And
God HID Himself from the wise or Sophists:
rhetoricians, singers, instrumentalists. And Jesus does
not even pray for the WORLD. The
Stone-Campbell Movement is a human institution
made up of theologians for which there is no reason to
exist. It is fitting that the Stone Campbell theologians
speak and write for the Stone Campbell theologians.
The
founder and disciples of the Stone-Campbell Movement are
decidedly hostile to the ANTI-intrument
churches
of Christ. They deny that the epistles are Scripture
(Garrett). They promote and apparently presume the Direct
Operation of a Holy Spirit person 'who' produces UNITY without
respect to the doctrine of Christ. They promote the H.
Leo Boles version of the "trinity" defining this godhead as
"three centers of consciousness able to hold communion." John
calls this the mark of anti-Christ.
The
Purpose Driving this review is to prove that Churches
of Christ were never part of the Stone-Campbell
Movement which probably was hatched in the 1970's.
Only individual congregations were united by Christ and His
command---
Matthew 28:19 Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
---Until
men decided that doctrine (that which Jesus spoke) should
never stand in the way of "unity" even when they intentionally
manufacture massive discord. They introduced
anti-Scriptural practices such as trying to worship a Spirit
God in the human spirit by using "machines for doing
hard work." This "unity" never extended beyond
individual congregations fully occupied with their own work.
Those
who agreed with (not necessarily taught by) the Campbells
never believed in the "trinity," their major thesis was to
stop division by teaching what the Bible taught, never
believed in or practiced the use of "instrumental" worship at
any time in history and clearly agreed with Calvin who called
those who heard the Spirit outside of the Word were
fanatics. Worship agreed with the church in the
wilderness onward: the qahal, synagogue or ekklesia was for
reading and understanding the Word of God. No one in the
Bible ever assembled for congregational "worship" to engage in
singing with or without instruments.
As
I have looked at events and dates where division was intentionally
caused, I have added lots of Scripture revealed
in distinct "words" and "thought patterns"
because nothing which occurred in the Stone-Campbell
Movement's claims should ever be allowed to stand between the
individual and Jesus Christ and His Word.
I
have devoted decades to researching the literature which
illustrates what a word would mean to the people of
Scripture's first audience. Whatever the mind-set
of individual Bible writers, their allusion to pagan religions
marks any modern revisionist as intending to trump
all known literature and church history.
Peter
defined as "building" or "educating" value the prophets
led by the Spirit OF Christ and these prophecies made
more certain by Jesus of Nazareth and left "for our memory."
Thus, a Church of Christ is built upon the Prophets
and Apostles with Jesus Christ (sent back
as The Holy Spirit). Peter also outlaws private interpretations
or further expounding of these prophecies which define
Messiah's REST both inclusively and exclusively. Paul outlaws
Corrupting the Word or "selling it at retail:
MARK
OF THE WORLD
2 Co.1:12 For our rejoicing is this,
the testimony of our conscience,
that in simplicity
and godly sincerity,
not with fleshly
wisdom, but by the grace of God,
we have had our conversation
in the world, and more abundantly to youward.
Grace, like Word or Logos
(opposite poetry or music) is another title for Jesus of
Nazareth whom God made to be both Lord and Christ.
| Titus
2:11 For the [1] grace
of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, |
John 1:14 And the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father,) full of grace and truth. |
Titus 2:12
[2]
Teaching
us that, |
Acts 2:14 But Peter,
standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and
said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that
dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken
to my words: |
[3] denying ungodliness
and worldly lusts,
|
Acts 2:36 Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God
hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified,
both Lord and Christ. |
| [4] we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world; |
Acts 2:37 Now when
they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and
said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men
and brethren, what shall we do? |
Titus 2:14
[5] Who gave himself
for us, |
Acts 2:38 Then Peter
said unto them Repent, |
[6] that he might redeem
us from all iniquity,
[Lawlesness]
Lutron redeem, Luo lavo , cleanse or wash,
bathe,
lave. louô, purify,
tina ek tôn hamartiôn
Col. 1:14 In whom we have redemption
through his blood,
|
and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ
for the
remission of sins,
Redemption or Remission happens ONLY after
BAPTISM
even
the forgiveness of sins: |
[7] and
purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works. |
and ye shall receive
the gift of A holy spirit |
2 Cor 1:12 Hē gar kaukhēsis hēmōn hautē estin, to marturion tēs suneidēseōs hēmōn, hoti en hagiotēti kai eilikrinia tou theou, kai ouk en sophia sarkikē all' en khariti theou, anestraphēmen en tō kosmō, perissoterōs de pros humas:
Sophia , A.cleverness
or skill in handicraft and art, of the Telchines
[Simon father of Judas] , Pi.O.7.53;
hē entekhnos s., of Hephaestus and Athena; in music and
singing, tekhnē kai s. h.Merc.483,
cf. 511; in poetry,
Sol.13.52, Pi.O.1.117,
Ar.Ra.882,
X.An.1.2.8,
in divination, S.OT 502
(lyr.); “dusthanatōn hupo sophias eis gēras aphiketo” Pl.R.406b;
s. dēmēgorikē, dikanikē, ib.365d; hē peri Homērou s. Id.Ion 542a;
“ou sophia alla phusei poiein” Id.Ap.22b;
“sēmainontes tēn s . . ., hoti aretē tekhnēs estin” Arist.EN1141a12:
rare in pl., Pi.O.9.107,
Ar.Ra.676
(IG12.522 (vase, v
B.C.).
MARK OF THE WORLD
2Cor. 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the
word of God:
but as of sincerity, but
as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
17
ou gar esmen hōs hoi polloi kapēleuontes ton logon tou theou, all' hōs ex eilikrinias, all' hōs ek theou katenanti theou en Khristō laloumen.
kapēl-euō ,
A.
to be a retail-dealer, drive a
petty trade, Hdt.1.155, 2.35, Isoc.2.1, Nymphod.21, IG11(2).161
A16 (Delos, iii B.
C.), BGU1024 vii 23
(iv A. D.); di' apsukhou boras sitois kapēleu' drive a trade,
chaffer with your vegetable food, E.Hipp.953.
II.
c. acc., sell
by retail, “ton herpin” Hippon.51.
2.
metaph., k. ta prēgmata, of Darius, Hdt.3.89; k. ta mathēmata sell
learning by retail, hawk it about, Pl. Prt.313d;
“k. ton logon tou theou” 2 Ep.Cor.2.17;
so eoiken ou kapēleusein makhēn will not peddle
in war, i. e. fight half-heartedly, A.Th. 545;
“k. tē Khariti tēn amoibēn” Epicur.Sent.Vat.39;
k. tēn politeian traffic in
grants of citizenship, D.C.60.17;
k. tēs hōras anthos or tēn hōran, of prostitutes,
Ph.2.394,576;
eirēnēn pros Rhōmaious Khrusiou k. Hdn.6.7.9;
tukhē kapēleuousa . . ton bion playing tricks
with life, corrupting it, AP9.180
Another
way to CORRUPT the Written Logos of the Living Logos:
"Historians"
-- especially clergy -- are infamous for putting their own
dogma into the words of famous people. In Athenian Law
and others it was not lawful for philosophers, rhetoricians,
poets or musicians to write "true history."
It
is pretty easy to get in "goose step" with
anything "scholars" write and fail to return to teaching "that
which has been taught."
Christ
in Jeremiah etal defines the CENI
Jer 23:18
For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord,
and hath perceived
and heard his word?
who hath marked
his word, and heard it?
Men of the Stone-Campbell Movement,
that's who, since the do not go back to the unpolluted
spring.
Jer 23:19
Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury,
even a grievous
whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head
of the wicked.
Jer 23:20
The anger of the Lord shall not return,
until he have executed,
and till he have
performed the thoughts of his heart:
in the latter
days ye shall consider it perfectly.
Jer 23:21 I
have not sent these prophets,
yet they ran:
I have not spoken to
them,
yet they
prophesied.
Jer 23:22 But
if they had stood in my counsel,
and had caused my people to hear my words,
then they should have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their doings.
I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy
lies in my name, saying,
I
have dreamed, I have dreamed. Jeremiah 23:
25
How
long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies?
yea, they are prophets of
the deceit of their own heart;
Jeremiah 23: 26
Prŏphēta and prŏphētes, a
foreteller, soothsayer sacerdotes Aegyptiorum, quos prophetas vocant,” Macr.
S. 7, 13, 9: “Aegyptius, propheta primarius,”
[this soothsaying extended to sorcery]
prīmārĭus I.
one of the first, of the first rank, chief,
principal, excellent, remarkable
(class.): “primarius parasitus, the
first speaker, he who has a right to be
heard
Which think to cause my people to forget my
name by their dreams,
which they tell every man to his neighbour,
as their fathers have
forgotten my name for Baal
. Jeremiah 23: 27
OF ALL DIVERSIONARY
MOVEMENTS: The "nut" will never be under EITHER
of the shells.
Here are some
revisionists:
Discovering
Our Roots: Richard T.
Hughes and C. Leonard Allen
See:
John Mark Hicks Our Triune God-The Wonder of the Story
John
Mark Hicks Trinity as "Necessary" Fact in Alexander
Campbell
John
Mark Hicks "recovery" of the gospel from Alexander
Campbell
A Gathered People: Revisioning the Assembly
as Transforming Encounter
John
Mark Hicks Stone Campbell Unity by the Holy Spirit
Hicks
replaces his "Holy Spirit Person" in the roles Jesus Died to
fulfil. In His post-changed form Jesus returned to be the King
of His kingdom, Head of His Church, Master Teacher and only
Mediator between God and man. If you believe the
"three people trinity" of the postmoderns (smile) delusions,
John calls you an ANTI-Christ. The NACC may not want
this form of "movement." There is no "holy spirit
people" in the salutations because Jesus Christ as Holy Spirit
had guided the apostles into all truth.
Contrary
to the claims of "Holy Spirit" guidance, both Stone and
Campbell ridiculed the notion that there is a "holy spirit"
person who guides beyond the sacred pages. Both agreed
with John Calvin and most literate writers that the Apostolic
Church demands that it be built upon the writings of the
Prophets (by Christ) and the prophecies made more certain by
Jesus of Nazareth. All such claims to supernatural
guidance and even having a holy spirit person, replaces Jesus
Christ as the "one mediator between God and man." Never
mind that of the "another" Comforter, Jesus said "I" will come to you.
There
can be little doubt that theologians have decided that The
Holy Spirit OF (preposition) Christ is a person or people and
that Jesus has been replaced and they are directed by this
spirit person. When people think that their thoughts are
God's thoughts then they have slipped into the promised Strong
Delusions that they believe their own lie. Lying
wonders is defined in the literature as the vocal and
instrumental performance music which is a primary agenda of
inventing the Stone Campbell Movement. Jesus said that
the Kingdom of God does not come with Observation: that means
religious observations.
UNFOLDING HISTORY
The
Organ And Society Sect
No.
V.Order of Worship. But to proceed:
Another society meets for worship, and they sing all day; another shouts all
day; another runs as in a race all day; another lies prostrate
on the ground all day; another reads all day; another hears
one man speak all day; another sits silent all day; another waves palm branches all day;
another cries in the
forenoon and listens to the
organ in the afternoon;
and it is all
equally right, lawful, orderly, and acceptable;
for there is no divinely authorized
order of Christian worship.
We are then, on the principles of reason, constrained to abandon this side
of the dilemma, and give up the hypothesis that there is no divinely
authorized order of Christian worship
2Th. 2:9 Even him,
whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders,
2Th. 2:10 And with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness
in them that perish;
because they received
not the love of the truth,
that they might be
saved.
2Th. 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion,
that they should believe
a lie:
What is the MARK
of that time?
ŏpĕrātĭo
, ōnis, f. operor,
I. a working, work, labor,
operation (not in Cic. or Cæs.).
I. In gen.: insidiantur aquantibus
(apibus) ranae, quae maxima earum est operatio, cum sobolem
faciunt, Plin. 11, 18, 19, § 61;
11, 24, 28, § 80;
Vitr. 2, 9.—
II. In partic.
A.
A religious performance, service,
or solemnity, a bringing of offerings:
operationes denicales,
offerings,
Fest. s. v. privatae feriae,
mendācĭum
a fable, fiction (Opposite. historic
truth): “poëtarum,”
Curt. 3, 1, 4.—
All Poets and
Song writers were known to be liars:
pŏēta
, maker, producer “oratores
et
poëtae,
“pictoribus
atque
poëtis, minimoque
poëtā, poëtā,
poëtam
in
scenā
scaenĭcus
, theatrical (class.).
I.
[select] Lit.: “poëtae,”
dramatic poets, Varr. L. L.
9, § 17 Müll.: “artifices,”
players, actors,
“fabula,”
a drama, Amm. 28, 1, 4:
“organa,
[musical instruments]” “gestus,”
“modulatio,”
Quint. 11, 3, 57:
2Th. 2:12 That they all
might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure
in unrighteousness.
Lying wonders Teras in colloqual language
Thaumazo
(g2296) thou-mad'-zo; from 2295; to wonder; by impl.
to admire: - admire, have in admiration, marvel,
wonder.
Teratourg-eô , A.
WORK wonders, pseudôsti
Sch.Pi.I.7(6).13.
Pindar Isthmian 7 Odes: [1] In
which of the local glories of the past, divinely blessed
Thebe, did you most delight your spirit? Was it when you
raised to eminence the one seated beside Demeter of
the clashing bronze cymbals, flowing-haired [5]
Dionysus? Or when you received, as a snow-shower of gold
in the middle of the night, the greatest of the gods[20]
then begin the victory [Nike: TRIUMPH OVER] procession
with a sweet-singing hymn for Strepsiades; for he is
the victor in the pancratium at the Isthmus, both awesome
in his strength and handsome to look at; and he
treats excellence as no worse a possession than beauty.
