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Churches of Christ are autonomous Christian congregations associated with one another through common beliefs and practices. They seek to base doctrine and practice on the Bible alone. They teach that they are the church written in scripture. They teach that any individual, from the time that the Church began until now, can become part of that church by hearing the truth, believing the truth, repenting from their ways to God's ways, confessing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and being baptized for the remission of their sins. Historically, Churches of Christ in the United States have roots in the American Restoration Movement, and were recognized as a distinct religious group by the U.S. Religious Census of 1906. Prior to that all congregations associated with the Restoration Movement had been reported together by the Census Bureau. The Restoration Movement began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century under the leadership of Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Walter Scott, and Barton W. Stone. Those leaders had declared their independence from their Presbyterian roots, seeking a fresh start to restore the New Testament church, and abandoning creeds. They did not see themselves as establishing a new church. Rather, the movement sought the restoration of the church and "the unification of all Christians in a single body patterned after the church of the New Testament."〔Rubel Shelly, ''I Just Want to Be a Christian'', 20th Century Christian, Nashville, Tennessee 1984, ISBN 0-89098-021-7〕 The names "Church of Christ," "Christian Church" and "Disciples of Christ" were adopted by the movement because they believed these terms to be biblical. A division occurred between those who used musical instruments in worship (known as the Christian Church) and those who chose to sing ''a cappella'' because the use of instruments in Christian worship is not mentioned in the New Testament. The congregations in the ''a cappella'' tradition are the subject of this article. While the most visible distinction between the two groups was the rejection of musical instruments in the Churches of Christ, other issues also contributed to the separation. One was a disagreement over the appropriateness of organizational structures above the congregational level such as missionary societies.〔 Another was a difference in the underlying approach to Biblical interpretation. For the Churches of Christ, practices not present in accounts of New Testament worship were not permissible in the church, and they could find no New Testament documentation of the use of instrumental music in worship. For the Christian Churches, any practices not expressly forbidden could be considered.〔 Though officially recognized as distinct movements from 1906, the actual separation of the Churches of Christ from the Christian Churches had already been taking place gradually for decades. The Restoration Movement was not a purely North American phenomenon, and active mission efforts began in the 18th century.〔In a sense the Restoration Movement began in the United Kingdom before getting traction in America. See, ''e.g.'', Robert Haldane's influence in Scotland.〕 There are now Churches of Christ in Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, Central America, and Europe. ==Overview== Modern churches of Christ have their historical roots in the Restoration Movement, which was a converging of Christians across denominational lines in search of a return to an original, "pre-denominational" Christianity.〔〔C. Leonard Allen and Richard T. Hughes, "Discovering Our Roots: The Ancestry of the churches of Christ," Abilene Christian University Press, 1988, ISBN 0-89112-006-8〕 Participants in this movement sought to base their doctrine and practice on the Bible alone, rather than recognizing the traditional councils and denominational hierarchies that had come to define Christianity since the first century A.D.〔〔 Members of the churches of Christ believe that Jesus founded only one church, that the current divisions among Christians do not express God's will, and that the only basis for restoring Christian unity is the Bible.〔 They simply identify themselves as "Christians", without using any other forms of religious or denominational identification.〔"The church of Jesus Christ is non-denominational. It is neither Catholic, Jewish nor Protestant. It was not founded in 'protest' of any institution, and it is not the product of the 'Restoration' or 'Reformation.' It is the product of the seed of the kingdom (Luke 8:11ff) grown in the hearts of men." V. E. Howard, ''What Is the church of Christ?'' 4th Edition (Revised), 1971, page 29〕〔Batsell Barrett Baxter and Carroll Ellis, ''Neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jew'', tract, church of Christ (1960) ASIN: B00073CQPM. According to Richard Thomas Hughes in ''Reviving the Ancient Faith: The Story of churches of Christ in America,'' William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996 (ISBN 0-8028-4086-8, ISBN 978-0-8028-4086-8), this is "arguably the most widely distributed tract ever published by the churches of Christ or anyone associated with that tradition."〕〔Samuel S. Hill, Charles H. Lippy, Charles Reagan Wilson, ''Encyclopedia of Religion in the South'', Mercer University Press, 2005, (ISBN 0-86554-758-0, ISBN 978-0-86554-758-2)〕 They believe that they are recreating the New Testament church as established by Christ.〔"On the cornerstone of the Southside Church of Christ in Springfield, Missouri, is this inscription: 'church of Christ, Founded in Jerusalem, A.D. 33. This building erected in 1953.' This is not an unusual claim; for similar wording can be found on buildings of churches of Christ in many parts of the United States. The Christians who use such cornerstones reason that the church of Jesus Christ began on Pentecost, A.D. 33. Therefore, to be true to the New Testament, the twentieth-century church must trace its origins to the first century." Robert W. Hooper, ''A Distinct People: A History of the churches of Christ in the 20th Century'', p. 1, Simon and Schuster, 1993, ISBN 1-878990-26-8, ISBN 978-1-878990-26-6, 391 pages〕〔"Traditional churches of Christ have pursued the restorationist vision with extraordinary zeal. Indeed, the cornerstones of many church of Christ buildings read 'Founded, A.D. 33.' " Jill, et al. (2005), "Encyclopedia of Religion", p. 212〕〔 Churches of Christ generally share the following theological beliefs and practices:〔Batsell Barrett Baxter, ''Who are the churches of Christ and what do they believe in?'' Available on-line in an , and here (), here () and here ()〕 * Autonomous, congregational church organization without denominational oversight;〔〔 * Refusal to hold to any formalized creeds or informal "statements of faith", preferring instead a reliance on the Bible alone for doctrine and practice;〔〔Carmen Renee Berry, ''The Unauthorized Guide to Choosing a Church'', Brazos Press, 2003, ISBN 1-58743-036-3〕〔 * Local governance〔 by a plurality of male elders;〔〔 * Baptism by immersion of consenting believers〔〔 for the forgiveness of sins;〔〔〔 * Weekly observance of Communion〔 on Sunday〔〔 (also referred to as "The Lord's Supper" or, in British congregations, the "breaking of bread"; all but "a very small segment" use unfermented grape juice instead of wine〔Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, ''The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-8028-3898-7, ISBN 978-0-8028-3898-8, 854 pages, entry on ''Lord's Supper, The''〕); and * Practice of ''a cappella'' singing, and the rejection of instrumental music, in worship.〔〔 In keeping with their history, the churches of Christ claim the New Testament as their sole rule of faith and practice in deciding matters of doctrine and ecclesiastical structure. They view the Old Testament as divinely inspired〔 and historically accurate, but they do not consider its laws to be binding under the New Covenant in Christ (unless they are repeated in the New Testament).〔〔〔David Pharr, ''The Beginning of our Confidence: Seven Weeks of Daily Lessons for New Christians,'' 21st Century Christian, 2000, 80 pages, ISBN 0-89098-374-7〕 They believe that the New Testament demonstrates how a person may become a Christian (and thus a part of the universal Church of Christ) and how a church should be collectively organized and carry out its scriptural purposes.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Churches of Christ」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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