The Search for the Ancient Order: Vol. 1: A History of the Restoration Movement 1800-1865

by Earl Irvin West

Earl Irvin West, THE SEARCH FOR THE ANCIENT ORDER, 4 volumes.

Vol I. 1800-1865. Covers the formative years of this great movement together with the lives of some of the great early leaders.
0892251549

Vol II. 1866-1900. The traumatic years following the Civil War unfold the coming of liberalism in this book.
B001PNEM4G

Vol III. 1901-1918. The amazing growth of the brotherhood with the stunning development of both its missionary work and its educational development.
B001BXWG52

Vol IV. 1919-1950. A time of wonderful development as seen in the life and work of many workers close to the present day.
B00072Q1OA

Genres: Church History

358 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1949

Reviews

[Jacob Hudgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty solid lay history of the early days of the Restoration Movement in America. West has read widely among the early brotherhood journals and biographies of pioneer preachers and does a good job distilling them without getting bogged down in the controversies.

The book is an uneven read. It is generally chronological, but bounces from place to place. Sometimes there are extended biographical profiles of prominent preachers, while at other times he tells the story of the churches in a certain state. There seems to be little rhyme or reason to this structure. He very often includes extraneous details (such as someone dying on September 3, 1858 at 6:15 pm) that bog the reader down. And occasionally he inserts editorial comments into the text—such as criticizing the growing interest in the missionary society. It doesn’t take much imagination to guess what the author believes.

That said, it is clearly a passion project that represents a great detail of work and research.

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never have I been so captivated by history as with this book. Having grown up reading "church history," it was quite refreshing to read about the history of the restoration movement. Each man was painted in such a way that I could have known them, but the history lost no edge. Very excellent, I would absolutely recommend this to anyone beginning to question modern day Christianity. The movement has roots.

Till the end.