Revision as of 01:39, 16 October 2021

William "Bill" MacDonald was an itinerant (OB) preacher, and an author of over 84 books, including Believers Bible Commentary which has been translated into many languages. He served as President of Emmaus Bible College, and never married.

Birth

Bill was born on Jan. 7, 1917 on Blossom St., in Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, a son of William MacDonald and his wife Jessie Morrison MacDonald. The family emigrated from Scotland in 1907. When Bill was three, his father was employed at a piano factory. By 1930, the family was living on Raymond Ave., in Somerville, Middlesex, MA, and William, Sr. was self-employed as a furniture finisher, where he continued the same line of work in 1940, according to censuses.

Bill had an older brother Ian Morrison MacDonald (b. Dec. 25, 1914 Boston, MA - d. Nov. 17, 2003). Ian served with the U.S. Army from Oct. 14, 1952 until May 31, 1972.

Father

Bill's father, William, was born on June 18, 1884 at Lewis Ross, North Dell, Barvas, Ross and Cromarty, otherwise known as Ness, Scotland, to Murdo MacDonald (b. 1843 Lewis Ross, Knockaird) and Mary Gunn MacDonald (b. 1851 Lewis Ross, North Dell). Murdo labored as a tenant farmer, known as a crofter.

Mother

Bill's mother, Jessie, was born about 1875 at Habosh Barvas, Ross Shire, in Scotland, a daughter of John Morrison (b. 1843 Habosh Barvas, Ross Shire) and Jessie (b. 1843 Galson Barvas, Ross Shire). John was employed as a crofter, also.

Publishing

Refusing to accept royalties for his books, he established a fund for translating the commentary into foreign languages. Many of his books are also available as eBooks.

Books

• 4 Men With a Message, Everyday.
  • Spanish: Cuatro Hombres con un Mensaje
• 16 Men With a Message: The Old Testament Prophets, Everyday.
  • Spanish: Cuatro Hombres con un Mensaje
• Alone in Majesty: The Attributes of a Holy God, Gospel Folio Press, 2004.
• Armageddon Soon?, ECS
• Be Holy: The Forgotten Command, John Ritchie Ltd.
• Break Me, Lord!, Everyday.
  • Spanish: ¡Quebrántame, Señor!
• Christ Loved the Church: An Outline of New Testament Church Principles, Gospel Folio Press, 2008.
  • Congo Swahili: Kristo Alipenda Kanisa
• Christ’s Plan for the Church (five videos), Gospel Folio Press
• Does it Pay to Pray? (co-authored with Carl Knott), Everyday
• Drugs, Demons, and Destruction (tract),
• Enjoy Your Bible!, co-authored by Art Farstad; Gospel Folio Press, 1999.
  • Telugu EYB, OM Books, 2018.
• God Still Speaks, Gospel Folio Press.
• Heaven (Expanded edition), Everyday
• Heaven: Home, Sweet Home, Everyday Publications, 2015.
• Here's the Difference: Bringing Important Biblical Distinctions Into Focus
  • Revised & Expanded Edition, Gospel Folio Press.
• Is Jesus God?, Everyday Publications. Co-authored by James Naismith & John Smart; Condensed from God the Son: A Symposium
• How to Begin Your New Life
• Joseph Makes Me Think of Jesus, Gospel Folio Press
• Let Me Introduce You to the Bible, Walterick Publishers, 1980.
• Living Above the Average, Gospel Folio Press.
• Lord, Break Me!, ECS
• My Heart, My Life, My All, Gospel Folio Press. A companion book to True Discipleship.
  • New Edition
  • Spanish: Mi Corazon, Mi Vida, Mi Todo Llamada De Medianoche
• Now That Is Amazing Grace, Gospel Folio Press.
• Once in Christ, In Christ Forever, Gospel Folio Press
• One Day at a Time: 365 Soul-Stirring Daily Meditations, Gospel Folio Press.
  • Spanish: Devocionales: de dia en Dia: 365 verdades por las cuales vivir
• Only One Time Around, Everyday.
• Our God is Wonderful, Gospel Folio Press, 2001. Companion book to The Wonders of God.
• Return to God, Everyday.
  • Congo Swahili: Rudi Kwa Mungu
• Seek Ye First, ECS
• Singleness: A Male Perspective, Everyday.
• The Day Jesus Came to My House, Everyday.
• The Disciple's Manual, Gospel Folio Press, 2004
• The Doctrine of the New Testament, Everyday.
  • Congo Swahili: Mafundisho ya Agano Jipya
• The Good News, Moody
• The Messiah. An Interpretation of the Oratorio, Unpublished
• The Problem of Lust, Everyday.
  • Spanish: El problema de la lujuria
• The Wonders of God, Gospel Folio Press, 2001. Companion book to Our God is Wonderful.
• Think of Your Future, ECS
• This Is How The Lord Led Me: William MacDonald tells stories from his life
  • Hungarian: Így vezetett engem az Úr - William MacDonald történeteket mesél életéből. Evangéliumi Kiadó és Iratmisszió, 2021.
• True Discipleship. Companion book to My Heart, My Life, My All.
  • Study Guide Version (GFP, 2016)
  • French: Le vrai disciple
  • Telugu: GS Media, 2019.
• What Christians Believe, Moody Press
• William Barclay - Are His Writings Dependable?, op
• Winning Souls the Bible Way, ECS
• Worlds Apart Gospel Folio Press, 2002.

