Cincinnati Bible Seminary - Nautilus Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

Page 8 text:

ow aS ee A AAA AMA AAAARAA AAR AORARRADRARRAARADRRRRADRRRRRARRADRADRAORRDRADRARRADnaanaear s + SS at mg e ° 2 x re gD ¥ TT = mS Af, { SASS EAA PEARL EPAP HPAP HA ppp papa It was and is Christ’s intention that his church should be one; to this end he planned. He selected twelve apostles, taught them for three years before his death and for forty days after his death and resurrection, “the things concerning the kingdom of God.” He promised to endow them with the Holy Spirit who would bring to their remembrance all things he had taught them and would guide them into all truth. He promised to confirm this message in heaven and upon the earth. ‘Their mes- sage was “the faith once for all delivered unto the saints,’ and for which the “beloved of God” were to earnestly contend. He not only selected, instructed, and promised them power from on high; but he prayed that they might be one as he and the Father were one. In this prayer he included all who should believe through their word; “that they may all be one, even as thou, Father, art in me, that they also may be one in us . that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that thou didst send me, and Paul is expressing this inclusive unity when, in rebuking lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me.” the incipient denominationalism in the church at Corinth, which was centering around certain men, he wrote, “all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God.” In other words, all things are ours, but nothing should be entertained that would break our unity in Christ. If the prayer of Christ is to be taken seriously (not to take it servously is not to take Him seriously), the perfecting into one is essential to the conversion of the world. Perfection in one can be maintained only through that unity among the followers of Christ which exists between him and the Father. DA A ee The apostles understood his prayer and took it seriously. It would have been no more disloyal on their part and no more disastrous to the conversion of world, had they violated this unity and broken up into denomination units, than has been the re- sult of its violation by those who claim to believe the words of the apostles. If denominationalism in its embryonic stage made the church at Corinth carnal, so that Paul could not speak unto them as unto spiritual, is de- nominationalism, fully developed and defending it- self in the sound of Christ’s prayer, any less carnal or any more spiritual? Unity in Christ is not to be found in denominations crying out against denom- inationalism, nor in a federation of denominations. It can be realized in His appointed way only. It is of no avail to talk about the spirit of Christ, and at the same time reject the authority of Christ. The spirit of Christ was the spirit of obedience to the Father. ‘There can be no spiritual unity in Christ unless we obey the words of Christ; for he has said that “the words that I have spoken unto you are Spirit, and are life.” Unity in Christ is the unity of the branch in the vine, and of the members of the body with the head. We have unity in Christ when we have his mind in us. Christ was one with God. He came not to do his own will, but the will of him who sent him, Unity in Christ is the unity of love. If we love Him, we will keep his commandments. If we have unity in Christ, we will believe in His Deity, con- fess Him as the Son of God, accept His teaching as final, practice His ordinances as He gave them, and do our best to imitate His life. AAHHY Sic ii i a a Ne AM 9 I A ei EG a a ag 4

Page 7 text:

aaaanenaanannnananaanannnanannnananannannnanannaannanananaananananaanaannnner” The Cause We Champion AAS . ww sea x Seeded oS i a ee ee a UNITY IN CHRIST FREE CHURCHES OF CHRIST AN INDEPENDENT MINISTRY PERSONA Peo LB ER TY CEN: CHRIST AN OPEN FIELD FOR THE WORD. GIANNA VV VIII IVINS VIA NAAN VIII VN VAI VIII VV VV VII VV VIVIAN VV YY AGRA RERERRS SS LO SGRA ESA RASA REARS BAAS SRS DARA ARA DRACO RAAGS DA ae as 3

Page 9 text:

LVI IIA IIASA LSI VISAS SIS SS Free Churches of Christ Tasha SERA ARAR BARA AP ALABAAAAAPABRABAAB HAS The last word of this topic is all-important. Without this last word, the topic would float away on the breeze and vanish into thin air. So would the churches. “Free Churches of would be like a derelict storm-tossed, drifting help- lessly with wind and tide. It might still have the appearance of a ship, but it would be a ghost-ship. It would be free. No hawsers or chains would bind it to a dock. Not even an anchor would fetter its free movement. But without master, direction, or power, it would be helpless and useless, bound for destruction on the rocks or in the storm. Christ established the church. He is its sole foundation. He is the Head of the church, the only source of authority and saving power. He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the historic Christ of the New Testament Scriptures (not the pseudo- christ conjured up in the perverted imagination of unbelievers,) is also the Source of our freedom. Having been set free from the bondage of sin and from weak and beggarly elements of the world which would enslave us, we are repeatedly urged by Christ and the apostles, to treasure and preserve our freedom. An ancient courthouse of our land carries this inscription over the entrance: “The highest liberty ” And the true freedom is is obedience to law. found only in bringing ourselves into complete subjection to the Son of God. Loyalty and liberty are inseparable. Churches who forget their solemn vow of fealty to the Christ soon find themselves enslaved to man-made creeds and organizations. History is strewn with the wreckage of churches who abandoned their divine Pilot and compass to attach themselves to some human organization. Expressing a profound truth with his usual droll simplicity, Abraham Lincoln once said that the two most important things with which man has to do are death and freedom; that since death is inevitable and there is nothing we can do about it, freedom is the more important. In the spiritual sense life and freedom are inseparable. ‘The church which embraces slavery to a human hierarchy, in- vites death. Its epitaph has already been written: “Thou hast a name that thou livest, but thou art dead.” From the Garden of Eden man, in a suc- cession of incredible follies, has repeatedly sold his divine birthright for a mess of pottage. Israel re- deemed from bondage in Egypt quickly forgot and turned to the bondage of pagan worship. The church with the glories of Pentecost and the first centuries scarcely diminishing to an echo, began to erect and to grovel before the Roman Catholic pap- acy. The courageous protests of Luther, Calvin, and Wesley soon became mixed with compromise and resumption of human names, doctrines, and prac- tices. The leaders of the restoration movement called Christians everywhere back to the New Tes- tament and to unqualified loyalty to Christ. But a secret political organization of infidels crept in stealthily to seize control of our missionary, educa- tional, and benevolent organizations. Colleges that had been established to train faithful preachers of the Word came into the hands of those who sought to destroy the Gospel or boasted that the college was no longer interested in other than secular learn- ing. The great missionary monopoly arrogated to itself all authority and proceeded to promulgate modernism so that churches are closed, mission sta- tions abandoned, missionary passion wanes, the blessed fellowship of a generation ago is riven asunder by false teachers and their infidel propa- ganda, Although no larger than a man’s hand against the western sky, a school has arisen which begins to cover the sky of our brotherhood with promise of the abundance of evangelistic zeal and knowledge of the Word of God which will bring the divine harvest according to God’s promise. ‘The Cincin- nati Bible Seminary exalts the church as the divine institution. Any human organization can only by humble loyalty to Christ and effective obedience to His will claim the interest and support of churches of Christ. Any such organization must be, not the master, but the servant of the churches. ‘The Seminary seeks to train preachers who hold no loyalty in their hearts comparable to their de- votion to Christ, His Word, His Church. Such preachers who understand and are not afraid to proclaim the Gospel will help the churches to resist the tital wave of pagan devotion to hierarchies, human organizations, modernistic creeds. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” “Know the truth and the truth shail make you free.” “Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth.”