The Roman Catholic View

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     Our Sunday Visitor, which is the most widely circulated Catholic Weekly in the world, carried an article in the December 1 issue, written by Rev. Reginald Kelly. Inasmuch as our brethren are always publishing articles on what they think about the Catholics, we feel that it is but fair that we let you read what they think about "The Church of Christ." We are indebted to Mr. F. A. Fink, Managing Editor of Our Sunday Visitor, for permission to reprint the following article.

     The "Churches of Christ" regard themselves as the true church founded by Christ and do not consider themselves a denomination. They may be classed among the Protestant fundamentalists. Their basic principle is that they "speak where the Scriptures speak and are silent where the Scriptures are silent," but, like all such groups, they decide for them-selves what the Scriptures command and what they forbid.

     They hold to the usual Protestant doctrines that the Bible is the sole rule of Faith and that it may be interpreted by the private individual. Baptism is received only by adults by immersion. The Lord's Supper is observed every Sunday, and each church is strictly congregational in character.

     Any kind of instrumental music is forbidden in their worship services as, it is held, this is a matter about which the Bible does not "speak."

     Some of their teachings are a little more distinctive from regular Protestantism. They hold that only those are saved who belong to their "Church of Christ." Salvation does not come through Faith alone, but good works are also necessary. Their violent attacks on the Catholic Church must be understood in the light of the fact that they consider the Church to be the Scarlet Woman, the Great Apostacy. Church of Christ people are also great believers in religious debate and argument. Great emphasis is placed upon the fact that their church has the name "Church of Christ," although nowhere in Scripture is the Church Christ founded given one particular name, which excludes all others.

     This church broke away from the Disciples of Christ, founded by Alexander Campbell, a former Baptist minister, in Virginia in 1813. They first reported as a separate body in the 1906 census of religious bodies. On June 17, 1907, Elder D. Lipscomb of the Gospel Advocate of Nashville, Tenn. in answer to a query from S. D. N. North of the Census Bureau in Washington replied, "these disciples have separated from the 'Christian Church' that grew out of the effort to restore pure primitive Christianity."

     The two main causes of the division were the introduction of the use of organs in churches and the question of missionary societies. When America began to grow out of

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frontier conditions, many churches began to be able to afford to purchase organs. The conservatives objected to this, because, they said, the use of organs in church worship is un-scriptural. Many of the conservatives, in opposition to the liberal Disciples, also objected to formally organized missionary societies, because, they said, such institutions are not taught in the Bible.

     'This church is a reaction against much of the Protestant liberalism that is so prevalent today, the believe-what-you-want-to, one-religion-is-as-another school of Protestant theology that has watered down Protestantism so much that it is almost impossible to discover what Protestant churches actually believe and teach. In opposition to this wishy-washy attitude, the Church of Christ comes along and says, "No, here is what you must believe and do to be saved, because we are the true church founded by Christ."

     It is a mark of the one true Church that the Church is truely Catholic, that all types of people with conservative and liberal emotional bents can live in harmony under her roof, without being racked by liberal-conservative splits, as Protestant denominations have so often been in the past.

     The Church of Christ has been very loud in its opposition to Catholicism. Shortly after World War II, "missionaries" of this church were sent to Italy and made the newspapers in this country over their battles with the Italian police over the legal question of their right to erect church signs. Catholics were immediately accused of persecution, although other Protestant denominations have lived at peace in Italy for generations. They also expressed their opposition to the Catholic Church through radio broadcasts, some of them over a national network.

     The question might reasonably be asked, apart from their doctrinal attitude, why have they displayed such bitterness towards the Catholic Church when there is no direct, historical connection with us. The answer, of course, is that the Catholic Church is, as she is to other such sects, a living historical refutation of all their claims.

     In recent years the Church of Christ has begun to divide again, this time between those who hold that Sunday schools are unscriptural and those who do not. Great emphasis is placed on each church's congregational character to the point that no church conventions are held, although "Lectureships" take their place. There is no formal cooperation with other Protestant bodies or Protestant interdenominational bodies. Their popularity with other Protestant bodies is not high, because, starting with the principle of private interpretation of the Bible as the sole rule of Faith, as other Protestants do, they announce that their interpretation of the Bible is the only correct one and it is necessary for all to join with them.

     Such an example, as they have shown, in picking over small points and ignoring some of the cardinal points of the Christian Faith, shows what happens when one makes religion something buried in a book and ignores the authority and tradition of the Catholic Church.

     Catholics could well copy the members of this church in their zeal, especially in studying and learning their religion and in winning converts. Catholics should pray for them that they will find the true "Church of Christ."