Gospel Union - A blog about Christian faith and unity - Page 2 of 13 - Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.

Instruments of peace

Tuesday, 16 June 2009 by Editor

It is ironic that musical instruments get the blame for a major division in Christ’s body when music is supposed to be (and is in fact) such a unifying part of Christian worship. There is nothing more unifying than standing and praising God in song together with other believers, whether there are instruments in the

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Avoiding the hard job of living Christlike

Wednesday, 10 June 2009 by Editor

Ever notice that when your kids really don’t want to do something, they will find anything and everything else to do before getting to the undesirable job? Forget the kids, I do this myself. Sometimes the hard task gets postponed for something else that truly is a good thing to do. Nevertheless, the good becomes

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Was Genesis written by Moses?

Thursday, 15 May 2008 by Editor

Was the Genesis record authored by Moses, or mashed up from unknown sources by unknown editors, as proponents of the Documentary Hypothesis (DH) would like us to believe? Maybe neither, as it turns out. There is an alternative hypothesis that makes a lot of sense and preserves the notion of divine caretaking of the ancient

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Love, legalism, and marriage

Wednesday, 06 June 2007 by Editor

A frequent subject of my prayers is to thank God for the love of my amazing wife. Because I have her love, I feel blessed and honored beyond measure. I could argue that most everything good in my life flows from the fact that I know without a doubt that I am loved by her.

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The law of silence in Scripture

Friday, 11 May 2007 by Editor

Probably the most thorough, though in my opinion, misguided defense of the so called Law of Silence, comes from a conservative, non-institutional church of Christ website called Bible.ca. I have to admire the creativity of the author in presenting these opinions using the traffic sign analogies. They show a semblance of logic, much like a

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The flaw of silence

Sunday, 09 July 2006 by Editor

Awhile back, I began to suspect that there was a flaw in the theory, sometimes called the Law of Silence, that the Bible’s silence on a subject is always prohibitive. I’ve found cases where it indeed appears to be, but also cases where it appears not to be. I’m convinced that figuring out which is

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Only from intellectuals

Monday, 03 April 2006 by Editor

There are some things so ridiculous–and in fact, so evil–that only intellectuals could believe them. Like doomsday University of Texas professor Eric Pianka’s intentionally shocking idea that a 90% reduction in the human population is not merely an eventuality (as headlines spin it), but a solution to the “problem” of an overcrowded planet. Actually, the

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The last shall be last

Sunday, 26 March 2006 by Editor

After years of trying to train my kids not to fight over being first in line at the dessert table, we recently encountered an interesting twist. They were fighting over being last. That’s right, instead of arguing about who was going to be first, they began arguing over the right to be last in line.

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Dealing with one another

Friday, 24 March 2006 by Editor

I don’t know who compiled these “One Anothers,” but they illustrate how important our relationships are with people. All of the “book knowledge” in the world can’t replace the value of our one-on-one relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Knowing how we ought to behave is quite different from actually doing it. be

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Thoughts on anger

Sunday, 05 March 2006 by Editor

I originally put these scriptures together to have a little chat with two of my kids who have been having a little temper problem lately. Then I realized they would make good reading for a discussion that our group does frequently involving all the kids. Then I realized they would be great for us adults

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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."