The Atlantic Monthly from July 1934 - 'APOSTLE TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY' - Buchman

The Atlantic Monthly from July 1934

'APOSTLE TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY'

Frank N. D. Buchman: Founder of the Oxford Group Movement

BY HENRY P. VAN DUSEN

Title: The Atlantic Monthly – July 1934

Publisher: The Atlantic Monthly Company

Publication Date: July 1934

Pages: Approx. 126

Condition: Very Good – cover retains rich orange color with moderate edge wear and a few small chips; interior pages clean with mild toning typical of age; binding intact. Please review photos for exact condition details.

Featured Article: “‘Apostle to the Twentieth Century’: Frank N. D. Buchman, Founder of the Oxford Group Movement” by Henry P. Van Dusen

This issue of The Atlantic Monthly features a landmark article by Henry P. Van Dusen titled “‘Apostle to the Twentieth Century,’” a full-length profile of Dr. Frank N. D. Buchman, the founder of the Oxford Group movement. Van Dusen describes Buchman’s vision of a worldwide moral and spiritual reawakening, emphasizing his message of radical conversion, personal confession, and disciplined evangelism.

The article details Buchman’s prediction that only a sweeping spiritual revival could rescue civilization from decline, and highlights his innovative model of “peripatetic evangelism” — small, committed groups of men and women carrying the Oxford Group’s message across continents. It also provides a personal sketch of Buchman, tracing his Pennsylvania German Lutheran roots, his early theological struggles, and the experiences that shaped his spiritual leadership.

For readers of 1934, this article presented Buchman as one of the most dynamic religious figures of the era. Van Dusen situates him among world leaders of influence, pointing to the Oxford Group as a force with the potential to reshape modern Christianity.

Collector’s Significance

• Seminal Article: One of the earliest major American magazine features on Frank Buchman and the Oxford Group.
• Historical Context: Captures the international expansion of the Oxford Group in the 1930s, just before its transition into the Moral Re-Armament movement.
• Influence on AA: Provides crucial background on the principles — honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love — that would directly inspire the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
• Condition: Well-preserved example of an early 1930s Atlantic Monthly, with the full article intact.

This issue stands as a historically important artifact, documenting a pivotal moment when the Oxford Group was gaining global momentum and shaping ideas that would influence both religious movements and the founding philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous.