Christian Churches and Churches of Christ; Lutz, Henry Frey, 1868-1926 -- Biography; Restoration movement (Christianity)
delivered from their hereditary Jewish prejudices and enlisted in the
re-alignment of religious forces for the conquest of the world for
Christ and his kingdom. The Pentecostians were "devout men," the eunuch
was a devout worshiper, Saul of Tarsus was a conscientious man,
Cornelius was devout and a philanthropist. A large per cent of the Jews
were honest and devout people, but were fighting against Christ because
they were blinded by hereditary religious ideas. Peter, even after
Pentecost, was subject to these influences, for it took ten years, with
special miraculous manifestations, before he could see that Gentiles
were creatures to whom the gospel was to be preached as well as to the
Jews. While sectarian divisions are largely due to selfish and wicked
men, most of them are due to devout Christians who are misled by
inherited prejudices or simply drift with the tide.
If these things are true, we should tremble lest we are upholding error
and opposing the truth unintentionally through hereditary bias. We
should make a prayerful and diligent search for the truth as it is in
Christ Jesus. Although we have discovered that none of the sectarian
doctrines are of vital importance, let us remember that it is different
with "the faith [system of teaching] which was once for all delivered
unto the saints" (Jude 3) by the Apostles and for which we are duty
bound to "earnestly contend." Since so many devout and learned
preachers are teaching so many contradictory doctrines, which cannot
all be true, let us not accept their statements unchallenged, but let
us test them (I John 4:1-6) by searching the Scriptures daily to see if
these things are so (Acts 17:11). After that we are assured that we
have found the truth ourselves, let us "be gentle unto all men, apt to
teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves:
if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of
the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the
devil, who are taken captive by him at his will" (2 Tim. 2:24-26). In
view of the fact that at least the great majority of the members of
denominational churches must be in error, it should be a crowning glory
to change one's religious affiliations through an investigation of the
truth. The hope of the cause of Christ lies with those who, hearing the
voice of God's truth in their conscience, are ready to obey it, even if
it results in breaking the dearest human ties and leads to ostracism
and persecution. Almost all the promoters of this union movement have
themselves found their way out of sectarianism after heart-rending
efforts to rid themselves from their hereditary prejudices and errors.
They are simply entreating others to do what they themselves have done,
for the sake of Christ's cause, and help to establish local churches
of Christ after the Apostolic model. That they have fundamentally
reoccupied the primitive ground is admitted by all who have fairly
investigated the subject.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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