The Restored Cause followed The Reform Cause. With the fracture of fellowship between Luther and Zwingli, denominations began to proliferate, usually named after the founders, usually despite their appeal NOT to use their name.
Articles of Faith, whatever their final form, denominated Christians. The Creeds and Disciplines and Confessions codified what each group believed. While adhering to Christ’s Deity they carefully distinguished themselves from other Christians. In the early 19th century God called what history has labelled the Campbell-Stone Movement, A.K.A. The Restoration Movement. They wanted no Creed but the Bible, no Doctrine but New Testament teaching and...a new wrinkle in church life, sought Freedom in opinions. A remarkable event occurred when Alexander Campbell had to decide whether to sprinkle his baby. Knowing what his Presbyterian Church taught, but wanting to see if it agreed with Scripture, he made a detailed study of Baptism to determine its Form and Purpose. To his dismay he discovered Immersion for Forgiveness of sin only for believers the Baptism taught by the Apostles. When he discussed it with his father Thomas, he encountered powerful resistance. What Thomas had known as a Presbyterian had brought him comfort and he wouldn’t change. Nevertheless, when Alexander and his wife presented themselves for Immersion, Thomas and his wife, having studied the issue, presented themselves also. The Restoration Movement swept the country in the latter part of the 19th and into the early part of the 20th century. Then, second and third generation leaders divided: over the Deity of Jesus and the use of the Instrument in worship. The result was the Disciples of Christ—an increasingly liberal denomination denying the Deity of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament; the Bible-believing Church of Christ non-instrumental; and the Independent Christian Church, solidly Biblical and using the instrument in worship. Since both of the latter two groups hold sacred the Deity of Christ, with all that entails, great stride in re-fellowshipping have been made. End Part VIII
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