This is Life!: Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis

Restoration Movement Church History Revisionism

Here, in succinct form, is the understanding of Church history I grew up with.

The church of Christ (that is Christ's church, not a name for the church) technically began at the death of Jesus in about 29-31 AD. The commonly given date for the beginning of the church is the Shavuot (Pentecost) of the same year, when the apostles preached the first gospel sermon and about 3,000 souls were added to the church (Acts 2). This church spread from Jerusalem throughout the area, and after about 15 years the members of the church were given the designation "Christians" (Acts 11:26). Each congregation of the church was independent of all others although they shared a common belief, assembled on the first day of the week (and often on other days), regularly participated in "the Lord's Supper" (possibly weekly), and sometimes shared preachers. They were most notable for a missionary spirit and a willingness to die for their beliefs.

This is all well and good . . . except for this: "Each congregation of the church was independent of all others . . ." This is only half-true. Each congregation, though it clearly handled matters unique to itself, was connected to all the others through the Apostles and their representatives. Paul sent Timothy, Titus, Epaphroditus, and others to various congregations to straighten out matters. In fact, Paul had never been to Rome, but exercised authority over them, as he did over the churches he, himself, had founded.

During the reign of Constantine as Roman Emperor Christianity was officially recognized and shortly thereafter was made the "official" religion of the empire. By this time the governmental plan of the empire had crept into the church, with some bishops (elders) claiming authority over several congregations. There soon developed three, and later five, "sees" (governmental areas) centered around the largest cities of the empire (Rome, Antioch, Byzantium, Alexandria) and Jerusalem. None had authority over the others. The development of this hierarchical system and the ecumenical councils to make decisions for all the church can fairly be said to be the beginning of the Roman and Orthodox Catholic churches.

The problem here? "By this time the governmental plan of the empire had crept into the church, with some bishops (elders) claiming authority over several congregations." This state of affairs did not arise from Rome, but was part of the Church from the beginning. Read the pastoral epistles, the epistles of St. Ignatios of Antioch, St. Clement of Rome. (I engage this idea in an essay I wrote.) In other words, an episcopal hierarchy in the Church goes back to the Apostles and does not originate in the Roman Empire.

Also, the author misunderstands history: Rome and Orthodoxy as separate entities became a reality much later, nearer the eleventh century.

Over a period of years the Bishop of Rome claimed supreme authority over the other bishops. Other doctrinal issues were involved as well, but in 1054 the Bishop of Rome "excommunicated" the Bishop of Constantinople (Byzantium). Most people give this date as the start of the Eastern Orthodox Church, although it is really a date for the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church being separate from the scriptural government, and therefore the true body, of the church. The Eastern Orthodox faith has remained essentially independent of the western church from that time.

Except for the statement "Most people give this date as the start of the Eastern Orthodox Church, although it is really a date for the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church being separate from the scriptural government, and therefore the true body, of the church" everything here seems upfront. As is typical in the Restoration Movement, as a Protestant body, it trains its guns on Rome, and pretty much ignores Orthodoxy, since it doesn't know much about it.

The Catholic Church maintained its supremacy in western Europe for several centuries. Then came what is commonly called the "Protestant Reformation." The commonly given date for the beginning of the Reformation is 1517, when Martin Luther sought to debate certain errors he saw in Catholic doctrine. The historical, philosophical, and cultural setting was ripe for a number of groups to splinter off the Catholic church. The next 300 years found the beginnings of a number of denominations of the Protestant movement. This would include the Anglicans (as a result of Henry VIII's disputes with the Popes in Rome), the Calvinists (including Presbyterians, Baptists, and others), the Methodists (in a reaction to the Anglicans much like Luther's reaction to Roman abuses), the Quakers, the Deists, and many smaller, sometimes short-lived groups.

The next major developments in Christian denominations came in America in the 1800's. Due, in part, to America's "freedom of religion" and the rise of philosophers like Emerson and Thoreau, several diverse groups appeared in upstate New York and neighboring New England. These were the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), the Church of Jesus Christ Scientist (Christian Science), the Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Seventh Day Adventists. Since that time America has spawned numerous other denominations. The most recent would include the Church of Scientology (based on the science fiction writings of L. Ron Hubbard), the New Age movement, and the "non-denominational" movement (many of whom espouse a variation of Baptist doctrine without the Calvinism).

Also in America in the early 1800's a group of men, primarily in "the West" (Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee) independently developed what has been called the "Restoration Movement." Men like Thomas and Alexander Campbell, "Raccoon" John Smith, and Barton W. Stone questioned certain doctrines and wondered why men should "reform" the Catholic Church instead of just "restore" New Testament Christianity. They proposed to "speak where the Bible speaks, and remain silent where the Bible is silent." Men in different areas independently chose to study the Bible and decided that it taught such things as baptism (immersion) to take away sin, that infants were not subjects for such baptism, the possibility of falling away after one had been saved, and congregational autonomy. Thus they sought to go back not to the original Catholic Church but to the original, first-century church.

The rest, aside from the editorial comments, is pretty unremarkable. The last paragraph refers to an internal dispute in the RM as to whether the RM is another reform movement or a complete restoration. Once again, Orthodoxy is ignored. And note the quintessential Protestant characteristic: "Men in different areas independently chose to study the Bible and decided that it taught such things as baptism (immersion) to take away sin, that infants were not subjects for such baptism, the possibility of falling away after one had been saved, and congregational autonomy" (emphasis mine). In the mercies of God, they got half of the items right.

Posted by Clifton at May 27, 2004 10:30 AM | TrackBack