SPEAK WHERE THE BIBLE SPEAKS
Restoration History #11

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“Accept Him Who is Weak”

• David Lipscomb (1875):
  • “So long as a man really desires to do right, to serve the Lord, to obey his commands, we cannot withdraw from him.”

Declaration and Address

• Thomas Campbell (1809):
  • Where the Bible is unclear or silent, no disagreement should divide Christians.
  • When Campbell spoke of “being silent where the Bible is silent,” he allowed for strong opinions on what that silence meant.

1832 Union

• Raccoon John Smith:
  • Silent on the precise positions that Christians might take that are not part of the gospel.
  • Speak where Bible speaks = simply use the words of Scripture.

All Silence is Not Equal

• Silence permitted the Missionary Society
• Silence forbade instrumental music in worship

Three-Part Hermeneutic

• Focus is on what practices the Bible authorizes:
  1. Direct Command,
  2. Approved Example, and
  3. Necessary Inference

Other Considerations

• Does this practice reflect the nature of God?
• Is it in line with the biblical story of redemption?
• Does it build up the church?
• Does it promote Christian virtue?
• Is it a “weightier matter”?

Speaking Where the Bible Speaks

• Black Churches of Christ
• "I have had to rely upon God, he is the only one I had. The white man didn't like me because of the color of my skin. The colored man didn't like me because of my religion. Now, son, who else did I have?” -- Marshall Keeble

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Evening Sermon, 18 May 2008

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