THE CHURCH OF CHRIST ESTABLISHMENT

But taking the measurements of the militant autonomous churches of Christ is no small task. They have no creed but the Bible; possess no brotherhood wide ecclesiasticism; are opposed to legislative assemblies . . . Unlike denominationalism, the development of churches of Christ has not been steered by conference table legislation. Its surge has been pulpit-centered.—William S. Banowsky

When I was your age, the final authority east of the Mississippi was the Gospel Advocate, and west of the Mississippi it was the Firm Foundation. As someone has said, the Catholic Church has its Bishops and we have our papers.—Clinton P. Davidson

All of us sectarians have our Establishments—do we not?—W. Carl Ketcherside

When future historians finally get around to summing up the role of religion in America since the Revolution, the Restoration Movement, as it is most often called, will require more than a chapter or two of its own. Such a chronicle will not, to be sure, endear itself to the group it studies if it performs the task honestly. But it will be a fascinating story of an exasperating, pretentious, diverse, and extraordinary people.

Burdened by a pretentious name and unreachable, if not indefinable, goals, the Movement has never quite lived up to its billing. In seeking unity, it has shattered into almost numberless fractions. In “restoring New Testament Christianity,” it has become what one young scholar recently called, with third-eye insight, “a passable second-century church.” Of all its major segments, the church of Christ (which Time is rumored to have once pegged as the NON-denomination) presents the most colorful spectrum of ideologies and idiosyncracies in the most complex religious phantasma of them all.

Dr. Banowsky and the late Mr. Davidson, both astute and involved observers from what might mildly be termed “widely separated vantage points,” agree in their conclusion that the college Bible lectureships, particularly the one at Abilene Christian College (Vatican West) are presently the most pervasive forces in shaping dogmas and channeling influence within what appears to be a very tenuous confederation of gnat strainers.

They’re on the right track, but the channels of power are infinitely more complicated than that. Borrowing a leaf from American political analyst Richard H. Rovere, who charted the American Establishment in the pages of Esquire a few years ago, we have here endeavored to capture on paper the shifting corridors of power and their inhabitants. The task is difficult, but also intensely rewarding.

It should be noted by those who would perpetuate the current “liberal-conservative” mythology that one man’s position on the spectrum can vary widely with his official position. The capacity in which he operates at any given point can change his method of operation, his attitudes, and the result of his labors. The principle of relativity is very much in effect here. In line with this, we have attempted to achieve a centrism on the chart, while realizing that the actual center, or “middle of the road,” in Christian thought is about two feet off the left side of the paper.

This chart is incomplete very, very incomplete. It is an attempt to arouse, to awaken, to stimulate. It is, for those who can tell a joke when it’s labeled, satire. As Nero has been reported as saying to one of his singed constituents, “It’s all in fun.”—Anonymous