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Henry continued writing and pursued doctoral studies. "Among my concerns," he wrote, "was to engage evangelicals in a discussion of social and cultural problems and to help define authentic involvement."

In 1955, Billy Graham wrote a letter proposing a new magazine, Christianity Today, to showcase evangelical thought. He sent Henry a copy of the letter, in which he urged Henry to become the editor. The project was conceived as a way to "give the liberally oriented Christian Century a run for its biases," Henry wrote. It was designed mainly as a vehicle to "win a hearing for evangelical orthodoxy from non-evangelical scholars." Months of soul-searching and discussion led Henry to accept the post and make the commitment to leave Fuller and become its first editor.

At the helm of Christianity Today, Henry came into contact with thought leaders worldwide. "My mail involved frequent exchanges with liberals and neo-orthodox clergy, with far left ecumenists and far right fundamentalists, with professors, … with clergy, … and with students," he later said. Henry and the magazine gained international prominence and frequent mention in the media.

Henry delighted in recounting a time when he sparred with theologian Karl Barth. Barth invited questions from a group of 200 religious leaders attending a luncheon in his honor. Henry rose and identified himself as "editor of Christianity Today" before asking Barth about his views on the historical fact of Jesus' resurrection. Barth retorted, "Did you say Christianity Today or Christianity Yesterday?" As the audience howled with laughter, Henry countered, "Yesterday, today, and forever."

In 1968, Henry left his post at CT, but continued to write a column titled "Footnotes." He went on to study at Cambridge, England, and to establish the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies (IFACS). He found himself preoccupied with two concerns: the problem of religious knowledge, and the doctrine of God. He became convinced "that if we humans say anything authentic about God, we can do so only on the basis of divine self-revelation; all other God-talk is conjectural." His musings on this and related theological issues gave birth to his six-volume work, God, Revelation, and Authority, completed in 1983.

He returned to the United States to teach at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1971 he served as program chairman for the Jerusalem Conference on Bible Prophecy, and he traveled widely in Asia to promote evangelical thought and offer support and encouragement to indigenous evangelical leaders.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Henry helped shape a new generation of evangelical leadership through his participation in conferences and events worldwide. In 1974, he became lecturer-at-large for World Vision International. Henry logged tens of thousands of air miles annually, visiting every continent. In 1983, he returned to teaching as visiting professor of Christian studies at Hillsdale College in Michigan.

Henry helped shape the vision of evangelical leaders such as Charles Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship. He served on Prison Fellowship's board, as well as the boards of the Institute for Religion and Democracy and the Ethics and Public Policy Center, both in Washington, D.C. An able encourager and champion of evangelicals serving in many facets of society, Henry critiqued evangelical accommodation to a society increasingly at odds with biblical standards. In an attempt to unify evangelicalism, which he considered to be splintering over secondary issues, Henry and former Christianity Today editor Kenneth Kantzer co-chaired a conference on Evangelical Affirmations in 1989.

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December (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47