Bible Question: can anyone tell me about the Church of Crist, good or bad? |
Bible Answer: Hi, Toeknee... I assume that you are speaking of the "denomination" or sect known as the "Churches of Christ." There are three distinct groups today that trace their origins in the Restoration Movement in general and the teachings of Alexander Campbell in particular in the early 1800's. The Disciples of Christ are what we might call the more liberal branch. The Churches of Christ are the more conservative branch. The Independent Christian Church is pretty much an average of the other two. The Churches of Christ are strongly non-denominational. They insist that denominationalism sinfully departs from the design for the church as expressed in the New Testament. In spite of this, there is a concensus of doctrine from which they do not often stray. They would be broadly considered Protestant (though they generally do not like the term), strongly representing the views of Jacob Harmensen (i.e., Arminian theology; though they might not recognize this terminology). They are also strongly non-creedal, although they have a saying that some have called a creed: "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent." They hold to a doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration (i.e., the practice of baptism for the remission of sins). This doctrine, along with their vehement denial of eternal security, has the consequence that most their members have been baptized many times. Another distinctive is their belief that musical instruments of any kind must never be used in worship. (They tend to sing parts very well! :-)) I tend to find them very dispensational, but few of them recognize this terminology. This latter distinctive is most often characterized by their denial that the Old Testament has any value for doctrinal purposes. Thus, it follows that they are also very antinomian. The only other distinctive that I can think of is that their church government rests its authority in a plurality of elders. I will not comment on whether the Churches of Christ are either good or bad. I have seen several of their number post on this forum. I would hope that one or two of them might offer up a more complete description from their own viewpoint. However, they rarely like to distinguish themselves from being anything but what they would consider simply Christian. I trust that I will be forgiven if I have done an inadequate job of describing the Churches of Christ. |