12 — it wasn’teasy to get up at 4:30 and carry apaper route, which included BillyGoat Hill. I walked and toted thepapers in a big satchel.And 15 years as a railway expressmessenger were not easyyears. And preaching the gospelduring the “Hoover” depressionwere not easy years. Mostly, I waspaid with God-bless-you’s insteadof the shekels of the sanctuary.“Brother Smith, this has been thegreatest meeting we have everhad in this place. All these precioussouls saved and added to thechurch. Brother Smith, I wish I had$5,000 to give you as a token of appreciationfor this great work.”I would have settled for $5.And more than 20 years of theTribune haven’t been easy years. Inaddition to the work on the TribuneI have always carried a full teachingload. I do all my research, andmost of what I write is pecked outon my personal typewriter. It ishard work. And the hours are long,day and night. And it’s lonely work.Tributes to Noel Smith“We’ve been friends since 1930. I suppose … longer than any two preachersin the Fellowship. I certainly respected him, not only as a true loyal friendand an outstanding preacher, but as a great writer.”– G. Beauchamp Vick“Dr. Noel Smith was one of the founders and leaders of the Baptist BibleFellowship International. His pen was one of the solidifying forces that keptus together through the years.”– A. V. Henderson“He’s been a blessing to the Baptist Bible Fellowship down through theyears. At the beginning of the fellowship his courageous stand for what wasright and for the truth did a great deal to mold and shape the thinking ofmany of the men that started the Fellowship.”– Wendell Zimmerman“I have known him to be a sharp writer, eloquent speaker and a realBible scholar. He is probably one of the most outstanding contributors to theChristian news media and Christian relationships of any man of his age.He’ll probably go down in history as being even greater than he seemed tous who have know him during these years.”– Verle S. Ackerman“I have never known a man with a keener mind, one whose articleshave been a blessing to multiplied thousands, nor have I known a man withgreater devotion to Christ than Noel Smith. He was a natural born writerand in my opinion one of the greatest in this generation. He was a man ofdeep conviction, and stood for what he believed without wavering.”– W. E. Dowell, Sr.– From the Baptist Bible Tribune, January 25, 1974, p. 4.“I consider the late Noel Smith as a true intellectual and one of the topeditors and writers of the twentieth century. As we enter the 21st century,the legacy left by him will live on, becoming a stabilizing force that will helpfundamental Baptists stay the course. His enduring influence will be proofof his outstanding qualities.”– John W. Rawlings68 OUR BAPTIST HERITAGE