Bible Commentaries

• 1 Peter: Faith Tested, Future Triumphant Harold Shaw Publishers, 1972. Amazon
• 2 Peter and Jude, ECS
• Books of the Prophets Book 1 - Doctrines on Isaiah, Everyday.
  • Congo Swahili: Vitabu Vya Manabii Kitabu 1 - Mafundisho juu ya Isaya
• Books of the Prophets Book 2 - Doctrines on Jeremiah and Lamentations, Everyday.
  • Congo Swahili: Vitabu Vya Manabii Kitabu 2 - Mafundisho juu ya Yeremia na Maombolezo
• Books of the Prophets Book 3 - Doctrines on Ezekiel & Daniel, Everyday.
  • Congo Swahili: Ezekieli na Danieli - Vitabu Vya Manabii Kitabu 3
• Doctrines on the Bible: Matthew - Acts, Everyday.
  • Kiswahili: Mafundisho juu ya Biblia AGANO JIPYA: Matayo - Matendo, Everyday.
• Doctrines on the Bible: Romans - Colossians, Everyday.
  • Congo Swahili: Mafundisho juu ya Biblia AGANO JIPYA: Waroma - Wakolosayi
• Enjoying Ecclesiastes, ECS
• Enjoying the Book of Acts, ECS.
• Enjoying the Minor Prophets, ECS.
• Enjoying the Proverbs, ECS
• Enjoying the Psalms, Vols. 1 and 2, ECS
• Ephesians: The Mystery of the Church, ECS
• Hebrews:
  • Hebrews: From Ritual to Reality, ECS
  • Hebrews: From Shadow to Substance, Moody Correspondence School
• Kingdom Divided: Kings to Esther, Everyday Publications
  • Spanish: Reino dividido
• Letters to the Thessalonians, Walterick, 1982.
• Old Testament Digest 1, ECS
• Old Testament Digest 2, ECS
• Old Testament Digest 3, ECS
• Proverbs – A Study on Proverbs, Gospel Folio Press, 2009.
  • Proverbs: A Devotional Commentary, Gospel Folio Press, 2009.
• Romans: Justification by Faith, ECS
• Sixteen Men with a Message: Isaiah to Malachi, Everyday
• The Acts, Dynamic Christianity, ECS
• The Gospel of Matthew (Behold Your King), ECS
• The Pocket New Testament Commentary, Everyday.
• Titus, ECS

Believers Bible Commentary

Believers Bible Commentary, Thomas Nelson Publishers. Edited by Arthur L. Farstad.

Whole Bible

English

• 1st ed. 1995 BBC
• 2nd ed. 2016 English BBC; [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FYB4WGM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0 Kindle BBC]

Old Testament

• Albanian, Chinese (two editions – Simple and Classic), German, Korean, Romanian and Spanish, Turkish and Urdu: see PlymouthBrethren.org

New Testament

• English: English New Testament BBC, 1990.
• Kannada: Kannada BBC, GS Media, 2016.
• Punjabi: Punjabi BBC, GS Media, 2016.

• Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Burmese, Chinese (both Simple and Classic available), Croatian, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Malayalam, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese: See PlymouthBrethren.org

Booklets

Dime Publishers (D&K Press)

• Final Destiny, Dime Publishers.

Emmaus Worldwide

• Fundamental, Important, and Non-Essential Issues: A Suggested Method for Resolving Differences in the Assembly
  • Walterick Publishers
• God's Answers to Man's Questions
• That's a Good Question!
• The Grace of God in Salvation
• There's a Way Back to God
• True Brokenness

Walterick Publishers

• Grasping for Shadows
• To What Should We Be Loyal? Walterick Pub.; ECS Ministries, 2016.

Tracts

Crossway Books & Bibles

• Are You Going To Heaven?, 2012.

Gospel Folio Press

• Would a Loving God Send People to Hell?

Emmaus Worldwide Bible Courses

Emmaus Worldwide is a correspondence school and publishing house formerly known as ECS Ministries, and is headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa on the campus of Emmaus Bible College. The following courses were written primarily by Bill MacDonald (with others credited).

Bible Studies

• Ecclesiastes: Is There Meaning to Life?
• Revelation
• The First Letter to the Corinthians
• The Gospel of John
• The Gospel of Luke
• The Gospel of Mark
• The Gospel of Matthew, 2010.
  • The Gospel of Matthew: Behold Your King, Walterick Pub., 1974.
• The Letter of James
• The Letters of John, 2021.
• The Letter to the Galatians
• The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon
• The Letter to the Romans
  • Two-Part Version: Romans 1-8 & Romans 9-16
  • Good News for All: The Letter to the Romans
• The Second Letter to the Corinthians
• Letters to Timothy and Titus
  • co-authored by V. Paul Flint)

Doctrinal

• Buried by Baptism
• Christ Loved the Church
• God's Word Is Truth
• Guide to Christian Growth
  • co-authored by Cyril Brooks
• Lessons for Christian Living
• Summary of the Bible
• The Bible Tells Me So
  • co-authored by Kevin Dyer
• The Lord's Supper and Baptism (Doctrinal Series)
  • co-authored by Neil M. Fraser
• What The Bible Teaches (Foundation Series)
• Winning Souls the Bible Way

Prison Ministry

• Born to Win
• Doing Time with Jesus

Death

Bill died at 9:20 pm (PST) on Christmas, Dec. 25, 2007 in San Leandro, California and was buried with a military gravestone in Hayward, Alameda, CA. His memorial and graveside service are available at PlymouthBrethren.org, courtesy of Kevin Engle, along with many of his articles.

Also See

Tributes

• Tribute courtesy Kevin Engle of Dallas, TX
• Tribute courtesy Andreas Lindner of Piding, Germany
• Facebook Tribute

Audio Ministry

• Voices for Christ
  • over 481 messages 1962-2003
• SoundCloud
  • over 709 messages
• Bill's testimony

Sources

• Ancestry.com
• William-MacDonald.org
• WilliamMacDonald.blogspot.com