Catholicity of the Church of God
By M. S. Whitehead
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In the title above we have no reference to the Roman Catholic Church or its false claim. We refer only to the church (ekklesia) of God about which we read in the new covenant scriptures (1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1). It is the only holy catholic church. The title does not refer to the "Church of Christ." We use that expression with quotation marks because, while it appears on a majority of the church buildings, bulletin boards and letterheads used by our brethren, we do not use the title but consider it unscriptural. We agree with the editor of Firm Foundation that to use that title for the church is "equating it with the denominational religious bodies"--although in the same issue in which he objected to the use of the title (June 4, 1963) the expressions "Church" and "Church of Christ" are
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Frankly, in our judgment, the "Church of Christ" presented to the world today is just another denomination among the denominations. We do not equate "the church of the Lord" about which the Bible speaks with the modern "Church of Christ." The church (ekklesia) of God, or the church of the Lord, cannot be limited to any sect, denomination, party, so-called "loyal" group, or religious body existing today. The church of God is composed of every sincere believer in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and Son of God who has been immersed on the grounds of that belief, regardless of the party in which he finds himself through honest ignorance or misunderstanding. To the Corinthian church, which was riddled by divisions and schisms, the apostle says, "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and were all made to drink of one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13). The saints at Corinth, as well as Paul, were members of the one body, the church of God (Eph. 1:22,23).
One of the basic principles stated by Thomas Campbell in his Declaration and Address upon which the restoration movement was launched, recognized that there are members of the church of Christ among the sects. He says, "The church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one; consisting of all those in every place that profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him in all things according to the Scriptures." (Copied from The Unique Contribution of the Campbells to Christian Unity, by Louis Cochran). It is well to remember that when Thomas Campbell wrote those lines there was no church of Christ except as it existed within the sectarian religious parties. At that time Campbell himself was a member of the Presbyterian Church.
In replying to an objection to his position that there were Christians among the sects, Alexander Campbell wrote, "If there are no Christians among the Protestant sects, there are certainly none among the Romanists, none among the Jews, Pagans, Turks; and therefore no Christians in the world except ourselves, or such of us as keep, or strive to keep, all of the commandments of Jesus. Therefore, for many centuries there has been no church of Christ, no Christians, in the world; and the promises concerning the everlasting kingdom of the Messiah have failed, and the gates of hell have prevailed against the church. This cannot be, and therefore there are Christians among the sects." (The Lunenburg Letter, from Attitudes and Consequences, by Homer Hailey, pages 118, 119).
It is evident that the Campbells had no intention of forming another religious body or division separate from the then existing sects. It was several years after they began their teaching before they assumed a separate identity. They desired and attempted to work within the framework of the sectarian churches. In 1834, about twenty years after launching the restoration movement, Alexander Campbell wrote thus in the Millennial Harbinger, "All the world must now see that we have been forced into a separate communion. We have been driven out of doors because we preferred the approbation of our Lord to the approbation of any sect in Christendom." (Alexander Campbell and the Declaration and Address, by Louis Cochran).
"Thomas Campbell had no intention, and certainly no desire, to begin a new religious body when he penned the document for which he afterwards became famous." (Attitudes and Consequences, by Homer Hailey, page 55).
Long after having been forced to withdraw from the Baptist Church, Campbell wrote in reference to the unity of the sects, "It is only the disciples of Christ among them that reason and benevolence would call out of them. Let them unite who love the Lord, and then we shall see the hireling priesthood and their worldly establishments prostrate in the dust" (Christian Baptist, Vol.2, page 40). That there are children of God in the denominational churches continued to be generally believed and taught by restorationists
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In 1862, George W. Ely, a stalwart among the pioneers, wrote in the Millennial Harbinger, "That there are many Christians among the sects I have never doubted, and that there are also many thousands among them who are pious, but not Christians in Bible teaching, I do not deny. The brethren have uniformly said that we receive from among the sects all the immersed who have piety, and that to such we give the bread and wine, and this not upon the score of our will but that of the Lord. We urge fellowship, or communion, with all such as are entitled to membership in the house of God and to none others." We are young enough to recall immersed sectarians eating the Lord's Supper occasionally with our home congregation, and by "sectarians" we mean simply "members of sects."
