Subject: need for a bible-anyone |
Bible Note: You wrote: "One needs to understand the universal church and the local church. The universal church is the whole body of believers, canvassing the entire globe. Its only officer is Jesus Christ. (Eph 1:22-23) No other organizational structure to be found in the universal church. The local church is just that, local." 1. There are many independent churches that are not part of the Churches of Christ who agree ("Bible" churches, "Independent Baptist" churches, "Congregationalist" churches). The congregationalist form of church government is by no means limited to the churches of Christ. 2. Secondly, if there is no other office outside of the local church, how do you explain Titus and Timothy? They weren't elders in the churches in Crete and Ephesus. They appointed elders. We also see church councils in the book of Acts, where leaders from different churches come together to set policy which will be binding on all of the churches. Like it or not, there is precedent in Scripture for overseeing bodies. You wrote: 'Can we be real? You completely missed the point or chose to miss it. Obviously the church is not a game nor does it consist entirely of rules! The point is: it is ridiculous to claim the church we read in the NT is “new” because you believe it is new to this age and time.' I never suggested that you considered the Church of Christ to be "new." I am well aware that you consider it a restoration of the 1st century church. The quote you gave suggested that it was something that was lost completely and then found again by human beings some time later. You wrote: "No, I don’t believe the church disappeared off the face of the earth." Then where was the church all those years? Please show me where people were being buried in water for the remission of their sins? And how did Stona and Campbellhook up with this already existing church, if it was so far removed from the "mainstream." History shows that Barton Stone was not brought into the "true church" that had existed since the time of Christ, but rather that he considered himself as "restoring" the church. Again, please show us when and where there are examples of the "true church" between A.D 300 and A.D 1500. One or two will suffice. --Joe! |