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Good points here--especially concerning attitude. :thumbup:

Marc,

After 66 views and no replies, I think I'll at least give Brother Maxey a big amen on this article.  He certainly is cutting through the confusion coming from CENI and getting to the heart of the matter in many of his articles.

---Swanney

:amen:

If the church of Christ consistently applied it's definition of "false teacher," then several "giants of the faith," from our history would be disfellowshipped as false teachers:

Barton Stone; for his unorthodox views on the Trinity, refusing to make immersion a test of fellowship, his anti Christians in government, apocalyptic worldview, and his teaching the achivement of Christian unity only through the operation of the Holy Spirit, rather than upon "the Bible alone," or baptism.

Thomas Campbell, for, among other things, saying that inferences, necessary or otherwise, should not be bound upon people, for refusing to make immersion a test of fellowship, for his close association with and respect for, the Baptist church, and for never totally repudiating certain tenets of Calvinism.

Campbell's son, Alexander, among other things, for teaching that there were true, saved Christians in denominational churches, for his hopes of an official Baptist/Church of Christ union, for being post-millennial, for teaching that the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and coronation in heaven of Jesus constituted the whole gospel, for never totally repudiating certain tenets of Calvinism, for teaching the literal indwelling of the Spirit, for identifying more and more with American Protestantism the older he got, and for not condemning unbaptized people to hell.

David Lipscomb (namesake of the school); for, among other things, being pre-millennial, anti Christian participation in government or the military, against authoritarian-style elderships, and against rebaptism in all but extreme cases.

James A Harding (namesake of the school); for, among other things, being pre-millennialist; teaching the indwelling of the Spirit and the Spirit's active role in the life of the believer, and his views on paid preachers (he never accepted a salary for preaching).

T B Larimore; for preaching in denominational churches by invitation, for not drawing lines of fellowship over instrumental music and other hot issues, and for not preaching against those "issues."

Pax vobiscum.

Yes, but Lee, many ministers and members today have no problem whatsoever claiming that Stone, Campbell, et. al. were quite wrong about many things. They claim to follow the pattern of the first Century church alone, not the teachings of 19th-20th century men. Insomuch as those guys agree with the bible, they often say, they were right. Insomuch as they diverged from the NT, they are false teachers.

There are plenty of people among us who deny that the churches of Christ descend from any 19th Century American religious movement. Rather, they are the first century church restored in our own time.

Obviously, I disagree with this assessment. However, I do think they make one good point: you don't have to hold those guys sacred to be "church of Christ."

Charlie, what many people have done, is reinterpret Stone and the Campbells. They reinterpret them from being progressive, non-judgemental advocates for Christian unity upon a broad set of essentials into men bent upon restoring the "true church" supposedly in every particular, though in fact, they're highly selective. They read Stone and the Campbells through a set of preconceived ideas, lauding them for their aims to restore the "true church." But if they really knew what they stood for they wouldn't hold them up as such paragons of the pattern.

What others have done is to ignore them altogether, as if we'd exist as we do even without them.

Some people seem to waver back and forth between these two positions.

As an example, people here in Florence, AL., T B Larimore's adopted home, view Larimore as a giant in the faith, yet most of them know next to nothing about his real theological viewpoints. They just assume Larimore was as they are, that his message and theirs are identical. Even people who are aware of his "fence straddling," as they see it, in not condeming instrumental music and missionary societies, and for his preaching by invitation in denominational churches, still refuse to write him off as a false teacher, as they were all too happy to do for Joe Van Dyke or Rubel Shelly for holding to the same and other "false" doctrines.

Larimore, this great preacher of history, can get away with things that modern preachers are disfellowshipped for. Go figure.  

Pax vobiscum.

Purely excellent article.  Well articulated.

James

I agree Marc, it is a good article. About a month ago, I had to phone a friend for help. It was our brother Bobby V. Began getting confused by theology. Some I worship with use their catechism books daily instead of the bible. Bobby simply put it into perspective when he said, "We must remember any servant worth his salt, still has feet of clay."

Not only did that open doors for me. I am studying more and more of the church leaders. Putting them into perspective with the history and culture they lived in. Sure makes the confusion disappear. Knowledge is an awesome thing when used to gain the Lord's direction and wisdom. :clap:  :clap:

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]As an example, people here in Florence, AL., T B Larimore's adopted home, view Larimore as a giant in the faith, yet most of them know next to nothing about his real theological viewpoints. They just assume Larimore was as they are, that his message and theirs are identical. Even people who are aware of his "fence straddling," as they see it, in not condeming instrumental music and missionary societies, and for his preaching by invitation in denominational churches, still refuse to write him off as a false teacher, as they were all too happy to do for Joe Van Dyke or Rubel Shelly for holding to the same and other "false" doctrines.

Larimore, this great preacher of history, can get away with things that modern preachers are disfellowshipped for. Go figure...  [/quote]
It's because he's safely dead, honey.

He can't deny or correct them when they misquote him or under-quote him.

He's safe to use as a icon.  Then there's the home connection, you know.

And re: Al's article, yup, every one of us is a false teacher, if "true teacher" means always getting every jot and tittle just exactly right when we teach.

You're right, Janine, Larimore is, indeed, safely dead. That was just my lame attempt at thinly veiled sarcasm.

Pax vobisum.