In response to Chris Hewett: “The Country Preacher”

I want to begin this by sharing the link to the post which made this article necessary:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17vo1X3CjM/

It is a serious matter to charge a body of believers with being a “cult” or “Babylonian,” especially when that charge is based on historical inaccuracies and a misunderstanding of the Restoration Movement. Let’s look at the facts versus the claims.

Your post attempts to link the Church of Christ with 19th-century cults, but your argument fails on three levels: Historical Fact, Authority of Scripture, and Ecclesiastical Consistency.

I. The Historical Error: Alexander Campbell Did Not “Start” the Church

You claim Alexander Campbell “kicked off” the Church of Christ in a 40-year window of “religious shift.” History disagrees.

  • The Evidence: New Testament Christianity is not an American invention. There were congregations of the Church of Christ in Furness Fells, England, in the 1600s. In the U.S., the Church of Christ in Bridgeport, AL, has been meeting since 1807—long before Campbell’s influence.
  • The Principle: Campbell and Barton W. Stone were not “Founders”; they were Restorers. They didn’t claim new visions; they called for the abandonment of man-made denominations (like the ones you represent) to return to the original seed (Luke 8:11). If you plant the seed of the New Testament today, it produces a Christian, not a “denominationalist.”

II. Who Really Has a “Manual”?

You allege that the Church of Christ uses literature that “supersedes the Bible.” This is a bold claim, as the Church of Christ is famous for having no creed but Christ, no hope but Heaven and no book but the Bible.

 While you attack us for “private revelation,” many Baptist and denominational churches rely on the “Hiscox Standard Baptist Manual.”

 In that very manual, Edward T. Hiscox admits that his system is not found in the Bible: > “It is most likely that in the Apostolic age… such manuals were not needed. But the case is far different now.” (Hiscox, p. 7) > “It is also to be confessed that there is for this [the Baptist Church Covenant] no direct scriptural authority…” (Hiscox, p. 148)

  • The Church of Christ rejects such manuals because we believe the “Apostolic age” pattern is still sufficient (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We use standard translations which find consensus scholarly support via mass manuscript evidence. If we have “literature” that supersedes the Bible, please name the title. (You cannot, because it doesn’t exist).

III. The “System” vs. The Gospel

You label “baptismal regeneration” a cult marker. However, your quarrel is not with us, but with the New Testament writers.

  • Acts 2:38: Peter told the crowd to be baptized “for the remission of sins.”
  • Acts 22:16: Ananias told Saul, “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins.”
  • 1 Peter 3:21: Peter explicitly states, “Baptism doth also now save us.” Is Peter a “false prophet”? Is the book of Acts “Babylonian”? We don’t believe the “system” saves; we believe the Savior saves those who obey His Word (Hebrews 5:8-9; Luke 6:46; Matthew 7:21).
  • Colossians 2:12: Paul calls Baptism the “circumcision made without hands” and then calls it “the powerful working of God” and says it “forgives all trespasses.”
    • I found it mighty rich that in a podcast- “3-7”, in your “presentation of the Gospel” you referenced Titus 3:5, which says we are saved by God’s mercy which is “by the washing of regeneration.” 
    • The broad consensus across the scholarly spectrum, including conservative Baptist circles is that “washing” (Loutron) refers to Baptism.
    • See Ephesians 5:26; John 3:5; Revelation 1:5
  • The legendary Baptist grammarian A.T. Robertson is quite explicit. In his Word Pictures in the New Testament, he identifies the “washing” as a reference to the ordinance:
  • “The word [loutron] does not mean the vessel or laver, but the act of bathing or washing… Here it is the ‘bath of regeneration.’ Probably the reference is to baptism…”
ScholarPerspective on Titus 3:5
Thomas SchreinerAcknowledges the reference to baptism but argues it functions as a “shorthand” for the entire conversion experience (faith + baptism).
William MounceIn his Word Biblical Commentary, he notes that while the Spirit is the agent of change, baptism is the visible locus where this change is celebrated.
George LaddAffirmed that the New Testament often weaves the sign (baptism) and the thing signified (regeneration) so closely that they are spoken of together.
  • To call the biblical plan of salvation a “cult marker” is to call the Apostles cult leaders.

IV. The Definition of “Babylonian Religion”

You cite the Tower of Babel as man’s attempt to reach Heaven without God. Ironically, “Babylon” means confusion.

  • Confusion is having 300+ denominations with different names, different manuals, and different creeds.
  • Unity is what Jesus prayed for in John 17:21—that we all may be one so the world may believe.

The Church of Christ is simply an effort to strip away the “Tower of Babel” that is modern denominationalism and stand on the foundation of Christ alone. We have no human head, no human headquarters, and no human manual. We invite you to join us in rejecting the 19th-century “manuals” and returning to the 1st-century Word.

It was disappointing to see such a broad mischaracterization of history and scripture. While I agree that we must ‘Beware of False Prophets,’ labeling the Church of Christ a ‘cult’ alongside groups like the JWs or Mormons ignores many fundamental facts we discussed above.

You have a soul- a wife and children, and a group of people who look to you for spiritual guidance.

I want you to think long and hard about standing before Christ one day, and answering His questions to why you didn’t take Him at His word (John 12:48; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38). Stop explaining away what the text says based on your pre-conceived doctrine.

For roughly 1,500 years, there was a remarkable “unanimity of the fathers” on this topic. Whether you look at the Ante-Nicene fathers, the Nicene Creed, or the medieval scholastics, the connection between baptism and the forgiveness of sins was seen as the plain reading of Scripture (e.g., Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21).

  • The Early Church: Figures like Justin Martyr (c. 150 AD) and Tertullian (c. 200 AD) spoke of baptism as the “water of life” and the moment of spiritual rebirth.
  • The Nicene Creed (381 AD): This foundational statement of faith, accepted by almost all Christian branches, explicitly states: “We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.”
  • The Middle Ages: Both Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions maintained this sacramental view without significant internal challenge for a millennium.

When did it become contested?

The challenge began in earnest during the Radical Reformation and through the influence of Huldrych Zwingli in the 1520s.

PeriodKey Figure / MovementShift in Thought
Early 1520sHuldrych ZwingliHe was one of the first to argue that baptism is a “public sign” or “pledge” of faith rather than a means of conveying grace or remitting sin.
1525 onwardsThe AnabaptistsThey rejected infant baptism entirely, arguing that baptism must follow a personal confession of faith, further decoupling the rite from the immediate “remission of sins” in the traditional sacramental sense.
Mid-1500sJohn CalvinWhile Calvin held a higher view of the sacraments than Zwingli, he emphasized that the power lay in God’s promise and the Holy Spirit, not the water itself, viewing it more as a seal of the covenant.

From a conservative and text-focused viewpoint, it is often noted that the “symbol-only” view of baptism is a relatively modern development in the grand timeline of Christianity. Scholars who prioritize the literal or “plain sense” of the Greek text in the New Testament often point out that the earliest Christians did not see a conflict between “faith” and “baptism”; rather, they viewed baptism as the specific act of faith where God promised to meet the believer with forgiveness.

 Even Martin Luther, the father of the Reformation, broke with Zwingli on this. Luther continued to teach that baptism “works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation.”

 “Every plant that my Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up”(Matthew 15:13).

Let’s get together and study, Chris. Your soul and mine are worth the inquiry.

Because He Lives,

For the Eastside Church of Christ,

Robby Eversole Jr.

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