• “Church of Christ” Posts

Articles about the denomination know as “The Church of Christ” are found here.  However, nearly every article concerning Protestantism within this blog could be about the CoC in some way.

FIRST, some background information on the Protestant Denomination.

The Church of Christ is a non-something; it is not Catholic. The Church of Christ (CoC), like Mormons, believes that the Middle Ages were a prophesied time of apostasy—that the gates of hell prevailed against the Church and then revitalized by the Church of Christ founders. That is why it is nearly impossible to witness anything that comes from the CoC that is not pointed against the Catholic Church–it is another sect that identifies itself by what it is not.

The Church of Christ is a Protestant denomination (it claims to be a “non-denominational church”—another example of being a non-something and an example of its word games) that is rooted in the 19th century. Although the CoC is thoroughly Protestant in nature, it views itself as neither Catholic nor Protestant, but “true” Christianity.  The CoC is a product of “the Restoration period” (roughly 1820-1890). The Restoration communities claim that the Reformation communities had not sufficiently purified themselves from Catholicism—thus illustrating the Protestant business model: claiming self-derived orthodoxy by claiming that predecessors are unorthodox (more “non-something” evidence).

Today, the CoC claims to be the “first Church” and the “true Christians”. It is meaningless to name the founders because they simply blend in with all the other 19th century self-ordained prophets.

Like most modern Christian sects, the CoC has its unique identifiers: “No creed but the Bible” (which is a creed that translates as, “No creed but our unwritten interpretations of the Bible”), a belief that musical instruments should not be used in worship, and other novel traits such as the denial of Original Sin (though some CoC’s do recognize it). Unlike the majority of Protestant religions, the CoC believes in the necessity of water baptism—a trait that is a very good characteristic—a leftover of biblical (and therefore Catholic) teachings. Unfortunately, the CoC does not recognize the validity of infant baptisms.

Because CoC members are properly baptized, they are considered as Christians—just not in full communion with Christ’s Church. This illustrates God’s grace and how penetrating the Catholic Church’s salvific means are alive even in her Protestant communities.

If you are wanting to find out what the CoC actually believes, you will be forced to play ring-around-the-rosie because the CoC won’t grant its members and shoppers a written exegesis of the Bible. CoC members simply say, “we believe the Bible”—which can mean anything. CoC members believe that anyone who agrees with their interpretation is right, and anyone who believes differently is wrong. In sum, the CoC rests its claim as “the true Church” on its very self—orthodoxy by democracy; an American religion of the people, by the people, and for the people–defined by self-ordained elders.

Want more? Here you go.

The Church of Christ, at least in practice, denies that Christ’s Church existed for nearly four centuries without the New Testament—without a Bible. The CoC Christian willfully avoids the historical fact that the Catholic Church, with the authority vested in her by Christ, faithfully taught the gospel and then decided what would become the New Testament scriptures.

The CoC does not teach the origins of the Bible—it is a purposed tactic that is designed to undermine the body that gifted the Bible to Christianity. The CoC has replaced the authority of the Catholic Church, the pillar and foundation of truth, with the authority of the scriptures—denying the legitimacy of an entity that supposedly begat a greater entity. Or to be more precise, a satanic entity that begat inspired scripture.

The creation of the Bible is a part of the Sacred Tradition of the Church. Therefore, the Bible IS Tradition—both sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture has guided the Church through the centuries. In this light, one can see that the self-stripping of the Bible from the Catholic Church has left Protestantism as sheep without a shepherd.

Like Islam, Protestantism is a religion of a book—its self-interpretation of a book. Historical Christianity recognizes that Christ left the Catholic Church with the Advocate—the Holy Spirit, which would guide her into all truth. When promising the Advocate, Jesus was not talking to ministers of the CoC; he was talking to the twelve—a term for the apostles. He was not speaking to the disciples, but in a room with a locked door. The twelve were given Christ’s authority. By their authority, they safeguarded the Deposit of Faith by establishing successors. Those successors are the Bishops of the Catholic Church. Therefore, any interpretation of the Bible that differs from the Catholic Church’s interpretation is false. In other words, the Spirit that was intrinsic in providing the Bible is the same Spirit that interprets it, and any “spirit” that “doesn’t accept the apostles” does not “accept Jesus.”

For a “new” church to be born consisting of co-opted Christian themes, vocabulary, and scripture; the established Church must be presented as “apostate” or illegitimate. In other words, the model that Jesus established must be replaced with a democratic, self-interpreting model. New theologies of what constitutes “church” were invented and proclaimed as ancient truths—an establishment of new “churches” by establishing self-proclaimed ministerial offices and infallible interpretations of the Catholic Church’s book (albeit abridged and edited).

Once the premise is accepted that anyone who “feels a calling” can become an infallible interpreter of the Bible, and that the Bible is ALL THE truth instead of ALL truth, then Christianity is a closed loop of self-interpretation of a few hundred pages of scripture. This allows for a perceived mastering of Christian truths—a perceived means of being able to consider oneself as a Bible expert; an arrogance that allows men to assert their own infallible interpretation of the Bible as truth; as God’s “Word”.

Because the CoC denies the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, the CoC is only guided by errant interpretations of the Bible. And because the CoC has accepted the Protestant Bible, which is missing seven books of the Old Testament, it is fair to state that the CoC is dealing with less than half of a deck—which this blog undoubtedly proves.

The reason this blog has a section regarding the CoC.

A minister at the Holly Street Church of Christ in Denver hosts a short radio program every weekday called “Bible Questions” (biblequestions.org) where he teaches people that his version of Christianity is true–a program “where questions are answered and truth [according to him] is taught.” I have no intention to single him out, so I won’t mention his name; but he does encapsulates the essence of the CoC religion.

I’m only able to catch a show now and then, but nearly every time I listen he implies untruths about the Catholic Church, overtly teaches untruths about the Catholic Church, and confuses people about the Catholic Church and her book: the Bible.

Though this blog cannot respond to even a fraction of his relentless jabs, I hope to correct the record at least in some miniscule way.

However, articles about the Church of Christ are not just about the host of biblquestions.org; he is just a symbol of the Church of Christ. Therefore, not every post will be about his particular teachings directly, but about the CoC in general. The purpose of my posts regarding the Church of Christ denomination is to illustrate the gap between authentic historical Christianity and the modern CoC, which is as old as plastic.