Richard T. Hughes Archives

Cover image of "Reviving the Ancient Faith" by Richard T. Hughes and James L. Gorman

Reviving the Ancient Faith, Third Edition, Richard T. Hughes and James L. Gorman. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802877291) 2024.

Summary: A history of Churches of Christ in America, from sect, to denomination, to recent fragmentation and decline.

“If only we could be like the early church. If only we could get back to the Bible.” I’ve heard this refrain over many years from many Christians. Little do most know that the United States witnessed a significant, organized attempt to achieve just such a reality in the nineteenth century. In Reviving the Ancient Faith, Richard T. Hughes and James L. Gorman render a history of the Restoration Movement, begun by Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone. In this new edition, Gorman updates the scholarship of Hughes early work, trims the overall content, and adds chapters on recent developments in a new part three, “The Fragmentation of a Denomination.”

Specifically, the goal of the Campbells and Stone was to return to “primitive Christianity.” They sought a church without denominations, one that was based on the Bible and the Bible alone. They focused on baptism by immersion for repentance from sin, a way of salvation centered on human response to Christ, and a focus on Christ’s return and coming kingdom, or apocalypticism. The authors trace the respective movements begun by Campbell and Stone, their merger in 1832 and subsequent history. Particularly, they show a movement led by its publications as well as the Bible schools and colleges they founded, and the reaction of other leaders to them.

It is an account of growth and conflict, between sectarian ideas and emerging denominationalism, between church-centered efforts and mission societies, between law and grace. Perhaps of great significance was the sectional character, between North and South. Likewise, and as an adjunct, we see the growing tension between apocalypticism and a growing Christian nationalism. And they trace the tension between mission to all, including Blacks, and a largely segregated movement. Thus, they show how difficult it is to separate biblical and cultural Christianity.

The history traces the transition and development of the Churches of Christ as a denomination, beginning with the 1906 distinction between them and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I wish the authors would have given more space to this parting of the ways. Particularly, I would have valued a brief account of the subsequent history of the Disciples of Christ. Instead, they trace a denomination wrestling to maintain their distinctive emphases, often through the “fighting” style of a Foy Wallace while trying to modernize in their buildings, journals, and schools.

The newly added third part shows a church that has fragmented around these tensions, reflecting a broader fragmentation. On one hand, part of the church identified more with evangelicalism. This includes figures like Max Lucado, who identified so much with mainstream evangelicalism that his church ceased to be identifiably Church of Christ. Revivalist impulses manifest in the International Church of Christ movement led by Kip McKean. Meanwhile, a sizable number of churches embrace politically conservative forms of Christian nationalism.

On the other hand, the authors chronicle a progressive movement embracing racial reconciliation, the ministry of women and the acceptance of LGBTQ persons. Both conservative and progressive trends reflect efforts to reform a denomination in decline, again reflecting the larger landscape of the American church, The work concludes by recognizing an uncertain future.

This is an important and well-researched account of a major religious movement in American church history. It is a case study of both the aspirations and hubris in a “back-to-the-Bible” movement. And it is a reflection of the broader American landscape that has had such a powerful shaping effect on churches. In particular, it is an account of a church centered in the American South. Thus it sheds light on more than a denomination. It is an important study in American Christianity.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

The Vocation of the Christian Scholar, Richard T. Hughes, Foreword by Samuel L. Hill. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005.

Summary: An account of the calling of a Christian scholar, emphasizing drawing deeply on the theology of one’s own and other faith traditions, and living in the paradoxical tension of one’s faith and one’s disciplinary scholarship.

Richard T. Hughes is concerned less with the idea of “Christian scholarship” and more concerned with how one is to live out one’s calling as a Christian scholar. For him this involves two elements. One is having “an identity that informs every other aspect of our lives and around which every other aspect of our lives can be integrated.” The other is learning to embrace paradox, as we hold both to an faith informed by our tradition and others, and the perspectives of our discipline.

He describes his own journey of growing up in Restorationist churches, complemented subsequently by studies of Lutheranism and Anabaptism, learning to hold the paradox of grace and discipleship together. He turns his attention to the life of the mind and its requirements of a disciplined search for truth, genuine conversation with diverse perspectives, critical thinking, and intellectual creativity. He contends that this applies to thinking theologically as well as thinking about one’s discipline, so that one’s work is grounded in one’s faith.

Drawing upon the work of Sidney E. Mead, he outlines how both the political leaders and college leaders of the American republic modelled this approach of embracing paradox, holding both to theistic or deistic ideas as well as engaging the Enlightenment thought of the time. They recognized human finitude and the rule of God over human institutions. He moves on the advocate both for understanding the particularities of one’s faith tradition and why we ought move beyond them: the nature of God, the nature of the Bible, the core of the gospel that must not be displaced by particularities, our neighbors in faith who must not be excluded by particularities, and dying to our egos, acknowledging our finitude.

This does not mean denying the power of the traditions we call our own. Hughes goes on to describe appreciatively the contribution of Roman Catholicism, the Reformed Tradition, the Anabaptist Model, and the Lutheran traditions, showing the substantial spiritual and intellectual resources these offer for the life of the mind. Drawing on these ideas, he considers how one may teach from a Christian perspective. I would have liked to hear some discussion of church traditions outside the dominant white culture. He observes that because of the paradoxes within our faith, we are uniquely positioned to foster an atmosphere of comfort with paradox and ambiguity essential to good inquiry. He contends that his work is not to give students “pre-digested answers” but rather to “inspire wonder, to awaken imagination, to stimulate creativity….” It is also to help them explore ultimate questions. Drawing on Paul Tillich, he identifies three:

How do I cope with the inevitability of death?
Am I an acceptable human being?
Is there any meaning in life, and if there is, what is it?

He believes that the values of the upside down kingdom ought shape our choices of what to teach, and how he recognized these values in Howard Zinn’s work, even though Zinn is not a Christian. He addresses the concern about the distinctiveness of his scholarship as a Christian. He contends that the depth of his commitment to Christ cannot help but shape his scholarship, just as Madeleine L’Engle answered a young writer who wanted to become a “Christian writer.” L’Engle told her that if she was a thorough-going Christian, her writing would be Christian.

He follows with a chapter on the vocation of a Christian college. His argument is that Christian colleges ought be shaped by a shared theological vision, all pragmatic considerations aside. He also proposes a theological vision combining Lutheran and Anabaptist perspectives, one both of radical grace and radical discipleship. This is a vision of both radical Christian engagement in society and radical dependence on God. He then ends the book with a postscript of how tragedy can uniquely shape the Christian mind, including a personal narrative of his own near-death encounter.

While this work is grounded in the Christian college setting, I think it is also useful to Christians called to scholarship in the secular setting. The essence of his argument is the importance of a life deeply grounded in a theological tradition and an embrace of paradox. While this may not enjoy institutional support outside the Christian college setting, one may find community with other Christian scholars. I also appreciate the focus on the calling of the scholar rather than “Christian scholarship.” Rather than forced expressions of faith, these are allowed to develop organically as one both deeply cultivates one’s faith, understanding one’s own niche in the great story, and pursues one’s research and teaching. I loved the focus on wonder and ultimate questions, although I’d be curious how he might work out the latter in STEM fields. This is a worthwhile work for any Christian wanting to integrate their scholarly calling into their faith.