| December 31, 2000 |
Vol. III, No. 35
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[Editor’s Note: The following article appeared several years ago in Expository Review, edited by Bob Craig. Brother Craig put the following “disclaimer” in HIS “editor’s note”:
“The following article is indeed interesting as appearing in Baptist journals. All that is stated by Mr. McBeth, who is professor of church history at Southwestern Seminary, is not endorsed by this editor, but we thought it would be good to pass on to our readers for their consideration. As you read the last paragraph, remember that that statement is speaking of ‘harm’ to the Baptist cause, not the Cause of Truth. The article is borrowed from The Louisiana Message.”]
A funny thing happened when the historic First Baptist Church of Nashville celebrated its 150th anniversary back in 1970. The Baptists went down to the neighboring Church of Christ to borrow a pulpit.
A part of the centennial celebration was to gather objects and mementos from the early days of the church. It turned out that the original pulpit from the original First Baptist Church of Nashville now belongs to the Church of Christ.
How does it happen that the Church of Christ owns the Baptist pulpit? Because the old First Baptist Church of Nashville became a Church of Christ, that’s why. Hundreds of other Baptist churches across Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee also joined in the “reforming movement” of the 1830’s and became Churches of Christ. Because this was one of our major Baptist controversies, and has continuing impact to this day, it deserves to be better known.
In the early 1800’s, Alexander Campbell, along with his family, migrated to America from Ireland. Alexander was a promising young man, with some training at the University of Glasgow. He had left the Presbyterian church of which his father was a minister, and for some years the Campbell group worshipped as independents.
In 1812, Campbell and his wife, Dorothy, welcomed their first baby. One question they had to face was whether to have the infant baptized. After a study of the New Testament, young Campbell became convinced that scripture not only does not allow the baptism of infants, but calls for the immersion of believers. That same year Alexander and his father, Thomas, were immersed along with several others. They formed a little church, and in 1813 joined the Redstone Baptist Association.
Thus the Campbells became Baptists, but they never shared Baptist views. They objected to several Baptist practices, such as the use of confessions of faith [creeds, crj]. In time it became obvious that Campbell had serious differences with the Baptists.
Campbell believed the New Testament had so replaced the Old Testament as to render the old practically without authority. He also taught that faith is primarily a rational or mental response, and therefore conversion should rarely involve the emotions. He opposed missionary societies, not from any objection to missions as such, but because the Bible does not specifically authorize missionary societies. “Where the Bible speaks, we speak. Where the Bible is silent, we are silent,” because the Campbell motto.
In some ways the Campbell movement was ahead of its time. It was an effort, among other things, to abolish all denominational names and creeds and unite the various denominations on the basis of the Bible alone. Such views have had little enough success in the 20th century; they had none at all in the 19th.
Campbell’s withdrawal from the Baptists was gradual. For some years the differences simmered. The Campbells would allow no instrumental music in worship; the Baptists used music. The Campbells argued against a salaried clergy; the Baptists defended the right of pastors to financial support, though in practice they provided little enough.
Perhaps the main reason for separation was a difference about baptism. Baptists taught that baptism is an outer sign of an inward change, a public testimony that one has been saved. Baptists do not believe that baptism saves anyone, but that saved people should be baptized to testify publicly to their salvation. Campbell taught that baptism completes the process of salvation, and in effect is essential to salvation.
Some called the Campbell movement the “Reformers.” Others spoke of them as “Disciples of Christ.” In an effort to avoid denominational names, most of them preferred to be known as Churches of Christ.
For about 15 years before the Disciples’ group withdrew from the Baptists, controversy flared. Public debates, newspaper articles and continual strife marked the relationship of the two groups.
While he was still a Baptist, Alexander Campbell preached at Robert Semple’s church in the Dover Association of Virginia. In a letter to Campbell, Semple wrote, “Your opinions on some other points are, I think, dangerous... In short your views are generally so contrary to those of the Baptists in general, that if a party was to go fully into the practice of your principles I should say a new sect had sprung up, radically different from the Baptists, as they now are.”
These words proved prophetic. Campbell did separate and form a new group. Hundreds of Baptist churches followed him; thousands of former Baptists joined with the new Church of Christ movement. Some historians estimate that in some states, perhaps 50% of the Baptists left their churches to join the new Disciples movement.
Strict biblical literalism was the main appeal of the Disciples. Campbell portrayed himself as the orthodox champion calling Baptists back to a true belief in the Bible. In vain Baptist leaders pointed out that “the Reformers” took verses out of context and misinterpreted the Bible.
Baptists believe the Bible and always have. But we have always been vulnerable to people who misuse the Bible, while loudly affirming its infallible authority.
The Disciples controversy left gaping wounds in the Baptist body. Baptists lost hundreds of churches and thousands of members. They also lost the pulpit of one of their greatest churches.
Ponder that the next time you hear someone say that doctrinal controversy does not harm.
--Leon McBeth, The Louisiana Message (Baptist)
In Matt. 18:21-22, Peter came to Jesus, “And said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’”
In the preceding verses, Jesus had just spoken about the importance of brethren reconciling their differences, and how needful it was for them to be united in their prayers and their service to Him. Most likely Peter thought he was being quite generous in suggesting that a person might forgive a brother who had sinned against him even as many as seven times.
It might be noted that the number seven was often used as a symbol for totality or completeness. When Jesus had said in Luke 17:4, “And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him,” He most likely was using the number seven in that symbolic way to represent completeness. The application would be that whatever number of times he sins and repents, that is how many times you should forgive. Some scholars tell us that the rabbis, making a literal application of Amos 1:3, suggested that after seven transgressions the person sinned against no longer had any responsibility to continue to forgive. Jesus extended that to say he should continue to forgive, even if there were seven transgressions a day. Now, considering that seven is a number used to suggest completeness, when Jesus said the person sinned against should be willing to forgive seventy times seven, He simply used their way of expressing completeness to indicate that there is actually no limit to the number of times a brother should seek to be reconciled to his erring brother.
This same symbolic number is used in Dan. 9:24 to indicate the completeness with which the Messiah would accomplish His work of putting an end to animal sacrifices, making atonement for sins, and completing and sealing up the revelations of God to man. Note that in the original Hebrew Scriptures, the word often translated “weeks” in our translations is simply the word “sevens.” Literally, seventy sevens are determined. The most thorough of completeness!
Harmony among believers is so important, that not only should one who has sinned against another repent and seek reconciliation, Matt. 5:23-24, but even the person sinned against should just as actively seek a proper reconciliation, Matt. 18:15-16.
--CRJ
Character is much easier kept than recovered.
Pioneer preacher “Raccoon” John Smith was once asked, “If the gospel is so plain, as you say it is, why do you have to labor so hard to get people to understand it?” Smith replied, “I have often prepared ground in the wilderness for a turnip patch, and though I had the kindest soil and the best seed, and the sowing was easy, I never got top nor root until I first took my ax and hoe and briar knife and went in and hacked and grubbed and cleared the ground. The Lord knows I do not esteem it hard to preach the simple gospel to those who are prepared to receive it, but it is labor indeed to root out prejudice, and cut down the systems, and clear away the sectarian trash that cumbers the minds and hearts of the people.”
--Adapted from “The Life of Elder John Smith”