John William (J. W.) McGarvey (March 1, 1829 – October 6, 1911) was a minister, author, and religious educator in the American Restoration Movement.

Tremont was heavily populated with transplanted New Englanders, including his Connecticut-bred teacher Kellogg, and was a broadening experience for young McGarvey.

[3] McGarvey's religious upbringing was significant; his mother had been a student of the prominent Restoration Movement leader Barton W. Stone, and his stepfather left a portion of his inheritance to Alexander Campbell's Bethany College, with the interest to go toward the tuition of any of his sons that might attend.

[1] He was deeply impressed by his mentor's elderly father Thomas Campbell and attended devotional services in their home in addition to his regular classes and chapel assemblies.

[5] Though he was pursuing Classical studies and not ministry at Bethany, he determined to become a preacher if his speaking ability developed sufficiently by the time of his graduation.

[6] McGarvey received top honors in his graduating class, and was asked to deliver the traditional commencement address in Greek—which he said "was the result of a vast amount of hunting for Greek words in textbooks, lexicons and the New Testament.

[8] McGarvey declined to take the position; after graduation he rejoined his family, by then in Fayette, Missouri, where he taught a boys' school while pursuing his own studies of the Bible.

[9][10] The extreme partisanship in Missouri led to some of McGarvey's fellow preachers being imprisoned; in 1863 one Augustus Payne was even murdered, though the motivations remain unclear.

"[15] The congregation at Dover, Missouri, had a large attendance of slaves at its regular services, where by custom of the day they were forced to sit in the balcony.

On one occasion during the winter of 1860–1861, a group of whites that McGarvey describes as "rude fellows of a baser sort" tried to prevent the gathering, claiming danger of sedition.

He was offered the ministry at the Main Street Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, and moved to the city where he would spend the remainder of his career.

[18] By 1867 the curriculum had expanded to the extent that McGarvey resigned his position with the Main Street church, though he continued to preach for various congregations on an appointment basis.

Whatever his role in the initial controversy may have been, when called upon to explain his concerns about the management of the college finances, McGarvey's public statements led to an open breach with Bowman.

Benjamin Franklin, a leading conservative, claimed that the entire affair was orchestrated by Bowman and others within the larger University who wanted to bring the College of the Bible more in line with the emerging views of skepticism and Liberal Christianity.

[29] As the 19th century drew to a close, McGarvey witnessed increasing division within the Restoration Movement over specific interpretations of Scripture and over the hermeneutical approach as a whole.

McGarvey held these tenets as essential to the Restoration plea: a belief in the plenary inspiration of the Bible, and a sola scriptura approach to Christian life, doctrine, and church polity.

In 1905 he published one of his most unusual works, The Four-Fold Gospel, a harmonization of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John with running commentary.

[1] Two significant flash points on specific interpretations of Scripture were the introduction of instrumental music into the previously a cappella worship services, and participation in para-church institutions such as missionary societies.

[1] His 1864-65 exchange with Amos Sutton Hayden in the Millennial Harbinger was one of the earliest debates on this topic within the Restoration Movement (see List of Works).