History of the Churches of Christ in Texas (1)
Book Review
Eckstein, Stephen Daniel, Jr. History of the Churches of Christ in Texas: 1824-1950 Austin, Texas: Firm Foundation Publishing House. 1963. hardcover 378 pages.
As the Churches of Christ face tensions and conflict during the early part of the twenty-first century, it may be helpful to evaluate the past, and assess the connection between our past and the present. I recently ran across Stephen Eckstein’s book, History of the Churches of Christ in Texas: 1824-1950, among several volumes that were donated to our church library. I had never read the book, but I had always wanted to, so I decided to go through it before placing it in the library.
The book is a popular version of Eckstein’s doctoral dissertation, written to fulfill requirements for a Ph. D degree at Texas Tech University. It’s helpful to look at the history of the Churches of Christ in Texas for several reasons. For one thing, more members live in Texas than any other state in the union. For another, Texas is a microcosm of the Churches of Christ during that period of time, especially of those churches in the Southern and Southwestern part of the United States. Also it has been said that “those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.”
By no means should we regard the period from 1824 to 1950 as “the golden age” of our faith. To be quite honest, it’s a mixed bag. Sometimes our ancestors stood tall and left admirable examples of courage and faithfulness. At other times, we hang our heads in shame to know that such behavior actually characterized some of those who passed their faith along to us. Either way it can be instructive.
My review will be presented serially, so it will take several posts to cover it.
Eckstein begins by introducing his readers to the faith community we have come to think of as “The Restoration Movement.” He traces the contributions of such leaders as James O’Kelly, Rice Haggard, Abner Jones, Elias Smith, Thomas Campbell, Alexander Campbell, and Barton W. Stone. In one way or another, all these people passed along their views to our congregations and they have great influence over the way we think today. Many of us are not even aware of their influence, which doesn’t speak well for the rank and file in today’s churches. We ought to know how we got where we are. Some would like to reject our heritage, but they don’t really know what they are rejecting. Some doggedly defend what they think “we’ve always believed.” But what they think we’ve always believed, and what our forebearers actually taught, believed, and vigorously debated are sometimes two different things. If we don’t know how we got where we are, it will be difficult to decide what we are defending or rejecting. It will be even more difficult to plot a course for the future. However, the book is not about the work of these men. That story has been told many times in other works. It’s about how some of those people shared their same vision and brought that vision to the Texas frontier.
Throughout the book, Eckstein consistently refers to these churches as “churches of Christ.” He deliberately uses the lower case “c.” I would guess that he was respecting the widely held belief that the lower case “c” indicates undenominational status. While that is a noble objective, it would be somewhat naïve so say that all Churches of Christ are in fact undenominational churches. The Churches of Christ are a sociological entity as evidenced by the various ways that we report our statistics and activities in the public media. While that does not negate the goal of being undenominational, it at least provides a recognizable way of identifying a sociological reality. Thus I’m choosing to use the upper case “C.”
He also tends to view all Restoration churches as “Churches of Christ” prior to the division over instrumental music and the missionary society. He admits the fact that nomenclature was somewhat fluid prior to 1906.
In his introduction Eckstein notes that Churches of Christ were established during the Western Migration. The story starts in 1824 because that’s when Mexico overthrew the dictator Iturbide and elected to be governed by a constitution. Between 1824 and1836, when Texas declared its independence from Mexico, a few members came into Texas. But there was a major hindrance. When the Impresarios brought Anglo families into Texas as colonists, the Mexicans required the colonists to embrace Catholicism. While many were not practicing Catholics, they nevertheless professed their allegiance to the Catholic church in order to acquire land.
After 1836 former residents of Tennessee, Kentucky and other states along the Ohio Valley migrated to Texas in large numbers. Eckstein observes, “Amid that stream were a considerable number of members of the churches of Christ, forerunners of a religious body which today has more of its members in Texas than in any other state.”
NEXT INSTALLMENT
“Early Beginnings, 1819-1836
DELIVERANCE AND DISCIPLESHIP (3)
Thoughts on Psalm 116
continued
Verses 12-14
How do you respond to God’s goodness? (1) You lift up the “cup of salvation. ” The translators have different ideas about what that means. About half of the translations suggest that it means to “take” the cup of salvation. I would guess they are thinking about receiving it. The other half seem to think it refers to expressing gratitude for salvation. In The Message, Eugene Peterson even suggests it means to toast God for the blessing of salvation (2) You call on the name of the Lord. You turn to him. You acknowledge his presence and his power. (3) You fulfill your vows. You keep the promises you made to God. (4) You do it in “the presence of all his people.” There is no place for secret discipleship.
Verse 15
This verse certainly indicates the psalmist had some kind of understanding that God would bless people even in death. Interestingly enough the text has often been used to offer comfort to people when their loved ones die. However, we nearly always read it in isolation from the context. In so doing we fail to see the inward struggle in the mind of the psalmist which is indicated by verse 9.
Verse 16
Despite all his fears, the psalmist is not afraid to claim that he is God’s servant. He doesn’t express a wish. He affirms a fact. The Lord is his master, and his Master had delivered him from that which he dreads the most. It’s my opinion that the Master didn’t have a fully developed theology of life beyond the grave. Nevertheless, he was willing to entrust that to God. How much more we ought to be willing to trust God when we have a fuller knowledge of God’s blessings beyond the grave.
