The Restoration Movement and the Division over Instrumental Music

Churches of Christ are a part of the Stone Campbell Movement, which has a rich and colorful heritage beginning on the American frontier in the early 19^th century.[1] The Christians of the Stone-Campbell Movement have always been and continue to be people devoted to seeking and following the truth as revealed in God’s word. Early Restoration Movement leaders were intensely concerned that their worship was not simply rules taught by men. Thomas Campbell, one of the founding fathers of the Restoration, would not have broken with the Presbyterian Church if it had not been for their restrictive rules of communion.[2] As a body of believers, we take very seriously the admonition of the Lord in Isa 29:13-14 which warns ancient Israel of their tradition-laden worship. The Lord Jesus Christ also confirmed the danger of making human traditions a component of worship when he repeated this song of Isaiah: “Jesus replied, ‘And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? . . . . Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me

They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules

taught by men.’” (Matt 15:3-9)

The intense concern to have a pure worship experience, which is in spirit and truth, divided the movement about sixty years after it began.[3] The causes of the division, according to most movement historians, were instrumental music in the worship assembly and the use of missionary societies. For those congregations who broke away from the main body by insisting on exclusively a cappella singing, this became an issue of faith used to decide who is or is not a brother or sister in Christ. These two groups are currently known as the churches of Christ and the Disciples of Christ or Christian Church. However, not every church changed its name along the same lines of fellowship and as a result, today there are both instrumental and noninstrumental churches of Christ. One hundred and thirty years later the movement is still divided over this issue but there is no longer agreement that this is an issue of faith. Discussion between the two perspectives continues through two journals, Stone-Campbell Journal http://www.stone-campbelljournal.com and Restoration Quarterly http://www.rq.acu.edu/default.htm.[4] Each journal publishes articles covering many topics from both perspectives and are written by and directed to scholars at colleges and universities within the movement.[5] Both journals are of excellent quality and are highly recommended reading materials.

Disagreement over doctrinal issues is not uncommon for Christianity in general and was equally not uncommon in the history of the churches of Christ. When the movement began the expression “Christians only, but not the only Christians” was commonly used to reflect the wide range of beliefs among various Christian groups. However, as mentioned earlier, there is no central office or earthly authority for the movement to restore “New Testament Christianity,” which is its intended goal. The Bible is the only authority and is, of course, subject to various interpretations.[6]

We know that the Lord hates seven things, one of them being “a man who stirs up dissension among brothers” (Prov 6:16ff). The portion of the movement that made instrumental music an issue of faith instead of opinion was largely the a cappella churches of Christ. Members of the churches of Christ caused the dissension and therefore carry the greater burden of proof in this matter. There are a significant number of members in the churches of Christ today that are convinced that instrumental music and missionary societies are matters of faith and therefore sin before God. The majority of members do not hold this view but still insist on not using instrumental music for the reasons given in the first section of this article.[7] There is currently a wide range of issues often discussed in churches of Christ as “tests of fellowship.” F. Lagard Smith’s book entitled, Who is My Brother? addresses many of the major issues.[8]

The critical question is how did instrumental music become a test of fellowship? After all, it is not a test of fellowship in the NT.[9] In fact, there are only three tests of fellowship in the NT: 1) Fundamental error about the work of Christ (Galatians) or the nature of Christ (1 John 2:18-23; 2 John 7), 2) Unrepentant immorality (1 Cor 5:1-11) and 3) Causing division among believers (Titus 3:10-11; 3 John 9-10). It is unfortunate that we divided over worship styles and rituals; something the NT never advocates or authorizes. But be that as it may, the division in the Stone-Campbell movement occurred during and immediately after the Civil War. Other religious groups also divided during the war over doctrinal issues such as missionary societies. The Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian and Methodist fellowships each split so that brothers and sisters in Christ would not fight against other brothers and sisters in Christ during the war.[10] The Civil War was a potential source of division between all Christians. The churches of Christ and the Disciples of Christ were no different. We divided over the issues of instrumental music as well as the role of missionary societies.[11] Actually, it was the northern-based missionary societies in 1861 that provoked the conflict within the movement by endorsing the anti-slavery Union position during a meeting when most of the southern members were absent.[12] There seemed to have been a propensity for division leading up to the Civil War and the War was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Those opposed to the instruments defended the slaveholder’s position. Division was in the air. To quote a church historian; “If the Disciples had not disagreed over instrumental music and missionary societies, they would have divided over something else.”[13] The question then remains, were these two issues of faith developed as a cover to disguise the slavery issue or would the movement have divided in time over the same issues? There is no agreement from restoration historians about this question.

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[1] For a very readable version of the history of churches of Christ, see Gary Holloway and Doug Foster, Renewing God’s People: A Concise History of Churches of Christ, (Abilene, Tx.: A.C.U. Press, 2001).

[2] B.J. Humble, The Story of the Restoration (Firm Foundation Publishing House, 1969), 14-15.

[3] Ibid., 57. Sixty years uses the date of the “Declaration and Address,” September 7, 1807 and the ten years of division, 1866 – 1875.

[4] Stone-Campbell Journal, St.Louis Christian College, Florissant, MO, 63033, published semi-annual at a cost of $15.00/yr. and the Restoration Quarterly, Abilene TX, 79699-8227, published quarterly at a cost of $15.00/yr.

[5] The purpose of the two journals is “to provide a scholarly platform for biblical interpretation, history, theology, philosophy, apologetics, and cultural criticism for those who value the perspective of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement and who endeavor to advance its distinctive principles today.” See web sites listed above.

[6] A track entitled “What is the Church of Christ?” by Joe Barnett addresses this issue in a succinct manner.

[7] When surveyed in 1999 18% of the members of the King of Prussia church of Christ believe that instrumental music is an issue of faith. Over 70% said they would leave the church is the instrument was used.

[8] F. LaGard Smith, Who is My Brother? (Nashville: 21^st Century Christian, 2003).

[9] Daniel Fletcher notes that there are only 3 tests of fellowship in the NT: 1) Fundamental error about Christ (Galatians, 1 John 2:18-23; 2 John 7), 2) Unrepentant immorality (1 Cor 5:1-11) and 3) Causing division among believers (Titus 3:10-11; 3 John 9-10). It is unfortunate that we divided over worship styles and rituals; something the NT never advocates. Fellowship is always ethical in the NT.

[10] Leroy Garrett, The Stone-Campbell Movement (Joplin, Mo.: College Press, 1981), 521.

[11] Joe D. Gray, in Unity in the Midst of Slavery and War (Choate Pub., 1983) disagrees with this position, but “the statistical evidence is overpowering: two-thirds of the members of Churches of Christ in the 1906 census were in the eleven Confederate States.” Ibid., 522.

[12] Ibid., 505.

[13] David Harrell, “The Sectional Origins of the Churches of Christ,” Journal of Southern History (1964): 262.