Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Heresy, Part 5 (Talk Like a Christian)

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Jay F Guin

[Relocated from Part 4 and substantially rewritten]
passioncartoonConclusions

We see two very different strands of thought winding through history — Abraham and Phinehas, Paul and Saul. The disciples of Phinehas attempt to follow him by destroying God’s enemies. They believe God will credit them with righteousness for defending God’s truth — against the Romans, against the Nestorians, Orthodox, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Consubstantianists, New Lights, Anti-seceders, and Burghers — and against whoever disagrees with today’s editor.

Nowadays, there’s not a print publication in the Churches of Christ that will allow a word to be published contrary to the editor’s beliefs. The Gospel Advocate won’t even print letters to the editor that aren’t effusive in their praise of the publication.

Debates in the 20th Century Churches of Christ were often embarrassingly brutal — filled with invective and ridicule. The attitude was: we’re on God’s side. Therefore, victory should be won at all costs. That attitude hasn’t entirely left us yet.

This attitude is inherited from the Zealots, from the intolerance of Medieval Catholicism, and from the Reformation — when warfare, the Inquisition, and the stake were the preferred means of persuasion. They are not Biblical. Continue reading →

Posted in Restoration Movement, Uncategorized | Tagged | 5 Comments

Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Heresy, Part 4 (Alexander Campbell, Quail Springs)

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Jay F Guin

passioncartoonSeventh story

Alexander Campbell, one of the founders of the Restoration Movement, is noted for many things. A couple of things that are rarely commented on, but very important to my point of view, are his attitudes toward his debate opponents and toward those who disagreed with his writings in his periodicals.

Campbell engaged in a series of debates over the course of his career, some with national notoriety. One was moderated by Henry Clay himself. And he managed to get through each of these without personal invective and often forming a close, personal bond with his opponent. Campbell felt that it was critical to treat his opponents as well as he wished to be treated.

One of his most important debates was against a famous atheist, Robert Owen, and Campbell had Owen has a house guest at his farm. They remained friends afterwards, despite their fundamental disagreements. Continue reading →

Posted in Restoration Movement, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

Church Growth: Andy Rowell Summarizes the Studies, Part 3 (Involvement, Welcoming)

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Jay F Guin

churchgrowthl.jpgHigh involvement

I went to a seminar a long time ago that measured church growth on involvement percentages. You need 20% to 30% involvement to keep the doors open, teach classes, etc. 40% to 50% will generate growth. 60% is the maximum involvement rate anyone can achieve.

I don’t know. I suspect that at my church we are at least at the 60% rate, although we’ve not measured it in a while. But why aren’t we at 100% (with allowance for those too sick or burdened to be involved)? Is it that the newer members aren’t willing? Actually, it’s just as much that the older members aren’t willing. And what kind of Christianity have we been teaching if involvement is considered, you know, optional? Continue reading →

Posted in Church Growth, Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Heresy, Part 3 (French religious wars, Thomas Campbell)

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Jay F Guin

passioncartoonFifth Story

The Catholic Church and Reformation churches felt obliged to kill heretics. The Reformers were more tolerant of heresy, as the earlier Reformers had been branded heretics themselves. But neither side allowed much in the way of dissent.

Both sides fought wars against the other, and both sides burned heretics. The battle between the two was particularly severe in France. This is from the Encyclopedia Britannica —

The Conspiracy of Amboise, formed by Huguenots [French Calvinists] with the object of kidnapping the boy-king Francis II (March 1560), resulted in the death of all the plotters except Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé. But the Reformers had become so powerful that Gaspard de Coligny, their most famous leader, protested in their name at the assembly of notables at Fontainebleau (August 1560) against all violation of the liberty of conscience. The attempt at peace failed. After a number of Huguenots assembling for worship in a barn at Vassy were massacred by soldiers of the Roman Catholic Guise family, Condé declared that there was no hope but in God and arms. At Orléans on April 12, 1562, the Huguenot leaders signed the manifesto in which they stated that as loyal subjects they were driven to take up arms for liberty of conscience on behalf of the persecuted saints. Continue reading →

Posted in Restoration Movement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Church Growth: Andy Rowell Summarizes the Studies, Part 2 (Fertility, Caring for Children)

