One In Jesus

Until I change my mind, this will be the last post of this series. John Calvin, of course, died centuries before the founding of the Restoration Movement. And in many respects the Restoration Movement was a reaction against his teachings. But we are nonetheless cultural heirs of Calvinism. Indeed, in a very real sense, the instrumental/ non-instrumental split of over 100 years ago was between those with a Calvinist mindset (the a cappella churches) and the rest. Continue reading →

I’ve mentioned “Raccoon” John Smith before. Smith was one of the most effective missionaries of the early Restoration Movement. He was not a prolific writer, preferring to spend his time on horseback, traveling from town to town preaching the gospel. Alexander Campbell said of him, “John Smith is the only man that I ever knew who would have been spoiled by a college education.”It was once said that, thanks to Smith, there wasn’t a Baptist left in Kentucky! Continue reading →

20th Century Church of Christ theology owes a great deal to James R. Graves, of Nashville. Graves was never a member of the Churches of Christ. Rather, he was a staunch opponent of “Campbellism.” However, the more conservative elements of the Restoration Movement adopted very large portions of his arguments and theology.

Graves was the editor the Tennessee Baptist periodical beginning in the 1850’s. From this influential position, he argued that all outside the Baptist Church were lost because they were not members of the one true church. “Baptist churches are the churches of Christ, and that they alone hold, and have alone ever held, and preserved the doctrine of the gospel in all ages since the ascension of Christ.” Continue reading →

James A. Harding was a highly influential evangelist and a contemporary of Lipscomb, McGarvey, and Larimore. Harding may fairly be characterized as leading the charge to complete the division of the instrumental churches from the a cappella churches.

Daniel Sommer initiated the first division, but most a cappella churches refused to divide, following the lead of Lipscomb and others, who had refused to make the instrument a test of fellowship. Continue reading →

Two famous Restoration personalities of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries reveal an attitude toward disagreements on doctrinal matters that is highly instructive.

J. W. McGarvey is considered by many to be the greatest intellectual of his age within the Movement. Not surprisingly, he was drawn squarely into the brewing controversies–instrumental music and the missionary society. By and large, the Movement was dividing into two camps–anti-mechanical instruments and anti-missionary society on the one hand, and pro-mechanical instruments and pro-missionary society on the other. Some churches were pro-mechanical instruments and anti-society. But McGarvey stood out for being pro-society and anti-instrument. Continue reading →

One of my readers prevailed on me to add a section on Walter Scott (not the Sir Walter Scott famous for being included in the Authors card game). Scott is of near-equal importance to the founding of the Movement as either of the Campbells.

Scott introduced to Alexander Campbell the idea that baptism is by immersion for the remission of sins. Continue reading →

Carl Ketcherside is a fascinating study. He was Daniel Sommer’s star pupil. A brilliant man and perhaps the best writer produced by the Churches of Christ. He first became prominent through his periodical, The Mission Messenger, through which he pursued non-institutional views. Ketcherside opposed paid preachers, church support for Christian colleges, and congregational cooperation to support missionaries and orphans homes. In fact, in his early years, he was a vigorous inciter of division over such issues. And yet he was soon branded a “liberal” and his teachings “Ketcherside-ism.” Continue reading →

H. Leo Boles was perhaps the most influential of the 20th Century Gospel Advocate editors. A disciple of David Lipscomb, Boles wrote for or edited the Advocate for 40 years, until his death in 1946. However, Boles is most famous for his influence on the unity movement.

After the separation of the instrumental and non-instrumental churches was recognized, many in both groups tried to find a way to re-unite the Movement. A series of unity meetings were held at which each side spoke and positions were defined and considered. Ultimately, at a “unity meeting” in Indianapolis, May 3, 1939, Boles was asked to speak for the non-instrumental position. There he delivered his famous “The Way of UNITY Between ‘CHRISTIAN CHURCH’ AND CHURCHES OF CHRIST” talk. Continue reading →

Beginning shortly after the Civil War and continuing for 50 years, David Lipscomb and E. G. Sewell edited the Gospel Advocate, which was plainly the most influential periodical among Southern Churches of Christ until the last 20 years or so.

In the last posting, I mentioned Sommer’s decision to divide over the missionary society, located preachers, and the instrument, among other “innovations.” It’s interesting to read Lipscomb’s reaction— Continue reading →