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Landmarkism Under Fire
A Study of Landmark Baptist
by Elder J.C. Settlemoir
One will look in vain to find the defenders of EMDA defining their terms. Elder Milburn Cockrell in his book Scriptural Church Organization does not define his terms with but one or two exceptions.[94] 7 Questions has not a single definition of the terms used in 45 pages! Bro Pugh in Three Witnesses For the Baptists has a glossary of terms but many of the words pertinent to the discussion are omitted and some of those included are fuzzy and indistinct.[95] Of the various articles which I have seen by the advocates of EMDA I have not found a single writer who defined his terms![96] While I assign no ulterior motive for this vacuum, I do contend this policy is against every rule of proper discussion. Without properly defining terms a writer certainly invites misunderstanding and misapprehension even though unintentional. He clouds his propositions and makes it unlikely the reader will understand his meaning. Unless he seeks to deceive, his whole purpose is defeated. EMDA is a doctrine concerning church constitution. It
maintains authority must be given by a mother church in order to
constitute a group into a new church. It teaches the authority of Christ was
transferred to the church and consequently only a church can pass this
authority on to another group. Thus if a new church does not obtain EMDA the
connection with the first Those who contend for EMDA also often use the term organic church succession. By this they mean one church succeeds another church as one link of a chain succeeds another link. This is also known as link-chain succession. They often use the analogy of human lineage, or the lineage of animals, such as sheep, rams or dogs.[99] Elder Cockrell teaches that when a church gives birth to a new church Christ and his wife give birth to a baby girl![100] I will now give a few quotes to verify these statements from representative EMDA authors. Are All True Churches Founded via EMDA? Therefore I believe that all true churches were founded or established on the consent of a mother church.[101] No church can claim to have Scriptural authority to administer the ordinances unless they have received that authority from an already existing Baptist church. Just as Jesus transferred authority to His church, each newly organized Baptist church must receive their authority from an already existing church. This is why you read in the Book of Acts that missionaries were sent out by a local church to establish other churches of like faith and order. Each church of the Lord Jesus is likened to a body (I Cor. 12). A body is a living organism that derives its life from another body that is already in existence and fully functioning. Like begets like in every realm of God’s creation, therefore every Baptist church must be organized out of an already existing Baptist church.[102] A church must be established on the consent of another church. It is not merely a tradition or a custom, but rather it is a Scriptural fact.[103] From these Scriptures [Mt. 28:18-20; Acts 13] I am sure we can be safe in saying that a church must be established from a mother church.[104] The reader will note here the assertion that EMDA is a Scriptural fact–but without any Scripture! In the second quote, there are two references given but neither of them mention a mother church. The Holy Spirit Given Only via EMDA Some of the advocates of EMDA are not aware of this amazing piece of tradition. But it is taught by some of their leading men and published without reservation. Let the following statement by Bro. Austin Fields be carefully considered: It is impossible for the church to be alive without the Spirit and the Spirit was only given one time and this at Pentecost. Therefore, there must be the link that connects the church with the Spirit at Pentecost, as there is a connecting link with us as human beings with Adam the first man.[105] Of course, if one granted this supposition, there is nothing to say exactly what the connecting link is by which a church receives the Holy Spirit according to this theory. It could be, as they contend, by the authority of a mother church. But it could also be by the laying on of hands. It could be by the succession of pastors or it might be by some other un-named link. Who is to say what this connecting link is? We are left with the idea that these men know and they will reveal it to us. One thing is certain, they give no Scripture for this tradition because there is none. But as some may object that Bro Fields was not a qualified representative of the EMDA group and thus escape the horns of this dilemma, I quote Bro Cockrell: There is no need for the spiritual power to be given directly from God each time a new church is organized, for it descends from one church to another across the centuries. This can only be if there is a link chain of churches that are organically connected. ....Is there a new Pentecost each
time three baptized members form themselves into a church? If so, then there
are many instances of baptism in the Spirit, not just two. Since a church is
not to go out as a witness for Christ without this power of the Holy Spirit
(Acts 1:8) that descends from one church to another....[106] The EMDA advocates never hesitate to assert such things or give us such analogies but they do hesitate to give us any Scripture to verify these claims. We are expected to take these things on their word. If we don’t we are censored and condemned without a trial. B.H. Carroll believed the baptizing in the Holy Spirit was an initial and temporary thing. It did not continue. He says: The baptism in the Spirit, after it had come in its diverse accrediting form, was transitory, ceasing with the sufficient attestation.[107] This means the baptizing of the Holy Spirit was not continued in any way. I believe this is the correct position. An Elder Must Be Present to Constitute a Church Some add yet another prerequisite to church constitution and that is that you must have ordained elders or at least one ordained elder present to organize a church. Elder Cockrell seems to lean toward this position as he describes the view he opposes: Such a new church needs not secure authority from another true church in organizing, nor is it essential that a minister or missionary from another church be present with any authority from another true church.