Why I Oppose Denominations

WHY I OPPOSE DENOMINATIONS

By Alexander Campbell

Which denomination would the Apostle Paul join if he were now on earth? Which would receive him? I dare not be a party man for these reasons:

Because Christ has forbidden me. – Ephesians 4:3; Philippians 2:2; 1 Peter 1:22.
Because no party will receive into communion all whom God would receive into heaven.
The man who promotes the interests of a party stands next to the man that made it.
Because all parties oppose reformation. They all pray for it, but they will not work for it. None of them dare return to the original standard. I speak not against any denomination in particular, but against all. I speak not against any system of truth, but against all except the Bible. “Hold fast the form of sound words” – 2 Timothy 1:13, “condemns them all.” – Memoirs, vol. 1:353-354.

Restorers like Campbell found that they could not be a part of denominations without compromising their plea of the Bible only. The denominationalists would not accept the plea of the Restorers without condemning themselves and ending their denominations. While Campbell and the other Restorers were just fallible men, all who plea for a return to New Testament Christianity need to consider his reasoning.

In a day of proliferation of denominational Christianity, the Restoration plea is needed more than ever before. The plea to be neither Jew, nor Catholic, nor Protestant, but just a Christian by abiding in the authority of the New Testament is possible. But it means that we must be non-denominational, not inter-denominational. May God help us to “contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.”