In the Great Stream : Imagining Churches of Christ in the Christian Tradition

by Leonard Allen

Find Your Bearings and Chart a New PathAll throughout the modern period, there has been a steady campaign for people to "think for themselves" without tradition's distorting restraint. As a result, many Christians now blindly sip a watered-down faith, marketed as "no creed but the Bible." But, as Leonard Allen shows, we are always traditioning―even if one doesn't believe in tradition. And in this time of theological uncertainty and confusion, that process calls for new intentionality and seriousness.In the Great Stream will show you what the Great Tradition is, and how it can be our ally providing weight, ballast, and bearings to all those who seek to live out-and to hand on-the faith. Discover the vital recoveries that we need to make that draw on classic Christian orthodoxy. These older ways are the key to renewing our hearts and our churches.

Genres: Theology, Church History

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 9, 2021

Reviews

[Scott Kercheville · Rating 5 out of 5]

My third time through this book and I continue to be convinced of its helpfulness.

For those who have ears, this is an important book for those who work and worship in Churches of Christ.

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Restoration Movement has aspired to restoring the ancient order of things in order to maintain the unity Jesus sought for His people according to His ways and truth. The challenge has been, from its inception, the impetus to insist on and emphasize one of these two aspects to the contrary of the other: to insist on the ancient order of things to the point of sectarian dogmatism, or to insist on seeking unity to the point of abandoning almost any sort of distinctiveness. Churches of Christ have tended toward the former; Disciples of Christ (Christian Church), the latter.

I would imagine Leonard Allen believes he is seeking a more middle way in In the Great Stream: Imagining Churches of Christ in the Christian Tradition (galley received as part of early review program, but full book read): seeking to remain faithful to the ancient order of things in part by upholding many aspects of Christian tradition and trying to find a place within it. But the pitfalls and the inner inconsistencies only become more apparent through the endeavor.

The author detailed his heritage in Churches of Christ and sets forth his understanding of the Restoration Movement in its historical context. It would seem the author considers the endeavor to represent a historical failure, since it did not foster true Christian unity through a dissolution of all the sects. And, indeed, according to Campbell’s original theory, it would be deemed a failure: the sects remain; unity has proven elusive, even for those who affirm restorationist principles; Christ’s reign has not been brought forth by our efforts.

But can the principle of restoring the ancient order of things and becoming simply Christians still be valuable and upheld? The author attempts to contextualize this impulse, along with the Anabaptists and other reform movements who see “Christendom” as a problem, as streams within the tradition, while also affirming Christendom and all it entails in the Catholic/Orthodox/mainline Protestant developments therein.

At the same time, the author also casts aspersions against any kind of “a-traditional” attempt at understanding much of anything religious or historical. One cannot truly be against tradition; one will simply switch out one set of traditions for another.

To this end, the author makes his case for Churches of Christ to take a less pessimistic view of the Christian tradition and to draw strength from it. As could be expected, he is a big fan of the creeds, and has bought into the perspectives and concepts which have led to the creeds themselves and their central place in Christian tradition. He would have Churches of Christ also consider much from the early church and its way of believing, living, and discipling Christians. And he would like members of Churches of Christ to better embody the full mantra of “Christians only, but not the only Christians.”

There are many ways in which members of churches of Christ have become a bit too dogmatic and sectarian in their ways. A healthy dose of humility in terms of judgment has always been warranted. Much can, and should, be learned from the experience of early Christianity; we may have our disagreements with some of the practices which were developing in the first couple of centuries, but those should matter no more or less than plenty of other aspects of disagreement which continue to exist, and our experience of Christianity would be all the richer because of it.

But the critique of creeds remains salient: not in terms of the truth of their substance but in terms of their purpose and emphasis. They are sectarian documents written to define who is excluded from who is included. Yes, members of churches of Christ should be better informed regarding the nature of God in Christ through the Spirit (I also agree with the author’s concern regarding how the Holy Spirit has been relegated to obscurity among the brethren). The history of the disputes should be better known and expressed, because the way to faithful understanding of who God is in Christ is found the way they found it, by seeing how alternative perspectives invariably led into conflict with what the Scriptures taught.

But to dogmatically assert exact formulations are the only way to discuss such things, and maintaining right conceptions on such things represent the primary point of Christian unity, comes without any basis from anything God has made known in Christ, and suffers from the same defects as does dogmatic confidence in the condemnation of those with whom we might disagree on various religious matters.

And that ultimately represents the real challenge with how fully we might embrace the “Christian tradition”: the one thing most of us can agree on is how the Christian tradition is a hot mess. It is up to all of us to consider what all has been said and done, and by faith entrust ourselves to Jesus as Lord and seek to follow His way as we can best discern it from Scripture.

Part of that should involve a compassionate, charitable attitude towards others, and always remembering how judgment belongs to the Lord. But that judgment is a double-edged sword: He will justify or He will condemn. Thus, it is not for us to step into His space and condemn those who profess to serve Him; before Him they will stand or fall. But that also means it is not for us to step into His space and presume His grace and mercy for ourselves or others.

In the end, churches of Christ by necessity will stand somewhat awkwardly and at variance within the “greater Christian tradition,” because the restoration impulse is a critique of the way most of that tradition has expressed itself. That’s not to say Christians in churches of Christ have nothing to learn from others; but if there was no need to restore the ancient order of things, and everything was well and good in whatever other churches people were a part of beforehand, then the Restoration Movement is a satanic and demonically inspired assault against the ways of God in Christ. If there is any validity in the appeal to restore the ancient order of things, then not all is well within the greater Christian tradition, and therefore we can, and should, stand at some remove from much of it. It may not be for us to condemn others, but we must be careful in what we endorse as well.

[David Blankenship · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our Church of Christ tradition is that we have no tradition beyond the final written word of the New Testament. But in this interesting book, Leonard Allen speaks to the fact that having tradition is not only unavoidable but also good, and encourages us to make better use of the 'Great Stream' of Christian tradition, in particular the early pre-Nicean traditions of the church. At times the book is a bit dry, and the organization of the book seems a bit scattershot on first reading, but there is a lot of good in this book for how we can better respond to our increasingly post-Christian culture, in which 'Christendom' can no longer be assumed.

[L Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does a beautiful job of appreciating and valuing Churches of Christ and their origin through the Restoration Movement while at the same time, it connects the dots so to speak with the entire history of Christianity.

Dr Allen answered many questions that I’ve had since I was a teen and never felt like I received credible answers till now. He also explains the history and use of many Christian practices that had been somewhat taboo for Protestants or those connected with the Restoration Movement. But he does an excellent job of explaining the value of these instead of saying we should “throw the baby out with the bath water.”

[Johns · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up because I have zero exposure to any local "Church of Christ" group and I wanted to know what they may believe.

The author makes an effective apologetic for this sub-division of American Christianity.

Now I know some more . . .