Barton W. Stone & the Debate Culture

I grew up in a "debating culture" or perhaps it was a "sub-culture."  If the minister did not like what was going on a mile down the road then a public challenge was issued.  At times this was done through the local paper.  I recall debates on various aspects of the Holy Spirit (indwelling to tongues), orphan homes, real wine on the table (but never what kind of bread!! but I will never forget the statement 'can we have meat and potatoes on the Lord's table?'), what version you can use and the like.   I vividly recall a debate between a Nazarene minister and a minister from the Churches of Christ about "who" was the real church.  I know I will get abused for saying this . . . but I ALMOST became a Nazarene that day purely on the basis of the spirit demonstrated that day.  It was not a pretty sight!

I must say that I am not opposed to debates on philosophical grounds.  Yet, I am very resistant to engage in them because I find them often to be places where the sinful nature is fed . . . perhaps it exposes my own weaknesses.

From my reading of the NT Paul never engaged in anything like what I have been exposed to . . . discussion is not necessarily debate.  Barton W. Stone, a man of great passion and conviction, expressed (in 1842) near the end of his life what he thought debates had done to our Movement and what they continue to do to Christianity.  This was important to Stone and shared his concerns in his advice to young preachers, near the end of his life.  Reflect on his words and see if they do not "ring" with truth:

"It is a common saying among the preachers of this day, "Old men for counsel young men for war."  This is often advanced in justification of the public debates . . .  Do they [i.e. old men] counel you to engage in such debates? . . .  I will fearlessly answer, that no old man of piety, and intelligence, will give such advice, unless in an extraordinary case. For they know by long experience that such debates tend to strife, deaden piety -- destroy the spirit of prayer -- puff up the vain mind, annihilate the tast of the marrow, and fatness of the living word, and destroy the comforts of true, heavenly religion."

In Stone's view, few men had enough Christianity rooted deep in their souls to engage in religious debates.  He observes a fact that I find to be a truism (at least in my own experience):

"Seldom do we see in the same person, a warrior and a humble devoted christian.  Rara avis in terra. Such acquire a controverial habit and temper . . .

Then Stone address the opinion that the Apostles gave us a positive example in this manner:

"I know it is said in justification of such debates that Paul disputed in the synagogue at Athens, the School of Tyrannus, with the Jews and others.  Read the verse correctly, and the force of the objection is removed -- He reasoned or dialogued with them.  This should be the constant practice of every faithful minister of Christ.  Would to God, it were the practice of all our young preachers, to reason out of the scriptures on the important things of the gospel!

"But 'young men of war.' What war? not against flesh and blood, . . . but against the powers of sin and hell, with spiritual weapons afforded to us from above -- not against men, but against their sins . . ."

(Barton W. Stone, "To Young Preachers," Christian Messenger 12 [August 1842], pp. 316-317).

I may be wrong (wouldn't be the first time) but I think Brother Stone was on to something here.  I agree that debates tend to strife, deaden piety -- destroy the spirit of prayer -- puff up the vain mind. How many debates do we see on the necessity of prayer? What could be closer to the Christian walk. I have had challenges to public debate and when I asked the challenger to pray with me they refused.  Do they appeal to the carnal nature: lust for victory, the thrill of defeating the foe . . . Just my opinion.  But we can "reason" together like saints and people filled with the Fruit of the Spirit and the the spirit of war.

Shalom,

Bobby Valentine

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Gary Holloway, World Convention & the Faith of our Fathers and Mothers

Gary Holloway has blessed many of us down through the years through his writings. Cultivating a passion for the spiritual disciplines and seasoning them with insights from the Stone(d)-Campbell Movement has been one of his missions. By editing the "Meditative Commentary" Series for Leafwood he has helped many rediscover the power of the written word of God. Three of his books have been meaningful to me: The Daily Disciple; Living God's Love: An Invitation to Christian Spirituality; and Renewing God's People: A Concise History of Churches of Christ (these last two were cowritten with Earl Lavender and Doug Foster respectively). They are works worthy of your attention.

Recently Gary accepted a new position with the World Convention, a world wide gathering of Christians from the Stone-Campbell heritage. Jesus prayed for unity and I believe we need to pray along with him ... and then live that prayer. Gary's World Convention Blog is located HERE. I want to encourage my readers to bookmark it to help raise our sights.

