This was originally posted in a thread "Are you in Christ"
I have a few questions.
Does your interest in Church History start with the restoration movement or all the way to the beginning?
The church started with Peter. Correct? Did the church lose some thing that it needed to be restored? And if so what was that they lost?
Also if the church did need to be restored there was some thing that was still there that needed to be restored. What was still there? (Hope that makes since)
Do you know where does Martin Luther fits in to all this? And what influence if any did he have on the restoration movement?
Thank you <><
rogerborn said:Fideist
Yes and no. The American churches of Christ have been around since Thomas and Alexander Campbell in the early 1800's Barton W. Stone began a similar movement around that same era. The two groups met and found they were the same, and joined together about 1824.
The idea of a church of Christ is the restoration of the first century church, minus all the trappings and traditions of the Roman church and its offspring denominations (in the 1600's). Their motto was "Leave your denominations and be just Christians."
Most of this fast growing movement was in the Eastern states, but it flourished more in places like Kentucky (my home state) and Arkansas. As our nation grew, the churches of Christ moved with them, spreading into the Midwest and Texas.
By the time of the Civil War in the 1860's these churches divided between North and South, much the same as the Baptists, Methodists, and all the others divided.
Their division, however, was predicated outwardly on the use of the piano in the worship, which many of the Southern congregations began to employ. Those in the North tended to be against such things, insisting that pianos were not used in the New Testament church worship. Although these dividing lines were not strictly North and South, since in the churches of Christ there is no central headquarters and each congregation is autonomous.
These two group's final split came about the turn of the century, and they have largely remained apart since then.
However, there is a larger difference here between them. The Campbell's looked at the New Testament as a Christian Constitution, complete with Articles and Ordinances. Such a view, being that the Campbells were new to America, and in love with our freedoms, can be excused of them. Besides that, they created the churches of Christ along the congregational model of churches, complete with their buildings and pews, and their songs and traditions. They knew no other church model to follow.
But perhaps you can see that making a church follow the NT as a constitution is not exactly in keeping with the New Testament. There were no constitutions in the first century. This impossed idea, filtering the Word of God through the concept of a constitution, was the seed of their great division. Their charge to the churches was: "Speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent." To their minds, they saw a complete pattern in the New Testament, and they required that everyone should follow that pattern, so that everyone would be alike and there would be no divisions in all the churches.
It was a great idea, but it did not work. Every congregation, reading the New Testament, came up with essentially the same pattern for worship and leadership, but they never agreed with other congregations concerning minor matters. This led to eternal divisions, church splits, spiritual divorcements, - on and on, even to this day.
People, in their zeal to do right, and to maintain the perfect pattern, divided over how many cups to use in the Communion, whether to have Sunday Schools, orphanages, Christian colleges, paid preachers, kitchens and fellowship halls in the buildings, etc., etc., ad nauseum.
Obviously there was a flaw in their perception of the Bible. The churches of Christ, coming out of that division, have grown, but not as well as their divorced brethren, the Christian churches. These churches hold that the Word of God should be kept (speak where the Bible speaks), but they denied the idea that whatever is not mentioned in the NT is prohibited (be silent where the Bible is silent). As a result the Christian church congregations membership numbers in the thousands in some places, while the churches of Christ today are in decline everywhere but in Texas and the Bible belt. More than that, the majority of my beloved brothers are becoming ever more legalistic, as they continue to hold to the idea of a pattern for the Church. (The pattern in the Bible is Christ himself - not a set of rules)
Guess I should stop now, before I write a book! - Sorry.
I grew up in the concervative churches of Christ, but I continue to fellowship every believer in Christ, (as some churches of Christ are also doing, as they continue to restore New Testament Christianity, based on Love).
The difference with me is, I will lovingly tell you up front that you should leave your denomination and be just a Christian. And if you are willing to do that, you should also call on the Name of the Lord, and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. If you have already done this, that is wonderful!!! If not, you are likely in a denomination that practices Finneyism. Finney is the guy who wrote the Sinner's Prayer in the 1840's. He is also the one who threw baptism and communion out of the church. Not a nice fellow, but very popular - many American denominations follow his teachings today - something the church everywhere, in every century, and in every land does not.
Thanks for you kind response to my introduction. I will TRY very HARD not to be so wordy next time!
Love,
Roger
I have a few questions.
Does your interest in Church History start with the restoration movement or all the way to the beginning?
The church started with Peter. Correct? Did the church lose some thing that it needed to be restored? And if so what was that they lost?
Also if the church did need to be restored there was some thing that was still there that needed to be restored. What was still there? (Hope that makes since)
Do you know where does Martin Luther fits in to all this? And what influence if any did he have on the restoration movement?
Thank you <><