Arnold Schnabel
Arnold O. Schnabel was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1931, the first of four boys. Raised as a Baptist, at fifteen he became dissatisfied when he found inconsistencies between the Bible and Baptist preaching. At the same age his parents gave him permission to go from flying model airplanes to taking flying lessons, provided he earn the money and pay for them himelf. Thus began Arnold’s two life-long interests: Bible study and flying.
He made his first solo flight at fifteen and at 17 entered Purdue University to study aeronautical engineering. The following summer war broke out in Korea (1950) so at age 18 Arnold passed his private pilot’s flight test and one week later entered the U.S. Air Force. After training in Wichita Falls, Texas, he moved to the Amarillo Air Force Base to serve as an instructor in the Advanced Jet Fighter Mechanics School in 1951.
During those five years between the ages of 15 and 20 Arnold had been visiting various churches. None satisfied him as he realized their doctrines derived from church approved manuals, disciplines or catechisms, not Scripture. It seemed to him, even at such a young age, that the Bible ought to be the ONLY authority. Driving down Highway 66 on his first trip io Amarillo he noticed a sign that said “CHURCH OF CHRIST”. The following Sunday he visited them and two things made an especially deep impression. First, both the Bible class teacher and the preacher answered questions by referring to Bible passages rather than creeds or study books. Second, Arnold could hear the sound of many a Bible's pages being turned by the audience. That afternoon he wrote home to say he’d found the church he’d been looking for. In the fall of 1951 he was baptized into Christ, and on his first trip home from the Air Force he converted his father, who saw the truth with tears in his eyes. Arnold’s dad left his office as deacon in a Baptist church and years later served as deacon in the Lord’s church.
Arnold attended two colleges in Amarillo and earned the credits to meet Air Force requirements for pilot training. He studied his Bible, began a library, and preached too. He and another Christian then began flying Arnold’s Pt-22 open cockpit 2-seater plane to preaching appointments, landing on any convenient field, road, or airport. Once, in Oklahoma, the five dollars he was paid for preaching wasn't enough to buy gas for the flight back. Embarrassed to ask for more, Arnold used what little fuel he had to put on a short aerobatic demonstration over a freshly mowed hay field, hoping to attract folks willing to pay a few dollars for the show. It worked, and they made it home too.
After the Korean War, Arnold interrupted his engineering studies to spend two years in Biblical studies at Freed-Hardeman University. He then preached part-time for the Auburn Church of Christ while completing his degree in aeronautical engineering at Auburn University. Graduating in 1958, he moved with his wife, Sue, and their first child to Washington State where he began working for the Boeing Aircraft Company in Research and Development. For eight years he lived and worked with the church in Kirkland too, teaching and preaching.
At Boeing, Arnold’s fellow engineers and scientists Incessantly opposed and challenged him to prove the Bible’s inspiration. Not finding any material suitable for scientists or engineers (who expected evidence to be seen or touched) he promised to provide it himself. Arnold spent six months matching Biblical texts with modern scientific discoveries. This evidence was then discussed during the daily lunch break with about forty coworkers and became the foundation of a lifetime’s work. During this time his fellow Christians became aware of his work on Biblical apologetics and began presenting his material at civic organizations, schools and churches.
In 1966 Arnold left his supervisor’s position with Boeing to work with the 160th Avenue church in Portland Oregon. Here he started three new programs. (1) An adult education class patterned after the very successful one Lowell Williams had established in Kirkland. (2) The daily radio show called “Ask Your Preacher” (Click Here) once again duplicating a successful work of the Kirkland church. This effort was so richly blessed that over 100 souls were added to churches within the range of "Ask Your Preacher" in Oregon. (3) Arnold designed a family centered daily Bible study. He felt too many parents were failing to "train up their own children in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord " (Ephesians 6:4) because they thought Sunday Bible classes would be sufficient. Arnold's program taught parents how to fulfill this responsibility themselves at home. This approach to building children's faith was adopted by many churches.
The 160th Avenue church continued to grow in strength and numbers through the work and sacrifice of the brethren. The church became self-sufficient, appointed elders and deacons, and began supporting its own preacher. Arnold while managing multiple construction jobs through the contracting business he had started. Then, in 1974, Jim Cope, the President of Florida College, held a gospel meeting for the 160th Avenue church and suggested that Arnold move to Tampa, Florida and preach for the Seminole church. Several months later Arnold and his family were settled in Tampa.
After preaching four years for Seminole, he duplicated the three Portland programs a second time and helped establish a new church in Carrollwood. He also built the Carrollwood church's new building which they meet in to this day. Arnold spent 1994 with the church in Moscow, Russia, where he brought the gospel to the Russian people, and through the effort of a Christian translator and English teacher at the Moscow State University also taught groups of professors and students there.
For forty years Arnold spoke to hundreds of churches, universities, schools, and civic groups in ththe USA and abroad. He has addressed the Bible Science Association and the Creation Research Society as well as holding debates at universities, over the radio, and in public forums. He later began preaching for the church in Land O’ Lakes, Florida.
His book, HAS GOD SPOKEN? was published by Arnold himself in the beginning, but then by the Bible Science Association as well as Creation-Life Publishers of The Institute for Creation Research. Has God Spoken? has also been printed in Korean, Japanese, German and Russian. More than 50,000 printed copies have found wide use around the globe and it is now available for free as an e-publication too (Click Here).
HAS GOD SPOKEN? discusses Biblical statements which predate 31 scientific discoveries. Research in archeology proves that Biblical prophecy predicted historical calamities hundreds of years before they took place upon five ancient nations. One chapter examines God’s account of creation, while another presents 20 scientific research studies tdemonstrating that the Earth is young and that modern science harmonizes with the Genesis account.
Arnold left this earth on August 3, 2017 but his website is still active here: "Has God Spken?" Indeed, He has!