[23] He is made radiant
by the violet-haired Muses, and he has given a share in
his flowering garland to his uncle and namesake
The-ama
, Ion. theêma , atos, to, ( [theaomai] )
A. sight, spectacle,
Semon.7.67, A.Pr.306, E.Supp.783, Ar.Av.1716, etc.; ei tis
orchoit' eu, theam' ên Pl.Com.130 ; Opposite mathêma,
Th.2.39; freq. of a sight which gives pleasure,
theamata kai akroamata hêdista parecheis X.Smp.2.2 ,
cf. 7.5; orchêseis kai theamata Phld.Mus.p.26
K.; emplêsthête tou kalou th. Pl. R.440a; but also th.
dustheaton A.Pr.69 , cf. S.Aj.992; hepta th. the seven wonders
of the world, Str.14.2.5, Plu.2.983e: sg., of a marvellously
engraved ring, Gal.UP17.1.
ONE OF THE DELUSIONS OF
POST MODERN THEOLOGIANS
John
Calvin on continuing Revelation
1.The
fanatics wrongly appeal to the Holy Spirit Those who,
rejecting Scripture, imagine that they have some peculiar way
of penetrating to God, are to be deemed not so much
under the influence of error as madness. For certain giddy men have lately
appeared, who, while they make a great display of the superiority
of the Spirit,
reject
all reading of the Scriptures themselves, and deride
the simplicity of those who only delight in what they call
the dead and deadly
letter.
But I
wish they would tell me what spirit it is whose
inspiration raises them to such a sublime height that they
dare
despise the doctrine of Scripture as mean and
childish.
The
Stone-Campbell movement appeals to Cane Ridge as America's
Pentecost: elsewhere they call it witchcraft.
Based
on reviews of the scholarship of those presuming to write a
"World History" it is clear that the PATTERN is not
based upon the Word of God and "history" counts for nothing.
| 1John 2:22 Who is a liar
but he that denieth |
that Jesus
is the Christ?
|
John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known
me, Philip? |
| Which is
the same as: |
Which is the same as: |
He is ANTICHRIST
Jesus made to be both Lord and Christ and The only
Holy Spirit after His change to pour out what ye see
and hear.
|
that denieth
the
Father [one God]
and
the Son. [one Lord]
|
he thathath seen
me hath seen the Father;
[Christ, who is the image
of God 2 Cor 4:4]
and HOW
sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
|
1 John 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son
hethat acknowledgeth
the Son |
the same hath not the Father:
hath the Father
also |
John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am
IN the Father, and
the Father IN
me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of
myself: but the Father that dwelleth IN me, he doeth
the works. |
Funding
for this project has been provided principally by Disciples
of Christ Historical Society and Chalice
Press.
Every so slowly as we
will note up to what you call the "split" none of the
Disciples approved of instruments. That means that those
who added instruments became the INSTRUMENTAL SECT.
HISTORY BEGINS WITH THE PROPHECY OF
CHRIST
After Israel fell from Grace because of
musical idolatry at Mount Sinai, God gave them The Book of The
Law and sentenced them to captivity and death beyond Babylon.
|
Isaiah 57:19 I create the fruit of the lips
Peace, peace
to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith
the LORD;
and I will heal
him.
Isaiah 57:20
But the wicked are like the troubled
sea,
when it cannot
rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
Isaiah
57:20] impii autem quasi mare fervens quod quiescere non potest et redundant fluctus eius in conculcationem et lutum
Quĭesco ,
“quiērunt Aequora,” the waves
are at rest, do not rise, standing waters,
2. Act., to cause to
cease, render quiet, stop,
etc.: “laudes,” Sen. Herc. Oet.
1584.—Hence, quĭētus , a, um,
P. a., at rest, calm, quiet
4. To make a pause in speaking:
quiescere, id est, hēsukhazein, “ludendi est quidem modus
lūdo , B.
To play, sport, frisk, frolic: “dum se exornat, nos volo Ludere inter nos,” have some
fun, dance,
A. go sport, play with any thing, to
practise as a pastime, amuse one's self
with any thing “carmina pastorum,
B. to sport, dally, wanton
(cf. "amorous play," Milton, P. L. 9, 1045): “scis solere illam aetatem tali ludo ludere,” Plaut. Most. 5,
C. Ludere aliquem or aliquid, to play,
mock, imitate, mimic a person or thing imitate
work, make believe work,
Mŏdus 2. The
measure of tones, measure, rhythm,
melody, harmony, time; in poetry, measure,
metre, mode: “vocum,” Cic. Div. 2, 3,
9: “musici,”
Quint. 1, 10,
14: “lyrici,” Ov. H. 15, 6:
“fidibus Latinis Thebanos aptare modos,” Hor. Ep. 1, 3, 12:
Bacchico exsultas (i. e. exsultans) modo,
Enn. ap. Charis [grace].
p. 214 P. (Trag. v. 152 Vahl.): “flebilibus modis concinere,” Cic. Tusc. 1,
44, 106: saltare
[dance] ad tibicinis modos, to the music
or sound of the flute, Liv. 7, 2:
“nectere canoris Eloquium vocale modis,” Juv. 7, 19.—Fig.:
“verae
Isaiah 57:21 There is no peace,
saith my God, to the wicked.
pax , I.
peace, concluded between parties at
variance, esp. between belligerents; a treaty
of peace; tranquillity, the absence of
war, amity, reconciliation
after a quarrel, public or private
THERE IS NO GRACE: B. Transf. 1.
Grace, favor, pardon,
assistance of the gods: “pacem ab Aesculapio petas,
4. Pax, as an interj., peace!
silence! enough! pax,
They DO it because
they ARE impious
impĭus
without reverence or respect
for God, one's parents, or one's country; irreverent,
ungodly, undutiful, unpatriotic;
abandoned, wicked, impious
Sāturnus As the
sun-god of the Phœnicians, = Baal,
Curt. 4, 3, 15:
“Saturni sacra dies,” i. e. Saturday,
Tib. 1, 3, 18: “Saturni Stella,” the
planet Saturn, Cic. N. D. 2, 20,
52; 2, 46,
119; id. Div. 1, 39,
85.—As subst.: Sāturnus ,
“also pater (sc. Superum),” Verg. A. 4, 372;
Ov. M. 1, 163:
versus, the Saturnian verse, the
oldest kind of metre among the Romans, “carmen, “metrum,
2. Subst.: Sāturnālĭa also
Bacchanalia, Compitalia, Vinalia, and the
like), a general festival in honor of Saturn,
beginning on the 17th of December and
lasting several days; the Saturnalia, “verba,” Tib. 1, 3, 52: “tumultus,” Hor. C. 4, 4, 46:
“clamor,
Isaiah 58:1 Cry aloud,
spare not, lift up thy voice like
a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and
the house of Jacob their sins.
THE
MARK OF THE WICKED
Isaiah 58:2 Yet they seek me daily,
and delight to
know my ways,
as a nation that did
righteousness,
and [AS]
forsook not the ordinance of their God:
They ask of me the
ordinances of justice;
they take delight in
approaching to God.
Isaiah 58:3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou
seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and
thou takest no knowledge?
Behold, in the day
of your fast ye find pleasure,
and exact all your
labours.
Isaiah 58:4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and
to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast
as ye do this day,
to make your voice
to be heard on high. |
HISTORY: The
role of the Qahal, Synagogue or Church of Christ never
changed: the Lord's Supper was to show forth or preach the
Death of Jesus.
I am afraid that your historians quoting historians quoting
historians with a hidden agenda just didn't get the point. For
instance, you don't know a "scholar" or preacher who can tell
you the Purpose of a Christ Driven Church of Christ.
Christ, the Rock, defined the Qahal, synagogue, ekklesia
or Church of Christ in the wilderness both inclusively and
exclusively. Of course, the Church of Christ has no Roles and no
Doles as the Jerusalem Council showed the past, present and
future role of the assembly which Paul calls "synagogue."
Acts 15:21 For Moses
of old time
hath in every city them
that preach him,
being read in
the synagogues every sabbath day.
2Corinthians 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his
face, t
hat the children of
Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that
which is abolished:
2Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were blinded:
for until this day
remaineth the same vail untaken away
in the reading
of the old testament;
which vail is done away
in Christ.
2Corinthians 3:15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read,
the vail is upon their heart.
2Corinthians 3:16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the
Lord,
the vail shall be taken
away.
Jesus used the example of being CONVERTED and
BORN AGAIN like a child
Luke recorded the example of BAPTISM to be SAVED and
CONVERTED meaning the same thing.
Until you are CONVERTED you will not be able to read
WHOLE THOUGHT PATTERNS written in BLACK INK on WHITE paper.
Epi-strephô
, pf.
c. Philos., cause to return to the source of Being,
tinas eis ta enantia kai ta prôta
Proteros
and prôtos II. of Time, former, earlier, children
by the first or a former marriage,
Prosthhen
in front, before, formerly, of place and of time;
to gennêthen phusei pros to gennêsan
Genn-aô
beget, bring forth, engender, call into existence
Phuo
1 Act.:--bring forth, produce, put forth, 2. beget,
engender, get understanding,
Pros
in the direction of
Genn-aô
beget, bring forth, engender, call into existence
Deut
XXX
WEB. It shall happen, when all these things are
come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set
before you, and you shall call them to mind among
all the nations, where Yahweh your God has driven you,
[2] and shall RETURN to Yahweh your God, and
shall OBEY his voice according to all that I command you
this day, you and your children, with all your heart,
and with all your soul;
[3] that then Yahweh your God will turn your
captivity, and have compassion on you, and will
return and gather you from all the peoples, where Yahweh
your God has scattered you.
That has the same
meaning as BAPTISM.
HISTORY The Church always rejected the Boles
version of the Trinity
WHAT IS THE NAME
OF THE SPIRIT?
2Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is that Spirit:
and where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is liberty.
2Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding
as in a glass the glory
of the Lord,
are changed into the
same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit
of the Lord.
EXODUS 18
Hearken
now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God
shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward,
that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: Exod
18:19
And thou
shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt
show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work
that they must do. Exod 18:20
Moreover
thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear
God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such
over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of
hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: Exod
18:21
DEUTERONOMY
10
Specially
the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb,
when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people
together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may
learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the
earth, and that they may teach their children. Deut 4:10
Qahal (h6950)
kaw-hal'; a prim. root; to convoke: - assemble (selves)
(together), gather (selves) together).
Gather the people
together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is
within thy gates, that they may hear, and
that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and
observe to do all the words of this law: De.31:12
This is
he, that was in the church in the
wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount
Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively
oracles to give unto us: Ac.7:38
Ekklesia (g1577)
ek-klay-see'-ah; from a comp. of 1537 and a der. of
2564; a calling out, i.e. (concr.) a popular meeting,
espec. a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Chr.
community of members on earth or saints in heaven or
both): - assembly, church.
Thomas
Campbell got His views of assembly:
ekklesia--synagogue from the Spirit of Christ: Stone
contributed nothing.
Of the Yarn Spinners (revisionists) who,
at
the same time are ignorant of, and even averse
to, the religion it inculcates; and whilst others profess to embrace it
as a system of religion,
without imbibing the spirit,
realizing the truth, and experiencing the power
of its religious institutions; but merely superstruct to themselves, rest in, and are
satisfied with, a form (acts) of godliness; and that, very
often, a deficient, imperfect form, or such as their own imagination has devised;
See
Why Thomas Paine was a Deist.
"let us,
with an open bible before us, distinguish and contemplate that
religion which it enjoins and exhibits--I mean the
religion of christianity, for it also exhibits the
religion of Judaism;
...but
with this, in the mean time,
...we
christians have nothing
directly to do--
...we derive our religion immediately from
the New Testament. TC
After Baptism:
"But that
this may be the case, the next immediate ordinance of the christian religion, namely,
the reading, I mean the musing upon, or studying the Holy Scriptures;
taking them up in their connexion, and meditating upon the subjects they propose to our
consideration, with a fixed contemplation of the various
and important objects which they present.
This
dutiful and religious use of the bible, (that most precious, sacred record of
the wonderful works of God,
the only
authentic source of
all religious information,) is inseparably connected
with, and indispensably necessary to, the blissful and
all-important exercises of prayer and praise.
"And again,
'Be you filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves, in
psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always to
God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Eph. v. 18-20.
"Hence it
is evident, that if we would be spiritually minded,
spiritually exercised in this delightful and heavenly
employment,
we
must be filled with the Spirit;
and
if we would be filled with the Spirit,
we must be filled with the word;
the
word of Christ
must dwell in us richly;
- for we
have no access to the Spirit but
in and by the word.
http://www.pineycom.com/Cane.Ridge.Shouting.Method.html.html
THE
CHURCH OF CHRIST IN PROPHECY UNDERSTOOD ALL BUT THE
PSEUDO-SCHOLARS
Isaiah
50 has Christ clearly defining the Pluckers and Smiters
restored by the Disciples/Christians.
Isaiah 55 clearly defines both
inclusively and exclusively of His Words
which provide spirit and life. Peter
uses many of the same concepts to dare anyone to teach
beyond the written memory of the Apostles who were eye
and ear witnesses. This is a quick study for today. If that
awas not enough authority He defines the true Rest for the
future church to exclude personal pleasure or even speaking
your own words. "Teach that which has been taught"
should be warning enough.
Isaiah 58 has Christ urging a restoration
and, as in the church in the wilderness, and Paul
for the assembly forbidding seeking our own pleasure or even
speaking our own words.
