|
 With
this, we have quoted from A. W Fortune’s THE DISCIPLES IN
KENTUCKY, for five consecutive issues. For all who want to see
the truth, the parallel of yesterday’s and today’s
digression is obvious. Remember, Fortune wrote as one advocating
and promoting institutionalism. Note his analysis of the “conflicting
interpretations” which were the basis for division in his day
— and we believe, now.
“There
were two different interpretations of the church which
inevitably came into conflict. There were those who believed the
church should move on with the world and adapt the spirit of the
New Testament to conditions that were ever changing. They held
that, when not forbidden by the New Testament, they were free to
adapt their program to changing needs.
On
the other hand, there were those who believed the pattern of the
church was fixed for all time, and the fact that certain things
were not sanctioned was sufficient ground for rejecting them.
The men on both sides were equally honest, but they had a
different approach to these issues that were raised.” (Pp.
364)
That “Method” Fallacy
“The
controversies through which the Disciples have passed from the
beginning to the present time have been the result of two
different interpretations of their mission. There have been
those who believed it is the spirit of the New Testament Church
that should be restored, and in our method of working the church
must adapt itself to
|
|
changing conditions There have been those who
regarded the New Testament Church as a fixed pattern for all
time, and our business is to hold rigidly to that pattern
regardless of consequences. Because of these two attitudes
conflicts were inevitable.” (Pp. 383)
Open Door To Modernism
“Two
points of view were in conflict. One point of view held rigidly
to the past and insisted that there should be no change in
interpretation The other faced the future and believed that the
past must be reevaluated in the light of all knowledge. This
controversy was bitterly waged in the press, in the college, in
the conventions, in the churches, and wherever Disciples met.”
(Pp. 379)
The
above comment was made in the course of discussing a protest
which some brethren made against certain teachers in the College
of the Bible, Lexington. Professors Fortune, Bower, Snoddy, and
the President of the College of the Bible, Pres. Crossfield,
were charged with teaching heretical doctrines, accepting the
theory of evolution, denying the inerrancy of the Scriptures, or
the infallible authority of all parts of it.
As
you can see, the same “two methods of interpretation” or “attitudes”
toward the Scriptures, which made the differences among brethren
re. Missionary Societies , Instrumental Music, and the Work of
the church; also extended to modernism. None are so blind
as those who will not see.
[Previous
Article] [Next
Article]
|
