Facts Concerning The New Testament Church We are often met with the following questions: Are the churches of Christ or Christian churches any different from other churches? Why do these churches exist? What do they believe? To answer these questions is the propose of this tract.
Why Do We Exist
The object of existence is not to add another to the many denominations that are now found. A divided church is contrary to the teaching of Christ and His apostles (1 Corinthians 1:10, 11; John 17:21). The world will never be led to Christ so long as sectarian shibboleths,(criterion) continue to be emphasized. The prayer of Jesus (John 17), the teachings of the apostles, the condition of the world and the desire of host of Christians demand the laying aside of the doctrines of men and a return to the church as it was in the days of Christ's apostles.
Hence our aim is:
1. The restoration of primitive Christianity, and consequent union of all the followers of Christ in one body (John 17:21).
2. To exalt Christ above party and His Word above all human creeds.
3. To build a church of Christ without denominational name, man-written creed or other barrier to Christian unity, whose terms of fellowship shall be as broad as the conditions of salvation, and identical with them.
4. To lead sinners to Christ in the clear light of the New Testament teaching.
On nonessentials we admit the largest liberty; on the essentials we appeal to the New Testament. "Where the Bible speaks, we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent.
Our Beginning
The church was called into existence A. D. 30, on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ. To know of the organization, its doctrines and fruits, read the Acts of the Apostles. For about two hundred years it was true to apostolic teaching. But by the mixing of Jewish teaching and paganistic ideas, and through political intrigue, the church of the beginning was lost. Centuries of ignorance and superstition passed by during which the Catholic Church usurped the place of the church of Christ.
In the early part of the sixteenth century Martin Luther broke the shackles and gave the world the open Bible. Later, Calvin advocated the divine sovereignty of God. John Wesley agitated the question of more spirituality in the churches. Around these ideas great denominations sprang into existence. The people were inquiring for the old paths. While all the churches were doing good, had much of the Scripture in their teaching, and possessed good men, yet they were weakened and handicapped because they were divided.
Early in the nineteenth century there was a general unrest among the churches of America. In all denominations could be found those who believed that the followers of Christ should lay aside the traditions of men and go back to the church described in the New Testament. Among this number were Thomas Campbell and his son Alexander, a young man who had studied in the University of Glasgow. Father and son where members of the Seceders branch of the Presbyterian Church. "They aimed to take up things just as the apostles left them, and thus, being disentangled from the embarrassments of intervening ages, stand with evidence on the same ground on which the church stood at the beginning." They aimed not to start another church, but to call the people back to the church of the New Testament. They were not reformers, but restorers. They held up the Bible, and by its teaching restored the church of Christ and His apostles.
None doubts but what the church described in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles is the true church of Christ. To restore that church was the work of Thomas and Alexander Campbell. They began emphasizing this feature of Christian work early in the nineteenth century. Today the people known simply as Christians number several million. Acting as locally autonomous congregations, they cooperate in establishing new congregations, conducting educational and benevolent institutions and supporting hundreds of missionaries.
Division of the Bible
We believe that the Old and New Testaments are both the inspired Word of God, but that the New Testament is the exclusive book of authority. Everything that is necessary for the unconverted to do in order to become a Christian, and everything that is necessary for the Christian to do in order to go to heaven, are found in the New Testament.
The old law is nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). The Old Testament was for the Jew, the New for the Christian. Many commandments found in the Old Testament are now found in the New; but they are binding upon us, not because they are found in the Old, but because they are re-enacted in the New Covenant.
The Old Testament is the New concealed; the New is the Old revealed. We need the Old to help us understand the New. The books have been written for a definite purpose. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John give us a biography of Jesus. We read these to believe on Him. The Acts of the Apostles is a book of church history, in which we see the apostles going forth under the Great Commission preaching the gospel and showing men the way to Christ. It is the book that tells one what to do to put on Christ. The twenty-one Epistles are letters written by inspired men to Christian churches or to Christian individuals, instructing them how to grow in grace and live the Christian life. The book of Revelation pictures the destiny of mankind.
We believe that all human creeds and "Confessions of Faith" should be abolished. This must be done before unity can be achieved. All human creeds have come out of controversy. We maintain that the Bible alone is sufficient for our rule of faith and practice. We go to the Bible for our authority in church government, as well as to learn the plan of salvation. Whatever the Bible commands us to do, those things we do; what the Bible forbids, from those we refrain; where the bible is silent, there is freedom of opinion.
The divine confession is: "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." This is the confession of Christendom. We have no right to ask for more than this. Peter made this confession when he said: "Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). (Read also, Acts 8:36,37; Matthew 10:32; Romans 10:10).
We teach that Jesus is the Saviour of the world. That to Him all authority is given. He is our Lord, King, Saviour, Advocate, Good Shepherd, the Light, the Truth, the Way.
The only test of Christian fellowship is Christ. Christ is our creed.
President James A. Garfield, who lived and died a member of the Christian Church was for some years a preacher in the church. The following is a copy of Mr. Garfield's statement of our position in matters of faith.
1. We call ourselves Christians or Disciples.
2. We believe in God the Father.
3. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and our Saviour. We regard the divinity of Christ as the fundamental truth of the Christian system.
4. We believe in the Holy Spirit, both as to His agency in conversion and as a dweller in the heart of the Christian.
5. We accept the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God.
6. We believe in the future punishment of the wicked and the future reward of the righteous.
7. We believe that Deity is a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God
8. We observe the institution of the Lord's supper on every Lord's Day. To this Table we neither invite nor debar. We say it is the Lord's Table, for all the Lord's children.
