opinions Archives - Gospel Union - A blog about Christian faith and unity

Parable of the iron bedstead

Thursday, 05 May 2005 by Editor

By Alexander Campbell From The Christian Baptist No. III, Vol. IV. October 2, 1826 “Style no man on earth your Father; for he alone is your Father who is in heaven: and all ye are brethren. Assume not the title of Rabbi; for ye have only One Teacher; neither assume the title of Leader; for

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Loveless unity? Impossible.

Saturday, 09 April 2005 by Editor

Think about the fact that it is possible to have loveless agreement on the hotbutton doctrinal issues of the day, but it is impossible to have loveless unity. Sure, it’s easier to love someone I agree with. But while I can fail to love a person I agree with, I cannot fail to love a

love opinions unity

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Christian coalitions of the willing

Wednesday, 23 March 2005 by Editor

I think President Bush’s use of “coalitions of the willing” as a replacement for rigid treaties and lines of demarcation between allies and enemies makes an interesting application to our Christian cooperation with each other. This is particularly true in the sense that modern believers in Christ have factionalized themselves with their own rigid and

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Opinions, opinions, opinions

Tuesday, 01 February 2005 by Editor

One of the toughest things to wrap our minds around is distinguishing between opinions and inerrant truth. Until we do that, though, we’ll continue on the path of discord, because opinions are responsible for all the division we see in Christendom, not inerrant truth. It is not possible to force ourselves to hold the same

Dogmatism opinions sectarianism Unitarianism unity

Published in Alexander Campbell, Commentary

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Foundation of Christian union

Thursday, 27 January 2005 by Editor

The following is an excerpt from Alexander Campbell’s Foundation of Christian Union. I’ll put the last paragraph first to entice you to read the whole thing and bear with our brother’s generous use of commas: Let THE BIBLE be substituted for all human creeds; FACTS, for definitions, THINGS, for words; FAITH, for speculation; UNITY OF

Alexander Campbell creeds division opinions unity

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To stop division, stop dividing

Thursday, 27 January 2005 by Editor

Maybe it’s too intuitive, but the first rule to prevent division in the churches ought to be to stop dividing. Overly simplistic? Maybe not. Provided our brother hasn’t departed from the gospel, is not engaged in immoral conduct or character, and is not being divisive (advocating division), there is no reason that brotherly love can’t

division opinions Scruples unity

Published in Commentary, Unity

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Out of the mouth of babes

Wednesday, 19 January 2005 by Editor

Sometimes it is uncanny how easily kids grasp things that adults, because of our philosophies and ideologies, have trouble grasping. My middle son, Jaden, who isn’t exactly known for liking dinner, noticed tonight that he liked this one (an Italian dish called a frittata) because the eggs hid the flavor of the green herbs and

family fellowship opinions unity

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A less circular view of Romans 14

Tuesday, 18 January 2005 by Editor

I know I’ve written about this before, but I need someone to help me see how the popular view of Romans 14 isn’t spinning in circles. Romans 14, remember, deals with the issue of two brothers whose consciences are in different places on the subject of meat offered to idols or observing days in honor

fellowship opinions unity

Published in Bible, Commentary, Unity

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Playing it safe

Monday, 10 January 2005 by Editor

One of the greatest concerns in associating with Christians of diverse opinions is that it is somehow unsafe to do so. The idea is that we are in some way compromising our beliefs to enjoy Christian communion with folks who do things or understand things differently, and that we ought to play it safe and

fellowship opinions unity

Published in Commentary, Unity

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Watered down Christianity

Wednesday, 22 December 2004 by Editor

God forbid that we ever water down our faith. Unfortunately, though, sometimes we have an inverted idea of what it means to do that. You see, when you water a mixture down, you decrease its strength. You add things to the mix that make it less effective at doing what the full-strength solution was intended

doctrine fellowship opinions unity

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Barton Stone - "I blush for my fellows who hold up the Bible as the bond of union, yet make their opinions of it a test of fellowship; who plead for union of all Christians, yet refuse to fellowship with such as dissent from their notions. Vain men! Their zeal is not according to knowledge, nor is their spirit that of Christ. 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 create skeptics."

Alexander Campbell - "We will not hearken to those questions which gender strife, nor discuss them at all. If a person says such is his private opinion, let him have it as his private opinion; but lay no stress upon it; and if it be a wrong private opinion, it will die a natural death much sooner than if you attempt to kill it."

Alexander Campbell - "But men cannot give up their opinions, and therefore, they can never unite, says one. We do not ask them to give up their opinions--we ask them only not to impose them upon others. Let them hold their opinions, but let them hold them as private property. The faith is public property; opinions are, and always have been private property. Men have foolishly attempted to make the deductions of some great minds the common measure of all Christians. Hence the deductions of a Luther, and a Calvin, and a Wesley, have been the rule and measure of all who coalesce under the names of these leaders. It is cruel to excommunicate a man because of the imbecility of his intellect."

Alexander Campbell - "Dear sir, this plan of making our own nest, and fluttering over our own brood; of building our own tent, and of confining all goodness and grace to our noble selves and the "elect few" who are like us, is the quintessence of sublimated pharisaism. The old Pharisees were but babes in comparison to the modern: and the longer I live, and the more I reflect upon God and man--heaven and earth--the Bible and the world--the Redeemer and his church--the more I am assured that all sectarianism is the offspring of hell; and that all differences about words, and names, and opinions, hatched in Egypt, or Rome, or Edinburgh, are like the frolics of drunken men; and that where there is a new creature, or a society of them, with all their imperfections and frailties, and errors in sentiment, in views, and opinions, they ought to receive one another, and the strong to support the weak, and not to please themselves. To lock ourselves up in the bandbox of our own little circle; to associate with a few units, tens, or hundreds, as the pure church, as the elect, is real Protestant monkery, it is evangelical pharisaism."

Alexander Campbell - "I have tried the pharisaic plan, and the monastic. I was once so straight, that, like the Indian's tree, I leaned a little the other way. And however much I may be slandered now as seeking "popularity" or a popular course, I have to rejoice that to my own satisfaction, as well as to others, I proved that truth, and not popularity, was my object; for I was once so strict a Separatist that I would neither pray nor sing praises with any one who was not as perfect as I supposed myself. In this most unpopular course I persisted until I discovered the mistake, and saw that on the principle embraced in my conduct, there never could be a congregation or church upon the earth."

Alexander Campbell - "I have no idea of adding to the catalogue of new sects. I labor to see sectarianism abolished and all Christians of every name united upon the one foundation upon which the apostolic church was founded."