When the church was in its infancy, the "body" was one. It was not splintered as we see it today. Christ prayed for the unity of his body. The apostles enjoined the early Christians to be united. They stressed that dividing the church is to divide the body of Christ - to divide Christ himself (1 Corinthians 1:10, Romans 1:22,23; Ephesians 4:4; Matthew 16:18).
In the late 1700's, certain men began to take a good look at the religious division they saw around them. These men sought to restore the New Testament church to the way it existed in the beginning. The restoration movement so began. These men pledged to:
"Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent; call Bible things by Bible names and do Bible things in Bible ways."
"In matters of faith (where God has spoken), obedience; in matters of opinion (where God has not spoken), liberty; in all things, charity."
These men actually had to unteach themselves from the many traditions they had embraced in their respective denominations.
Doctrines and practices which were discarded:
- Baby baptism
- Sprinkling
- Faith only salvation
- Quarterly Communion
- Predestination
- Clerical titles
- Mechanical instruments of music in worship
- Creed books
- Denominational forms of government
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Romans 1:22,23
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