IF YOU GATHER THE PEOPLE FOR ANY
OTHER PURPOSE YOU VIOLATE THE REST JESUS BOUGHT.
Therefore, the ekklesia or
synagogue is the same as Qahal because both relate to
the same event. The Holy Convocation which began each each
First and Seventh day of festivals (for draft age males) was
extended to each Sabbath or REST day. This quarantined the
godly people from the Jacob-Curst tribe of Levi whom God
turned over to worship the starry host. The
Disciples--Christian churches follow the "patternism" of the
not-commanded monarchy and the not commanded sacrificial
system. The Levites were Soothsayers with instrumental noise
to warn any godly person that if they came near they would
execute them as they had at Mount Sinai because of musical
idolatry.
WHAT IS
DIRECTLY EXCLUDED FOR THE CHURCH
God
only authorized the two silver trumpets: these were
reserved for sending important signals. However,
many people had their own flutes or shofars, tambourines
and sistrums: Miriam had here sistrum as a priestess or
prophetess in Egypt. The women especially were
prone to parade around singing, clapping, dancing and
beating on instruments. Therefore, the command:
Num. 10:5 When ye blow an alarm,
then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.
Num. 10:6 When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the
camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey:
they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
Numbers 10:7 But when the congregation is to be gathered
together,
ye shall blow, but
ye shall not sound an alarm.
The "alarm" is reserved in
Psalm 41 to identify the "familiar friend" or Judas whose Judas
Bag was for carrying the mouthpieces of wind instruments.
Miqra (h4744) mik-raw'; from 7121; something called
out, i. e. a public meeting (the act, the persons,
or the place); also a rehearsal: - assembly,
calling, convocation, reading.
So they read in the
book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the
sense, and caused them to understand the reading. Ne.8:8
Isaiah 4: 4
When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of
Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the
midst thereof by the spirit of judgment,
and by the spirit of burning.
And the Lord
will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon
her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the
shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory
shall be a defence. Is.4:5
Dwelling:
168. ohel, o´-hel; from 166; a tent (as clearly
conspicuous from a distance):—covering, (dwelling)(place),
home, tabernacle, tent.
Assembly:
4744. miqra, mik-raw´; from 7121; something
called out, i.e. a public meeting (the act, the
persons, or the place); also a rehearsal:
assembly, calling, convocation, reading.
1823 Preaching
for pay? "Give money to make poor pious youths learned clergy,
or vain pretenders to erudition; and they pray that
they may preach to you; yes, and pay them too.
Was there
ever
such a craft as priestcraft? No, it is the craftiest of all crafts. It is so crafty that it obtains by its
craft the means to make craftsmen, and then it makes the deluded support them!" (Campbell,
Alexander, Christian Baptist, Dec. 1, 1823, Vol. 1, p. 91).
Wonder why the
Stone-Campbell Sectarians never use that?
Paul proved that those who make
a PROFESSION out of the Word of Christ corrupt the Word: they
are, he says, prostitutes.
Later we will note that God HIDES Himself from
the WISE: these are the Sophists who work as
rhetoricians, singers, instrument players or sorcerers.
A godly elders as the Pastor-Teacher or preacher teaches that
which HAS been taught: he gets no personal opinions nor
does he engage in Spiritual Formation (witchcraft)
hallucinating that what comes out of his mind has any value
whatsover. Paul outlwas such "doubtful disputations" in
Romans 14 and includes everything which does not edify or
educate in Romans 15. He defines that as "that which is
written" and calls it "Scripture." You may or may not believe it
but Spurgeon couldn't find a word to define the depravity of one
who would teach in a congregation (college) when he cannot be
loyal to those who feed him.
1825 A
Restoration of the Ancient Order of Things--by
Alexander Campbell
False
Teachings by John Mark Hicks
Subsequent participants in the “Restoration
Movement” turned the “ancient order” into a test of
fellowship as the fundamental identity of the New Testament
church, the distinguishing mark between the true church and
apostate churches. That was never Campbell’s intention
and he would have regarded it as a subversion of the gospel
itself–substituting the “ancient order” for the confession
of Jesus as the Messiah as the true test of faith.
There is not a remote hint that
Alexander Campbell would "fellowship" the sects in the pattern
of the later day spirit-guided scholars. There is no hint
that Alexander Campbell or most early disciples who would
fellowship in the sense of attending, affirming and thereby
endorsing the sects: especially the instrumental sect.
No. III I have no idea
of seeing, nor one wish to see, the sects unite in one grand
army.
This would be dangerous to our liberties and laws.
For this the Saviour did not pray.
It is only the disciples
of Christ dispersed among them,
that reason and
benevolence would call out of them.
Let them unite who love the Lord, and
then we shall soon see the hireling priesthood
and their worldly establishments prostrate in the dust.
Campbell was discussing
unbelievers to participate in a Church of Christ.
No. XXI.
Besides, where any number attend there generally
are some disciples of Christ not connected with the
church, and who consequently can, and do join in
prayer and praise; and we know no reason why any man
should forbid them. We know it has been said we might as
well admit unbelievers to the Lord's supper as suffer them
to stand up along with the church in prayer or praise.
But by
receiving them to break bread, we acknowledge them to be
disciples, members of the body of Christ; whereas their
placing themselves in the same posture with the church,
implies no acknowledgment of them, on our part, as
believers.
On the whole, we think
any attempt to prevent the hearers from assuming the same
posture as the church, in any part of their worship, is unscriptural.
It gives a false view of the encouragement given by Jesus to
sinners, and while it has a show of faithfulness, it
is calculated to foster a temper towards those who are without
very different from what Christ has enjoined on his people. We
do not know that your sentiments, beloved, differ from our own
on this subject. If they do, we trust you will take our
observations in good part, as we have known much evil result
from the practice to which we have referred
1826
neither Stone nor Campbell taught the Stone-Campbell Sect's
view of the trinity.
A
Restoration of the Ancient Order of Things--by
Alexander Campbell
But we
shall go on to specify a sample of those Babylonish
terms and phrases which must be purified from the christian
vocabulary, before the saints can understand the religion
they profess, or one another as fellow disciples. I select
these from the approved standards of the most popular
establishments; for from these they have become current and
sacred style. Such are the following: "Trinity. First,
second, and third person in the adorable Trinity: God
the Son; and God the Holy Ghost. Eternal Son. The Son is
eternally begotten by the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally
proceeding from the Father and the Son. The divinity
of Jesus Christ; the humanity of Jesus Christ; the
incarnation of Jesus Christ. This he said as man; and that
as God. The common operations, and the special operations of
the Spirit of God. Original sin, and original righteousness.
Spiritual death; spiritual life. Covenant of works, covenant
of grace, and covenant of redemption; a dispensation of the
covenant of grace, and administration of the covenant.
Effectual calling. Free will. Free grace. Total depravity.
Eternal justification. Eternal sleep. Elect world. Elect
infants. Light of nature. Natural religion. General and
particular atonement. Legal and evangelical repentance.
Moral, ceremonial, and judicial law. Under the law as a
covenant of works, and as a rule of life. Christian sabbath.
Holy sacrament. Administration of the sacrament. Different
kinds of faith and grace. Divine service; the public worship
of God," &c. &c.
These are
but a mere sample, and all of one species. It will be said
that men cannot speak of Bible truths without adopting other
terms than those found in the written word. This will be
granted, and yet there will be found no excuse for the above
species of unauthorized and Babylonish phraseology.
It is one thing to speak of divine truths in our own
language, and another to adopt a fixed style of expressing
revealed truths to the exclusion of, or in preference to,
that fixed by the Spirit, and sometimes, too, at variance
with it. For instance, the terms Trinity, first and
second person of--Eternal Son, and the eternal procession
of the Spirit, are now the fixed style in speaking of
God, his Son Jesus Christ, and of the Spirit, in reference
to their "personal character." Now this is
not the style of the oracles of God. It is all human, and
may be as freely criticised as one of the numbers of the
Spectator.
Barton W. Stone Christian Messenger 1826.
1. We shall begin with the Trinity,
and inquire whether this doctrine is fundamental, or whether
the notions formed of it ought to be terms of communion
among Christians. The orthodox notion of Trinity
seems to be this: that there are three persons in the
same one Being, substance, or nature, which Being is God.
Some,
thinking
it humility to discard reason from religion, content
themselves with believing in three persons in the one
Godhead, without attaching any ideas to the doctrine, calling
it an incomprehensible mystery.
Others
contend
that
there are three intelligent persons, or conscious
agents, in the one divine essence, or Being, God.
Others reject this as tritheism, and contend that these
three, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, are three
distinctions, or three modes, or three
relations, or three perfections, or three
somewhats, existing in the one God;
which distinctions they
do not profess to understand, but which must be so defined
to exclude the idea of three
distinct Gods,
or three distinct
spirits, or three distinct minds.
However jarring and discordant their notions may be, and
whatever ideas their language may communicate;
Yet it is believed, that none have affirmed or contended, that
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are
three distinct, intelligent Spirits; but all affirm that God
is one intelligent Spirit--
none have
contended that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three
distinct, intelligent minds, [before
Hicks]
but all
agree that God is one infinite, intelligent mind.
Why then this endless
controversy about unintelligible language and notions?
Alexander Campbell
Atonement: "A.
C.'s
Reply
to
B.
W. Stone." MH (June 1840): 246-250
In
your kind epistle of November 11th, you asked me for my
definition of a Unitarian, and assured me that you denied the
name, though often applied to yourself, and urged me to say
whether I "designed to co-operate with Trinitarians against
Unitarians," &c. I felt it my duty to make the
proposition alluded to in your letter of March 30th. I have
done so in the full persuasion that the contemplated
discussion is not only expedient, but necessary, and that it
can be so managed as to disabuse the public mind of injurious
prejudices both against you and myself.
You have long disavowed Unitarianism, and I have also
disavowed Trinitarianism and every other sectarianism in
the land; and therefore that morbid state of feeling elicited
by these partizan wars about the polemical abstrusities
of metaphysical abstractions, which, in its excessive
irritability, forbids the scriptural investigation of the
great points which have been so often distorted and mangled on
the racks and wheels of party discord and proscription, should
have no abiding in our minds, much less prohibit a scriptural
examination of the facts, and precepts, and promises, on which
these unhallowed theories have been reared. and I most
sincerely supplicate the FATHER OF LIGHTS to subdue our
spirits and to imbue them with the holy spirit of the
gospel of [247] Christ
The
Holy Spirit and Unity John Mark Hicks Stone-Campbell
Dialogue November 2011 The Holy Spirit and Unity John
Mark Hicks Stone-Campbell Dialogue November 2011,
Later,
however, the second and third waves of the Holy
Spirit—as they are commonly called—renewed an ecumenical
life within Pentecostalism as the life of the Spirit
reached across denominational and traditional boundaries.
From the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship to the
Vineyard Movement, the experience of the
Spirit has united believers from various traditions
in such a way that their denominational heritages
recede into the background. The Spirit-filled
life trumped those boundaries even though many
remained in their traditions.
I have
been tasked with reflecting on the role the Holy Spirit
in the unity of the church with a particular focus on
what resources exist in our common tradition for communal
reflection on this topic. Is there anything that might parallel
what we find in Pentecostalism’s heritage?
At the
origins of the Stone-Campbell Movement are at
least two themes that resonate for many in the
Stone-Campbell tradition and create an ecumenical trajectory.
One is clearly more associated with Stone while the
other is strongly present in both.
1.
Revivalism. If Cane Ridge is America’s Pentecost,
then the resources for
reflection
may parallel
what happened at the beginning of the twentieth century
in the birth of
Pentecostalism.
* In
Faith and Creed, Augustine notes the passages which
connect the Father to the Son consistent
with the clear teachings of the Bible. The revised Nicene Creed
reads:
1. I Believe in God the Father
Almighty. Chs. 2 and 3.
[Acts 2:36a Therefore let all the house
of Israel know assuredly
that God]
2.
(And) In Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
[Acts 2:36b hath made that same Jesus,
whom ye have crucified,
both Lord
and Christ.]
the Only-Begotten
of the Father,
or,
His Only Son, Our Lord. Ch. 3
[Romans 1:4 And declared to
be the Son of God with power,
according to the spirit OF [preposition] holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead]
3.
Who Was Born Through the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary.
Ch. 4 (§ 8.)
[Romans 1:3
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
which was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh;]
4. Who Under
Pontius Pilate Was Crucified and Buried. Ch. 5 (§ 11.)
5. On the Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead.
Ch. 5 (§ 12.)
[Luke 24:39 Behold
my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself: handle me, and see;
for
a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. ]
6. He Ascended
into Heaven. Ch. 6 (§ 13.)
[Acts 2:33 Therefore
being by the right hand of God exalted,
and having received of
the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,
he
hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.]
Promise is: epagg-elia proffession
or summons to attend
a dokimasia tōn rhētorōn
doki^m-a^sia right
of a man to speak in the ekklēsia
the rights of manhood, D.44.41, v. l.
in 57.62. [rights
of priesthood]
“tōn hiereōn” I. filled
with or manifesting divine power, supernatural,
dosis the gift of God,
They saw FIRE
and heard WIND (spirit) but not a personal spirit.
he hath shed forth this, which
ye now see and hear.]
Ekkheō [the only fit] 2.
of words, pour forth, utter, Ar. Th.554;
“molpas” E.Supp.773;
“pollēn glōssan ekkheas matēn” S.Fr.929,
cf. A.Ag.1029
(lyr.).
