"There is no finished achievement. All is in the making. We do, not see the end, but only the road. The full splendor is not yet, but the reforming work goes on." (Attributed to M. Luther).

      There had been eighteen centuries of Christian developed before the beginning of the history which is the theme of this book. The Apostles of our Lord, by word and example, had expressed the Master's aim in a divinely-directed message which eventuated in the New Testament. But, what began well--a divine institution to be guided by men--in time humanly fell into errors which still hamper its ongoing and frustrate the mind of the builder of His Church.

      It is not surprising that the divine truth revealed by Jesus and his commissioned helpers became corrupted by human error. It had struggled for a millennium within somewhat obscure realms and had reached its climax in an unlettered age that still lived by word of mouth. We view that age mostly through the New Testament--which, like all other sacred writings arose in seeming-casual ways, although a divinely-directed one as we view the total. The system of truth there pictured has for centuries embodied the fundamental beliefs of all religious groups as the groundwork of a perfect faith. It is plain within that record within fifty years after the Cross that great errors and obstructions arose to block the reception of Christ's message. (Revelation 1, 2.).

      Speaking broadly, after the primitive evangelization of the Mediterranean area had been accomplished, it seems apparent that the trend of the Church of Christ from the second to the fourth centuries A. D. led to a supreme attempt to preserve the Christian faith by the medium of a perfected literary statement. And while this seems a natural thing it is difficult to fit this to the mind and practice of the Master. Judging from his instantaneous acceptance of certain suppliants who expressed their faith in simple word and act, it indicates that he desired the complete loyalty of the individual--engaging heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). His only seeming requirement for words (Matt. 16:16) meant merely the few that sufficed to acknowledge his Messiahship. Such a decision can be made by [1] the young or the simpleminded who are incapable of abstruse definitions. Through the centuries the mass of his followers have been more characterized by heart-loyalties than verbal niceties. Yet it seems likely that the desire to preserve the faith arose from loyalty--the fear that the precious thing that arose through a new sense of character needed strong and precise words to guard it. The climax of this attempt to preserve from error the vital truths of the Christian religion was reached at Nicaea in A. D. 325, when the Church expressed its faith in a document of philosophical, even mystical language. This was the Nicene Creed and the Church still holds it as at least part of ultimate truth, though it is unacceptable to countless persons and many groups. This shifting of emphasis, as a basis of acceptance with the Christ, from simple trust in natural words to the mysteries of language, strikes harshly in contrast to the warm human invitation of Jesus "Come, follow me." It provokes the challenge that action is a better guardian of truth than words, of which there is evidence in the gospels. Though Creeds may have a use as compendiums of truth, the myriads of Christ-followers have used identical mind-routes while on their way to discover a personal Saviour in the "Son of God."

      In the foregoing nothing has been said of the historic growth of a system of Christian doctrine by the Fathers of the early Church in times following the Apostolic period. We owe an acknowledgment to those who shaped the faith, rightly or wrongly (we think) sometimes. Their writings created a trial of historic links which make for authenticity in the great story. They all led into, and were somewhat the result of the struggle to gain expression of the truth, framed for all time in what we call the canon of Holy Scripture. It is upon this sacred deposit of records that the Church universal, in varying degrees of emphasis, focuses its belief in a divine message, known as revealed religion. That such documents can still hold tremendous authority is credible.

      Whilst the mind of the Christian age in post-apostolic times (and largely through scholarly leadership), developed rivalling groups of Churches in the East, it is true that ecclesiastical craft in time expanded the early system into the full flower of a dominant religious institution with world-wide claims. At first it was the efforts of groups seeking a catholic (universal) aim, but it ended in the Roman Catholic Church which [2] emerged into the so-called Holy Roman Empire in Europe and Africa. And while the historic Church achieved an apparent unity in doctrine in the fourth century, it is a world's commonplace to record that from A. D. 400 to 1400 man's religious and social history in Europe is held to be dark. We need not recapitulate the influence Rome exercised in that world while it acted as guardian of the faith, but in fact faith's corrupter. Historian K. S. Latourette, in a recent volume--"The Thousand Years of Uncertainty"--shows that the Roman Catholic faith failed as a system, because there were no more Christians at the end than at the beginning of the so-called "Golden Age", during which it had absolute control. Some of the light cast upon this world-darkness by Reformers within and without the Roman Church are to follow. A brief record of some defenders and martyrs will remind the reader of the approach of a development for which men and women have shed their blood. Some mere highlights of reform are gathered here without exposition.

      The great Reformation of the sixteenth century needs no re-telling. Let us look at some of its peak heroes. The revolt against the Roman Church occurred in most countries of Europe. Minds separated by long distances sought for similar relief, which is testimony to the universality of the errors attacked. Reform was sought by priests, by scholars, by the humble-minded. A people known as Waldenses are the particular example of mass resistance to religious overlordship. Driven from Italy by persecution by the Church they took refuge in secluded Alpine Valleys in Piedmont. They renounced all Romish teachings, preferring Scripture only, and so came under the ban of the Church. They endeavored to maintain a Christian faith in conformity with such ideas as they received from the Scripture. Bloody persecutions overtook them. The conflict lasted for centuries, ending only in the seventeenth. Similar people known and suffering were the Albigenses and the Vaudois, and others, in the class of folk persecuted for religious faith involving freedom for the soul.

