LOOKING BACK

LOOKING BACK

Rhoderick D. Ice

 

         Everyone has Grandparents, Great-grandparents, and so on - all the way back to Adam and Eve in the Garden.  And this is how it is in the history of the church also.  We stand on the shoulders of those who lived before us.  And this is true even when we know nothing about it.

         When PENTECOST came, God had been preparing the world for it since the beginning of time. Centuries of Jewish history led up to that great Day.  "God does not have emergencies; He has Plans." History, then, is marching toward the END which God had planned. It cannot be otherwise.

         Present day Churches of Christ are rediscovering their  roots.  Tours bring people from all over the nation to Bethany, W.Va., where the Campbells lived; to Cane Ridge in Kentucky, where the "Great Revival" touched Barton W. Stone and others; and to other places where our fathers in the faith struggled with the IDEAL of what we now term "Restoration." [Stone & Campbell spoke of the "Continuing Reformation."]  Books & papers have been printed; videotapes produced; all to take us back to previous times so that we can KNOW what these Pioneers of Faith thought and did in their own lifetimes.

         "CAPTIVES OF THE  WORD" has been reprinted by College Press.  Louis & Bess Cochran chronicle the history of the "Movement With Three Faces" [this is an important fact] in a smooth, flowing way which makes excellent reading.  Every preacher and elder should be required to read this book. We may have differences on what the past means to us today. But we cannot deny it.  Our past is fact.  It really happened.

         The Campbells, father & son, [the defacto leaders] were impelled by an intense loyalty to Christ Jesus.  They took His "Great Commission" as a mandate to conquer the World with the Gospel of Christ.  They believed that to convert the World to Christ would usher in a Golden Age.  They took Jesus' prayer for unity (John 17:20-21) as the MEANS to accomplish Christ's command.  To create this UNITY, they believed it was only necessary to persuade "believers in Christ" to RECOVER the ANCIENT ORDER which they saw existing in the church while the Apostles lived on the earth.  "Go back," they said, "all the way back, beyond the years of change and distortion, to RECOVER the purity and power of the First Century Church."

         The "Movement With Three Faces" was never monolithic - even though many make this claim.  Walter Scott wrote about how things were in 1827. "There are three parties struggling to restore original Christianity: the first of them calling themselves "the Churches of Christ"; the second calling themselves "Christians"; and the third lying at that time chiefly in the bosom of the Baptist Churches and originating with the writings and labors of Brother A. Campbell.  To the first of these parties up to 1826, belonged your humble servant, W.S."  [The Evangelist, April 1832:94]  Note: the "Churches of Christ" which Scott mentions, were the New Independents led by Haldane, Glas, Sandeman, etc. The “Christians" were the Stone movement.   The Campbells favored the name, "Disciples of Christ." These three names were used interchangeably before 1906.

         Building on the roots and foundations from the "New Independents" in England, the "Scotch Baptists," and others on the continent of Europe, Alexander Campbell led the way in searching out just what were the faith and practices of the IDEAL church in the Scriptures.  In "Captives of the Word," we watch as he and the others struggle to find form for their faith.  By the close of the "War Between The States," this "Movement To Recover The Ancient Order" had grown to become perhaps the fourth largest religious group in the USA.

         Around 1830 these three independent "streams" came together to form what we are now calling: The Restoration Movement.  Until 1906 "Church of Christ," "Christian Church," "Disciples of Christ," described the exact same group of people.  These people made the claim to be: "Not The Only Christians - But Christians Only."  This is not to say that each [local] church thought exactly the same.  "Instrumental music" became a serious issue in the latter 1800's.  But formal division over it did not come until Daniel Sommer's address at Sand Creek, Illinois, 1889. By 1906 the separation was "formalized."  Today many have no knowledge of the fact that unity once existed.

         It was a Golden Age in some ways. The Campbells, Scott, Stone, and a host of others were Pioneers of Faith!  Thousands were baptized into Christ - every year!  Churches were planted all over the USA and in other countries besides.  Sectarianism was being defeated!  The Ancient Order was being put back into local churches.  It seemed this Movement was invincible!  But the "War Between The States" smothered the flame and almost put it out.  The Movement began to shatter, not immediately, but the seeds of disunity were sown.

         World War II, strangely enough, brought new life.  Returning from the arena, many were captured by the challenge of a World To Be Won To Christ!  Churches of Christ exploded with growth as they took the Gospel to all the world - including friends and neighbors.  And this continued into the 1960's.

         But once again, Satan persuaded some to begin drawing lines and creating “issues.” Growth began to slow around 1965, and today very little growth is taking place over the whole brotherhood.  [Some churches are very much alive and growing.]

         The past is gone forever. We cannot call it back!  What has already taken place should be of great interest.  We must restudy our roots and the mistakes of the past.  But the words of JESUS ring out! "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature..."

 

BOOKS OF INTEREST:

 

"CAPTIVES OF THE WORD"  Louis & Bess Cochran, College Press, Joplin,  MO 64801

[A Restoration History]

 

"FOOL OF GOD"  Louis Cochran, College Press [The life of Alexander Campbell]

 

"RACCOON JOHN SMITH"  Louis Cochran, College Press [The life of the Kentucky Preacher]

 

"DISCOVERING OUR ROOTS"  Allen & Hughes, ACU Press [The Ancestry of the Churches of Christ]

 

"CHRISTIANS ONLY"  Murch, Standard

[A History from the "Independent" point of view]