Well, the Churches of Christ have been getting some serious national press over the past week between the Winkler murder and the SoulForce visit to ACU. From the right to the left of our tradition, I think we have shined brightly in the midst of what had the potential to be very dark hours.
I don't know if any of you caught the Nancy Grace interviews on CNN last night. I was teaching at LOCC, but I have been reading the transcripts this morning. A few days ago Nancy Grace asked an enigmatic Baptist missionary who is remaining quite elusive to comment on the Churches of Christ. (The show is now calling him an 'unidentified male'.) He responded by describing the Churches of Christ as follows:
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Church of Christ is a relatively new church. It was started about 150 years ago by Alexander Campbell, and it`s unfortunately a very legalistic sect, and they tend to use methods of intimidation and pressure tactics.
They claim that they are the only ones going to heaven and all other people are condemned to hell. It kind of is a borderline cult, unfortunately. I don`t want to make it out to be some kind of a Hare Krishna group, but it has cult-like characteristics.
Lat night, Grace, um, interviewed (I use that term loosely) my friend Rubel Shelly, giving him the chance to defend and define the Chruches of Christ as one who knows our tradition from the inside. I have little respect for Grace in her graceless attempts to drive the conversation so as to charicature the CoC as she desired, but Rubel did a fine job in the midst of her ungracious interviewing:
GRACE: Is the Church of Christ a cult? Is it cult-like? Did that play into this murder in any way?
With us, Dr. Ruble Shelly, professor of philosophy and religion at Rochester College. He`s a Church of Christ minister. He knows the Winkler family. Let`s take a look.
Single leader, cult-like qualities, trying to isolate members, members happy and enthusiastic -- I don`t think that`s a bad thing -- experimental rather than logical, hide what they teach, say they`re the only true group.
Dr. Shelly, response?
DR. RUBLE SHELLY, CHURCH OF CHRIST, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY: It certainly doesn`t fit the criteria you just gave. We certainly have never created those charismatic personalities. We`re a network of independent, local churches.
And your guests so far, I`m the only one who has to plead guilty to being a member of the Church of Christ. And Churches of Christ certainly are not cultic in any of that classic sense.
We`re a conservative, religious group in the Christian tradition. You`d ask one of our members, and we`d say we jump right off the pages of the New Testament. Historically, we come out of what`s called the American Restoration movement, but the cultic label -- I can`t imagine anyone sticking that label.
GRACE: Dr. Shelly, what is the role of women in the Church of Christ?
SHELLY: Well, we believe that God created the human race male and female in his image and that Paul said there is no male or female in Christ. There are some male leadership options, in terms of elders of churches, and most preaching ministries that are reserved to males, but that`s not a cultic fact.
GRACE: Why? Why?
SHELLY: Well, that`s because of a biblical interpretation issue that Southern Baptists and many other groups share in common with Churches of Christ about male leadership in local churches. Churches of Christ are a conservative religious group.
GRACE: OK, wait, wait, wait. Dr. Shelly, no offense, by why, why only male leadership? Does anybody remember Mary Magdalene, ding ding?
SHELLY: Well, Mary Magdalene was not an apostle. All of the apostles were, in fact...
GRACE: Well, Judas was, and that certainly isn`t saying very much.
SHELLY: Well, we don`t want to quarrel with gender issues, with regard to salvation. And probably, I`m more broad-minded and a bit more liberal in terms of things that I would affirm that women have a right to do in church leadership than some of the people in our churches, but generally...
GRACE: OK. Dr. Shelly, let me move on, because I agree with you.
SHELLY: No, you asked the question as to where it came from.
GRACE: Yes, and I`d love an answer.
SHELLY: First, Timothy 2:11 and 2:12 talks about male leadership in churches. And that text has a great deal hung on it by religious conservatives to say that fathers in homes and elders in churches as male leadership, protective leadership, not abusive leadership.
GRACE: Dr. Shelly, do members of the Church of Christ church believe that that is the only way to heaven?
SHELLY: No. Churches of Christ began in an historical movement whose slogan was, "Christians only, not the only Christians"...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: No, no, no, wait, wait, wait, wait, don`t need a history lesson, as much as I appreciate it. We`re only an hour long. Do you believe that Jews and Muslims...
SHELLY: Well, you asked the question. The answer is no, because our slogan is...
GRACE: ... will also go to heaven?
SHELLY: Christians only, not the only Christians. We don`t believe we`re the only Christians or the only ones going to heaven.
GRACE: OK, now, you know...
SHELLY: There may be individuals who do.
GRACE: You have got a great sense of career as a lawyer.
SHELLY: Churches of Christ are a loose network of independent churches. And I suspect you could find someone who believes most anything on your scale.
GRACE: Reverend, yes, no, do you believes that Jews or Muslims can go to heaven?
SHELLY: I believe that Jews and Muslims are to be shared the gospel of Christ. Now, that`s a much larger issue.
GRACE: Gotcha, OK. All right. I get it.
SHELLY: I do believe that Jesus is the only path to heaven, of course. Conservative Christians believe that.
Earlier in the show, Grace asked Bob Jones his thoughts on the Churches of Christ. While I am not a Bob Jones fan, I appreciate his reply:
GRACE: OK. I want to go very quickly now to a very special guest, Bob Jones, chancellor of Bob Jones University. Welcome, Reverend. A couple of questions. This case has highlighted a very serious concern, and that is, when you look to your religious leader, in this case the pastor of their church, people look to them and their family for religious guidance. They are somewhat examples to the members of the flock.
How serious is this? How serious a blow is this to this church`s flock? And also, many people have suggested the Church of Christ is a cult. Now, they deny that. What do you think?
BOB JONES, CHANCELLOR, BOB JONES UNIVERSITY: Well, Nancy, it`s obvious that when your Christian leader, be it pastor or whatever he may call himself, falls into sin, it`s a terrible -- it`s a terrible blow. And in this case, the pastor`s wife has obviously disappointed her Lord and her congregation. And just like all over the world, there are very disillusioned Catholics whose priests were revealed as pedophiles, and when that all got revealed, it just shattered everybody`s confidence. And so yes, it is very disconcerting.
The Church of Christ is a legitimate national denomination. Their beliefs about salvation, in particular, would be one of the things I would have vast differences with them with personally because I think, you know, it`s very clear from the scripture that we`re redeemed to Christ through the blood of the cross, not by the baptismal waters. But I could not personally call it a cult in any way. It`s just a denomination who has doctrines that I personally don`t subscribe to because they aren`t biblical.
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