Something to think about...

I am perusing a great book. Thanks to Caleb Miller for letting me borrow his copy. This book has been out for awhile, but I had never taken a opportunity to look at it.

Reclaiming a Heritage by Richard Hughes

Hughes notes similar dynamics among the great reformers of the 16th Century and our CofC forefathers. Reformers such as Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli, each began with a powerful vision of God that shattered the existing religious systems of their day (at least as far as they were concerned). Later generations lost the impetus of the vision, confining it within a new system of religion that in essence, betrayed the original vision that had spawned it.

If one can step back a bit, it becomes clear that the new system of religion is a dynamic equivalent to the old system against which it rebelled. Modern-day Lutheranism and Catholicism differ greatly at the superficial level of content, but at a process level, they are remarkably similar. Ah, the irony of religion!

Now to us. Campbell and Stone, each independently, began with a powerful vision of God. They acknowledged a God that could not be managed by any religious system, plan, or statement of orthodoxy. Out that grew, according to Hughes, "a relentless search for truth". They were standing on the premise that God alone is God and humans are perpetually fallible.

This oversimplifies matters but suffice it to say, early in our movement, the quest for truth was replaced by the notion that truth had been restored. Hughes writes, "... in so doing compromised the most fundamental presupposition of our movement." He goes on to say, "...transforming the Stone-Campbell movement into a profoundly humanistic movement that trusted not so much in the power of God as in the ability of self-sufficient human beings to get things right and, for all practical purposes save themselves."

Hughes goes on to speak very optimistically about the future of our movement. However, he argues for the need for us, the current generation, to recapture the raw power of a fresh vision of God.

What do you think?