REPLY TO DR. BALES
ROBERT MEYERS

A man can raise more questions in a page than can be answered adequately in a book. I can only touch upon a few of the comments Dr. Bales makes in his first printed response to Voices of Concern.

I confess even so to a sense of futility. Dr. Bales and I occupy such widely different thought worlds, and speak from such divergent premises religiously, that it seems unlikely I can do much more than express my appreciation for his convictions and my admiration for his good qualities as a Christian gentleman. I worked with Dr. Bales for five years at Harding and I testify gladly to his capacity for friendships, his integrity as a man, and his deep devotion to what he conceives to be his duty. If I sometimes thought him sailing in wrong directions, I never once thought him rudderless.

Dr. Bales speaks quickly of his belief that Voices “advocates some old denominational errors.” It remains a puzzle to me that he would speak of “denominational errors” as if he belonged himself to a non-denominational group. The word refers primarily to that which has been named. Since the Church of Christ has clearly given itself a name (printed on deeds and insurance policies, painted on churches, chiseled in limestone over college entrance ways), it is a denominated thing—it is a denomination. To be quite honest with this word would be a first step toward correcting that religious arrogance which cripples so many of our people.

Since Dr. Bales did not mention it, I should remind readers that both the editor and the publisher of Voices have said they do not agree with every opinion expressed in it. I feel no need to defend every opinion in the book, although I plead vigorously the right of differing Christians to be heard in open forum. I am not so uncomfortable through my association with these writers as Dr. Bales would have to be, since I do not postulate a community that can only be saved in terms of a rigidly defined quantity of truth.

I am heartened by Dr. Bales’ admission that diversity may arise because we are “at different stages of knowledge of God’s will.” Since he says that we may “fellowship other Christians without their having attained perfection,” we seem closer together than my earlier remarks indicated. But long experience warns me to be cautious of how broadly I interpret these words. Magnanimous as they sound, I fear they do nor really mean that we can fellowship premillennialists or folk who use pianos, not even while we are waiting for them to get as knowledgeable as we are.

I have been puzzled for years about how to account for the thousands of brilliant and devoted students of the Bible who consistently go astray in their reading (i.e., do not turn up with Church of Christ interpretations). When all these people reject us, are they merely hardheaded and ignorant, or do they honestly fail to see that we have the only possible set of interpretations? We have never adequately grappled with this question of why we were singled out to be Elect Interpreters while millions of others grope in darkness—yet grope eagerly and confirm the sincerity of their groping by the beauty and holiness of their lives.

A professor at Harding College once told me, rather lamely I thought, that the only explanation he had was that we were chosen, like the Jews of old, to be God’s true interpreters. I loved the man, but I could not believe this.

I agree that accepting Jesus as Lord means trying to do His will, but I think men may honestly differ as to precisely what that will may be in some situations. As for whether Dr. Hardeman accepts Christ as Lord, I incline to think he does. There may be differences between his understanding and mine, but I think he is today giving his energy and talents to helping the poor and deprived of this earth because he was so instructed by Jesus. I could be wrong, but I am willing and eager to believe this.

Dr. Bales wonders how some of the writers accept Jesus as Lord “when they repudiate some things which are clearly taught in the Bible.” Twenty-five years in the Church of Christ have taught me that the phrase “clearly taught,” as we use it, means “those teachings of Christ which we accept.”

For example, our people can repudiate foot washing (John 7:12-15), fasting (Matt. 6:16-18), advice on how to get well (James 5:14), and the holy kiss (Rom. 16:16, I Cor. 16:20, 2 Cor. 13:13, I Th. 5:26, I Pet. 5:14) and be readily accepted as folk who accept Jesus as Lord. Yet no statements in the Bible are any clearer than these. They simply happen to be imperatives which we cannot stress because they are not in our tradition. So we explain them away and even jest at those who practice them in humble, literal-minded faith. After these many years in the Church of Christ, I find it all boils down to this: if you accept what I accept, then you accept Jesus as Lord. If you understand differently from me, then you reject Him, and I reject you. It no longer makes much sense to me.

I emphatically deny that writers in Voices have “freed themselves from the authority of Christ and His word.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The astonishing thing which Dr. Bales is really saying is that these writers now differ from mainline Church of Christ orthodoxy and therefore may be casually charged with having freed themselves from Christ’s authority. Why do we persist in saying such things of one another? Is it that we are insecure and in constant need of propping ourselves up by denying that our neighbors have any foundations at all?

I may as well prove myself beyond help and deny Dr. Bales’ assertion that “we have no inspired men today.” I believe that the Spirit of God dwells in us and fills us. God still breathes upon men if they get close enough to Him! If this is not “inspiration,” what shall we call it? The Spirit speaks through the written word, but not only through that word. I believe we need His guidance in understanding the relevance of that word for today and I am in no way dismayed when I realize that there is no precise piece of advice in the New Testament for every twentieth century problem. I believe in the promise of the indwelling Spirit and I believe that with His help I can come to know what Christ would have me do.

Granted, this is an area always delicate and always beset by uncertainties, so that a man must forever walk humbly and not insist that all are blind who do not see as he does. But somehow I have found that trustful walk a far happier experience than any I ever had in my old days of legalistic assurance. I used to be marvelously adept at hop-scotching my way safely across all abysses on the clearly marked squares of Perfect Doctrine. With the New Testament filtered through the Gospel Advocate and Firm Foundation, through Lipscomb and Hardeman, Wallace and Woods, I feared no foes and never had a moment’s doubt that my way was right.

Now I have no hope of being right enough to merit redemption. Like the writers of Voices I acknowledge the infallibility of all men and all groups, and cast myself upon the mercy of God. And as my faith grows that this is the proper course for me, I lose my old zest for debating. It seems to me that there is no argument which will stop an argument. The only thing that stops an argument is a demonstration. The one unanswerable answer to the legalistic mind is a free Christian. I am perfectly content to leave Voices and its writers before that bar of judgment.—Friends University, Wichita. Kan.

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