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 From
Christians Only," by James DeForest Munch, we quote:
"As Thomas von Imbroich stood in the court in Cologne,
about 1556 he declared, "The Scriptures cannot be broken,
nor shall anything be added to or subtracted from the Word of
God which remains in eternity." ...Dick Phillips wrote in
his Vindication: "From these words it is evident that
whatever God has not commanded and has not instituted by express
command of Scripture, he does not want observed nor does He want
to be served therewith nor will He have His Word set aside nor
made to suit the pleasure of men."
"Express
command" is a bit presumptive here — God expresses His
will in other ways — but the scriptures are certainly the
media for His expressions, and the quotation shows that
completeness of the scriptures was a cardinal principle in
reformation.
Later,
when Thomas Campbell framed his 'Declaration and Address,"
that principle was stated in what became a motto for restoration
efforts: "Let us Speak Where the Bible Speaks, and Be
Silent Where the Bible is Silent". "Silent where the
Bible is silent” is just another way of saying we must not go
beyond that which is divinely authorized.
Brethren
sometimes sing a short hymn at the beginning of services:
"The Lord is in His holy temple; Let all the earth keep
silence before him" — as though this meant, "keep
quiet in the church building." That is not the point. The
hymn is from Hab. 2:20, and means: God is on His Throne, He will
do the talking, and his creatures should shut up and listen. The
same principle is set forth in
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Rom. 9: 20-21 where Paul says,
"Nay but, 0 man, who art thou that repliest against God?
Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou
made me thus?" Job 28:28 reads, "The fear of the Lord,
that is wisdom." We must respect both His voice and His
silence; for the later indicates our trust in the former as
being complete and adequate.
"Ye
shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall
ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of
Jehovah your God which I command you" (Deut. 4:2). One who
does what God says — plus things in religion which are without
authority, has not been obedient unto God. Failure to respect
God's silence may suggest that we have done what He has
commanded only because we felt this was a good thing. We are
unwilling to rely upon God's wisdom — to concede that what is
written is adequate to produce faith, and lead us to eternal
life (Jn. 16:13; 20:30-31; 2 Tim. 3:17).
And
even when the principle of being "silent where the Bible is
silent" has been accepted, its application is often
distorted by our prejudices. In 1809 when Campbell presented
this principle, a brother Munro observed, "then there is an
end of infant baptism." At this a brother Acheson was
emotionally upset, and left the room defending his pet with
"that blessed saying: “suffer little children to come
unto me —" to which a brother Foster replied, "That
scripture has no reference whatever to infant baptism."
Applications can be painful. (continued on next page)
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