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Jay F Guin

churchgrowthl.jpgHigh fertility rates

U.S. Protestants are less likely to belong to “mainline” denominations and more likely to belong to “conservative” ones than used to be the case. Evidence from the General Social Survey indicates that higher fertility and earlier childbearing among women from conservative denominations explains 76% of the observed trend for cohorts born between 1903 and 1973: conservative denominations have grown their own. Mainline decline would have slowed in recent cohorts, but a drop-off in conversions from conservative to mainline denominations prolonged the decline. A recent rise in apostasy added a few percentage points to mainline decline. Conversions from mainline to conservative denominations have not changed, so they played no role in the restructuring. Continue reading →

Posted in Church Growth, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Ministers Guilty of Sexual Sin: Not Just Friends

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Jay F Guin

crying-preacher.jpgA reader asked about being alone in the building with the female church secretary, on those days that he is the only minister on duty. I’m not sure I have the answer, but before even attempting an answer, I need to cover some ground some readers may not be familiar with.

A very important book regarding how affairs begin is Not Just Friends, by Shirley Glass. The book is filled with the results of extensive studies and research in this area, and the author knows what’s she’s talking about.

Nowadays, the majority of affairs begin at work. They begin as male-female friendships, often over lunch. The two talk about work. Soon, they talk about family and marriage. They come to realize that their friend is far more sympathetic and easier to talk to than their spouse (there are no kids around, no one is exhausted from a long day, etc.). Pretty soon, they’d rather be with their office buddy than their mate. Over time, the relationship becomes physical. Continue reading →

Posted in Sexual Ethics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

GraceConversation: Posts by Todd and Jay

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Jay F Guin

grace7Todd and I have just put four posts up —

On Second Thought …

Answers to Mac’s Questions

Response to Mac’s View of Repentance

Questions for Mac and Phil

These posts reflect a change in direction from our earlier announcement, but we needed to cover this ground.

Posted in GraceConversation.com, Uncategorized | Tagged | 6 Comments

Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Heresy, Part 2 (The Filioque, Luther, and Zwingli)

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Jay F Guin

passioncartoonThird story

In 1001 AD the Western church divided between the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. There were many reasons for the split, but one cause was the filioque. According to the Wikipedia —

Filioque, Latin for “and (from) the Son”, was added in Western Christianity to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. This insertion emphasizes that Jesus, the Son, is of equal divinity with God, the Father, while the absence of it in Eastern Christianity emphasizes that the Father is the only one cause of the two other persons.

Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum, et vivificantem: qui ex Patre Filioque procedit.
(And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.)

The doctrine expressed by this phrase, as inserted into the Creed, is accepted by the Roman Catholic Church,[1] by Anglicanism[2][3].[4] and by Protestant churches in general.[5] Christians of these groups generally include it when reciting the Nicene Creed. Nonetheless, these groups recognize that Filioque is not part of the original text established at the First Council of Constantinople in 381 and they do not demand that others too should use it when saying the Creed. Indeed, the Roman Catholic Church does not add the phrase corresponding to Filioque (??? ??? ????) to the Greek text of the Creed, even in the liturgy for Latin Rite Catholics.[6] Pope John Paul II recited the Nicene Creed several times with patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church in Greek according to the original text.[7] Continue reading →

Posted in Restoration Movement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Church Growth: Andy Rowell Summarizes the Studies, Part 1 (Witnessing, Strictness)

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Jay F Guin

churchgrowthl.jpgAndy Rowell, a Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) student at Duke Divinity School, maintains a blog called Church Leadership Conversations. (I just subscribed.) He recently summarized the conclusions of 7 separate studies on what drives church growth —

(1) witnessing,

(2) strictness,

(3) high fertility rates,

(4) caring for children and youth,

(5) high involvement, Continue reading →

Posted in Church Growth, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wednesday Night Class in Athens, AL

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Jay F Guin

In two days, June 24, I’ll be speaking at the Central Church of Christ in Athens, Alabama, at 7:00 PM, thanks to the invitation of their pulpit minister Bill Perkins.

I’ll cover the material from An Unconventional Approach to the Mission of the Church, or some of it, and maybe throw in a little extra here and there.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment