Our God, He Is Alive

Terry Gardner wrote the following biographical sketch of A. W. Dicus, author of the song "Our God, He Is Alive." Since we sing this song frequently, I thought you might enjoy knowing more about the composer.

Aaron Wesley Dicus deserves at least a passing mention on the List. He was born near St. Louis, Missouri (in the small town of Festus) on 30 May 1888. He obeyed the gospel in the fall of 1908. He was extraordinarily well educated for his time. He obtain a B.S. degree from Marion Normal in 1912. He later obtained an A.B., M.A., and Ph.D., from Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana. With this education he became a teacher and he taught in the High Schools of Illinois and Indiana, including teaching seven years at Indianapolis. He then taught science at Indiana University and in 1930 he moved to Cookville, Tennessee where he became a professor of physics and the head of the science department at what was then called the T.P.I. Cookville (Tenn. Tech). In about 1951 Dicus was persuaded by James R. Cope to move to Florida and work at Florida Christian College. This is did for several years until he retired from school work about 1954.

Dicus began preaching work in the summer of 1913. He held his first gospel meeting in 1915. He often spoke at the north Indianapolis congregation where Daniel Sommer was a member. While living in Indiana he filled regular appointments at Cloverdale, Crawfordsville, Traders Point (Indianapolis), Bloomington and Bedford. For two years he did regular work at the Ridgedale congregation (Chattanooga) and at Rossville, Georgia. After moving to Florida he preached for c ongregations in Miami and Winter Haven, Florida.

After his 1954 "retirement" Dicus authored three small books: Sermon Outlines, A Commentary on Hebrews and Romans and Church Leadership. He also wrote about 35 songs. His two best known songs are "Our, God, He Is Alive," and "Lord, I Believe."