An American Religious Movement : A Brief History of the Disciples of ChristGarrison, Winfred Ernest
History
An American Religious Movement : A Brief History of the Disciples of Christ
Garrison, Winfred Ernest
Disciples of Christ -- History
When Mr. Errett, as minister of a new church in Detroit, issued for
public information a brief “Synopsis” of the Disciples’ position, there
was an outcry against it as a “creed.” Strangely enough, the chief
critic, Moses E. Lard, had himself put forth “sixteen specifications of
fundamental principles.” This episode is worth noting only because it
shows how keen the legalists were to find proofs that the Disciples had
become degenerate and had gone off after “innovations.”
Not Divided—Yet
The organ question, unlike the four issues that have been mentioned, cut
deep, lasted long, and contributed to division. Protestant opposition to
instrumental music in public worship began with Zwingli and Calvin (who
were also strict restorers of primitive Christianity) and reappeared
among New England Congregational churches in the eighteenth century. It
did not become important among the Disciples before 1860, because there
were few organs. About that time, L. L. Pinkerton said that he was the
only preacher in Kentucky who favored the use of the organ and that his
church at Midway was the only church that had one. The organ in public
worship was, in truth, an “innovation.” The case against it was
completely stated by J. W. McGarvey in the _Millennial Harbinger_ for
November, 1864: The organ is not merely an aid to singing, like
hymnbooks or a tuning fork, or a convenient accessory to the church
building, like a stove, but is a distinct and novel element in worship;
no element in public worship is legitimate unless it is explicitly
authorized in the New Testament; instrumental music is not so
authorized; therefore it is not legitimate. The crucial question was
whether the New Testament does, as he claims, undertake to specify all
the permissible elements of public worship. And the answer to that
question is part of the answer to the larger question as to what is to
be restored in the restoration of primitive Christianity. Back of that
lies the still more basic question as to the nature of the New
Testament. Churches did not disfellowship each other over the organ
question, but many congregations divided on it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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