Will the real church of christ please stand

Will the real church of Christ please stand up?

Historians don’t speak for me.

What’s the hubbub, bub?What has been said

Publication

The Sectional Origins of Churches of Christ

David Edwin Harrell, Jr.

Copyright 1964 by the Southern Historical Association

From the foreward:Harrell carefully demonstrated that "we"

had developed out of specific historic circumstances. His work challenged a

long-held taboo in Churches of Christ—admitting that our beliefs and practices

had indeed been shaped in many ways by the social, cultural, and economic

circumstances of our American context. Its publication in the respected Journal of Southern History served to enhance its

credibility and impact.

This work claims the church of Christ is an American religious

movement started by Alexander Campbell.

The Sectional Origins, by Ed Harrell

Together with…the Christian Church, [the Church of Christ]

forms the largest and most significant religious movement

native to America. (p.47)

The Sectional Origins, by Ed Harrell

Alexander Campbell…worked feverishly to keep the social issue

of slavery from destroying the religious movement he had

initiated. (p.49)

This work’s major premise is the church of Christ split from the

Christian Church not over doctrinal differences but over regional

cultural (sectional) differences.

The Sectional Origins, by Ed Harrell

…It was inevitable that the discordant elements within the group should go their separate

ways. The specific doctrinal issues that arose were only incidental.

(p.46)

The Sectional Origins, by Ed Harrell

To state the truism that some people in the movement believed it was unscriptural to use instrumental music in worship services and to

support missionary societies contributes little to an understanding of the origin of the Churches of Christ.

(p. 48)

The Sectional Origins, by Ed Harrell

The twentieth-century Churches of Christ are the spirited offspring of the religious rednecks of the post

bellum South. (p.64)

What should be said?The Bible on church origins and history

Church Origins

• Isaiah 55:10-11 "My word...shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

• Luke 13:18-21 Mustard seed and leaven• Acts 10:35 "In every nation anyone who fears him and

does what is right is acceptable to him."• Ephesians 3:21 "To him be glory in the church and in

Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever."• John 6:45 "‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone

who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me."• Revelation 22:24, 26 "the kings of the earth will bring

their glory into it"

History and archaeology?

• Exodus 20:4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image

• Exodus 30:31-33, 37-38 Whoever compounds any like it shall be cut off from his people.

• Deuteronomy 6:10-12 “…cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig….”

• John 18:36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world."

What has been the reaction?What should be the reaction?

What does it mean if this is of human origin?

What does this mean for Christianity Magazine and Romans

14 fellowship?

Prejudicial arguments“Give no place to the devil”

Let's face it, most of us ARE religious Southern rednecks.Fact is, many ARE comingling politics and religion in their

preaching.Would any agree there IS a class

bias against the wealthy and populous?

What do we do about this?Commended to the word!

Acts 20:32I commend you to the word

2 Peter 1:19We have the prophetic word

2 Peter 1:13-15; 3:1I stir you up by way of reminder..., stirring up your sincere mind

by way of reminder.Revelation 22:18-19

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book

Jude 3, 17I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend…. You

must remember the predictions of the apostles

The Bible is our history. It is our Book. It is our testimony.

3 John 12

Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from

the truth itself.