Nothing we believe or do is believed or done by the authority of
Campbell or any other human. We follow the authority of Christ.
Most brethren have been
called “Campbellites” by denominational people at one time or another.
They are led to do this by a prejudiced clergy who just abhor the simple
plea to return to New “Testament Christianity.” They are so wrapped up
in denominationalism and their churches of human origin, they just can’t
conceive of anybody not belonging to a denomination. They just won’t
allow it. They would prohibit anybody from being just a Christian and a
member of the church of which you read in the New Testament. Neither
will they be honest with the historical facts regarding Alexander
Campbell and the efforts made by many to restore the church as the Bible
reveals it. It is just too much for them.
The fact is, efforts to
return to the church of the Bible began before Alexander Campbell ever
set foot on these shores. It began among Methodists, Baptists,
Presbyterians, and others without ever having heard of the man. Churches
of Christ existed in England after Catholicism and the Protestant
Reformation and a century or more before Alexander Campbell was born.
How could such folks be called Campbellites with any degree of honesty?
Dishonesty may be at the heart of the term “Campbellite.”
Even in the county where
I live, there existed a church of Christ before Alexander Campbell was
ever in America. Only a prejudiced clergymen who shows his ignorance of
history and the Bible would ever say Campbell, or any man founded the
church of Christ. Why don’t some of these people show more honesty with
truth and admit the church exists separate and apart from
denominationalism? Nothing we believe or do is believed or done by the
authority of Campbell or any other human. We follow the authority of
Christ
(Col.
3:17).
Unfortunately, some, even
among brethren who have chosen liberalism over truth, have given away
the plea to restore New Testament Christianity. They openly confess they
have no interest in its restoration. Here is one of a number of places
where we part company. I am interested in the church of the Bible
because, of all the churches that exist on earth, that ONE is RIGHT.