In his article, "Have We Become a Sect?" Moses E. Lard wrote, "Against individual members of these parties we cannot have even one unkind feeling. Many of them we regard as true Christians and love them sincerely. But as long as they occupy a place in bodies holding traditional and other unsanctioned tenets; holding practices unknown to the Bible, and sporting humanly imposed names, we must tell them plainly that they stand on apostate ground" (Lard's Quarterly, 1864, Vol.1, page 255). Regardless of what sort of twist may be given to any other statement made by Lard it is crystal clear that he believed there were Christians--true Christians--among the denominational bodies.
Since some would use Lard's words in a manner which forces him to contradict the above admission it is only fair to allow Lard to show the difference between his "true Christian" and a "sectarian." He says, "For if a man knowingly holds one false doctrine, or one which with reasonable effort he might know to be false, and in consequence thereof takes a step so deeply criminal as that of becoming a sectarian, it is simply certain that he cannot be saved if he remains in this condition" (Ibid, page 246). But again, after denominating them "Christian sects," Lard says, "They acknowledge themselves to be 'sects,' yet they cannot but know that the Bible condemns them in this. How, then, can they be its friends, when in the face of its authority they knowingly persist in making and being what it condemns?" (Ibid., page 251. Emphasis mine. MSW). Lard's "sectarian" knew that he was wrong.
In addressing the Corinthian saints the apostle says, "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those consecrated (Sanctifled--ASV) in Christ Jesus, called to be saints (saints by call--F. Godet) together with (Greek sun) all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both theirs and ours" (1 Cor. 1:2). Because of the similarity of Paul's statement here with the expression that the church of Christ "consists of all those in every place that profess their faith in Christ" we wonder if Thomas Campbell had this passage in mind when he penned the Declaration and Address.
On this verse F. Godet remarks, "I address this letter, or I address this salutation, to the church which is at Corinth, and not only to it, but also the Christians of the whole world' (Chrysostom, Theodoret, Calvin, Osiander, Reuss)." (Quoted from Commentary on The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Volume 1). Those who were saints by call were those who were "sanctified in Christ Jesus," and those "sanctified in Christ Jesus" constituted "the church (ekklesia) of God." Those "called to be saints," or, that is, those "sanctified in Christ Jesus" in every place are "the church of God."
We are inclined to believe that Paul penned those words with the different parties in the church at Corinth before his mind in order to emphasize the truth that Christ did not belong to any one of the parties, but to all of the saints at Corinth and to all saints in every place. "To the church of God at Corinth, to those who are consecrated by union with Christ Jesus, and called to be God's people, in
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"Sun ('together with') denotes accompaniment and fellowship, whether of action, or of belief, or of condition and experiences" (Greek-English Lexicon, by Joseph Thayer, page 598). We believe the force of Paul's language in verse 2 has been generally misunderstood or ignored by the brethren.
In verse 2, Paul recognizes and teaches the universality of the church of God, of which the church at Corinth was a local congregation. He is teaching that the members of the church of God at Corinth, although it was riddled by corruption and parties at the time he wrote, were in fellowship with the saints, members of the church of God, "in every place." And he is teaching that as Lord, Christ belonged to all of them. The saints "in every place" were in fellowship with the saints, the members of the church of God at Corinth.
The church (ekklesia) includes all who are in the fellowship, and all who are in the fellowship compose the church (ekklesia) of God. Unless, and until, one can understand that all immersed believers in Jesus as the Christ and Son of God, who are sincerely seeking to do his will, and are doing that will as far as they understand it, are children of God, regardless of the religious party in which they may find themselves, he will not be able to see beyond the "Church of Christ" doorstep.
-------------------------- M. S. whitehead was formerly chief steward of a large Alabama prison. Now retired, he lives at 211 Park Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36110.