Tag Archives: Church History

CHURCH

GOOD SOIL IN AMERICA — BOB PRICHARD

The world out of which the American Restoration movement grew was truly a world of “good soil” (Luke 8:8). The new nation was a nation that did not have allegiance to any particular religious denomination. Many were searching for truth in the early decades of the nineteenth century. It was fertile soil for people to question what they had always believed.

The result was a variety of religious movements. Joseph Smith offered his mythical Book of Mormon, as he suggested that all of the churches of the day were corrupt, and it was necessary to restore the church in those “latter days.” The “United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing,” better known as the Shakers, spread west to Kentucky and Indiana from their base at New Lebanon, NY, attracting thousands to communal living.

And then there was the Restoration Movement. From diverse beginnings, many began to question the religious division and denominational loyalties of their world. A trickle of searchers departing from those loyalties became a roaring river of people seeking to restore the ancient order of things. James O’Kelly left the Methodists. Elias Smith and Abner Jones left the Baptists. Barton W. Stone, Thomas Campbell and Alexander Campbell left the Presbyterians. Although these had some differences in doctrine, they united in understanding that the need was a return to the church of the New Testament, following only the Bible as a guide. As heirs of the Restoration Movement, we can be thankful that the religious climate of the nineteenth century provided the fertile soil of truth seekers.

We must seek good soil in our nation today. The moral climate of our world can’t help but convince truth seekers that there is a better way. “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16a).

BIBLE QUESTIONS, CHURCH

WHAT IS THE RESTORATION MOVEMENT? — BOB PRICHARD

The Restoration Movement is the title given by historians to a religious movement begun at the end of the eighteenth century, and continuing to the present. The first participants were primarily in the United States and Britain but those who hold its principles are today found worldwide. Modern day churches of Christ are the heirs of the Restoration Movement. 

Those who began the Restoration Movement came from various religious denominations. They looked at their divided religious world and realized that it could not be pleasing to God. Barton W. Stone, Alexander Campbell, “Raccoon” John Smith and many others decided that they could find religious unity only if they abandoned their respective denominations. They had no desire to establish a new denomination, but sought to restore the original church of the New Testament. Thus “restoration” refers to the restoring of the original order of things concerning the church. The prophet Jeremiah stressed this principle in Jeremiah 6:16, where he said “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way,  and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” The “old paths” are be found in the Bible, and the Bible alone. We cannot find the “old paths” by merely compromising on existing denominational doctrines. Many in Jeremiah’s day refused to seek the “old paths.” We should not make the mistake they made.

The Restoration Movement differs from other religious movements such as the Protestant Reformation begun by Martin Luther, in that it did not attempt to reform the church, but to restore it by going back to the beginning. This meant doing away with denominational hierarchies and ecclesiastical systems, which are foreign to the Bible. Those following the restoration principles restored simple New Testament worship, with autonomous congregations meeting each Sunday to worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The restoration called for the preaching of the clear message of the New Testament plan of salvation, including faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), repentance (Acts 17:30), confession of faith (Matthew 10:32), and baptism into Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). 

The Restoration Movement is not just a movement of the past but is a continuing movement as Christians search the scriptures and strive to restore everything about the New Testament church, including its missionary zeal and loving generosity. While we appreciate the early leaders for their efforts to discard the denominational traditions they inherited, the purpose of the restoration idea is not to go back to Campbell and Stone, but to the first century church. What is important is what the  Bible teaches. Churches of Christ today still have this plea, that all believers in Christ be united by adhering to the Bible alone. The goal is completely undenominational Christianity. We desire to be Christians, and Christians only. “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).