      The five centuries from A. D. 1400 to 1900 contained many examples of the uprising of scholars against ignorance and infidelity to revealed truth. John Wicklif (born 1324), an Oxford scholar, so attacked Rome upon the practice of selling indulgences to sin, that he shook its power in Europe. To him goes the credit for first translating the whole Bible into [3] English. Associated with Wicklif historically was the Bavarian reformer, John Huss, who in 1413, was excommunicated by Rome but, standing firm, he like Wicklif gave his life for truth. He is, moreover, linked by his loyalty to the uprising of Martin Luther (born November 10, 1483) in Germany. Luther whilst a Roman Catholic monk, developed the doctrine of justification by faith for the believer, and at Worms, before the Diet, took his everlasting stand, "I can do no other". He gave his own people a New Testament in their own tongue and founded Lutheranism an important doctrine, which, however, became an institutionalized form of religion.

      We turn to France for another example. John Calvin (born 1509) followed in the trail set by Luther. His writings colored the evangelical theology of his own and later times and are still the cause of controversy in the tenets of the Westminster Confession. In 1528 he adopted Protestantism and became its fearless defender. But his doctrine of predestination by God for either salvation or the loss of the soul has troubled the world's religion. His contribution, and that of the Catholic scholar, Thomas Aquinas, (c. 1274) largely framed the theologies of both Catholic and Protestant Churches. While truth most likely must be found by scholarly avenues, it is also a truth that scholars have at times beclouded the ways. The many old and great Church organizations of this and earlier days owe their origins to scholarly differences of interpretation. These differences have become entrenched in the Creeds and the religious world since Luther's day. How far all of this is from the simple faith of the disciples first called Christians at Antioch (Acts 11:26)!

      Scotland contributed the life and name of John Knox who, in 1560, overthrew Romanism in Scotland. What he did for religious liberty in that small but important land cannot be briefly told. In England, John Wesley (born 1703) an Oxford Scholar, felt his heart kindled by a strange warmth which lit the fires of evangelical people and saved England from national decay through its religion atrophied by formality. By his preaching he gave piety a new emphasis amongst the masses. To recount the perils and triumphs of those who stood for reform involved in Protestantism would take great space here needed, and these foregoing hints may, it is hoped, suffice.

      These few heroic, prophetic souls, here briefly noted, are only some of the great leaders in religious thought who helped to win freedom for the soul of man. Their history appears as that of individuals who spoke and, acted bravely against organized systems of religious error--the Roman [4] Catholic apostasy particularly. But through the ages since the last Apostle died, there have been countless 'hidden ones' of the Lord who in many lands maintained independent worship, study, and fellowship in quiet groups. Of these the Waldenses and Huguenots were outstanding, because cruelly persecuted and sometimes slaughtered: other countless cherishers of evangelical truth were to follow the simple patterns of New Testament truths so humbly as to escape destruction. They persist, sometimes weakened, but re-appearing through time in all lands. This independent witnessing outside of great organizations still goes on, likely never to stop. A valuable view of these lesser groups through the ages--who may be thought of as the pilgrim church (because never settled)--seeking unity and fulfilment of their witness for the Lord, has been provided by a patient researcher.¹ In his work the Disciples of Christ are set forth.

      The Reformation in Europe is but a part of a world religious movement. As yet it is incomplete, but it has established the prior claim of the religious soul to work freely in the realm of faith. The Churches of Christ (Disciples) are a unique portion. To Protestants the Holy Scriptures are the touchstone of religious truth, without reference to tradition. But within the ecclesiastical orders which arose since the reformation there lie many entanglements, marring the force of the original revelation. Were these removed from the Church structures by faithful criticism, surely there would be room for a clarity and unity of witness to sacred Truth which would bear with new power upon the millions of souls now confused by the disparities between witness-bearers. Briefly, it seems as if the Protestant reformation needs reforming. And further, the Lutheran Reformation released individual liberty so completely that at times freedom seems to have errors and terrors which authority might have prevented. Protestantism is weakened because of over two hundred sects within it, each mostly claiming Biblical support for their dogmas. This result for the Christian movement is alarming and perilous. To the lowly but commanding Jesus, unity was a vital necessity (John 17).

      The chief aim of the Disciples of Christ (and many akin to them now numbering at least two millions) is to secure for Christ's Church the vital union for which he prayed. Its first origins were in Scotland, due to [5] John Glas (1729) and the "Christian" movement in America in several centres, beginning in Virginia and N. Carolina in 1794. These are sketched in chapters Two and Four. What follows, aims to present the claims of this Movement for Unity as it stands today. Their aim is a world-wide Church, existing in independent and sovereign units locally, but each bearing a Scriptural witness to Christian truth in the ascertainable terms of New Testament fellowship. All Christian bodies bear testimony to the authority of Holy Scripture. If the Church of Christ is "essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one" the Scriptures alone are the only way of securing true unity.

      The cause on this continent dates from the coming of Thomas Campbell to America in May, 1807. He was a minister of the Seceder Presbyterian church in Ireland, on his way to a career in a new land. He may have had little premonition if any of what was to follow from his faithfulness to a sense of humaneness and of loyalty to the Scriptures. But surely new light and truth did break forth from the Scriptures through this man. This thesis eventually became "one flock, one Shepherd" as the divine ideal to which previous ecclesiasticism and rivalry had been blind. [6]

[DCC 1-6]