Expert: Ernie Laurence, Jr. - 7/4/2011

Question
Where was God's one true church before the Restoration Movement?  The Orthodox Church is the only church I am aware of that doesn't use mechanical instruments, believes in Baptismal Regeneration, and has the Lord's Supper each week and traces its history to 33 AD.  I can not find any historical record of a church after 100AD until the Restoration Movement that teaches everything the Churches of Christ teach today.  PS. I noticed some Churches of Christ teach a preterist view and others teach a partial preterist view of the Book of Revelation.  Some teach the Beast is Rome and other Jerusalem.  Which Church of Christ teaches the truth about the Book of Revalation?

Answer
Happy 4th of July, Wayne, and I appreciate your questions.

~~~~Where was God's one true church before the Restoration Movement?~~~~

It existed, but it was not as public as it is today because of the oppression of the Roman Catholic church.  A site you might find informative in answering this question in detail is:

http://churches-of-christ.ws/indextr.htm

The scholars who put this site together have traced the history of the churches of Christ back 1000 years.  From there, it is a simple thing to look into the records of the RCC and find who they executed for heresy and why.  In those records we see evidence of the existence of the churches of Christ all the way back to the first century.

A historical record of continuity is not necessary for the church of Christ to be what it claims.  Such a record isn't a requirement given in the New Testament.  The requirement of some that it be provided to "prove" that the church of Christ is the "one true church" is denominational thinking.  God preserved the Bible for us through Providence.  Men will either follow the pattern given in it and be added to Christ's church or they will not.  Only by the destruction of the Bible from this Earth can the church fail, and that will never happen.

~~~~PS. I noticed some Churches of Christ teach a preterist view and others teach a partial preterist view of the Book of Revelation.  Some teach the Beast is Rome and other Jerusalem.  Which Church of Christ teaches the truth about the Book of Revalation?~~~~

Some do, some do not, some have members who believe a wide array of things about Revelation.  I am a partial preterist and believe the Dragon/Satan is the Jewish nation as persecutors, the Sea Beast is Rome, and the harlot is earthly Jerusalem in contrast to the bride, the heavenly Jerusalem, the church.  Within the churches of Christ, there is a very powerful discussion going on about Revelation.  Mostly it is between those who study deeply all of the Bible including the OT prophets (the preterists, full and partial) and those who don't (idealists, historical continuous, millennialists).

I do know that the Hutto church of Christ in Hutto, TX teaches the partial preterist view exclusively.  Other congregations like that I cannot name for certain.

Hope that answered your questions.  If I can answer any others or clarify my answers in anyway, please let me know.

In Truth and Love,
Ernie