CHRISTIAN PRIMITIVISM IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: Thinking “Inside the Box” About Restoring New Testament Christianity

Sometimes things show up in my mailbox, and sometimes they're worth mentioning. One such item appeared yesterday, Christian Primitivism in the Twenty-First Century: Thinking "Inside the Box" About Restoring New Testament Christianity, by David Edwin Harrell, Jr. Ed Harrell is, of course, a retired professor of History at Auburn University, and a recognized authority on not only Restoration History, but also on 20th Century Pentecostalism. I've been privileged to travel to India with him three times, and I will honestly say that he's one of the few men who impresses you more every time you're with him.

Dr. Harrell has been refining the arguments he utilizes in this book over the past few years. I've heard pieces of it in lessons both in the US and in India. The book is built around three propositions.

Proposition 1: Regarding Apostolic Authority

Restorationist, primitivist religious thinking assumes that the Apostles were given specific authority to define doctrine and set in order churches. This authority was perpetuated.

Proposition 2: Regarding Common Sense Hermeneutics

Restorationist, primitivist religious thinking assumes that human beings, through the use of a common sense possessed by all, have the ability to read texts and reach common conclusions about meanings. This empirical, logical type of thinking is the basis for all public (as opposed to private and subjective) human understanding.

Proposition 3: Regarding Local Churches (Congregationalism)

Restorationist, primitivist religious thinking assumes that the practices of local churches in New Testament days rested on apostolic authority and that the ordering of churches was intentionally designed by God to promote uniformity (catholicity) among Christians.

Obviously, he expands on these propositions, and demonstrates the validity of these underlying assumptions in restorationist thinking. It's a small book, a booklet or pamphlet, really, but I think it's one of those things that ought to be in anyone's library who desires to think seriously about how we ought to serve God and approach Scripture.

Via Theosebes