Sunday Sermons
Where Did all the Churches Come From? 2
Where Did All The Churches Come From? II
The Reformers
Long before Martin Luther appeared on the scene to protest the unscriptural views and practices that had arisen in what was professing to be Christianity, history also records other reformers centuries earlier. I really believe that this is an important point in our study. Even during times of great apostasy, there were men who could see the truth on various issues. While the practice of infant baptism appears to have crept in shortly after the days of the apostles (125-190 AD), Tertullian (160-240 AD), opposed the practice. Helvedius (of the fourth century AD) opposed the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary, at a time when such opposition was considered rank heresy and blasphemy. Vigilantius denounced the worship of departed saints as idolatry. He denounced the lighting of candles at saint’s tombs. the vigils, or nocturnal worship in their honor as pagan superstition. Jovinian, who has been compared to Luther, was opposed to the monastic life of monks and nuns, and showed from the Scriptures that“marriage is honorable” (Hebrews 13:4) among all. Gregory of Nazianzus (300-391 AD), raised his protest against the unscriptural ecclesiasticism which had developed even to his day. “Would to heaven there was no primacy, no eminence of place, and no precedence of rank”, he writes (compare with Matthew 23:6-12).
In the 12th century AD, Peter Waldus and his followers insisted that the Church had degenerated under Constantine the Great from its primitive purity and sanctity. They denied the supremacy of the Roman pontiff and argued that confession made to a priest was by no means necessary. On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther publicly displayed his ninety-five theses. Luther declared that the early church had no pope. By this time in history religious people were arguing that sprinkling and pouring were acceptable modes for baptism, but Luther in a sermon on baptism argued, “The term baptism is a Greek word; it may be rendered into Latin by mersio; when we immerse anything in water, that it may be entirely covered with water. And though that custom be quite abolished among the generality….nevertheless they ought to be wholly immersed, and immediately to be drawn out again, for the etymology of the word seems to require it” (Church History For Busy People, Klingman, p. 82).
Roger Williams, born in 1599 AD, has been called the “forerunner of religious freedom in America”. After being banished by the Puritans in Massachusetts because of his views, he and a few others then founded Providence, R.I. In his study of the Scriptures he was convinced that immersion of believers was the baptism therein taught. The reader needs to be impressed that long before the Restoration Movement started in this country, countless voices had been crying, “back to the Bible”. I am impressed that when you look at all these reformers and take their most accurate observations, that you find actually what we as members of the Church of Christ believe.
Instrumental Music in Worship
“Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19); “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16); “I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise” (Hebrews 2:12).
At the beginning of the second century, the Roman proconsul of Bithynia and Pontus wrote to the emperor Trajan (98-117 AD), concerning Christians. In describing the musical aspect of their worship services he said that Christians, “sing a hymn to Christ as to a god”. It appears that various individuals throughout the early centuries tried to introduce instrumental music into the worship services, but there was great opposition, even among those who had already apostasized on other issues. An article inMcClintock and Strong’s Cyclopedia, reads: “The Greek word psallo (Ephesians 5:19) is applied among the Greeks of modern times exclusively to sacred music, which in the Eastern Church has never been any other than vocal, instrumental music being unknown in that Church, as it was in the primitive Church. Sir John Hawkins, following the Romish writers in his erudite work on the History of Music, makes pope Vitalian, in AD 660, the first to introduce organs into churches. Students of ecclesiastical archaeology are generally agreed that instrumental music was not used in churches until a much later date; for Thomas Aquinas, AD 1250, has these remarkable words: ‘Our Church does not use musical instruments, as harps and psalteries, to praise God withal, that she may not seem to Judaize’” (Volume III., p. 739). For a detailed list of historians, early church fathers, encylopedia’s, and other quotations which all say the same thing, see: Instrumental Music in Worship, M.C. Kurfees, pp. 143-249. James D. Bales notes, “there are other religious bodies which have rejected the instrument although some of them later changed” (Instrumental Music & New Testament Worship, p. 376). 1. The Roman Catholic Church agrees that it was not used in the first centuries, and it is not used in what they view as their most sacred music. 2. Calvin rejected its use, saying, “Musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting up of lamps, and the restoration of the other shadows of the law” (Calvin’s Commentary on the Thirty-third Psalm). 3. Zwingli rejected every church practice not expressly commanded in the New Testament; hence he rejected instrumental music in worship. Historians note that our opposition to the instrument in worship isn’t unique. Virtually every denomination has opposed it at one time or another. John Spencer Curwen wrote in 1880: “Men still living can remember the time when organs were very seldom found outside the Church of England. The Methodists, Independents, and Baptists rarely had them, and by the Presbyterians they were stoutly opposed, yet, even in the Church of England itself, organs did not obtain admission without much controversy”(Studies in Worship Music, p. 179).
