THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST (A Review)

Dr. Richard Hughes of Pepperdine University (formerly of Abilene Christian University) has written  this history of our brotherhood.  It is part of "the Praeger series of denominational studies" and the author willingly agrees that "...Churches of Christ comprised a denomination that erected its most fundamental self-understanding on claims that it was not a denomination" (p. 5). This assertion is repeated dozens of items throughout the book.  Dr. Hughes tells us in his introduction, "I am a lifelong member of Churches of Christ but also an historian of American religion.  Those two commitments have pulled at one another in a variety of ways... (as) this book has been in production.  One's allegiance to one's own tradition always prompts one to tell only the good, to negate the bad, and to make the story look better than perhaps it really is. As an historian however, I had to resist that temptation..." (p. xiv). So complete was the historian's victory that Hughes found very little positive to report about us but a book full of negative, judgmental criticisms. As a history of a religious body, by one who is a member of it, the following attributes should be expected but are clearly absent: A sense of belonging; A sense of pride in what has been accomplished; A sense of respect and appreciation for those gone before. If this were a trial in a court of law, the author would be considered a "hostile witness." His book is a classic example of revisionist history.

The thesis of Dr. Hughes consists of the following points:  That Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone founded a religious movement at the beginning of the 19th century;  That the Disciples of Christ/Christian Churches more correctly represent that tradition;  That Churches of Christ are a legalistic splinter of the Campbell-Stone movement that left the larger body at the turn of the 20th century;  That for the first 150 years we were a sect, but since the 1950s we have graduated to denominational status.  The author approaches his subject with a template created by denominational social historians, who know and care nothing for pure Christianity. He then forces every fact and every event into that narrow mold. Thus he concludes we were a sect and now a denomination (and in his estimation, a very poor example of that.)

Unintentionally, Dr. Hughes has done us a favor in writing his book.

	He shows just how pervasive the apostasy in our midst has become.
	He clearly demonstrates the role that Christian Schools, especially Abilene Christian University, have played in that development.
	He reveals the disdain, which the intellectuals of the change movement hold for Churches of Christ.
	He demonstrates the impact that secular schools, such as Harvard, have had on our Christian Schools.
	He states in unmistakable terms their estimate of the church of Christ as a human denomination and that they see it as the poorest of the evangelical denominations.
	In his estimation, all of those years when we grew by ten fold and sent the gospel around the world, we were but a miserable, narrow sect and now we have graduated into a real, bona fide, but pitiful denomination.
	He tells us what kind of indoctrination we can expect for our children when we send them to schools that have embraced this agenda.

It is interesting to observe the way Dr. Hughes' discounts and downplay the knowledge, accomplishments and contributions of men of past generations, the latches of whose shoes he is unworthy to loose. From his perspective, every hero was overrated and misdirected and every roguitator was a hero, especially if his orientation was to the left. One is impressed that to him, the zenith of our history was the day when "Dr. Royce Money, president of Abilene Christian University, traveled to Southwestern Christian College in Terrell, TX to issue on behalf of Abilene Christian University a formal apology to African American members of Churches of Christ for the years of racial discrimination."...  "We are here to today to confess  the sins of racism and discrimination and to issue a formal apology to all of you, to express regret and to ask for your forgiveness (p. 138).

The author of this review has read most of the biographies and histories of the Restoration Movement's 200 year history. Not one of them is as negative and pessimistic as this volume. Even denominational historians, with their built-in antagonisms, have been more charitable in their assessment of us.

If the author had been an avowed enemy of the body of believers known as Churches of Christ, how different would his conclusions have been?   Books like this make the enemies of Christ rejoice. The question that must be asked is, why does a brilliant man like Dr. Hughes stay among a body of people for whom he holds such a low estimate?

Those who wish to read a sympathetic history written by one who loves the church and has faithfully served her, need to read, Search for the Ancient Order, in four volumes, by Dr. Earl West. Those who do so will be immensely rewarded. They may be ordered from the Gospel Advocate Co., P. O. Box 150, Nashville, TN 37202-1050 or from the Firm Foundation, PO. Box 69 Damon, TX  77430-0069.