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Renewing God's People: A Concise History of Churches of Christ

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"Did Churches of Christ really begin as a unity movement? Why didn't I know that?"
"You mean we used to be called Disciples of Christ? I thought that was just another denomination."
"Churches of Christ today believe and practice the same things we have from the beginning, don't we?"

Statements like these by members of the Churches of Christ reflect a serious lack of knowledge of our past and an increasing desire by many to know more of their heritage. That desire has led us to believe there is a need for a brief account of the history of Churces of Christ. This book hopes to serve newcomers and even long-time members of the church by giving them insights into our heritage. It also is an introduction to this significant group of churches for those unfamiliar with its place in American Christianity.

However, any attempt to look at one's spiritual ancestry is as pleasurable and painful as examining ones family tree. Some ancestors and family stories make us swell with pride; others we would just as soon forget. We are two insiders to Churches of Christ writing with a deep appreciation for those who have gone before us. We would in no way bash the church of our mothers and fathers. But as honest historians, we must present our story as we see it, "warts and all."
--- excerpt from book's Preface

About the 2006 edition: Good general history of the Church of Christ side of the Restoration Movement that challenges the readers to rethink "doctrines" that have been culturally influenced. However, there are some disadvantages. Its brief overview of the Early Church to the Protestant Reformation classically blames political government only rather than church leaders for the church's direction. It also doesn't admit the likelihood that the time gap between the First Century Church and the present requires a different outlook on the Second Coming but instead criticizes the movement's founders for holding "different" views.

This is a fantastic introduction to the historical development of the churches of Christ from the underlying restorationism in late 18th and early 19th century Protestantism to the launch and ultimate union of the Stone and Campbell movements through the development of the Disciples of Christ, the 1906(ish) schism of the churches of Christ, through the 20th century divisions into mainline, progressive, and noninstitutional congregations. As the title expresses, it is indeed concise; inf act, it is more of an historical essay than a history, though the authors provide ample references for further, in-depth study.

Many of us with spiritual roots in the Restoration have lost sight of, even intentionally deemphasized the importance of, our own historical heritage. The authors give a fine introduction to that history, all in the context of building a case that those with Restoration roots should recognize that the story of our faith is a story of living, continuing communities of the people of God, not merely of ideas in a book. They further make an excellent case for returning to the ideal of restoring unity to Christians throughout all denominations, as opposed to the frequently prevalent, though patently untenable, myth of the churches of Christ as the only Christians, members of the one true Church restored to earth in the 19th century.

In the introductory material, the authors treat of the early and medieval Church in a fashion that is over-simplified near the point of naivete, but since this is not the main focus of the book nor is there space to delve deeper, this can be easily forgiven.

I highly recommend this work for anyone with either current or past roots in the churches of Christ, independent Christian Churches, or Disciples of Christ.

(The reviewer is a Catholic raised in the anti-institutional churches of Christ with family roots in the churches of Christ/Disciples of Christ going back to at least the early post-Civil War era, prior to the CofC/DofC schism.)

This book is more of a position paper than a history book. There are many points in this book that become suspect with a deeper review of American history from 1849 to 1925. America was transforming during a time of civil war, yellow journalism, the Spanish American war, a presidential assasination, the growth of a progressive political movement, World War I, and a depression just to name a few. However, the authors point to the Civil War and the use of an instument during "worship" as the most logical reason churches from the north and south split. No mention is made of the rise of the Social Gospel movement beginning in 1988 and how it caused many religious organizations to seperate into more fundamental or more progressive groups. There is more evidence that the split spoke of in this book was more of a result of the "Social Gospel" movement. Do your own research and decide for yourself.