Weird Tract Number 82: "Faith For The Family" Magazine March 1983 by Bob Jones University

Troy Davis writes:

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts has several copies of the Bob Jones University-published Faith For The Family, a periodical published by the university between 1973 and 1986. A couple of the magazines in the museum's collection contain articles written by Avro Manhattan (1914-1990), scourge of the Vatican and part of Jack Chick's stable of authors. Like Chick Publications, Bob Jones U. is one of the fundamentalist institutions that was not mealy-mouthed about its anti-Catholicism when others in the movement began calling for a more ecumenical approach to the Vatican in the latter half of the 20th century. The University also got in hot water in the 1970s regarding its restrictive policies about interracial dating and black admissions, leading the IRS to revoke the school's tax exempt status in 1976.

The March 1983 edition of the magazine is notable because of a critical article about Jack Chick ("Chick Publications: Comic Book Christianity") by BJU's Mark Sidwell (who is still a professor of history at the school). Sidwell is critical of Chick's King James Only theology. He also raises questions about Chick's associates, namely John Todd (whose claims about being a former Satanist have been discredited) and Alberto Rivera. Sidwell noted that an actual former priest-turned-fundamentalist Bartholomew Brewer's interactions with Rivera raised serious doubts about Rivera's claims of having been in the priesthood. This article is notable in that a university professor uses the archaic pejorative term "Romanist" when referring to Catholicism.  The entire article is at the end of this post.

Note: That's an odd way to appeal to minorities!
The back cover of the magazine has an ad for the university with the title "Minority Involvement" pictured is a Bob Jones U cheerleader with 1980s big hair and who is so white she looks like she could fit right in at a Cheney family reunion. The text emphasizes how Bob Jones U is truly a minority movement because of its unwavering adherence to the Bible in an increasingly secular culture.

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

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