Hebrews 2:11 For both
he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified
are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to
call them brethren,
Hebrews 2:12 Saying,
I will
declare thy name unto my brethren,
in the midst of
the church will I sing praise unto thee.
humn-eō 2. descant
upon, in song or speech
Laudo
II. Transf., to adduce, name, quote,
cite a person as any thing
7. He Sitteth
at the Right Hand of the Father. Ch. 7 (§ 14.)
8. From Thence He Will Come and Judge the Living and the Dead.
Ch. 8 (§ 15.)
* 9. (and I Believe)
in the Holy Spirit. Ch. 9 (§ 16-19.)
10. I Believe the Holy Church (Catholic). Ch. 10 (§ 21.)
11. The Forgiveness of Sin. Ch. 10 (§ 23.)
12. The Resurrection of the Body. Ch. 10 (§ 23, 24.)
13. The Life Everlasting. Ch. 10 (§ 24.)]
Hebrews 2:9 But we
see Jesus,
who was made a little
lower than the angels f
or the suffering of
death, crowned with glory and honour;
that he by the grace
of God should taste death for every man.
Hebrews 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all
things,
and by whom
are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory,
to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Hebrews 2:11 For both he that sanctifieth
and they who are
sanctified are all of one:
for which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren,
Neither Campbell nor the masses
of "Christian" church preachers who defected to Campbell
believed that this was anything more than a deliberately induced
mental disturbance.
C.S. Lewis used
the term “a great cataract of nonsense” to describe how
people use a modern idea to construe Bible theology. Resource
1826
THE
REFORMATION IN TENNESSEE. By Isaac N. Jones.
"In about 1826
my father and uncle William Jones moved to McMinn County and
located a wool-carding machine on Spring Creek. Here they
heard of a man, perhaps from Kentucky, preaching a strange
doctrine in a county or two east of McMinn. My father, being
the principal carder, requested Uncle William to go and learn
what the new doctrine was. On his return he showed how the man
had used Acts 2:38 to prove that baptism is for
the remission of past sins. The reasoning was so clear,
and in such harmony with what they had tried to teach, viz:
"Salvation of some sort is connected in some way with baptism,
or Christ would not have said (Mark 16:16) 'He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved,"' that they at once went
to preaching it, strange as it sounded to others.
Many were the hard-fought battles necessary to get the
brethren to see the simple teachings of God's word, and to
break loose from the doctrine of abstract operations
of the Spirit in converting the sinner; and to see
that shoutings, swoonings, laughing, barking
like dogs, the jerks, etc., etc., were not
miraculous influences of the Spirit, but the wonderful magnetic
influences of some men, aided by the surroundings...
[These were the Stonites]
And as he had joined "The Reformation" seven to ten
years before he had ever even heard of A.
Campbell, and at least seven years before A. Campbell
himself, in 1827 or 1828, became a reformer
holding the platform heretofore mentioned, it is evident that
neither I nor those described in Middle and East Tennessee are
entitled to the name Campbellite. In fact, this movement
occurred while Bro. Campbell was yet with the Presbyterians
and Baptists.
But it was no holiday job to preach then. Besides going
mainly at his own expense, the preacher suffered losses at
home, persecution both at home and abroad, and was often
traduced personally; besides having to bear the odium attached
to the cause itself. "You are Schismatics"; "You deny
the Divinity of Christ"; You deny the operations
of the Holy Ghost"; "You deny heart-felt
religion," etc. , etc. , were some of the charges hurled
at them. But in process of time A. Campbell took the same
ground that brethren of Middle and East Tennessee had held
for some years before they ever heard of him, and now it is
Campbellite, Campbellite, Campbellite! "You are
following Campbell," was hurled at them, although many of them
were in the "Reformation" years before Bro. Campbell joined
the movement in 1827 or 8! This reminds me of a great divine
who said of John the Baptist, "And he was a Christian," as
though the fore-runner could be a follower.
1831
DISCUSSION OF UNITY
http://www.pineycom.com/Barton.W.Stone.Alexander.Campbell.Union.html
This is the "pre fabled union" in 1831: the denial of
any kind of "union" in the Lunenburg quote was in 1837.
Without passing judgment one way or another, the Reformers saw
the Disciples as just another denomination, and saw Barton W.
Stone bent on forming a NEW INCLUSIVE denomination. Garrison
proposed to include ALL OF CHRISTENDOM. That is why the
Disciples have reached a dead end.
Does
he mean a formal confederation of all preachers
and people called "Christians," with all those
whom he calls Reformed Baptists?
(rather reforming, than reformed;) or (as he
represents them as prefering for a sectarianwhat
shall be the articles of confederation, and in what form
shall they be ministered or adopted? Shall it be in one
general convention of messengers from all the societies of
"christians" and "disciples," or one general assembly of the
whole aggregate of both people? Shall the articles of
agreement be drawn up in writing like the articles of the
"General Union" amongst the different sects of Baptists in
Kentucky? purpose the name) disciples. If so,
We
discover, or think we discover, a squinting at some sort
of precedency or priority in the claims of the writer
of the above article, which are perhaps only in appearance,
and not in reality; but if in appearance only, he will
prevent us or any reader from concluding unfavorably
by explaining himself more in detail than he has done.
He says, "The reformed
Baptists have received the doctrine taught by us many years
ago." "For nearly thirty years ago we taught,"
&c. &c. From what source or principle these sayings
proceeded, we do not pronounce sentence; but if they are
mere words of course, and he intended to plead nothing from
them, we would suggest the propriety of qualifying them in
such a way as to prevent mistake.
I am, as at
present advised, far from thinking that the present
advocates of reformation are only pleading, or at all
pleading, for what was plead in Kentucky thirty years ago,
after the dissolution of the Springfield Presbytery.
If such be the conceptions of brother Stone, I am greatly
mistaken. That he, with others, did at that time oppose
authoritative creeds, and some articles in
them as terms of communion, and some other abuses,
we are not uninformed; but so did some others who set
out with him.
Our eagle-eyed
opponents plainly see the difference between the
radical and differential attributes of this reformation,
which they ignorantly call a deformation, and any
other cause, however unpopular, plead in the land.
"The
Christians" in some places, nay, in many places, are quite
respectable in the eyes of those who contemn
"the disciples" as unfit for good society.
And I think the amiable editor of the Christian Messenger
himself told me last winter,
that even he and
some of his brethren were considered by the orthodox as degrading
themselves because they associated with us most "unworthy
disciples?'
Indeed,
it was no mean proof of his christian spirit to
see him so condescending to persons of such low degree
in the estimation of the noble christians of the land. His
willingness to fraternize with us in despite of
the odium theologicum attached to our
ancient gospel, I must ever regard as an additional
proof of his unfeigned regard to the authority of Jesus as
Lord, and his love to all them who esteem the reproach of
the Messiah greater riches than all the treasures of
Egypt.
Historians should understand
the difference between Mythological History and
True History.
Among the Greeks it was widely taught that rhetoricians, poets
and music must not be permitted to write about true history. It
was ok to lie about history when entertaining (only) but never
in the schools or called assemblies (ekklesia).
THE 1832
UNITY MEETING J.F.BURNETT
Stone and the Disciples of Christ (Reformers then)
Morrill, in
"History of the Christian Denomination," says: [6]
"The
'union' itself was consummated on New Year's day, 1832, in Hill
Street Christian Church, at Lexington,
Kentucky, where representatives of both parties pledged
themselves 'to one another before God, to abandon all
speculation, especially on the Trinity, and kindred
subjects, and to be content with the plain
declaration of Scripture on those subjects on which
there had been so much worse than useless controversy.'
The plain
meaning is that they found common ground to occupy, threw
away their divisive teachings and opinions, and acted as
one. The men who at Lexington pledged themselves there and
then gave one another the hand of fellowship,
speaking
for themselves, and the churches they
came from,
but not for all the churches or the
denominations in Kentucky or the United States.
There was
no voting, and no attempt at formal union, but merely a
'flowing together' of those like-minded. In token of that
union Elder John Smith, of the Disciples of Christ, and
Elder John Rogers, of the Christians, 'were appointed
evangelists by the churches' to promote that simple
unsectarian Christian work, which was adhered to by
thousands; and Stone took Elder J. T. Johnson, a Disciple,
as co-editor of The Christian Messenger.
"This
'union' did not change the status of any name or church or
minister or piece of property.
At a later time Campbell made some public invidious
remarks about the Christians, and it began to be
claimed that they had joined or united with the Disciples.
John [7] Rogers says on this point:
'No one
ever thought (at the first) that the Reformers,
so-called, had come over to us, or that we had
gone over to them; that they were required to relinquish
their opinions, or we ours.
We
found ourselves contending for the same great
principles, and we resolved to unite our energies
to harmonize the church and save the world.
Such are the simple facts in the case."
The
Christian Messenger
(1832) says:
"It is
common for the Christians to say, the Reformers have
joined us--and no less common is it for the
Reformers to say, the Christians have joined us.
One
will say, the Christians have given up all their
former opinions of many doctrines, and have received
ours; another will say, the Reformers have
relinquished their views on many points, and embraced
ours.
These
things are doing mischief to the cause
of Christian union, and well calculated to excite
jealousy, and to give offense. They can do no good--in
fact they are not true. We have met together on the Bible,
being drawn together there by the cords of truth--we
agreed to walk together according to this rule, and to be
united by the spirit of truth.
Neither
the Christians nor Reformers professed to give up any
sentiments or opinions previous to our union, nor
were any required to be given up in order to effect it. We
all determined to learn of Jesus, and to speak
and do whatsoever He says to us in His Word. We all
profess to be [8] called Christians, being the
followers and disciples of Jesus."
The
Campbells and most people at that time defined church as a
Society for study of the Word:
- Church
as defined by Christ in the wilderness and as Ekklesia or
Synagogue was A School of Christ.
- Worship
was reading and musing the Word as is clearly defined by
Paul, Peter and the pre-Constantine periood were singing
as an ACT was imposed in c 373 and split the west church
from the east.
Any additions
would, as definitons demand, mark the imposers as heretics or
sectarians.
1837 Jenning, Walter W., Origin and Early History
of the Disciples of Christ, p. 196, Standard
Although
union was not so easily brought about elsewhere as in
Kentucky, thousands of ''Christians" did join the Reformers.
After referring to the union effected by Stone in
Jacksonville, M. T. Morrill, the leading historian of the
Christian Connection, made the following admission:
"Then
followed a wave of ' Campbellism ' that swept the Christians
off their feet, and aggregated about eight thousand
accessions to the Disciples. No Christian churches long
survived in Tennessee, their cause was ruined in
Kentucky and never has regained its former strength or
prestige. Of the Southern Ohio Christians a majority of the
preachers embraced Campbeism prior to 1837, and only
about one thousand church members remained. A man named C.
A. Eastman, traveling through Indiana about 1846, reported
that, 'In many places they [the Christians] have amalgamated
with the Disciples, and are known only as the same people.'
Several years later it was reported that on Stone's account
conferences of the Christians had been
dissolved and churches disbanded, and the
people had become amalgamated with the Disciples."
1833 to
1841 and beyond Stoneites denied the Atonement
Barton W. Stone
dened the Atonement and Campbell debated him from 1833
onward: why would there be UNITY between such important
"fundamentals>? The
Millennial Harbinger 1840-41 the debate still raged.
So be it, say I. And
what have I said, more than this? I have only said, in the
conclusion of my letter, "that, believing as I do,
that it was not possible, that any one of our race
could be saved without the sacrifice of the Lamb of God,
I must hold every attempt to explain it away into a
mere moral example, or display of love without regard to
justice, as tending to subvert the basis of the divine
government, and to rob the gospel of all that glorifies the
wisdom and power, the justice and mercy of God in putting away
sin, and in saving the sinner." It is not, then, the degree of
importance that my opinion attaches to the death of Christ,
either as it respects the glory of God, or the salvation of
man, in which we differ; but about the express scriptural
reasons of its vast importance. And here, dear brother,
permit me to express, in my turn, my sincere regret, that
having lifted up your voice for a pure scriptural reformation,
predicated upon the Bible alone, you should ever have been led
off that divine platform into the arena of sectarian
controversies. MH.NumberVII.VIv.Aug.1833
1837
REPUDIATING THE DISCIPLES / CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
http://www.pineycom.com/AC.Lunenburg.Orig.html
It is reasonable to say that all of the so-called
Stone-Campbell Movement are liars about this issue: especially
about the Lunenburg letters. the lady from Lunenburg to
write the editor of the Harbinger is in an article entitled
"Letters to England-No. 1," which was published in the June,
1837. We use the word liars because people pick what they
want to write their own history and the goal most often is to
driven non-instrumental churches into a guilt complex for NOT
beginning to do what they had NEVER done.
They have never read the Lunenburg correspondence. To Campbell a
"c"hristian was one who lived according to Christian principles.
We speak of a "c"hristian nation. However, a "C"hristian is ONLY
one who has obeyed the gospel.
I. With all despatch, then, I hasten to show
that I have neither conceded nor surrendered any
thing for which I ever contended; but that on the
contrary, the opinion now expressed, whether true or false,
is one that I have always avowed.
(Footnote in original reads: It is with us as old as
baptism for the remission of sins,
and
this is at least as old as the "Christian Baptist." Read the
first two numbers of that work.)
1. Let
me ask, in the first place, what could mean all that we have
written upon the union of Christians on apostolic grounds,
had we taught that all
Christians in the world
were already united
in our own community?
2. And
in the second place, why should we so often have quoted and applied
to apostate Christendom what the Spirit saith to saints
in
Babylon--"Come
out of her, my people, that you partake not of her sins,
and that you receive not
of her plagues"--
had we imagined that the
Lord had no people beyond the pale of our communion!
