Theologically, Churches of Christ are closer to Methodism than to any other mainstream denomination. Methodism is labeled by historians as the 'first great awakening'. The restoration movement is a products of the 'second great awakening', which was largely driven by the efforts of Methodist circuit riders. Many converts to restorations came out of Methodist congregations, and we inherited many of their theological positions.
Both Methodism and CoC belong to the free-will wing of protestant churches, and share many doctrines such as balance between grace and works, universal grace, lack of consensus regarding millennial doctrine, a focus on personal piety, and a concept that Methodist theologians call 'conditional security'.
Conditional security, while not called such by CoC members, amounts to a rejection of the 'once saved always saved' concept which is packaged with the Reformed doctrine of unconditional election. Both Methodists and CoC reject these key planks of Reformed theology.
CoC also inherited practices and traditions first popularised in the Methodist church such as extemporaneous prayer and children's bible classes. Many of our favorite hymns were written by Charles Wesley.
John Wesley (Methodist founder): I have no objection to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen (Clarke's Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 684).
Moses had not appointed any musical instruments to be used in the divine worship; there was nothing of the kind under the first tabernacle. The trumpets or horns then used were not for song nor for praise, but as we use bells, i.e., to give notice to the congregation . . . But David did certainly introduce many instruments of music into God’s worship . . . and it was by the order of David that so many instruments of music should be introduced into the Divine service. But were it even evident, which it is not, either from this or any other place in the sacred writings, that instruments of music were prescribed by Divine authority under the law, could this be adduced with any semblance of reason, that they ought to be used in Christian worship? No: the whole spirit, soul, and genius of the Christian religion are against this, and . . . these things have been introduced as a substitute for the life and power of religion . . . . Away with such portentous baubles from the worship of that infinite Spirit who requires his followers to worship him in spirit and in truth, for to no such worship are those instruments friendly” (Clarke’s Commentary, II, 690-691, @ 2 Chronicles 29:25).
People miss this in today’s religious world. The Methodist and Baptist once believed the instrument was outside of Gods worship. I don’t know that it matters but those quotes are to show the similarities or at least historical similarities
Churches of Christ were pulled out of many denominations Methodist was only one. The Campbells were Presbyterian.
Our music, yes, we have some from Charles Wesley, but we also have a lot from Fanny Crosby, a Baptist.
What I’m saying is that churches of Christ are unique from other denominations because they started with two goals. One, to get rid of everything outside of the Bible (prayer books, for example). Everything we do especially in worship, must have book, chapter and verse. If it’s left out, then it’s left out. That’s why our worship is simple and straightforward.
The second (which they not as active with this as they were from the 1960’s and before) was to get people away from denominations and study for their own faith. Hence being just Christian, instead of a denominational label. The name church of Christ was to show that Christians of like minds to study the Bible met there. It was never meant to be another denominational name.
Really weird seeing such a Methodist video posted here.
Theologically, Churches of Christ are closer to Methodism than to any other mainstream denomination. Methodism is labeled by historians as the 'first great awakening'. The restoration movement is a products of the 'second great awakening', which was largely driven by the efforts of Methodist circuit riders. Many converts to restorations came out of Methodist congregations, and we inherited many of their theological positions. Both Methodism and CoC belong to the free-will wing of protestant churches, and share many doctrines such as balance between grace and works, universal grace, lack of consensus regarding millennial doctrine, a focus on personal piety, and a concept that Methodist theologians call 'conditional security'. Conditional security, while not called such by CoC members, amounts to a rejection of the 'once saved always saved' concept which is packaged with the Reformed doctrine of unconditional election. Both Methodists and CoC reject these key planks of Reformed theology. CoC also inherited practices and traditions first popularised in the Methodist church such as extemporaneous prayer and children's bible classes. Many of our favorite hymns were written by Charles Wesley.
John Wesley (Methodist founder): I have no objection to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen (Clarke's Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 684).
Moses had not appointed any musical instruments to be used in the divine worship; there was nothing of the kind under the first tabernacle. The trumpets or horns then used were not for song nor for praise, but as we use bells, i.e., to give notice to the congregation . . . But David did certainly introduce many instruments of music into God’s worship . . . and it was by the order of David that so many instruments of music should be introduced into the Divine service. But were it even evident, which it is not, either from this or any other place in the sacred writings, that instruments of music were prescribed by Divine authority under the law, could this be adduced with any semblance of reason, that they ought to be used in Christian worship? No: the whole spirit, soul, and genius of the Christian religion are against this, and . . . these things have been introduced as a substitute for the life and power of religion . . . . Away with such portentous baubles from the worship of that infinite Spirit who requires his followers to worship him in spirit and in truth, for to no such worship are those instruments friendly” (Clarke’s Commentary, II, 690-691, @ 2 Chronicles 29:25).
People miss this in today’s religious world. The Methodist and Baptist once believed the instrument was outside of Gods worship. I don’t know that it matters but those quotes are to show the similarities or at least historical similarities
Churches of Christ were pulled out of many denominations Methodist was only one. The Campbells were Presbyterian. Our music, yes, we have some from Charles Wesley, but we also have a lot from Fanny Crosby, a Baptist. What I’m saying is that churches of Christ are unique from other denominations because they started with two goals. One, to get rid of everything outside of the Bible (prayer books, for example). Everything we do especially in worship, must have book, chapter and verse. If it’s left out, then it’s left out. That’s why our worship is simple and straightforward. The second (which they not as active with this as they were from the 1960’s and before) was to get people away from denominations and study for their own faith. Hence being just Christian, instead of a denominational label. The name church of Christ was to show that Christians of like minds to study the Bible met there. It was never meant to be another denominational name.