Restoration Theory Part 3
Churches of Christ, as an institution, were officially recognized in 1906, but historically are rooted in the Restoration Movement. In my 30 years as a member of the Church of Christ, I’ve discovered three origin theories of the Church of Christ. These are the Remnant Theory, Seed Theory, and Restoration Theory. This entry will focus on Seed Theory.
Seed Theory proposes that man can always return to the New Testament pattern of worship, if we are careful and honest with Scripture. Stan Cox, preacher of the West Side Church of Christ in Texas, writes, “Put simply, you don’t plant God’s word (the seed) and get a Baptist or a Methodist — you get (purely) a Christian (Cox, 2014).”
The Catholic Church would also agree that you can only get one plant from one seed, but interprets this differently than Seed Theory. According to Catholic teaching, John 15:1 affirms that Jesus is the true vine and that anyone not in Him is cut off. The Catholic perspective maintains that the Church founded by Christ was established in Jerusalem around 2,000 years ago. This community, Catholics believe, has been preserved through apostolic succession via the bishops. As a result, Catholics see one visible and continuous Church, transcending all time and nations up to the present day.
Seed Theory suffers from the same challenge as Remnant Theory. Remnant Theory is the belief that the Church of Christ has always been on Earth, ever since the 1st century. The problem is that history and archaeology do not produce the complete identifying markers of the Church of Christ. You don’t see anyone preaching that if you read the Scriptures, you will get a Church of Christ in the early church, the medieval period, or even the Reformation era. If the Seed Theory is true, we should see Church of Christ congregations going back hundreds of years, or evidence they once existed. We should be able to see Church of Christ sermons, business minutes, admonitions to Rome, Gospel meetings, testimonies of enemies, allies, and neutral parties. But we don’t have this evidence, which weakens the claim that restoration has always been occurring.
Seed Theory depends on reading Scripture. But the canon, or table of contents, wasn’t fully defined until the 4th century. There was no complete canon before then. Without an official canon, how would people before the 4th century know which books to use or even read to restore the Church of Christ? Most people were illiterate until the advent of the printing press. Christ did not require us to learn to read and restore his Church, only to obey it.
Now, with a gentle spirit of comedy, early and medieval Christians did not walk into a Church carrying their personal Bible, highlighters, and a hidden donut in their suit or blouse pocket, ready to compare notes. Yet it’s very easy to read this tradition into history. It’s not condemnation, it’s merely a reflection of something we all do from time to time. The truth is, people didn’t possess individual Bibles for most of history. They were taught by going to Mass, memorizing simple short prayers, and learning about salvation through stained glass.
My dear friends, salvation is not dependent on one’s ability to read a Bible. Jesus did not leave his apostles with leather-bound Scripture, but with a Church to keep. The Seed was planted 2000 years ago, and it has grown to fill the earth. Do we need to plant a new seed, or simply join the ancient vine of Christ?
This article was enhanced by AI for grammar, clarity, charity, and fact-checking.
References:
Cox, S. (2014). The Seed Principle. Sound Teaching. https://soundteaching.org/2014/06/19/the-seed-principle/