| Editor | Alex V. Wilson |
|---|---|
| Former editors | Robert Henry Boll |
| Categories | Churches of Christ |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| First issue | 1908 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Website | Word and Work online |
Word and Work is a religious journal associated with those Churches of Christ that hold to a premillennial eschatology.[1]:782-3[2]:306 It was founded in 1908 by Dr. David Lipscomb Watson.[1]:782
During the period 1912 to 1913 the Word and Work began publishing articles written by Charles M. Neal supporting dispensational millennialism.[1]:783 In 1813 Watson sold the journal to Stanford Chambers, who became the sole editor.[1]:783 Watson, a postmillenialist, was disturbed by the increasing editorial emphasis on premillennialism, and later tried in two unsuccessful lawsuits to regain control of the journal.[1]:783
Chambers sold Word and Work to Robert Henry Boll in 1916.[1]:783 Boll had been a controversial front page editor of the Gospel Advocate, writing articles on Biblical prophecy during his tenure beginning in 1909; he was forced to resign in 1915 as the result of a developing controversy over his millennial views and the importance he placed on biblical prophecy in the study of the Bible.[3]:96 His eschatological focus came into conflict with the church-centered views of other Church of Christ leaders of the time.[2]:306[3]:97 The reaction to Boll's premillennialism helped to define and solidify the amillennial view among the mainstream of the Churches of Christ.[2]:306[3]:97 Under Boll's leadership the Word and Work became the journalistic voice for premillennial Churches of Christ.[1]:783 Boll also used the journal to promote foreign mission work.[1]:783
E. L. Jorgenson and J. R. Clark succeeded Boll as editors when he died in 1956.[1]:783 They were followed by Gordon R. Linscott in 1962, William Robert Heid in 1976 and Alex Wilson in 1986.[1]:783