ARE WE UNDENOMINATIONAL?

The question as to whether the Church of Christ is a denomination along with all others is answered by a rather creditable source, Reuel Lemmons, editor of the Firm Foundation in Austin, Texas. The editor’s answer is, however, more indirect than direct. He puts it this way: the undenominational church has no name (Firm Foundation, Vol. 98, July 21, 1981, p. 2).

Now that my wise fellow editor has supplied the major premise, I have a syllogism in mind.

The undenominational church is not named.

The Church of Christ is named.

Therefore, The Church of Christ is not the undenominational church.

It is not necessary to have had a course in logic to see the soundness of the argument. Those who have studied logic will remember that such a syllogism must obey six rules. This one obeys all six rules. The premises must also be true. The Texas editor has given us the major premise, and he has both dictionaries and common sense on his side. One must concede the premise to be true. By definition a denomination is something named, whether a ten dollar bill or a church. The church of the New Testament had no name, so it was undenominational. Editor Lemmons is as right as rain.

The minor premise must also be granted as true. The Church of Christ does have a name, which is Church of Christ. Thousands of churches paint it, write it, letter it, emboss it, engrave it, translate it in umpteen different ways around the world. It is not simply a name but the name.

The stubborn thing about a syllogism is that if the premises are true and if it obeys the rules of logic, the conclusion has to follow. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it, the conclusion must follow when the premises are true and valid. If you concede that the undenominational church has no name, and if you agree that the Church of Christ has a name, then you must accept the conclusion that the Church of Christ is not the undenominational church.

Well, at last this question can be put to rest once for all, and I thank Reuel Lemmons for helping us with the answer. The Church of Christ is a denomination, which is the obverse or equivalent to The Church of Christ is not the undenominational church.

I take it, then, that we will hear no more about the Church of Christ not being a denomination, while all other churches are. A little self-examination is good for us, isn’t it? And logic is like taking a bath, as one logic text puts it. It is high time that we wash ourselves of the silliest thing that we’ve ever tried to palm off on the world around us. We might even change our prayer from, “We thank thee that we are not a denomination like these others,” to “God, be merciful to us sinners.”

This is not all that big a deal to me, for I don’t think it is all that bad to be a denomination. I am not convinced that denominational status can be avoided in time, unless a people opts to be a sect.

That is where I disagree with brother Lemmons’ editorial, using sect and denomination as if they were the same. They are not. A denomination, as he says, is something named, and in the case of a church, it is a group that sees itself as part of the church at large, but not the whole. But a sect considers itself and acts as if it and it only is the church.

We can be (and of course are) a denomination, if not a sect, but we can be a denomination in protest, until the Spirit of God makes us all one --- and then there’ll be no need for distinctive names, for we will all simply be the household of God on earth. - the Editor