by lady lib » Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:42 am
Everything you ever wanted to know about the International churches of Christ (ICC) can be found at <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.reveal.org/">www.reveal.org/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Go to the table of contents and click on "What is the ICC?" "What is a cult?" and "Theology of the ICC." The theology section also describes some of the differences between the ICC and "mainline" churches of Christ.<br><br>The criticisms of the mainline churches of Christ are mainly doctrinal:<br>--They require baptism by immersion as a symbolic watery death of the "old self" in order to have a new life in Christ with your sins washed away. The minimum age for baptism is about 10 years - old enough to understand the church's teachings. Any other form of baptism or "praying Christ into your life" are not accepted. People are therefore re-baptized in order to become members.<br>--They teach that the Bible is the literal word of God, so any Christian church that veers even slightly from New Testament teachings is not Christian and its members will not go to heaven according to church teachings. Therefore, the only church following God's word (and whose members are saved) is the church of Christ. <br>--All songs are sung a cappella. The church has no problem with instruments per se. It's just that none are mentioned as being part of worship in the new testament, so they don't use them. This is minor point that I probably could have skipped.<br><br>As opposed to the ICC and it's hierarchy, the mainline churches of Christ are all independent.<br><br>Basic beliefs and practices:<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.oldpaths.net/Works/Missions/Workers/basics.html">www.oldpaths.net/Works/Mi...asics.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>How the ICC gets college students to join up:<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://newmedia.colorado.edu/press/stories/edit/187.html">newmedia.colorado.edu/pre...t/187.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Many years ago I attended both the mainline church of Christ and what would eventually become the ICC variety. At the time, the ICC churches were called the Crossroads Movement, then the Boston church became the model for what would eventually become the ICC. (Starroute's article is correct.)<br><br>I've never regretted leaving and was relieved to finally get out. My husband describes the experience as Bible boot camp. It's okay for a while, and you definitely learn a lot, but then it's just time to move on. So we moved on. I do have some very fond memories of my friends from that time period of my life. Unfortunately, once you leave you're considered to be "of the world" so former friends don't contact you unless it's to invite you to a Bible study. Nice eh? <br><br>If you want to know if I think it's a cult, I would have to say that the ICC definitely fits the definition because of it's control over its members. I'm not so sure that the mainline churches of Christ would qualify. <br><br>Heavy editing. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=ladylib>lady lib</A> at: 3/28/06 2:14 am<br></i>