Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

Church fathers before Nicea are called the Antenicean Fathers. Ante prefix means before Nicea. Nicea today is Isnik, Turkey. Or Apostolic fathers is used. This is the generation often trained by the Apostles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Fathers This is the volume I started out with about 2...

Ivy, Yes it is sad. Things are way different now with the family. Unfortunately, some do want the facade and to me that was something I couldn't do. I didn't like playing church with those folks and had to leave. For me it was a point of honesty and if I don't agree or believe like them they needed ...

But appearances really are all that matter in some ways. I was outed a couple of years ago, and there was some real danger of an irreparably damaged relationship with one of my sons. All I had to do was "go forward" one Wednesday night and say that I no longer really believed but that I w...

I was married in "the building". A few years later the church my parents attended came down on the side of no marriages. I don't think it is a universal tradition amongst all the NICoC. However, those that don't use the building will often times look at the ones that do with a uncertain ey...

My impression about the "illiterate" preachers is not so much that they cannot read but that they are not very practiced at critical analysis. For example, if a question comes up that stops the flow of BCV progression when discussing the "plan of salvation" or the five points in ...

In my experience with several "scholarly" and respected preachers and elders over the years has been that generally speaking history begins with Luther. Certainly there are references to people before 325, but are usually quoted for specific and narrow purposes. An example would be Justin'...

My wife brought to my attention recently that no one in the Methodist Church is ever asked to pray or speak publicly on the spot. They are asked privately before the occasion arises. That prevents embarrassment on everyone's part. That's a pretty good idea I think. You know that practice always bot...

Shane R wrote: And sometimes the pulpits displayed a plain cross.

You must have been "liberal". We never had a the symbol of Roman execution on anything! Our pulpits had a carving of the Holy Bible.

I went through a period of inquiry into Orthodoxy, even becoming a catechumen in the Antiochian jurisdiction. I found the ethnophyletism disagreeable. I also found that most of the clergy are Protestant converts who have a lot of baggage. I don't have anything against the Orthodox and I regularly r...

In the immediate context of leaving the CoC, I understand the point. Many times something is said or done by a non-CoC and the CoC person goes into shock over what was said or done. If, instead of gut reaction, the person would think about what was said or done their feelings may be different and mi...