George Bennard
Feb 4, 1873 – Oct 10, 1958
Feb 4, 1873 – Oct 10, 1958
But God forbid that I should boast except in the Cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the
world – Gal.
6:14.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to
those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God –1 Cor. 1:18.
Bennard, who was born in
Youngstown, Ohio, was the son of George and Margaret Russell Bennard, of
Scottish descent. The couple, who had five other children, moved their family
to Albia, where the senior Bennard ran a tavern, and later to Lucas. When the
Albia tavern burned, the father of the house turned to mining coal, and an
accident led to his death at 49, forcing young George, at 16, to support his
mother and sisters as a miner.
In 1895, across the state in
Canton, Bennard attended Salvation Army meetings, and at 24 became a minister
when he enlisted in the Salvation Army at Rock Island, Ill. By 1898, he was
conducting revival meetings throughout the Midwest, later transferring to New
York, where he resigned in 1910 to go out on his own as an evangelist. It was
at that time that he began composing hymns. Bennard settled at Albion, Mich.,
and opened his own hymn publishing company. It was at Albion that he likely
began - and later finished - "The Old Rugged Cross." The hymn was
first sung formally at a revival meeting at Pokagon, Mich. Noted evangelist
Billy Sunday, an Iowa native, popularized the hymn with his nationally
broadcast radio show. By 1939, more than 15 million copies of the hymn had been
sold and numerous recordings made.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, liberalism and its
denial of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith was in its
heyday. After this era, Methodism in the British Isles and America never
recovered from its romance with liberalism. However, Rev. Bennard at the foot
of the cross, took his stand for the faith once delivered to the saints.
Subsequently, he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and
became a distinguished Midwestern Holiness evangelist. The message of
“holiness” in the late nineteenth century was a message advocated by John
Wesley and historic Methodism. Not until the early twentieth century was this
term mixed with excesses not advocated by Wesley and historic Methodism. Rev.
Bennard did not associate himself with the excesses of the twentieth century
but was rather associated with the biblical message of purity of heart and
life.
Before Bennard wrote this song, he was deeply into the study
of the Cross and spent many hours into reading and meditating on it until he
said, “I was praying for a full
understanding for the cross and its plan in Christianity. I read and studied
and prayed. I saw Christ and the Cross inseparably. The Christ of the Cross
became more than a symbol . . it was like seeing John 3:16 (For God so loved
the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life) leave the printed page, take form
and act out on the meaning of redemption. While watching this scene with my
mind's eye, the theme of the song came to me, and with it the melody.”
Upon Bennard's death in 1958, the local chamber of commerce
of Reed City, Michigan, erected a large memorial cross near the Bennard home as
a tribute to the evangelistic life of Reverend and Mrs. George Bennard, and to
his most famous beloved song. A year later, The Old Rugged Cross Historical
Museum was dedicated near the same site. The cross and the museum still stand
today.
LET US PRAY:
- The Cross as an emblem of our faith, is not a beautiful ornament (hung on a gold chain or a beautiful carving overlaid with gold, standing in front of our church). It is rugged, rough - an emblem of suffering and shame. Dear Lord, please open my eyes to see the Cross where my Saviour died as George Bennard saw it.
- Rev. Bennard was a remnant (the holiness movement) in an era of LIBERAL CHRISTIANITY when the doctrine of the atonement was being denied. Things are now somehow worse with the church since then. Lord, please keep me by Your grace and shield my soul from the decay that is all around.
- Help me Lord to cling to, not just sing THE OLD RUGGED CROSS.
1. On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.
2. O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.
3. In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
4. To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.
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