3. But
let him that yet doubts, read the following passages from the
Christian Baptist, April, 1825:--
"I
have no idea of seeing, nor wish to see, the sects unite
in one grand army.
This
would be dangerous to our liberties and laws. For this
the Saviour did not pray.
It is only the disciples
dispersed among them
that reason and
benevolence would call out of them,
"&c. &c. This looks very like our present opinion of
Christians
among
the sects!!! 2d ed. Bethany, p. 85.
4.
Again, speaking of purity of speech in order to the union
of Christians, we say,
"None
of you [Christians] have ever yet attempted to show
how
Christians can be united on your principles.
You
have often showed how they may be divided,
and how each party may hold its own,
but while you pray for
the visible unity of the Disciples,
and advocate their
visible disunity, we cannot understand you." March, 1837, vol.
4.
1839 IT appears from the "Union Herald"
of the 9th instant, that the Christian Union Convention, out of
the proceedings of which we made large extracts in the two
preceding numbers of the Harbinger, held its second meeting,
according to the appointment of its standing committee, at
Cazenovia, on the 30th of January; at which time and place, the
Business Committee reported the following resolutions:-
MILLENNIAL HARBINGER, VOLUME III.-----NUMBER III. BETHANY, VA.
MARCH, 1839
THE "PATTERN" FOR UNITY AGREED WITH THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
IN THE WILDERNESS AND MANY NETWTESTAMENT EXAMPLES;:
In
1839, from the "old brother, came an article on "The Divine
Order for Evangelizing the World, and for Teaching the
Evangelized How to Conduct Themselves." He started
with the Great Commission in Matthew, and urged the necessity
of teaching and preaching.
"Let the church then take up its Book and read and study
it. The proper character of the church is the school
of [175] Christ, disciples, Christians. . . .
It must not shame its Master by its stupid,
wilful, shameful ignorance of his Book."
He proposed
for the Lord's Day a meeting of four hours, beginning at ten
o'clock and a half-hour intermission between each two hours.
An order of service is really suggested which provides at the
close for assignments of study for the week and "a
contribution of something to the common stock for religious
purposes, as God has prospered him.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus
came and spake unto them, saying,
All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore,
and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the
name
of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: [Jesus Christ]
Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever
I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
SO THAT PATTERN WILL NOT CHANGE
Jesus followed the
pattern as our example.
Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where
he had been brought up:
and, as his custom
was,
he went into the
synagogue on the sabbath day,
and stood up for to
read.
Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city
them that preach
him,
being read in
the synagogues every sabbath day.
1Timothy 4:11 These things command and teach.
1Timothy 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an
example of the believers,
in word, in
conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
1Timothy 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading,
to exhortation, to doctrine.
1Timothy 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee,
which was given thee
by prophecy, [teaching]
with the laying on of
the hands of the presbytery.
1Timothy 4:15 Meditate upon these things; [speaking
and meditating IN THE HEART]
give thyself wholly to
them;
that thy profiting may
appear to all.
1Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself,
and unto the doctrine;
continue in them:
for in doing this thou
shalt both save thyself,
and them that hear
thee
Thomas Campbell:
"Some thirty years ago, when we addressed a portion of our
fellow Christians in western Pennsylvania upon this
all-important subject, we met with universal opposition from
the leaders of the people and were considered as the
disturbers of religious society; but now, blessed be God, it
is not only our privilege to bear of some hundreds of
thousands in the United States and elsewhere that have been
awakened, by means of our humble commencement, to advocate
this blessed cause, upon pure scriptural principles
of primitive, apostolic Christianity; but
that also now, at length, there is a voluntary
movement in different parts of the camp, beyond the bounds of
our co-operative agency in favor of this
blessed cause, the cause of union in truth amongst all the
friends of truth and peace throughout all the churches,
for this was the sacred design and motto of our
commencement."
"Second, as to the
propositions adopted by the convention, they, appear too
indefinite, and, of course, have a tendency to produce difficulties,
Thomas Campbell defined union
thusly: [The Millennial Harbinger (March 1839): 134-144.]
5.
That with respect to the commands and ordinances of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
where
the scriptures are silent as to the express time or manner
of performance, if any such there be;
no human authority has power to interfere, in order
to supply the supposed
deficiency,
by making laws for the church;
nor can any thing more be required of Christians in
such cases, but only that they so observe these commands
and ordinances, as will evidently answer the
declared and obvious end of their institution.
Much less has any human authority power to impose new commands or ordinances
upon the church,
which our Lord Jesus Christ has not enjoined.
Nothing ought to be received into the faith or worship of
the church, or be made a term of communion amongst
Christians, that is not as old as the New Testament.
"13.
Lastly, that if any circumstantials
indispensably
necessary
to
the observance of divine ordinances
be not found upon the
page of express revelation,
such, and such
only as are absolutely necessary for this purpose,
should be adopted,
under the title of human expedients,
without any pretence
to a more sacred origin--so that any subsequent
alteration or difference
in the observance of
these things might produce no contention nor division in the
church."
That, of course, appears
throughout the Church historians and is common decency since
Restoration meant removing anything not required to be A School
of Christ. Neither Campbell would have "unioned" with any group
which ignored the purpose of the assembly and who IMPOSED
something in order to SUPPLY the supposed deficiency.
That has nothing to do with the "law of silence" or "traditions"
or decisions of church councils which are owned by what became
the Disciples-Christian churches.
THE
MILLERITE CONNECTION: The Society was to make it
POSSIBLE for Jesus to return!
William J. Nottingham Global Ministries.
"My point here is that the first missionary
society was the product of a long and intense process
which generated considerable soul-searching. There were shared
biblical principles and at the same time fundamental
differences in theological opinion. Disagreement
grew
concerning congregational ecclesiology,
commonality in mission with other
Christians,
and also
perhaps communion of the Holy Spirit.
This tension would eventuate in separate
bodies and institutions of the 20th and 21st
centuries. [Disciples and NACC] A full
appreciation is probably hidden from us in the distance from
ante-bellum times. But the nature of the Bible's authority,
the
relatively new idea of the autonomy of the local
congregation,
and the centrality
of millennialist eschatology for these men and women,
with men doing most of the writing which is left
to us, seem to me to be mysteries that can only be observed
from different angles and rarely entered into existentially
by later generations like our own.
This is evidenced in the decisions
concerning missionaries growing out of this fervor
leading up to the Cincinnati convention: Dr. and Mrs.
James T. Barclay were the first. It was in their parlor in
Washington, D.C., 1843, that the congregation had
been organized which became the Vermont Avenue
Church and in 1930 the National City Christian Church.
They went to Jerusalem, not because of
Acts 1:8 "beginning with Jerusalem" as a popular Disciples
legend has it, but because it
was taken for granted by Alexander Campbell
and his followers that the Jews were to be converted
before the return of Christ.
RICHARD HUGES
MAKES THIS FALSE ASSUMPTION
That was a false
assumption: the Millenial Harbinger's major thrust was not
to SUPPORT Millerism but to defeat it. Campbell
denies that Jesus will return to Canaan. Because the
Church of Christ did not believe in William E. Miller [Ellen
G. White]. You will notice that it was the Disciples who
were tilted by Miller.
The title of Campbell's journal proclaimed
clearly the eschatology of the pre-Civil War spirituality,
so neglected in our denominational memory by scholars and
theologians since then.
Notice that Campbell
spoke of THE PROTESTANT THEORY: not his because he
speaks where the Bible speaks and insists on a NEW HEAVEN and
a NEW EARTH and that you could not convert people after the
literal earth was burned up.
In the Millennial Harbinger of 1841,
we
read in what is called The
Protestant Theory:
"The
Millennium, so far as the triumphs of Christianity is
concerned, will be a state of greatly enlarged and
continuous prosperity, in which the Lord will be exalted
and his divine spirit enjoyed in an unprecedented measure.
All the conditions of society will be vastly improved;
wars shall cease, and peace and good will among men will
generally abound. The Jews will be converted, and the
fullness of the Gentiles will be brought into the kingdom
of the Messiah."
THIS WAS NOT CAMPBELL'S VIEW AND THEREFORE THE FOSTER
VIEWS HAVE NO FOUNDATION.
The founding of the American
Christian Missionary Society cannot be separated from the
millennialist eschatology of the period
See
Alexander Campbell on the Second Coming to prove that you
never believe "the doctors of the Law." This
takes careful reading to grasp that Campbell REPUDIATES any
speculation.
The Disciples
followed the Millerites: not Campbell.
nor from the pragmatism
which required a foreign dimension to
keep pace with other denominations or to outgrow
them! D.S. Burnet's book The Jerusalem
Mission and Dr. Barclay's book The City of the Great King
make this clear, along with speeches and articles by
various leaders like Isaac Errett. Barclay wrote in a
journal The Christian Age:
"The ACMS...resolved...
to make
the first offer of salvation to Israel. . .
for the
salvation of the Jews...
for upon
the conversion and resumption of Israel
1845
The Restoration Movement History: John
T. Brown in his history of "Churches of Christ," p. 153,
says:
"David
S. Burnet was the father of organized cooperative work
among the disciples of Christ. He crystallized the
sentiment for cooperation. He was the leader of leaders, who,
more than any other man, advocated the adoption of the plan of
cooperation, which has grown to its present power and
usefulness among our people. Afterward, in looking over his
life-work, he said: "I consider the inauguration of the
society system, which I vowed to urge upon the brethren if God
raised me up from my protracted illness of 1845,
was one of the most important acts of my career." He was
indeed the leader of the leaders in the work of organization
and formation of the American Christian Missionary Society.
So, according to David S. Burnet, "the
father of organized, cooperative work among the disciples of
Christ," the resolution to urge the society on the Brethren
originated in the sickroom in 1845, in the mind of
David S. Burnet, but was not put into execution until four
years later, 1849.
RETROSPECTIVE
ACCOUNTS
While there was never a "union" in 1832 at least
many groups including the Reformed Baptists could have fraternal
relationships because at yet no one had been so daring as to
introduce instruments.
http://www.pineycom.com/Unity.Boles.html
In
1849, the first major departure was made. David S.
Burnet was the father of the Missionary Society;
it was organized in 1849. David S. Burnet was a convert
from the Baptist Church and he brought the
idea of the Missionary Society with him from the Baptist
Church. "He was brought up as a Presbyterian but at sixteen
years of age, after careful study of the New Testament, was
baptized into the Baptist Church." ("The Story
of the Churches." by Errett Gates, p. 190.) He said, "I was born
into the missionary spirit, and did not relinquish it when
I associated myself with my present brethren." (Christian
Magazine, Vol. 3, p. 173.
Notice Nottingham's
reason why these groups were never "unioned" because
you cannot "union" congregational churches. This also shows
that Foster twisted the "apocylptic" claim for
Alexander Campbell. That is because he did not care enough to
read the original documents. Historians daisy chain and
quoting A BOOK is never scholarship. Of course they are all
defined by John as ANTICHRIST by their neo-trinity dogma.
Church "scholars" are really a laughing stock and they write
only for other "scholars" totally missing Jesus who said that
"doctors of the law take away the key to knowledge."
I don't write history: I post the actual documents the
RECONSTRUCTIONISTS lie about seing godliness as a means of
financial gain--occupation. Don't be a cultist: never trust
anyone who quotes Mark 1.1 and does not post the text in
context.
ALL
religious groups rejected musical instruments because of
the persona of musicians and the fact that a disciple
fully understands that instruments always mark those who
refuse to hear the Words of God.
John
Calvin on Instruments clearly understood and observed by
presbyterians.
Does any
one object, that music is very useful for awakening the
minds of men and moving their hearts? I own it;
but we
should always take care that no corruption creep in, which
might both defile the pure worship of God and involve men in superstition. Moreover, since the
Holy Spirit expressly warns us of this danger by
the mouth of Paul,
to proceed beyond what we are there warranted by him is not only, I must say, unadvised
zeal, but wicked and
perverse obstinacy.
Again,
Calvin notes that: "We know that our Lord Jesus Christ has
appeared, and by His advent has abolished these legal
shadows.
Instrumental
music,
we therefore maintain, was only tolerated on account of
the times and the people,
because they were as boys, as the sacred Scripture speaketh, whose
condition required these puerile rudiments.
But in
gospel times we must not have recourse to these unless we
wish to destroy the evangelical perfection and to obscure
the meridian light which we enjoy in Christ our Lord."
(Calvin's Commentary on the Thirty-third Psalm, and on 1
Sam. 18:1-9).
"Unto the pure all things
are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is
nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled"
(Tit. 1: 15.)
For why is a woe
pronounced upon the rich who have received their
consolation? (Luke 6: 24,) who are full, who laugh
now, who "lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon
their couches;" "join house to house," and "lay field to
field;" "and the harp and the viol, the tabret
and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts,"
(Amos 6: 6; Isa. 5: 8, 10.)
Certainly ivory and gold,
and riches, are the good creatures of God, permitted, nay
destined, by divine providence for the use of man; nor was
it ever forbidden to laugh, or to be full,
or to add new to old and hereditary
possessions, or to be delighted with music, or to drink
wine.
This is true, but when the
means are supplied to roll and wallow in
luxury, to intoxicate the mind and soul with present
and be always hunting after new pleasures,
The Necessity of Reforming the Church (1543) Calvin wrote
For, if we
would not throw
everything into confusion,
we
must never lose sight of the distinction between the old and the new dispensations, and of the fact that ceremonies, the
observance of which was useful under the law,
are now
not only superfluous, but vicious and absurd.
But in
regard to the former, it is plain that
they are
destitute of authority
from the scriptures,
as well as of any approved
example of such
intercession; while, as to the latter,
Paul
declares that none can invoke God, save those who have been taught by his word to pray. On this depends the confidence with
which it becomes pious minds to be actuated and imbued
when they engage in prayer.