Gary was kind enough to take to post a series of quotations that I collected several years ago. When everyone else is crying "division" and "mark them" I was hearing the distant voices of our fathers and mothers in the faith. Theirs is a grand and powerful and even humbling vision. A vision for unity ... NOT DIVISION!!! Many have never read these quotations that span a hundred years. They are breathtaking. I will not repost them here but provide a link to Gary's World Convention blog. Here is a link to The Faith of Our Fathers and Mothers.

Go read them. You may even want to print them out and meditate on them as you nurse a cup of java.

Thanks Gary for helping to share the insight of our spiritual ancestors in the kingdom.

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1835: Tares Among the Wheat ... Roots of Sectarianism in Churches of Christ

It seems that 1835 was, in hindsight, a pivotal year for the Stoned-Campbell Movement. By 1835 the Reformers of Campbell and the Christians of Stone had united. Campbell had been marked through the infamous Beaver Anathema (1829) ... By the mid-1830s the Movement was growing and in search of an identity. An atmosphere of "bad blood" was being cultivated between "us" and "them." Many decided they had a word for the "brotherhood" to help provide guidance.

Dr. John Thomas (1805-1871) was one such new editor. Thomas was a preacher among "us" first in Philadelphia and then Richmond, Virginia. In 1834 he began publishing his new voice in his Apostolic Advocate. By 1835 it became clear that he was promoting sectarian point of view. Stone-Campbell churches had always accepted those who had been immersed into the name of Jesus. Thomas believed this was grave error. Stoned-Campbell churches were not simply Christians they were the only Christians! And apparently many even in his own fellowship were not Christians either. Many, like Alexander Campbell himself, had been baptized at the hands of Baptist preachers never understanding the "deeper" significance of baptism until years later. Campbell vigorously opposed Thomas who eventually left the Restoration movement to form the Christadelphians.

In 1835 other extreme positions bubbled to the surface as well. Matthias Winans, Arthur Crihfield, John R. Howard, and others, promoted a theory of the Holy Spirit that so closely linked the Spirit and the Word that they became nearly indistinguishable. Crihfield would throw his hat in the editor bishop's chair in 1837 with a journal creatively titled The Heretic Detector ... its task would be to root out any and all heresy. It was in the Heretic Detector that, as far as I can determine, we encounter for the first time the "marks of the one true church." The spirit of this publication has been "reincarnated" in journals that yet remain among us.

Interestingly enough Stone, Campbell and even Robert Richardson seem to have sensed that something was afoot at the Circle-K (for those who remember Bill & Ted!). Alexander Campbell wrote a lengthy piece titled "The Crises" (Millennial Harbinger [December 1835], 595-602). Richardson published a letter in the same issue to Campbell under the heading "Reminiscences of 1835" (pp. 611-618). Campbell's last words to his readers for the year 1835 was a plea for them to reread his article and even Richardson's (p.622).

Barton W. Stone had already voiced distress over the direction of some within the movement. In the August 1835 Christian Messenger he shared some "Remarks." Since it is brief, yet powerful, I will reproduce his entire "remark."

"The scriptures [sic] will never keep together in union, and fellowship members not in the spirit of the scriptures, which spirit is love, peace, unity, forbearance, and cheerful obedience. This is the spirit of the great Head of the body. I blush for my fellows, who hold up the Bible as the bond of union yet make their opinions of it tests of fellowship; who plead for union of all christians; yet refuse fellowship with such as dissent from their notions. Vain men! Their zeal is not according to knowledge, nor is their spirit that of Christ. There is a day not far ahead which will declare it. Such antisectarian sectarians are doing more mischief to the cause, and advancement of truth, the unity of christians, and the salvation of the world, than all the skeptics in the world. In fact, they make skeptics." (Barton W. Stone, "Remarks," [Christian Messenger August 1835], 180)

Stone did not shy from voicing his concern over the direction of some within the movement he helped spawn.

Due to the vigilance of Campbell, Stone, Richardson, and Scott most of the extreme views that began to surface in 1835 were held in check. Yet after the Civil War these uprooted tares among the wheat began to bud again. There is a direct link between the "Texas Tradition" in the Churches of Christ and John Thomas. We might explore that some more soon ... Those devoted to "truth" often have to point the search light back at their own heart. This is a legacy we can embrace from Stone, Campbell, Richardson and Scott.

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