9. We plead for the union of God's people.
10. The Bible is our only discipline.
11. We maintain that all ordinances should be observed as they were in the days of the apostles.
Why Do We Exist
The object of existence is not to add another to the many denominations that are now found. A divided church is contrary to the teaching of Christ and His apostles (1 Corinthians 1:10, 11; John 17:21). The world will never be led to Christ so long as sectarian shibboleths,(criterion) continue to be emphasized. The prayer of Jesus (John 17), the teachings of the apostles, the condition of the world and the desire of host of Christians demand the laying aside of the doctrines of men and a return to the church as it was in the days of Christ's apostles.
Hence our aim is:
1. The restoration of primitive Christianity, and consequent union of all the followers of Christ in one body (John 17:21).
2. To exalt Christ above party and His Word above all human creeds.
3. To build a church of Christ without denominational name, man-written creed or other barrier to Christian unity, whose terms of fellowship shall be as broad as the conditions of salvation, and identical with them.
4. To lead sinners to Christ in the clear light of the New Testament teaching.
On nonessentials we admit the largest liberty; on the essentials we appeal to the New Testament. "Where the Bible speaks, we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent.
Our Beginning
The church was called into existence A. D. 30, on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ. To know of the organization, its doctrines and fruits, read the Acts of the Apostles. For about two hundred years it was true to apostolic teaching. But by the mixing of Jewish teaching and paganistic ideas, and through political intrigue, the church of the beginning was lost. Centuries of ignorance and superstition passed by during which the Catholic Church usurped the place of the church of Christ.
In the early part of the sixteenth century Martin Luther broke the shackles and gave the world the open Bible. Later, Calvin advocated the divine sovereignty of God. John Wesley agitated the question of more spirituality in the churches. Around these ideas great denominations sprang into existence. The people were inquiring for the old paths. While all the churches were doing good, had much of the Scripture in their teaching, and possessed good men, yet they were weakened and handicapped because they were divided.
Early in the nineteenth century there was a general unrest among the churches of America. In all denominations could be found those who believed that the followers of Christ should lay aside the traditions of men and go back to the church described in the New Testament. Among this number were Thomas Campbell and his son Alexander, a young man who had studied in the University of Glasgow. Father and son where members of the Seceders branch of the Presbyterian Church. "They aimed to take up things just as the apostles left them, and thus, being disentangled from the embarrassments of intervening ages, stand with evidence on the same ground on which the church stood at the beginning." They aimed not to start another church, but to call the people back to the church of the New Testament. They were not reformers, but restorers. They held up the Bible, and by its teaching restored the church of Christ and His apostles.
None doubts but what the church described in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles is the true church of Christ. To restore that church was the work of Thomas and Alexander Campbell. They began emphasizing this feature of Christian work early in the nineteenth century. Today the people known simply as Christians number several million. Acting as locally autonomous congregations, they cooperate in establishing new congregations, conducting educational and benevolent institutions and supporting hundreds of missionaries.
Division of the Bible
We believe that the Old and New Testaments are both the inspired Word of God, but that the New Testament is the exclusive book of authority. Everything that is necessary for the unconverted to do in order to become a Christian, and everything that is necessary for the Christian to do in order to go to heaven, are found in the New Testament.
The old law is nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). The Old Testament was for the Jew, the New for the Christian. Many commandments found in the Old Testament are now found in the New; but they are binding upon us, not because they are found in the Old, but because they are re-enacted in the New Covenant.
The Old Testament is the New concealed; the New is the Old revealed. We need the Old to help us understand the New. The books have been written for a definite purpose. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John give us a biography of Jesus. We read these to believe on Him. The Acts of the Apostles is a book of church history, in which we see the apostles going forth under the Great Commission preaching the gospel and showing men the way to Christ. It is the book that tells one what to do to put on Christ. The twenty-one Epistles are letters written by inspired men to Christian churches or to Christian individuals, instructing them how to grow in grace and live the Christian life. The book of Revelation pictures the destiny of mankind.
We believe that all human creeds and "Confessions of Faith" should be abolished. This must be done before unity can be achieved. All human creeds have come out of controversy. We maintain that the Bible alone is sufficient for our rule of faith and practice. We go to the Bible for our authority in church government, as well as to learn the plan of salvation. Whatever the Bible commands us to do, those things we do; what the Bible forbids, from those we refrain; where the bible is silent, there is freedom of opinion.
The divine confession is: "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." This is the confession of Christendom. We have no right to ask for more than this. Peter made this confession when he said: "Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). (Read also, Acts 8:36,37; Matthew 10:32; Romans 10:10).
We teach that Jesus is the Saviour of the world. That to Him all authority is given. He is our Lord, King, Saviour, Advocate, Good Shepherd, the Light, the Truth, the Way.
The only test of Christian fellowship is Christ. Christ is our creed.
President James A. Garfield, who lived and died a member of the Christian Church was for some years a preacher in the church. The following is a copy of Mr. Garfield's statement of our position in matters of faith.
1. We call ourselves Christians or Disciples.
2. We believe in God the Father.
3. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and our Saviour. We regard the divinity of Christ as the fundamental truth of the Christian system.
4. We believe in the Holy Spirit, both as to His agency in conversion and as a dweller in the heart of the Christian.
5. We accept the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God.
6. We believe in the future punishment of the wicked and the future reward of the righteous.
7. We believe that Deity is a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God
8. We observe the institution of the Lord's supper on every Lord's Day. To this Table we neither invite nor debar. We say it is the Lord's Table, for all the Lord's children.
9. We plead for the union of God's people.
10. The Bible is our only discipline.
11. We maintain that all ordinances should be observed as they were in the days of the apostles.