The instruments were
tolerated because God had already turned them over to worship
the starry host and sentenced them back to captivity and
death.
WEST: "Apostasy
in music among 19th
century churches that had endeavored to restore New
Testament authority in worship and work
began, in
the main, following the American Civil War'
In 1868, Ben Franklin guessed that there were ten thousand congregations
and not over fifty had used an instrument in worship."
(Earl West, Search for the Ancient Order, Vol. 2, pp. 80,
81)
Following
the
American
Civil War "Staunch supporters of the missionary society and instrumental
music, the new look
in styles of work and worship, had been predicting for years the early
demise of the Advocate. It was unthinkable, as these men viewed
the problem,
that
even the people in the South would not want to
keep up with the times.
Lipscomb's simple ways might have been
condoned in the hills of Franklin County before
the war,
but the times were
passing him by. It was only a question of
time until the Advocate would fold up, and when it
did, as these men gleefully envisioned, it would be
a happy day." (Earl West, Life and Times of David
Lipscomb, p. 166)
At the end of
Alexander Campbell's life the missionary society had grasped
rights to Campbell's song book. Campbell believed that he was
putting the ownership into the hands of a committee of
brethren.
"Isaac
Errett who influenced Campbell to sign over (extorted?) his copyright,
had argued that it
was
absolutely necessary to the unity of the
church to have unity of worship,
and
the latter could not be maintained
unless
the brethren all used one hymn
book--Campbell's.
Accordingly,
the
Standard
and the Society opposed vigorously the
publication of any other hymn book. Lipscomb by selling a
hymn book printed in Canada had been visited by some of
the ire of these men." (West, p. 171)
1859 Restoration
Movement Boles:
A second departure was the introduction of instrumental
music in the worship. This began about 1859. It was not
introduced because it was found in the New Testament; neither
were those who introduced it in the worship guided by the New
Testament. But few have been bold enough to attempt to prove
that the New Testament authorizes the use of instrumental music
in worship. Many have claimed on other grounds that they have a
right to use instrumental music in worship, but the point made
here is that no one, guided by the New Testament, introduced the
organ into the worship. Errett Gates, in his history referred to
above, p. 250, says: "The organ controversy was the missionary
controversy in a new form, for both grew out of the opposition
to human innovations in the work and worship of the church ...
The organ party treated it as a question of expediency on which
there should be forbearance and liberty. The antiparty treated
it as a matter of principle." The arguments now used to justify
the use of instrumental music in worship are "after-thoughts"
and were not used when the instrument or organ was first imposed
on the brotherhood.
1860
The Organ: The
Christian Repository. Hickman Creek
To accuse non-instrumental
churches for being sectarians ignores the recorded history of
contemporaneous battles among ALL religious groups.
They were
men of sincere piety and fervent zeal, but governed in manners
and in preaching by laws of their own. Unlike the gowned
clergy of our day these primitive preachers of the wilderness
were accustomed, on a hot summer's day, to take off their
coats and preach in the shirt sleeves a very convenient
habit for those who toiled coatless all the week. Unlike the
drilled theatrical disclaimers of the modern pulpit, who read
their sermons, these earnest, unsophisticated heralds of the
gospel, with no teacher of elocution but the promptings of
their own pathetic voices, sung their sermons. Like
their illustrious ancestor with the leathern girdle, their
voice was heard "crying in the wilderness."
Vulgar and
ludicrous as the habit may seem to the eyes of learned
criticism, this sing song preaching had its
attractions. Congregations would set [sic] from three to five
hours, on backless benches, and listen to sermon after sermon
sung off in this way, without complaining. But the
congregation of this refined age, who sit on cushioned seats,
with cushioned backs, and cushioned foot-stools, and listen to
sermons enriched by the best creations of intellect and
genius, set off with all the improved arts of voice and
gesture, and all the witchery of rhetoric, complain dreadfully
if they are kept more than forty-five minutes. There must be a
difference somewhere, either in the essence and manner of
preaching, or in the taste and instincts of the hearers. After
all it is a question whether singing the gospel is not
as apostolic and efficient as reading it; whether the
one did not make as many converts in that day, as the other
makes in this age.
It was at
this meeting-house, and under this preaching, when a small
boy, I got my first ideas of divine worship, and of Jesus
Christ as a Saviour for sinners. And this fact may account for
some notions that cling to me at the present time. The first
pastor I remember to have met and heard at Hickman Creek was a
tall, gray-headed gentleman by the name of Durham. It was
under the ministry of this aged servant of God I first
witnessed the exhibition of instrumental church music. It was
very simple and primitive in its order. The instrument was not
an organ, nor melodeon, nor violin, nor flute, nor drum, nor
horn. It was a cheap and portable concern, that the pastor
carried in his pocket, which at the proper tune he played
himself, thereby saving the expense of a salaried performer.
When the
hymn was announced Father Durham drew from his pocket a lady's
tucking comb, to one side of which a piece of brown
paper had been adjusted. While the congregation struck the air
of the tune, he sung the same notes through the comb, which
being reflected by the paper, and broken into diverging and
crossing volumes by the intervening teeth, produced a
monstrous jingle of sounds, that supplied the place of bass,
treble, alto, and all the imaginary notes. Whether scientific
or not, the primitive church instrument sent out a novel
clatter of sounds, which to my uneducated ear seemed
wonderfully melodious.
Little did I
dream at that time of living to be a grown-up man; of being
transported from those native hills and dropped down among
cities; to tread the threshold of majestic Gothic temples, and
see the tucking comb transferred from the preacher's
pocket to a spacious room in the gallery, and expanded into
the beauty and grandeur of the church organ, with its
thundering sounds.
I will not
undertake to give an opinion as to the comparative merits of
the various instruments of church music. Let those who believe
in instruments do this, if they choose. After some years of
experience I decidedly prefer congregational singing to all
the instruments in the world. Some might attribute this to
erroneous education, or the lack of education. Be this as it
may, I would rather listen, especially on the Sabbath, to some
forty or fifty clear toned human voices
1866
Moses Lard Lard's Quarterly [Volume III: April, 1866]
Until after the UNcivil war the concensus of all of the people
who flowed into either the Christian Churches or Reformers, no
one believed in nor would tolerate the use of instruments in
what Christ and the Campbells called A School of Christ.
Alexander Campbell was quite happy as a Reformed Baptists
because they did not divide over instruments until around the
turn of the decade. However, it was the Baptists who
proposed to excommunicate Campbell because he taught that
"baptism for the remission of sins" meant "baptism for the
remission of sins..
While there was never any organic "union" it was possible for
people of most groups to join with others in what they called
"worship." Unity of heart and soul was created by Jesus
Christ before a clergy system usurped the role of elders and
deacons as the Pastor-Teachers of the flock pledged to teach
that which had been taught.
But
the Church of Christ in halves, or a divided body of Christ,
is impossible. The moment the church is so divided
the
one part becomes an apostasy,
the other remains the church.
Suppose the
division to have its origin in some doctrinal question. In
what light, then, should it be viewed, and how disposed of? Of
course, in that case the first question raised would be:
Is
the doctrine clearly taught in the word of God. If clearly
taught in the word of God,
the case admits of a
very simple solution.
The
party rejecting the doctrine would stand, on that
ground, and for that reason alone, condemned;
while the party
accepting, would have to be held as no party, but as the
church.
But suppose
the doctrine not to be clearly taught, or suppose it
to admit of a reasonable doubt whether it is taught or
not, how, then, should we proceed?
In
that case the difference should be regarded as a difference
of opinion, and hence should be made no test of
soundness in the faith, or of fellowship.
Here, if
brethren were possessed of even the most ordinary
share of love, the difference would either permanently rest or
permanently end.
But
if one of the differing parties should
persist in an effort to force its opinion on the
other,
or should dogmatically require subscription thereto,
or should make it any such test as has just been named,
then such party would have to be regarded as having
become heretical, and would have to be repudiated.
The
other party would have to be held as the church.
BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN 1877
7. "Well,
the churches generally are going into it, and it is
'a foregone conclusion that they will have and use the
organ,' and it is useless to stand against it."
No "the churches generally" are not
gone into it, nor are they going that way.
We do not know the number of churches in
the United States;
but doubt not that six
thousand would be a low
enough estimate.
How
many of them use the organ in worship? We do not
know this with certainty, but probably not more than from
[431] one hundred and fifty to two hundred, and certainly not five hundred. [1877]
The
organ party is yet small, and would amount to but
little, had it not found way into a few places of note and prominence. There are still whole States that have not
an organ in the Church.
We think
there is not one in use in Canada, not one in Virginia,
Tennessee, nor Texas, that we have heard of; scarcely any in Kentucky,
West Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and many other States. The organ is
still the exception, not the rule; and the party is
small. The main body are true to the great
principles of reformation--to the divine purpose of returning
to and maintaining, the original practice in
all things.
1883
Nashville
Choate/Woodson
note
that like David Lipscomb, E. G. Sewell worked for the Gospel
Advocate to earn a living
and
preached for the Woodland Street Church in Nashville. He
received little for his preaching. A new building was
constructed in 1880 and Sewell was asked to preach
there longer and devote more time.
As well funded by
the Standard
"From the North, where the Society system was deeply imbedded
in the churches, people moved into Nashville
and many filled the Woodland Street
church. By the end of 1882, a woman
from Kentucky asked Sewell about forming an auxiliary society to the Christian
Woman's Board of Missions. Sewel objected, and gave his reasons.
But as always,
when a group in a congregation wants something, and
the preacher stands in their way, there is only one
thing to do: dismiss
the preacher. Sewell was ousted and at the beginning
of 1883, W. J. Loos, son of C.
L. Loos, president of the Foreign
Society, was hired. In
the fall of that year young Loos attended the annual
convention at Cincinatti, telling them with some embarassment
that he was ashamed to admit he was from Tennessee for the
churches of his state were doing nothing."
When
he returned, Sewell refuted the false charges about
Tennessee churches. Loos was check-mated and was replaced later by R. M.
Giddens who "fanned the
flames of Societyism."
"The women were soon busily at work to form an
auxiliary society. Sewell's pleas to Giddens went
unheeded. During the following summer,
the women
wrote letters to the
churches of the state
asking funds be sent to
them
so they could hire a
State Evangelist. Before long, plans were laid
to secure the services of A. I. Myhr.
"Lipscomb
had agreed to publish information in the Advocate after being
assured that evangelism was the goal.
However, Giddens failed to get the work under the Woodland
Street elders. J. C. McQuiddy who had helped raise the money
and Sewell who was an elder were not consulted about Myhr.
Myhr made his
goals clear about promoting the Society and Instrumental
music
even though it would divide the churches. Myhr's goal,
Lipscome believed, was to
"ostracize, boycott, and starve every preacher that does
not APPROVE the society."
1889
TWISTING SAND CREEK
There is nothing about Daniel Sommer's
claimed bad attitude which can divert people from the facts
abot imposing instruments as the "laded burden" straw which
broke the backs of people who had been lulled into the Cult
of Unity. The only lovely and honorable "evangelist" who
understood the CENI of the Great Commission was labeled a
Sommerite. But, then so was Carl Ketcherside and Leroy
Garret in attitude: we might say that the Stone-Campbell
Movement derived from Daniel Sommer
There was never any organizational union
between the Church of Christ and the Disciples (Christian
Churches). However, at one time there would have been
nothing in the public assembly which would offend the Bible
knowledge and sensibilities of most people. If and
when it is apparent that one group in "fellowship" is
purpose driven to "infiltrate and divert" your congregation,
and when that attacking church is organized and financed,
the honorable thing to do is to try to cut off contact with
that group. Several "unity lovers" have discovered
since the origin of the Stone-Campbell Movement that they
will not, have not hesitated to twist all recorded history
of the "instrument cult" to take you captive.
Rick
Atchley: The era of
the progressive Church of Christ is
over.
Back in the 80’s you could go to any major city, especially
in the South, and you could find a progressive
Church of Christ — and if they would preach grace,
and if they would put words on a screen, and if they
would let divorced people place membership, they
would grow.
The generation of Boomers has enough
denominational loyalty that they’re going to find the least
legalistic
Well, we discipled the children
of those progressive churches
for a whole generation to grow past us Boomers.
They never heard the sermons we heard.
They never heard the rationale for a cappella
music.
We sent them to youth
rallies and Church of Christ events
with some of the finest Christian bands in
the world.
We discipled our
children to leave our Movement!
The church at Sand Creek was without any of
the innovations. When a group attempted to impose
instrumental music there was objection. To their
credit they left rather than steal the property. A
Supreme Court decision declared that the property belonged
to the non-instrumental group which had founded the
congregation
People do not let minimal ethics stop them
when they use the law and lying to take over a church as a
defacto Christian Church. People of the Stone-Campbell
Cult love to point to Sand Creek to denounce them for
refusing to be TAKEN CAPTIVE. People who use virtual
violence against Daniel Sommer over the instrument issue are
the same ones who get violent when Churches of Christ will
not submit to what Scripture and recorded history calls sin:
"making the Lamb dumb before the slaughter."
Whatever the few dupes of the NACC claim
about "everone wants instruments" the lust usually begins
with one misleader. As confessed, they "cut out" a small
herd and instill the idea into their heads. Rick Atckley
took over a decade of being "intentional" as they say before
a spirit told him that it was time to preach that sermon
enforced by David Faust and the NACC.