The Reformation
With the Lutheran Church being established in Augsburg Germany in 1530 AD, many other groups followed as they broke away from Catholicism. 1534, the Church of England was created by Henry VIII’s break with the Pope over his desire to obtain a divorce. From this also came the Episcopal Church. The Presbyterian Church (1535-1536), was established by John Calvin in Switzerland and John Knox in Scotland. The Baptist Church (1607-1611) was established by John Smythe in England. In 1608 the Congregational Church grew out of the Church of England. In 1609 the United Brethren grew out of a merger attempted between the Congregational and Presbyterian. In 1729 the Methodist Church was established in England by John and Charles Wesley. Since then the list has continued with the Holiness Church, The Pentecostal, The Nazarene, Four Square, Mennonite, and so on.
Creeds and Confessions
What had happened in Catholicism, a falling away from the faith, including ignoring Biblical doctrines and accepting human traditions and practices, was also happening in Protestant bodies. Martin Luther had accepted the idea of human depravity as taught by Augustine. To Luther, predestination was the answer to the question, “Why do some have faith and others do not?”. Hence, faith was the work of God and not man. Sadly, Luther misinterpreted passages such as Ephesians 2:8-9, and insisted that the “gift” in this section is faith. Actually, the gift is grace. A condition to receive the grace of God is faith, and man does play a role in whether he believes or not: Romans 10:17 “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ”. In fact, in Romans 10, the people who are labeled as unbelievers, far from being predestined to never believe, where people who where given many opportunities to believe! Unbelief or belief in the Scriptures are viewed as a choice which the individual makes(Matthew 13:15 “They have closed their eyes”; Mark 16:16 “He who has believed…”; Hebrews 3:12 “Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God”; 3:7 “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts”; 3:18-19; 4:1-2). Jesus’ comment to Thomas, “and be not unbelieving, but believing” (John 20:27);sounds really strange if people are predestined to believe or remain unbelievers and that there is nothing we can do to change that fact.
Calvinism
Calvin argued that the fall left man completely incapable of good. Man is unable to attain to the saving knowledge of God or to respond to God’s will. Calvin, as well as Luther, followed the teaching of Augustine who argued that original sin or this complete inability on the part of man to do good or know God, is transmitted to each new generation. While an infant has not yet produced the fruits of his own unrighteousness, the seed of sin is implanted in him and he deserves condemnation. Since the fall has corrupted the power to discern good and evil and the power to choose the one or the other, the will is not free to move the slightest toward God. In other words, no man or woman can come to God of his or her own choice. Major problems with this view are found when examining the following Scriptures (Romans 5:12; Genesis 4:7; 1 Corinthians 14:20; Romans 7:9; Revelation 2:21).
Calvin also contended that God, by His eternal and immutable (unchangeable) counsel, determined once and for all those whom it was His pleasure one day to admit to salvation, and those whom it was His pleasure to doom to destruction. All of this was decided before the foundation of the world. Predestination does not rest on foreknowledge (i.e., God simply looked ahead and saw who would obey Him). Rather, predestination in Calvinism means that God chose the specific individuals who would be saved and lost, without any consideration to the personal choices that such people would make. If one is predestined for damnation, then there is nothing one can do to end up saved. If one is predestined for salvation (which would apply to very few people, for Calvinism still must accept passages such as Matthew 7:13-14), then there is nothing one can do to end up lost. There are a number of problems with the above theory: 1. Why is God waiting for people to repent? (2 Peter 3:9) 2. Why does He desire all men to be saved? (1 Timothy 2:4) 3. The language of the Bible is deceptive, because He tells us that Jesus died for everyone (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:6), and that the gospel is to be preached to everyone (Mark 16:15). 4. Grace is very limited, for grace only applies to those whom God has predestined. In reality, the grace of God hasn’t appeared to every man(Titus 2:11). 5. God comes off looking very cruel for rebuking and commanding people to repent, when in reality, they couldn’t repent, even if they tried.
Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church Of Christ/644-9017
www.ch-of-christ.beaverton.or.us