Verses 17-19
He responds to the mercies of God and three levels. 1) He will sacrifice “thank offering.” 2) He will call on the name of the Lord. 3) He will fulfill his vows. He will do all of this publicly – “in the courts of the house of the Lord,” in the midst of Jerusalem. He would not be satisfied with secret discipleship. Some people think that if we concentrate on God’s blessings more than God’s warnings, we will grow permissive and lazy. Of course there are those who settle for what Bonhoeffer called, “Cheap Grace.” The psalmist was keenly aware of God’s grace, but it propelled him into responsible action. It will do the same thing for us when we properly understand grace.
(end of series)
DELIVERANCE AND DISCIPLESHIP (2)
DELIVERANCE AND DISCIPLESHIP (2)
Thoughts on Psalm 116
Verses 7 – 8
What I see here is God’s deliverance from all kinds of life’s trials. We are caught in circumstances that sadden us, scare us and threaten us, but God has delivered us from all these circumstances? Why? Not so we can have carefree life and enjoy what people commonly call the good life. It’s so we can walk with God in the land of the living.
Verses 7-10
The psalmist’s life was no bed of roses. He was “greatly afflicted.” He was under stress. That’s what a modern day psychologist would call it. He was in dismay. They would call it depression. He was even a bit paranoid. He thought “all men are liars,” which is something of an exaggeration. He saw all these things as consequences of his faith. Faith in God does not guarantee exemption from pain, heartache, disappointment or even depression. Some years ago a well known Christian writer suggested that depression is sin. I wonder if he would accuse the psalmist of sin when he admits his depression. The point of the psalm seems to be this. You are still blessed by God even when life looks sour.
( more to come)
DELIVERANCE AND DISCIPLESHIP (1)
Thoughts on Psalm 116
In my own private devotionals I’ve been working my way through the Psalms. I don’t usually share a lot of the stuff I write down about the Psalms. Most of it is highly personal, and I’m not sure it would be all that interesting to you. However, the current condition of the world, and stresses in the lives of many individuals I know, compel me to share some thoughts on this highly relevant psalm.
I think the psalmist was probably struggling with his own mortality. To me it doesn’t seem like he belongs to that group of people who think that “Sheol” (the grave) is the end of existence (see Psalm 115:17). If he believed that, why would he say, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints”? (16) Nevertheless he dreaded it. In this psalm he gave thanks to the Lord for delivering him from some life threatening danger.
In verses 1-2 he verbalized his appreciation to God because he heard his cry for mercy. It takes the blindest of men to believe that God does not hear our cries for mercy. He hears our cries for mercy and responds to them, even when we ourselves would probably turn deaf ears to many such appeals. Despite our own sinfulness God invites us into his presence. He longs for fellowship with us.
In verses 3-4 he’s confessed his fear of death. He didn’t try to rationalize it or deny it. Without a doubt the psalmist was afraid of dying. I don’t think his plea for salvation was a desperate cry for deliverance from Hell. He wanted to be saved from the grave. He was asking God to postpone his demise.
Verses 5-6 focus on the goodness of God. He is gracious, i.e. He is inclined to love us and gift us (if I may use gift as a verb.). “The Hebrew verb chanan occurs some 56 times in the Old Testament and refers to the kind turning of one person to another in an act of assistance, such as aid to the poor.”
Our present day world is filled with violent, cruel, callous, indifferent, hostile people. We’re at the point where flight security people have to be suspicious of travelers who carry shampoo in their carry-on luggage. But it’s not just terrorism that victimizes people. Unprincipled opportunists prey on the weak, the poor, and the simple minded. At the other end of the spectrum, some people are bilking the government under the guise of being needy. It’s a blessing to know that God can sort all this out, and that he will be gracious to those who are least equipped to help themselves. When the need is great and real, he is there for people. He may not respond in the way they desire, but he will respond in the way that is best for us.
More to follow
A LONG DOCTOR’S VISIT
I don’t mind being old, but I do mind spending a lot of time in a doctor’s office, especially when I’m feeling just fine. Unfortunately, I have to visit my cardiologist every year before he will agree to prescribe medicine for another year. I spent a little over two and a half hours in his office, but I only received attention from the doctor and his staff for about 10 minutes of that time. It proved to be something of a spiritual challenge. I realized I couldn’t stay focused on prayer that long. I tried thinking myself through some of our challenges at church. I alternated between that and deep theological meditation. I couldn’t concentrate on any of it. I finally realized what the real test was. My patience was being tested. I think I failed. I could have come up with a number of rational reasons for not allowing the prolonged office visit to get under my skin. I didn’t even try. I just sat there grinding my teeth and thinking, “This is about as much fun as watching paint dry.” Guess what. He ordered an echogram for this week. I don’t need that either. But then I guess if you don’t handle the patience test right the first time, you have to keep trying until you get it right.
LEAD ME TO SOME SOUL TODAY
I’m admitting that I’m a little long in the tooth when I tell you that I recall a time when one of our most popular hymns contained these words:
Lead me to some soul today,
Teach me Lord just what to say.
Friends of mine are lost in sin
And cannot find their way.
Do we know what to do with the opportunity when it presents itself to us? A recent experience caused me to reflect on my own failure to recognize opportunity.
I know a young lady, who virtually had no spiritual training in her youth. That may not be totally true. She seems to hold to high moral principles but she grew up “unchurched.”
Right now, she’s seeking a church home. She told me about a church that she she’s been attending and says she likes it. Only later did I realize she laid an opportunity right in my lap. I wish I had said, “You need to work on establishing relationship with God first, and then figure out the church thing.” We probably see more opportunities for evangelistic conversations than we realize. That’s something to think about.