Dainel Sommer Addresses Sand
Creek. About 20
decided to force instrumental music and 100Christian
Church and filed a lawsuit to take over the new
brick church house. opposed. The 20
discorders took the name The
Illinois Supreme court decided that the group
founded by the principles of Alexander Campbell and existing
since 1834 owned the propert. In his very godly
address Daniel Sommer concludes:
"When
they determined to have their devices if they had
only left the established congregations in peace and had gone
out into new fields and built up churches, they
would have acted with some honor.
But
instead of so doing they have thrust their devices
upon congregations established upon primitive
simplicity, and thus have become usurpers
of other men's labors. We were once a happy
and a peaceful and a prosperous people and for
peace we pled.
We entreated
them for God's sake and for the love of heaven not to
thrust their devices upon us, but they
would not hearken. WHAT THEN MUST BE DONE? In the language
of the Apostle Peter I answer: "THE TIME IS COME THAT
JUDGEMENT MUST BEGIN AT THE HOUSE OF GOD."
It is not an honorable thing
to denounce Churches of Christ as sectarian by attempting to
force them to approve of that which has divided since singing
as an ACT was first introduced in the year 373.
The Britannica Notes that: Or Click
Here
The introduction of musical
instruments (reed organs) into Christian
worship led to many local disputes. Other innovations added occasion for
controversy--the infringement of the "one-man
pastoral system" on the local ministry of elders, introduction
of selected
choirs, use of the title Reverend, and lesser issues.
In 1889
several rural churches in Illinois issued the Sand Creek
Declaration, withdrawing fellowship from
those practicing "innovations and corruptions."
Foster etal loves to use the "rural" word to
describe how churches of Christ had such an appeal in
Tenneessee. However, it was the Bible Reading Moms who
forced the Stoneites to preach baptism in North Alabama
where the appeal to raw emotion (called sorcery or
witchcraft) failed to produce the falling down mad
conversions.
R.
L. Dabney Presbyterian
It has always been common among the advocates of this Popish
mode of worship,
- to
meet the objections of simple minded Protestants to the organ,
- with
the retort that their scruples were the relics of
fanatical prejudice,
- and rustic
ignorance.
It is not
strange that men, such as the present advocates of the organ
in Presbyterian churches in America, should bring such a
charge against such men; many of them educated amidst
the richest specimens of the fine arts in the old world, their youth
imbued with the spirit of a gorgeous and poetic age?
He
found it significant that, on the whole, only women
and effeminate men fell into this folly."
"According
to Philo, the gods of the pagans exploit this weakness
of men. For the sake of a better effect, and with
the intention of more easily cheating their devotes, that they have set their lies to
melodies, rhythms and meters.." (Father Johannes Quasten,
p. 52)
Contrary to the instrumental group who got
in debt and needed entertainment to dig them out, Alexander
Campbell derived his views of a professional clergy from
John Calvin.
"A
preacher, like any other man who gets in debt and fails to
pay, soon becomes demoralized, and indifferent about
paying--becomes, indeed, dishonest.
"We have
never been willing, when not actively engaged in preaching
to sit
around on our professional dignity, but have
labored at whatever work presented itself to make a living." (West, p.
167)
THE
RISE OF CORRUPTERS OF THE WORD SELLING LEARNING AT RETAIL.
Without denying support for Evangelists
Campbell warned about the mercinary clergy, the dominant
pastor was and is divisive and the only way that the NACC
has helped any churches of Christ impose instruments.
"The pastor
is not a necessity. He is a FUNGUS GROWTH upon the church, the body of
Christians, DWARFING its growth, PREVENTING its
development of its members; and until the church GETS RID of
him it will NEVER prosper as it should. In the Bible we can
find all the necessities.
"I can
testify from my own observation that a good eldership will
lose its efficiency, and its members become both UNABLE and
UNWILLING to do the work of elders, in a very few years
after the employment of a pastor. And if under the pastor
system a good eldership has ever developed, I have never
seen or heard of the case. I don't believe that has or ever
will be done." --James A. Harding, Gospel
Advocate, May 20, 1885
Preaching
for
pay? "Give money to make poor pious youths learned clergy,
or vain pretenders to erudition; and they pray
that they may preach to you; yes, and pay them too.
Was there
ever
such a craft as priestcraft? No, it is the craftiest of all crafts. It is so crafty that it obtains by its
craft the means to make craftsmen, and then it makes the deluded support them!" (Campbell,
Alexander, Christian Baptist, Dec. 1, 1823, Vol. 1, p. 91).
Wonder why the
Stone-Campbell Sectarians never use that?
"Those
who lord it over the people will soon begin to destroy
Them. The word Balaam means 'the destroyer of the people.'
If we turn back to the history of this strange figure as
recorded in the book of Numbers we find that which
clarifies three passages in the New Testament where 'the
error of Balaam' (Jude 11), 'the way of Balaam' (II Pet.
2:15) and 'the doctrine of Balaam' are discussed."
(Barnhouse, D.G., Revelation, Zondervan, p. 54
See
John Calvin on the need for a Restoration Movement
excluding professional preachers.
These are
Paul's words. Let them, then, show us that they are ministers of the gospel, and I will have no difficulty in
conceding their right to stipend.
The ox must not be muzzled that treadeth out the corn [1 Cor. 9:9]. But is it not
altogether at variance with reason that the ploughing oxen should starve, and the lazy asses be fed?
They
will say, however, that they serve at the altar. I answer, that the priests under the
law deserved maintenance, by ministering at an altar;
but
that, as Paul declares, the case under the New
Testament is different. And what are those altar services,
for which they allege that maintenance is
due to them?
Forsooth,
that
they may perform their masses and chant in churches, for example, partly
labor to no purpose, and partly perpetrate sacrilege, thereby provoking the anger of God.
See for what it is that they are alimented at the
public expense!
Aeschines Against Ctesiphon
3.[220] And you blame
me if I come before the people, not constantly, but only
at intervals. And you imagine that your bearers fail
to detect you in thus making a demand which is
no outgrowth of democracy, but borrowed from another form
of government. For in oligarchies it is not he who
wishes, but he who is in authority, that addresses the people;
whereas in democracies
he speaks who chooses,
and whenever it seems to
him good.
And the fact that a man speaks only at intervals marks him as
a man who takes part in politics because of the call of
the hour, and for the common good;
whereas to leave no day
without its speech,
is the mark of a man who
is making a trade of it, and talking for pay.
2
A quiet citizen, as distinguished from the professional
political blackmailer,su_kophant-ēs
Pl. Cur. 2.3
And then those Grecians with their cloaks, who walk about
with covered heads, who go loaded beneath their cloaks with
books, and with baskets6, they loiter
together, and engage in gossipping among themselves, the
gad-abouts
6 With
baskets: In the "sportule," or "baskets,"
the poor, and the parasitical dependants on the
rich, carried away the scraps that were given to them
after an entertainment was concluded.
Amos 8:1 Thus
hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of
summer fruit.
Amos 8:2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said,
A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD
unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I
will not again pass by them any more.
basket from
H3611 keleb keh'-leb From an unused root meaning to
yelp, or else to attack; a dog; hence (by euphemism) a
male prostitute:—dog.
Revelation
22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,
the first and the last.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of
life, and may enter in through the gates into the
city.
Revelation 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers,
and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and
whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Revelation
22.15 exō hoi kunes kai hoi pharmakoi kai hoi pornoi kai hoi phoneis kai hoi eidōlolatrai kai pas philōn kai poiōn pseudos.
Revelation 22:16 I
Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these
things in the churches. I am the root and the
offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Pornos , ho, A. catamite,
Ar.Pl.155,
X.Mem.1.6.13,
D.22.73,
II. Idolater, Suid.
Xen.
Mem. 1.6.13 So is it with wisdom. Those
who offer it to all comers for money are known as sophists,
prostitutors of wisdom,
but we think
that he who makes a friend of one whom he knows to
be gifted by nature, and teaches him all the good he
can, fulfils the duty of a citizen and a gentleman.
Sophis-tēs
, master of one's craft, experts, poets,
musicians, harpists, "making melody in holy
places." a Sophist, i.e. one
who gave lessons in grammar, rhetoric,
politics, mathematics, for money,
3. later of the rhētores, Professors
of Rhetoric, and prose writers “Apollōnidē sophistē”
2Corinthians 2:17
For we are not as many, which corrupt the
word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in
the sight of God speak we in Christ.
G2585 kapēleuō kap-ale-yoo'-o From κάπηλος kapēlos
(a huckster); to retail, that is, (by implication)
to adulterate (figuratively):—corrupt.
ka^pēl-euō ,
1)
to be a retailer, to peddle
2)
to make money by selling anything
a)
to get sordid gain by dealing in anything, to do a
thing for base gain
b)
to trade in the word of God
1)
to try to get base gain by teaching divine truth
c)
to corrupt, to adulterate
1) peddlers
were in the habit of adulterating their
commodities for the sake of gain
k. tēs hōras anthos or tēn hōran, of prostitutes
Instead of killing all of the people of Lydians,
croesus advised:
Hdt.
1.155 [3]
“O King, what you say is reasonable. But do not ever
yield to anger, or destroy an ancient city that is
innocent both of the former and of the present
offense. For the former I am responsible, and bear
the punishment on my head; while Pactyes, in whose
charge you left Sardis,
does this present wrong; let him, then, pay the
penalty.
Grant, then, forgiveness to the Lydians, and
to make sure of their never
rebelling against thee, or alarming thee more,
send and forbid
them to keep any weapons of war, command them to wear tunics under their cloaks, and to put
buskins upon their legs,
..........and make them bring up their sons to cithern-playing (Kitharizein), singing (psallein), and shop-keeping (Hucksterism).
So wilt thou soon see them become women instead of men,
and there will be no more fear of their
revolting from thee."
-[4] Ludoisi de sungnômên echôn tade
autoisi epitaxon, hôs mête aposteôsi mête
deinoi toi eôsi: apeipe men sphi pempsas hopla
arêia mê ektêsthai, keleue de spheas kithônas
-[khiton
David's garment] te hupodunein toisi heimasi
kai kothornous hupodeesthai, proeipe d'
autoisi -kitharizein te kai psallein kai kapêleuein [prostitutes, petty trade,
playing tricks, corrupting] paideuein tous
paidas. kai tacheôs spheas ô basileu gunaikas
ant' andrôn opseai gegonotas, hôste ouden
deinoi toi esontai mê aposteôsi."
The
word kitharizo means to PLAY THE CITHARA and
does not include singing.
- -Kitharizô 1 [kitharis] to play the
cithara, phormingi [Apollo]
kitharize Il., Hes.; lurêi eraton
kitharizôn Hhymn. (so that there can have
been no great difference between the
kithara, lura, and phorminx ); kitharizein
ouk epistatai, of an uneducated person,
-
-Kithar-isis , eôs, hê, playing on the cithara,
Pl.Prt.325e; k. psilê, i.e. without
the voice, Id.Lg.669e, cf.
Pae.Delph.15; aulêsis kai k.
Phld.Mus.p.23 K.
-Arassô ,of
any violent
impact,
with collat. notion of rattling, clanging, as of horses, hoplais, pound in a mortar, strike with a shower of stones.
a). kitharēn strike the
lyre, Orph.A.382;
humnon, melos, etc., Nonn.D.1.15,440,
etc.
2. c. dat. modi, arassein tina
oneidesi, kakois, assail with reproaches or threats,
II. Pass., to be dashed against, dash one against the other
Pound in a mortar, “holmō a.” Nic. Th.508
Used by O.E.Payne
to justify PSALLO as a command [p.106
7 The
gad-abouts: Drapetæ. From the Greek dremō, "to run." He probably
alludes to the propensities of the Athenians for gossipping
and running about from place to place. Probably,
at the time of Plautus, they had begun in considerable
numbers to resort to Rome. By his reference to the books,
he is, perhaps, more particularly alluding to their Philosophers.
The Romans considered it effeminate in civil
life to go with the head covered.
su_kophant-ēs became
notorious as pettifoggers, blackmailers, professional
swindler or confidential agent,
kolax , a^kos, ho,
2. in later Gr., = Att. goēs, Moer.
p.113 P.
II. lisping pronunciation of korax, Ar.V.45.
goēs , ētos, ho, A. sorcerer,
wizard, Phoronis g. epōdos Ludias apo khthonos” E.Ba.234,
cf. Hipp.1038;
prob. f.l. for boēsi Hdt.7.191.
2. juggler,
cheat, “deinos g. kai pharmakeus kai sophistēs” Pl.Smp.203d;
“deinon kai g. kai sophistēn . . onomazōn” D.18.276;
“apistos g. ponēros” Id.19.109;
“magos kai g.” Aeschin.3.137:
Comp. “goētoteros” Ach.Tat.6.7
Sophis-tēs , ou, ho, A. master
of one's craft, adept, expert, of diviners,
of musicians, “sophistēs . . parapaiōn khelun” [harp]
with modal words added, “hoi s. tōn hierōn melōn” Ael.NA11.1;
Ael.
NA 11.1
anthrōpōn Hupeboreōn genos kai timas Apollōnos tas ekeithi hadousi men poiētai, humnousi de kai suggrapheis, en de tois kai Hekataios, oukh ho Milēsios, all' ho Abdēritēs. ha de legei polla te kai semna hetera,
melōdountes, alla hōsper oun ek tou khorolektou to endosimon labontes kai tois sophistais tōn hierōn melōn tois epikhōriois sunasantes. eita tou humnou telesthentos hoi de anakhōrousi tē pros ton daimona
Clement of Alexandria, Stromata I
But
he that speaks through books, consecrates himself before God, crying
in writing thus:
Not for
gain,
not for vainglory, not to be vanquished by partiality,
nor enslaved by fear nor elated by pleasure;
but only to reap the
salvation of those
who read, which he does,
not at present participate in, but awaiting in expectation the
recompense which
will certainly be rendered by Him, who has promised
to bestow on the labourers the reward that is meet.
