Declaration and Address Analysis Essay Example

part of a church where this disunity caused division and it was a terrible thing. The division was caused over something as small as the music. There were a couple other things that caused disagreement, but the major problem formed because of disagreements with USIA choices. There were some people in the church who wanted to bring in more instruments such as multiple guitars both acoustic and electric, electric drums, keyboard, bass, as well as a new sound system so that they could turn up the volume, introduce a lot of new music and get rid of the old, outdated music.

Then there were other people who did not like change in the church. They thought the only instrument should be a piano and the only songs that should be sung were the hymns. And then there was a third group. This group liked a mix, they did not see a robber with some new music and adding a few instruments, but they also liked the traditional hymns, they did not feel like they had to get rid of one to have the other.

Their concern was more with trying to please all people; obviously not everyone was going to like everything that occurred, but to compromise was there thought and tactic. These different mindsets concerning the music caused a division to occur in the church. This example ties in with another point addressed in the Declaration and Address. And that is the point concerning what to do with doctrinal differences that re not based on clear and exact teachings in the New Testament and how that leads to division.

There are a lot of

things that come about in life that we can clearly read in the Bible is right or is wrong. With that being said it is simple to make definite rules and it is also simple to clear up arguments and disagreements when the answer is clearly seen in the Bible, because it is really hard to argue with a clear answer in the Bible when you are trying to use the Bible to back you up. However, what happens when there is not a clear teaching in the Bible? That is what appended with the music problem in my first church.

There was not a place in the New Testament that clearly said you must not use more than one instrument or that you had to sing traditional hymns, but there also was not a place that said you could use multiple instruments and to change with the times when it comes to music. There are many other things that can easily cause division because there is not a clear answer in the New Testament such as view on alcohol or views on tattoos. The way I see it most of the time people are too concerned with what they can get away tit instead of what is glorifying to God; but that is Just a side note.

This issue is clearly addressed in the Declaration and Address and it is very clear why it would be addressed because it was such a major problem when the Stone-Campbell Movement was being formed. Their disagreements were almost all things that were not clearly taught in the New Testament which is what cause many problems, but also

allowed them to do a lot of studying and researching in order to build their faith and make their beliefs stronger because they were solely searching for truth with open minds.