Volume 45   Number 11                                                                  July 2003

While praising Peter for his affirmation of faith, Jesus declared his intent to "build my church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18. From this point forward, the search to discover this church which Christ built must be a primary concern in the individual's life.

Where then can we find this church of divine establishment? We look around us and discover only confusion and complexity with the never ending list of organizations and each proclaims to be part of this Church.

Should we even care whether the congregation we attend is genuine and acceptable before God? Absolutely! The church, individually, congregationally, and universally, is the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18) and we should yearn to be part of this body.

Jesus is our Savior; yet, his influence of salvation only extends to his body (Ephesians 5:23). The purchasing power of the Lamb of God's blood belongs only to the specific church for which Jesus died (Acts 20:28). So, if we find importance in being part of this purchased church and redeemed body, which organization or organizations belong? Should we, as some assume, accept all who speak the name of Jesus as part of this organization? Should we instead, use some form of discretion, some standard of authenticity, to reduce the viable candidates and thereby increase our faith in the organization?

Regarding the latter suggestion, a common challenge to many "Christian" organizations is their historical legitimacy. In the days following Peter's sermon at Pentecost, we read that, "the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47). Therefore, when considering an organization's historical legitimacy, the acid test for some has often been the organization's ability to prove roots reaching back to Pentecost.

The result of using such a criteria has been the systematic removal of organization after organization from the list of churches which could legitimately assume the title of "Built by Christ." Members of the Church of Christ use such a criteria when speaking to friends, relatives, and co-workers of denominations to disprove the various denominations' historical legitimacy. However, many have in turn applied the same standard to the Church of Christ and declared that the Church of Christ did not exist until being founded by the Campbells and Barton Stone.

The unbiased individual must consider why our challenge to their historical roots is any different than their challenge to ours? The honest answer is that there is no difference and our previous attempts to do so only muddy the waters.

When using historical traceability as a standard, many see only the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church as capable of passing historical muster. R. J. Grigaitis writes,

"The Catholic and Orthodox Churches can historically trace their origins back to the first century. Some refute this evidence, but admit that the documents of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, proves the existence of the Catholic Church with the hierarchical order of Pope, bishops, priests, and deacons, and the celibacy of the clergy."

We must therefore ask ourselves if historical traceability, the ability to historically prove an organization's existence through time back to Pentecost by either name or congregational existence with no apparent originator, is an acceptable standard.

An examination of the scriptures, and a view to the standards utilized by God, reveals the answer is no; historical traceability is not an acceptable, nor reliable, criteria to examine an organization.

To illustrate the inadequacy of historical traceability, consider the Japanese company Sumitomo Corporation. This company is listed as the 29th oldest family business being founded in 1630 A.D. However, a comparison of the company in 1630 and the company in 2003 reveals drastic differences. Masatomo Sumitomo opened a medicine and book shop in Kyoto in the early 17th century. Today, the company focuses on banking, shipbuilding, mining, glass production, electronics, cement, lumber and chemicals. Even though the company can historically trace its roots back nearly 400 years, the company in 2003 is effectively a different company than it was in 1630.

The same situation, albeit with far more eternal consequences on our soul, can, and have, happened with religious organizations. It does not matter if an organization can point to visible historical roots dating back to the second century if the organization has effectively changed entirely.

There is a better criteria than historical traceability, a criteria utilized by God, to judge "Christian organizations"-doctrinal traceability. Lord willing we will pursue the value of doctrinal traceability in the next issue.