But he who
is enrolled in the
number of men [Ps. li. 7-12.] ought not to desire recompense.
For he
that vaunts his good services, receives glory as his reward.
And he who does any duty for the sake of recompense, is he not held fast in the custom of
the world, either as one who has done well, hastening
to receive a reward, or as an evil-doer avoiding
retribution?
We
must, as far as we can, imitate the Lord. I And he will
do so, who complies with the will of God,
receiving
freely,
giving freely, and receiving as a worthy reward
the citizenship itself.
"The
hire
of an harlot shall not come into the
sanctuary," it is said: accordingly it was
forbidden to bring to the altar the price of a dog. (male prostitute)
And in
whomsoever the eye of the soul has been blinded by
ill-nurture and teaching, let him advance to the true
light, to the truth,
which
shows by writing the things that are unwritten. "Ye
that thirst, go to
the waters,"
[Isa. lv. 1] says Esaias, And "drink water from
thine own vessels," [Prov. v. 15] Solomon exhorts.
Accordingly in "The Laws," the philosopher who
learned from the Hebrews, Plato, commands husbandmen
not to irrigate or take water from others, until they have first dug down
in their own ground to what is called the virgin soil, and found it dry.
For it is right to supply
want, but it is not well to support laziness.
For Pythagoras said that,
"although it be
agreeable to reason to take a share of a burden,
it is not a duty to take it away."
1890
CHRISTIAN STANDARD PROMOTES A NATIONAL CONVENTION IN
TENNESSEE
In 1890
the first convention was called at Chattanooga to organize
the state society. The only churches in the state of
Tennessee were those who had already adopted the organ in
their worship. The Christian Standard pumped up
the news and "it is reported that the brethren in Nashville,
Tennessee are desirous of entertaining our National
Convention next year."
This of course was just two congregations. A survey
showed that out of 2500 members in Nashville, less
than one hundred wanted the society.
Lipscomb
noted that among the Society people "the Bible is
as popular as last year's almanac."
"The
supporters of the missionary society organized the Tennessee
State Missionary Convention on October 6, 1890,
with one purpose in mind, as stated by J. H.
Garrison. He said at that time:
"We will take
Tennessee for organized mission work...within five years."
A. I. Myhr
was dispatched to Tennessee to head the new state society despite the
protestation of David Lipscomb that Tennessee was not a destitute
mission territory. Myhr and his supporters moved resolutely
ahead to accomplish their mission.
"Their efforts
met with some success and the intent was clear. Myhr was aggressive
and abrasive in his operations. His actions were of such
a nature, in promoting the missionary society, that he came
under the direct attack of E. G. Sewel and David Lipscomb.
And as later event proved, Myhr was no match for Lipscomb
and the Gospel Advocate.
1890
The Plan:
Again "We will take Tennessee for organized mission
work...within five years."
- Why would anyone ENDORSE and
accept pay from those always on a hostile path?
Myhr made his goals clear about promoting
the Society and Instrumental music
even though it would divide the churches. Myhr's goal,
Lipscome believed, was to
"ostracize, boycott, and starve
every preacher that does not APPROVE the society."
- How could any godly person REBUKE
and use all of the RACA words on a people who simply
refused to be TAKEN?
BECAUSE OF
THE RADICAL ATTACK AGAINST THE NON-INSTRUMENTAL CHURCHES..
Notice that
the use of the organ affected only a few Christian
Churches. That did not prevent the Disciples leadership
, prompted by the Standard, to IMPOSE instruments into
the Christian churches. This is proof that Churches of Christ
had no organs.
"As early
as 1882, Sewell and
Harding were urging that a separation be brought about to identify
that part of the Christian Church fellowship which supported
the organ and the society. Lipscomb, at the time, rebuffed his
brethren who called for such division. He sought no
compromise, but hoped that the church would not suffer
division."
That, of Course, proves that
they saw the Christian Church Fellowship as not the same
as The Church of Christ.
Not until 1878
did anyone in history MISuse psallo to justify the massive
discord they had already sown by using the ORGAN and Life
Members of even children of the Missionary Society.
This has a foundation beginning in heaven where Lucifer
began to TRAFFICK in some spiritual world we do not
understand. Being CAST AS PROFANE (a musical term) out of
heaven he or most often showed up in the garden of Eden as
the serpent meaning a MUSICAL ENCHANTER.
"By 1897,
Lipscomb was reconciled to the fact that division had
already occurred and
the supporters of the innovations would be
satisfied with nothing less than a complete take-over of the churches... (Adron Doran, J.E.Choate, The
Christian Scholar, p. 59
1901 Instruments of Music in the Service of God By David Lipscomb
Instruments had been added
into the Disciples of Christ--Chrisitian Churches. In time the
determination was to "take Tenneessee for the organ and
society party within five years." That is proof that
churches of Christ in Tennessee did not belong to the
Stone-Campbell and God wants people to stop lying to "take
Tennessee a hundred years later."
When the church determines to introduce
a service not required by God,
he who believes it wrong
is compelled to refuse in any way
to countenance
or affiliate with the wrong.
Sometimes when a part of a church insists
on and adopts the wrong,
had
I not better yield than to create division in the church?
A church that requires disobedience to
God to maintain peace in it is already an
apostate church; it has rejected God as it only
Ruler.
While forbearance and
love should be exercised in seeking to show them the right
and persuading them to do it, it is sinful to so
affiliate with them as to encourage and build up a
church that is going wrong.
In the case where the Society
and Organ party goes to law to seek control of the property they
have stolen, Lipscomb urged people not to go to law over
property.
1902 THE
NEWBERN HOSTILE TAKEOVER
In 1902
the church at Newbern
was taken over by society and organ
people. The church, against Lipscomb's advice, sued to retain
the property. Of course the society could muster a
majority and won the lawsuit. The decision was handed down
in 1905 that the trouble did not warrant the
intrusion of the courts:
"The
pro-organ party had said during the trial that
when the organ was used as a part of
the worship, it was sinful;
but they defended it on the ground that
it was an AID to
worship.
Lipscomb,
on the other hand, had insisted that it was a distinct
service,
and
when persisted in always supersedes and destroys congregational singing.
"The
court, passing on this phase of the question,
said that the claim that the organ was
not a
part of the worship was untenable
and it could not be considered as merely an aid to
worship."
There is no command, example or
remote inference that any of God's people assembled for
congregational singing with instruments. Of course it
comes as no surprise that Doctors of the Law who take away the
key to knowledge do not care enough to grasp that SPEAK
is the direct command for teaching the written LOGOS of the
Living Word. Bringing in an organ as an AID was grasped by
Churches of Christ as a weapon of violent invasion.
The
the Logos.Mythos or Word.Music proof that when
people move away from the Logos.Word of Jesus Christ they have
fallen into an effeminate or perverse trap and will never get
out.
Logos, Opposite.
kata pathos, Arist.EN1169a5
or personal experiences
Logos,
verbal noun of lego
Opposite kata pathos
Opposite music, poetry or rhetoric
Opposite
human reasoning
Opposite
Epagoge bringint in to one's aid, introduction
Alurement, enticement,
incantation, spell
Epagōg-ē , hē, 2. bringing in
to one's aid, introduction, 3. invasion,
attack,
5. process of reasoning, Aristox.Harm.pp.4,53M.
b. esp. in the Logic
of Aristotle, argument by induction (cf. “epagō”
1903
J.W.McGarvey What Shall we do with
the Organ
Before
this
it had bred similar evils among Methodist societies and Baptist and Presbyterian churches; for all these
bodies in their early days knowing that the practice
originated in the Roman Catholic Church, regarded it as a
Romish corruption and refused to tolerate it until
it was forced upon them by the spirit of innovation which
characterized the present century.
Now it
is obvious that these evils, the baleful
effects of which will never be fully revealed until the day of
judgment,
>
must
be charged either against those who have introduced the instrument
>
or against those who have opposed its
introduction.
I begin by
arguing that the practice belongs to a class of things expressly
condemned in the New Testament.
Jesus said in reference to
certain additions which the Pharisees had made to the ritual of the law: "In vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men." In these words he propounds the doctrine
that all worship is vain which
originates in human authority; or, to put it negatively, that no worship
is acceptable to God which he himself has not authorized.
Paul
echoes this teaching when he condemns as "will worship" the
observance of, ordinances "after the precepts and
doctrines of men." (Col. 2: 20-23, R. V.) The
Greek word here rendered "will worship" means
worship self-imposed, as
distinguished from worship imposed by God; and the
practices referred to in the context are condemned on this
ground, thus showing that all self-imposed worship is
wrong in the sight of God.
To deny, then, that the
present use of instrumental music in the church is a part of
the worship,
is a subterfuge and an afterthought ingeniously
got up to obscure the fact that it comes under the condemnation
pronounced against vain worship and will worship.
DEAR
BROTHER: Your second question is this: "
> Should we fail
to convince the brethren that the use of the organ is
wrong,
>
what else can we do to keep them
from forcing it upon us?"
Did I not
know that organs have often been forced into churches
by the act of a few individuals without asking
formal consent, and
that majorities
have often put them in without regard to the protests of
minorities, I would be surprised at the
form in which you put your question;
but I
hope that the brethren to whom you refer are too
conscientious to do such a thing.
If conscience
does not deter them, they ought to be restrained by fear of bringing
into contempt the practice which they
advocate; for nothing can sooner bring the use of the
organ into contempt
than to
see
its advocates force it upon churches in an unchristian
manner.
To act
wickedly in order to worship God more to your
taste is to imitate Rachel, who stole
her father's gods in the hope that the stolen
property would help her religiously (And give
her the deed to her father's property!)
THE
1906 BIG FAT LIE
Christian Union: Chapter 5
- Period Of Reunion 1906
By J.H.
Garrison
Speaking
of a National Organization by others, he notes:
"These fragmentary movements, while of
value in preparing the way for something better, were not
satisfactory. It was believed that something better was
practicable, and the great Inter-Church Conference in New York
City in November, 1905 was called, in this conviction.
It was believed that the time had come when the evangelical
Protestant bodies of Christendom.
J. H. Garrison defines the instrument as "matters of opinion"
but if you don't share his opinion then you are disloyal to the
"progressive" movement and to Christ. Furthermore, to allow
Paul's instructions about singing in church to govern one's
worship practices is equivalent to falling back under the Law of
Moses. With that in mind it is easy to see how division was
necessary.
"The same erroneous
method of reasoning has been applied to the Sunday-school, to
missionary organizations. "We come now to the consideration of
the very latest of these efforts to give visible and tangible
expression to the growing unity of the Church, for the double
purpose of
utilizing this
unity in the service of our common Master, and of
promoting a still
closer unification of the religious forces of
Christendom.
"We are bound, therefore, by every
consideration of loyalty to Jesus Christ, and by every
regard for our future growth and development, to co-operate
to the fullest extent possible,--which would be in different
degrees, no doubt, in different places--
with all who love and
serve our Lord Jesus Christ for the advancement of his kingdom
among men.
This is what the federation movement means,
and as such, it is the next logical step--the next inevitable
step--toward the complete unity of Christians.
But there are other ways in
which some have been disloyal to this high ideal. This ideal
implies that Christianity consists, as it does, of faith in
and devotion to Christ, and is pre-eminently a spiritual
religion; that it is a life, rather than a system of
doctrine, although it involves sound doctrine. And yet
it has often happened that in their preaching and teaching the
chief emphasis has been laid by these men on things that are external,
rather than on things which are internal and vital. Obedience
to an externalcommand, like baptism or
the Lord's Supper,
In some instances local churches have been
rent asunder over the organ question, and sister congregations
have been alienated from each other because of the different
ways of doing missionary work. It is easy to see, of course,
how utterly inconsistent with any claim of catholicity of
position or spirit, for the movement,
The fact that they had almost no success in their hostile
takeover of Churches of Christ, the Disciples of
Christ-Christian churches tried to COUNT the Churches of
Christ as their members--all of them.
The Churches of Christ did absolutely nothing sectarian: by
definition the Sectarians or Heretics are those who IMPOSE
something not required over the views held entoto. En toto
included almost 100% of the churches in Tennessee in 1906.
Therefore, the Disciples/ Christian churches financed by their
denominatal money extorted from the congregations were not even
COUNTABLE in the state and the Society could not tolerate such a
census.
The 1906 Census which was, I believe, the first, saw the
Disciples / Christian Churches attempting to do a body count
including the Churches of Christ in Nashville. The Census taker
knew this was utterly false and consulted Lipscomb who just said
NO to the body snatchers.
The Disciples-Christian churches already had a Denominational
Movement underway and needed the body count to send them vast
sums of money.
As far as the PRESENT CLAIM by the Christian Churches you have
to grasp that they did not begin to hold separate denominational
meetings until 1927 and were still counted as Disciples unto
THEY were removed from the census as late as 1971. That was the
time when Garrett etal began to "cut out" Churches of Christ
where "unity" meant you AFFIRM instruments or you CONFORM and
then we can have unity.
Now why would people fall for the NACC effort at "unity" and
claiming that Churches of Christ were legalistic sectarians when
the Christian Church did not BEGIN to SECT out of the Disciples
until 1927?
When Churches of Christ denied that they had ever been "joined"
even fraternally since the introduction of instruments among the
Disciples which split that group. At that time the
Disciples/Christian Churches issued a Centennial edition of the
Declaration and Address which should prove to anyone that
Churches of Christ could not be counted on.
THIS
IS WHY THE ORGAN AND SOCIETY PARTY HOPED TO "TAKE TENNEESSE IN
5 YEARS"
