The Church of Christ

[loozcannon]

1. We believe the fruit of the spirit to be love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. (Gal 5:22-23) We believe that in the Bible is contained the word of God, that the Book of Mormon is an added witness for Christ, and that these contain the “fullness of the gospel.”
   (BC 44:13) (Ezek 37:15-20; 1 Ne 3:157-166, 191-196)

I quit reading when I saw this in their basic beliefs.

 

[andrewstx]

I was raised and dunked in the “churches of Christ” they claim to be the only Church, ut they have only existed since the year 1906. They beleive that the true original church went by the bible alone while at the same time the church became apostate before the bible was canonised. Confusing yes?

They say the church ceased to exist and became “apostate” until the Campells Pere et Fils and Barton Stone “restored” the church back into being.

They make no claim to apostolic succesion since they have no bishops and ordian no-one. They confuse Bishops and Elders claiming they were/are the same thing. They have two classes of officers Elders and Deacons, and both are not ordianed. The preachers sometimes called ministers are also not ordained, and have no seminaries. Many though do go to “schools of preaching”. Basically if a man wants to preach he just has to get a board of elders to hire him.

The only thing a cofC preacher can do that others in the cofC can’t is marry, and that’s becuase of law. Many csofC have it in their bylaws that the preacher cannot go behind the “Lord’'s Table”. I remember times when Dads jumped up from the pew to baptise an offspring.

There is no one church of Christ, there are at least seven. spliiting at the drop of a hat. All this in a sect that has “unity as their byward”. Most csofC are located in the south as are their Universites.

They have a University located in Malibu, which of course the southern csofC don’t recognise as truly Christian.

When I was small I was driven past 2 csofC. The others were “unscriptural” because one did not support institutions, and the other did not have sunday school classes and that is just 3 of the divisions.

 

[guanophore]

We do not have any positions not mentioned in scripture because we see scripture as sufficient for every good work, as scripture itself states.

Actually, it does not say that. But it is a common misunderstanding of what it says.

For the OP, this is one of the errant foundations of Sola Scriptura.

 

[andrewstx]

There is a connection between Mormons and cofC members, and that is the person of Sidney Rigdon. He was in the Disciples from whom the cofC schismed in 1906.

He became a mormon and brought the “apostacy/restoration” theory with him. Thats where the mormons got it.

When J Smith was killed there was a power struggle, and Rigdon nearly became " prophet, seer, and revelator" in the mormon group.

For a time he was president of a splinter mormon groups in Independence MO while most went on to Utah.

 

[jrtrent]

I think rather, this group is an offshoot of the Restorationist Movement, also known by some as the Campbellites, whereas Joseph Smith founded what is known as the Mormons, The Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints.

If you look at the website the OP provided a link to, you’ll find that the Church of Christ he is referring to was originated by four congregations in Illinois that were founded on the teachings of Joseph Smith. These four congregations didn’t join any of the several groups that went their separate ways after Joseph Smith’s death, but formed their own conference in 1853. Over the next several years, this group sought to eliminate some errros that they believe had been introduced, including polygamy, baptism for the dead, lineal priesthood (a presidency passed from father to son), and celestial marriage. They continue to believe that God restored the true church through Joseph Smith, that the Book of Mormon is an added witness for Jesus Christ, and that it, along with the Bible, contains the fulness of the gospel.

 

[LegoGE1947]

Actually, it does not say that. But it is a common misunderstanding of what it says.

For the OP, this is one of the errant foundations of Sola Scriptura.

Scripture is
useful but not sufficient There has to be some authority even in Protestant circles to rightly interpret it.

 

[LegoGE1947]

If you look at the website the OP provided a link to, you’ll find that the Church of Christ he is referring to was originated by four congregations in Illinois that were founded on the teachings of Joseph Smith. These four congregations didn’t join any of the several groups that went their separate ways after Joseph Smith’s death, but formed their own conference in 1853. Over the next several years, this group sought to eliminate some errros that they believe had been introduced, including polygamy, baptism for the dead, lineal priesthood (a presidency passed from father to son), and celestial marriage. They continue to believe that God restored the true church through Joseph Smith, that the Book of Mormon is an added witness for Jesus Christ, and that it, along with the Bible, contains the fulness of the gospel.

Then what am I thinking of when I mention the United Church of Christ?

 

[jrtrent]

Then what am I thinking of when I mention the United Church of Christ?

From their website:

"The United Church of Christ, a united and uniting church, was born on June 25, 1957 out of a combination of four groups. Two of these were the Congregational Churches of the English Reformation with Puritan New England roots in America, and the Christian Church with American frontier beginnings. These two denominations were concerned for freedom of religious expression and local autonomy and united on June 17, 1931 to become the Congregational Christian Churches.

