During the later stage of his life (the late 1950s through the mid 1970s), Sidney Cox became enamored with a new technology – the reel-to-reel tape recorder. He envisioned a new method of preaching and teaching – by sharing his recorded sermons and Bible lessons.
While serving as Professor of New Testament at the Miami Bible Institute in the late 1950s and later at the Toccoa Falls (Georgia) Bible College, he began to record his class lectures.
He was still in wide demand as a preacher and teacher, particularly within the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church and The Salvation Army. When he traveled, he took his tape recorder and continued to build an audio library of his sermons and lessons. However, his beloved wife, Violet suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis and ultimately became a near invalid. Sidney Cox was her sole care-giver. He thus curtailed his otherwise extensive travels and limited his preaching engagements. But, he envisioned the opportunity to distribute audio recordings when he had to decline invitations to preach and teach.
Following his death in 1975, in due course, I came into possession of his rather extensive collection of reel-to-reel audio tapes. It was my hope to find a way to preserve them for posterity and to be able to share them with others, primarily his family and friends. Over a 10-year period, I embarked upon a project to organize these tapes, convert them to digital format and to then transcribe these recordings.
This website now hosts this library of the sermons and Bible lessons of Sidney Cox for you to enjoy. For each recording, I have attached the transcription in .pdf file format for reading and the related audio recording in .mp3 format for listening. I have included a brief introduction for each recording providing the background of that particular occasion – the date, the location and other relevant information. I also provided occasional footnote annotations to provide further insight into particular references which I thought might be of informational value.
My recommendation for your full enjoyment is to launch the transcription file in your original browser window. Then launch the related audio file in a second browser window. You will then be able to read as you listen.
Sidney Cox once said, “One day, you will hear that Sidney Cox is dead and gone. Don’t believe it!” He was primarily referring to his music, although I think he also hoped his recorded sermons and Bible lessons would endure. Through this library, it is my hope that his words might truly prove to be prophetic.
John Douglas Cox, grandson. March 30, 2015.
