I’ve had readers ask me for recommendations on books regarding Restoration Movement issues. For those of us who grew in the Churches of Christ, it’s helpful to know some of the books and authors that address the issues that are peculiar to our tribe.
The two best histories of the Restoration Movement are Leroy Garrett’s The Stone-Campbell Movement
Garrett writes from the perspective of the a cappella Churches of Christ. Murch writes from the perspective of the instrumental independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ.
For a consideration of the historical issues that shaped the 20th Century Churches of Christ, I highly recommend Leonard Allen’s Distant Voices: Uncovering a Forgotten Past for a Changing Church
From a doctrinal standpoint, I should mention my own The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace: God’s antidotes for division within the Churches of Christ (now a free ebook download), which reconsiders the Church of Christ positions on the Spirit and on grace in light of scripture.
I wrote a sequel, Do We Teach Another Gospel? which asks whether our insistence on damning those who disagree on this or that topic is a false gospel. Based on a study of Galatians, I also attempt to lay the groundwork for a healthier hermeneutic. (All these and other of my books may be downloaded for free here.)
Very important is Todd Deaver’s Facing Our Failure, which demonstrates that the Churches of Christ have damned others over many a disagreement with no theological justification at all — not even attempted. In other words, we’ve not established even an argument for why disagreements over some issues damn and others do not.
Another major issue in Church of Christ is, of course, baptism. I mentioned John Mark Hicks’ book Down in the River to Pray
On the topic of instrumental music, the definitive book has not yet been written. However, some of the most important arguments on the topic appear in the Sept-Dec 2010 issue of New Wineskins:
- Introduction to the Instrumental Music Issue By Jay Guin (Guest editor)
- Reflective or Regulative By Al Maxey
- An Afternoon With Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman – Part 1 By Jay Guin
- An Afternoon With Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman – Part 2 By Jay Guin
- An Afternoon With Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman – Part 3 By Jay Guin
- An Afternoon With Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman – Part 4 By Jay Guin
- Reflections on My Interview with Rick Atchley and Chris Seidman By Jay Guin
- On God’s Salvation, Galatians and the Instrument By Jay Guin
- And So, In Conclusion By Jay Guin
- The Early Church on Instrumental Music By Danny Corbitt
- Thy Kingdom Come: And the Instrument By Jay Guin
- Reconsidering Ephesians 5:19 By Clyde Symonette
- Psallo: Lost in Translation? By Danny Corbitt
- David’s Psalms in the New Testament Church By Clyde Symonette
- Beyond the Pitch Pipe By Ryan Christian
I’d draw your attention most especially to the articles by Danny Corbitt (who authoredth excellent Missing More Than Music: When Disputable Matters Eclipse Worship and Unity
Oh, and some of the original historical documents make for a great read. For example, the Autobiography of Barton W. Stone is nicely written, very readable, and gives insight into the founding of the Restoration Movement you’ll find nowhere else. (Google Play makes many of these documents available for free.)
Louis Cochran wrote a marvelous biographic novel on the life of Raccoon John Smith. It’s been largely forgotten, but my church library had a copy, and I found it mesmerizing. We forget what life was like in the American frontier in those days, and Cochran does a nice job of helping us understand the struggles of the early preachers and their long-suffering wives.