The other two denominations were the Evangelical Synod of North America, a 19th-century German-American church of the frontier Mississippi Valley, and the Reformed Church in the United States, initially composed of early 18th-century churches in Pennsylvania and neighboring colonies, unified in a Coetus in 1793 to become a Synod. The parent churches were of German and Swiss heritage, conscientious carriers of the Reformed and Lutheran traditions of the Reformation, and united to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church on June 26, 1934." ucc.org/about-us/short-course/the-early-church.html

 

[CB_Catholic]

If you look at the website the OP provided a link to, you’ll find that the Church of Christ he is referring to was originated by four congregations in Illinois that were founded on the teachings of Joseph Smith. These four congregations didn’t join any of the several groups that went their separate ways after Joseph Smith’s death, but formed their own conference in 1853. Over the next several years, this group sought to eliminate some errros that they believe had been introduced, including polygamy, baptism for the dead, lineal priesthood (a presidency passed from father to son), and celestial marriage. They continue to believe that God restored the true church through Joseph Smith, that the Book of Mormon is an added witness for Jesus Christ, and that it, along with the Bible, contains the fulness of the gospel.

So this group then are not the descendants of the Campbellites? Other than the Book of Mormon, their beliefs and practices are very similar to those who are, whom I am familiar with.

I just now remembered that last week I was scrolling through the TV channels and there was a preacher on a prophecy program who was preaching something very similar to what is written on the website. I thought it was very strange, and extremely anti-Catholic. In fact, stomach turning so, and I had to turn it off. I can’t remember the name of the program or the preacher.

 

[rfournier103]

Then what am I thinking of when I mention the United Church of Christ?

From their website:

"The United Church of Christ, a united and uniting church, was born on June 25, 1957 out of a combination of four groups. Two of these were the Congregational Churches of the English Reformation with Puritan New England roots in America, and the Christian Church with American frontier beginnings. These two denominations were concerned for freedom of religious expression and local autonomy and united on June 17, 1931 to become the Congregational Christian Churches.

The other two denominations were the Evangelical Synod of North America, a 19th-century German-American church of the frontier Mississippi Valley, and the Reformed Church in the United States, initially composed of early 18th-century churches in Pennsylvania and neighboring colonies, unified in a Coetus in 1793 to become a Synod. The parent churches were of German and Swiss heritage, conscientious carriers of the Reformed and Lutheran traditions of the Reformation, and united to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church on June 26, 1934." ucc.org/about-us/short-course/the-early-church.html

My girlfriend (raised Pentecostal, soon to be Catholic) had been attending a UCC ‘church’ for 12 years. She started attending because she answered an ad looking for a soloist (she’s a singer). I can say that their social compass (or lack thereof) was quite a shock to her Bible-based upbringing. They completely acknowledge their defection from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and make no claims of legitimacy by way of succession.

 

[Traverse]

Does your community have a website?

Yes. ontcoc.com/

In other words, what do you mean your church has “been around all along”?

I mean that Christ’s church has always existed and never went “underground.” Just as the catholic church has remained for so long, so has the church of Christ. Don’t mistake us as being a brand name. We have no doctrine claiming what a church should be named. So if people met in a building that said “Christians meet here” but kept the Lord’s commandments and the proper organization of his church, etc, then they would certainly be Christ’s church. The church is the people after all, which catholics also believe I know. The real difference is that we just don’t have a magisterium.

Just curious, do you have priests? Very biblical.

Yes! But not in the way you think. We believe that all Christians make up a royal priesthood according to assorted passages such as 1 Peter 2:9 “You, however, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people he claims for his own to proclaim the glorious works of the One who called you from darkness into his marvelous light…”

But that church Christ established, as per the creeds…has four marks…One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic…so how do you meet all four?

And the first christian communities did not have Bibles.

You take that qualification from an early church father who called the church one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. It’s not really hard to meet that criteria. We believe to be part of the one church that Christ established and passed down by the apostles. That meets all the criteria right there. If you want me to prove it with secular history that is more difficult. I will not fib and claim I can do this. In fact, part of the reason I’m here on this forum is because I’m researching the secular history of this matter myself, but right now as a current member of the church of Christ I have no problem sharing our basic beliefs.

That’s right. In the first century they did not. It took a while for the bible to be completed. But the gifts of the Holy Spirit guided the church (along with the ever present direct teachings of the apostles) until the bible came to be complete. We know that the books of the new testament, upon their completion, were circulated around the churches and read aloud for everyone. We see it as a common sense inference that people weren’t without the scripture available to be read to them for two hundred years before the catholic church confirmed canonization.

I don’t know if I missed any other questions. Sorry if I did.

I will add that indeed there are many divisions. But we consider it no differently than the catholic church does. They split from the church and left it, no matter what they call themselves. It is not one church of Christ split into many divisions and unified.

Some congregations do prefer one cup for communion and some prefer multiple cups, this is seen as a matter of preference and not anything binding.

 

[LegoGE1947]

My girlfriend (raised Pentecostal, soon to be Catholic) had been attending a UCC ‘church’ for 12 years. She started attending because she answered an ad looking for a soloist (she’s a singer). I can say that their social compass (or lack thereof) was quite a shock to her Bible-based upbringing. They completely acknowledge their defection from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and make no claims of legitimacy by way of succession.

Our local Congregational Churches ran an ad on our city busses “Our faith is two thousand years old but our thinking is not” A real slap in the face of the Catholic Church.