THOUGHTS ON THE SILENCE OF SCRIPTURE

A brother from New England wrote the following lines in response to a recent article on the Silence of the Scriptures:
"We deny the authority of silence. It is unscriptural and divisive"
"The fact is that never once in the sacred scripture is this law...ever
mentioned"
"The so-called ‘authority of silence'  is such a creed, dreamed up by sectarians within our heritage and saddled upon the people of God."
"We do it to uphold the traditions of our fathers who were often good but ignorant men living on the frontier."
"It is impossible to remain shackled to the past.  The nerveless fingers on the skeletal hands of our fathers reaching from the sepulcher must relinquish their grip upon us.
"It is also important to recognize that neither permission nor prohibition is part of the nature of Scripture..." 

SB

The sacred principle he refers to and rejects is demonstrated in numerous places in God's Holy Word. It is seen in God's commands to Noah regarding the Ark.  Could he have built it by a different scale and still been blest" (Gen. 6:13-22). It was applied in the case of Nadab and Abihu who offered strange, i.e., unauthorized fire in their ministrations before God (Lev. 10:1-10).
Again it was enforced when David transported the Ark of God by a method different from that ordained (I Chron. 13:6-10). It was expressed by the apostles who wrote concerning certain Jewish preachers who were commanding Gentiles to be circumcised, "We have heard that certain who went out from us have troubled you wit words...to whom we gave no commandment" (Act. 15: 24).

Dear Bro. S B:

Thanks for taking time to share with me your thoughts about the silence of the Scriptures. I take it you would have not problem with the use of incense, counting beads, burning sacred candles, clergy garments, infant baptism, rock bands, buttermilk and cornbread for communion just to mention a few items that come to mind.

While today you hold membership in a church of Christ, tomorrow you may well be at home in a church that someone other than Christ established. After all he did not forbid men to start their own churches, did he?   The ideas you are advocating are precisely those advocated by the brethren who led so many members of the Restoration Movement into what is now the Disciples of Christ/Christian Church denomination. You could easily move into their fellowship. They would gladly welcome you and you would have no basis to question any of their practices.

Where your views take hold, the concept of restoring New Testament Christianity will surely die out. How tragic to be part of such destruction.
If you wish to stay among our people, I pray that you will rethink your attitude towards the authority of God's Word.