Liberty Magazine from August 1938 - How Honest is the Oxford Group?
Title: Liberty Magazine – August 6, 1938
Publisher: Macfadden Publications
Publication Date: August 6, 1938
Pages: Approx. 64
Condition: Fair – front cover partially detached from spine; back cover has pen writing; interior pages show age toning but remain intact and readable. Please review photos for exact condition details.
Featured Article: “How Honest is the Oxford Group?” by Emily Newell Blair
This issue of Liberty magazine features Emily Newell Blair’s in-depth examination of the Oxford Group, titled “How Honest is the Oxford Group?” The article investigates the movement’s emphasis on “absolute honesty” as a guiding principle of life transformation. Blair describes the Oxford Group’s practice of requiring members to admit wrongs, make restitution, and adopt rigorous moral accountability as a path to spiritual renewal.
With striking anecdotes, including stories of individuals making amends for past dishonesty and the challenges of applying such radical honesty in everyday life, Blair evaluates whether the Group’s ideals are practical, effective, or extreme. She also explores the Oxford Group’s wider social influence, particularly its impact on conversations about morality, psychology, and religion in the 1930s.
For collectors and historians, this article offers a vivid contemporary portrait of the Oxford Group at its cultural height, just a year before its principles directly influenced the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Collector’s Significance
- Oxford Group History: A rare contemporary critique of the movement’s radical emphasis on honesty.
- AA Connection: Highlights the philosophy that helped shape the moral foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous.
- Cultural Commentary: Provides insight into public perceptions of new religious movements in the late 1930s.
- Condition: Fair copy with flaws noted but historically valuable content intact.
This issue is an important artifact of pre-WWII American publishing, documenting both the popular press and the spiritual experiments that influenced one of the most significant recovery movements of the twentieth century.
