INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES

INTRODUCTION--

1. A "silent" attitude toward a "speaking" God is important. Habakkuk 2:18-20
   

   "What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? 19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. 20 But Jehovah is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him."
   

   Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God; for to draw nigh to hear is better than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil. 2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few."

James 1:19b "But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:"

Titus 1:10-11 "For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision, 11 whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake."

Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law."

1. One way to silence rash men is to teach them respect for the silence of God.
   
   1. A brief history of the writing of "Thunderous Silence of God."
      
   2. Others have written on the subject (show books--name authors).
      
   3. I have written, because I have thought that the principles supported by Thomas Campbell in his pamphlet Declaration and Address have been very much misunderstood and abused.
      
      1. The D & A was the outgrowth of Campbell's slogan, "Where the Bible speaks, we speak--where the Bible is silent, we are silent."
         
      2. The misunderstandings and abuses of this slogan have led to many divisions among us, even though the slogan was intended to establish a base for unity among believers in Christ.
         
      3. Thomas Campbell congealed into a few thoughts the attitude God desired to create in us toward the authority of His Word.
         
      4. His motivation was "love out of a pure heart and faith unfeigned."

2. To thwart Campbell's purpose of establishing unity, various tactics have been used by those who were inclined to add innovations to the word.
   
   1. The premises of Campbell have been branded "human tradition."
      
   2. Even when treated as human tradition, the premises are dubbed "impractical."
      
   3. The earnest practitioners of the premises have been branded "legalists and Pharisees."

LESSON--

1. Who was Thomas Campbell?
   
   1. Father of Alexander Campbell, but had a great reputation in his own right.
      
   2. A Calvinist--a Presbyterian--member of one of the many warring branches.
      
   3. Tired of division, he perceived that creeds were the divisive culprits, binding souls to a narrow perception of God's Will, rather than to the Will itself.
      
   4. Coming gradually to the conclusion that the Calvinist system of salvation had no basis in Scripture, he was cast out of their fellowship.
      
   5. Preaching for a small assembly in Washington, Penn., he espoused his views on Christian unity through the famous "slogan."
      
   6. Petitioned by the membership to enlarge his views, and publish them in a pamphlet, he wrote the Declaration and Address in 1809 (Show copy)
      
      1. Out of print, unavailable in book stores, unless gathering dust. (Preserved in part in my book, and in others.)
         
      2. The forces of indifference and opposition have almost succeeded in masking its historical content. Only a few references in histories survive, and a few quotations here and there.
         
      3. Why then should it be important?

2. It matters very little if any copy of a human document survives, even this!
   
   1. Nothing, however, can mask the message of the Bible. Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matthew 24:35, ASV).
      
   2. We will be judged by the same words of Christ. "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day." (John 12:48, ASV).
      
   3. With human documents, we must decide whether they are in harmony with the Word of God, or not. (Even human documents that reflect truth may at some future time fall into dust and disappear.)
      
   4. It was my purpose in writing Thunderous Silence to show that Campbell's conceptions were biblical, and reflected the truth regarding Bible interpretation.

3. What was Campbell's purpose in writing? p. 17-18 (quote 1)
   
   1. Did his son Alexander Campbell agree? p. 18 (quote 2)
      
   2. What tactics did the detractors use?
      
      1. James DeForest Murch and Carl Ketcherside. p. 11-13 (quotes 3 and 4)
         
      2. A. T. DeGroot (Insufficiency of the New Testament). p. 18 (quote 5)
         
      3. Many others have used the "legalist/Pharisee" epithet against supporters of Campbell's premises, to muddy the water, and cause prejudice.

4. The "silence" of Scripture has been respected through many centuries.
   
   1. For hundreds of years there were only additions to the Word, by spurious revelation, enhancement of tradition, and canonical legislation of synods.
      
   2. After the trend toward reformation began, with its return to Bible authority, many dissenters used it to justify the rejection of unbiblical doctrines.
      
      1. The Albigenses of southern France (12th Century) thought the Scripture did not support the use of priestly vestments, altars, or crosses.
         
      2. The Waldenses (13th Century) rejected the Roman Catholic hierarchy for the universal priesthood of all believers.
         
      3. Ulricht Zwingli rejected the doctrine of Purgatory on this basis. (This illustrates his main dissent from Luther's views. pp. 70-71, quotes 6-7)
         
      4. The Anabaptists rejected Infant Baptism, which was retained in the Protestant Reformation, because there was no Scripture precedent.
         
   3. These rejections were based on the premise that the silence of the Scripture is prohibitive, not permissive.
      
      1. Additions to Scripture (canon law, traditions) come only when the ones who add them think that Bible silence is permissive.
         
      2. There is no reason to reject an unprecedented practice, unless we think that the silence of the Bible is prohibitive.
         
      3. To treat Bible silence as permissive, Campbell's slogan had to be revised. (Isaac Errett and W. K. Pendleton did just that.
         
         1. After the Civil War (1861-1865), support of the Missionary Society promoted by Thomas Campbell waned, and needed reviving.
            
         2. Addressing a meeting of the Society, W. K. Pendleton (a son-in-law of Alex. Campbell), asserted that the silence of the Scripture was not prohibitory, but allowed liberty.
            
         3. Isaac Errett, editor of the Christian Standard, proposed that the Restoration motto be changed to read, "Where the Bible speaks, we are silent, and where the Bible is silent we may speak." (quote 8)

CONCLUSION-- By an examination of some Scriptural examples, we can discover whether the reformers who rejected extraneous doctrines on the basis that silence is prohibitive were right in that decision, or wrong. If they were right, we cannot treat the silence of Scripture is permissive, as many do today.