[108] Bro Cockrell is teaching here, I believe, that you must have an ordained man present to constitute a church. But this is not all. Several of the EMDA advocates insist and demand that a church must believe the five points of Calvinism[109] in order to give this authority. Any church which does not believe the five points is considered to be a false church. I know of several churches which have been reorganized and several preachers re-ordained and rebaptized and a number of people who have been rebaptized because the church which baptized or organized them was not a five point church! This is a strange thing! I am sure that Bro Cockrell did not have baptism from a church which held to the five points.[110] We discussed this issue in 1980 and he told me then that he did not agree with the idea that a church had to believe the five points in order to be a scriptural church. The Six Laws of EMDA Thus while these brethren do not often give us the whole package, they actually believe there are six specific things–six laws–which are necessary to constitute a church, assuming you already have people who are in gospel order, i.e., saved, scripturally baptized members of a scriptural church in good standing–not one of these six laws has ever been found in the Word of God! They are: Law # 1. Formal authority from a mother church must be
granted. This cannot be merely understood authority. It cannot be that
obtained from a pastor of a church. It cannot be granted from a presbytery. It
cannot be given by an Association nor can it be from several churches. It
cannot be given generally in church letters from several churches but it must
be from one specific church which understands that she is the Law # 2. An organic link-by-link connection by which each ascending church got authority from a preceding church, church to church, all the way back to the church at Jerusalem. All is vain unless this linkage was operational in every single church constitution all the way up the line to the first Mother-church, for sixty generations! Law # 3. The Holy Spirit’s presence in a church is only obtained by EMDA. Any church without this organic connection all the way back cannot possibly have the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit only follows EMDA! Where EMDA does not go the Holy Spirit will not go! The mother church is made the proxy agent of the Holy Spirit! And marvel of all marvels, these brethren admit they cannot tell whether the Spirit is there or not from any examination of a church’s doctrine and practice but only by asking the all important question: Did your church have a mother church and so on ad infinitum! What a monstrosity! What unprecedented audacity! What vanity that men could conceive such doctrine and then publish such–all without a thus saith the Lord! Law # 4. An ordained man must be present in order to constitute a scriptural church. In an EMDA constitution the elder is essential and without an ordained man no new church can be formed. Apparently they believe the ordained man conveys some un-named power, or communicates some sacramental influence which flows through his fingers because hands were laid on him. This theory denies that any number of saints in gospel order can constitute themselves into a gospel church without an un-baptistic hierarch and it is nothing but an Episcopalian in a Baptist skin! Law # 5. The church must believe the five points of Calvinism. If it did not embrace the five points when constituted, then it is a false church. The members must be re-baptized, the church re-constituted, and the elders re-ordained. And lest some think this is merely theoretical, there are several churches whose members have been rebaptized, the church re-constituted, the elder re-ordained–why? Simply because they were originally baptized, ordained, or constituted by those who did not embrace all five points![111] Law #6. All those who are to compose a new church must be members of the mother church. That is where the authority is and it can only be given to those who are members. Only one church can be the mother. Other members may unite with the new church after it constitutes, but they cannot be in the constitution if not members of the mother church. This Law is so insisted on that churches formed on the other side of the globe from the mother church are none-the-less made proxy members of a church they never attended and which church never saw these members! Then they are given letters stating they are members in good standing for the purpose of constitution! This means that all those churches which had helps from several churches were not EMDA constitutions and are not true churches according to their own testimony! If, for instance, (going along with EMDA thinking) your church had organic connection (as spelled out in Law # 2) for seven church generations up the stream of history but if one of the ancestral churches made a mistake (perhaps they had never heard of these new laws,[112] as they are not in the Bible!) and that church, right in all of these Laws but one, was formed without one of these essentials, then your church falls down with Humpty Dumpty consequences! Your church cannot be a Scriptural church! If there was one case where there was no formal organic church connection, no mother authority, then your church status evaporates like dew! If somewhere up your church stream, some church was organized without formal authority or without an ordained elder present or if they did not believe in Limited Atonement, or if the members did not become members of the mother church, even if this was over a thousand years ago, you lose your church status and there is no way on earth you can know it! There is no way you can find out! Or if there was some abnormality in any one of these essentials, then the Holy Spirit never did come upon your church! Christ never indwelt your assembly![113] All the baptisms and all the acts of worship from the time this mistake was made, in EMDA thinking, are as vain as is the worship of an idolater! The mere statement of these things will lead every thinking man to reject these propositions for being as fabulous as the phoenix![114] Hiscox made this significant statement in his New Directory: Are there any marks, or signs, by which a true Church can be known? If so, what are they? If our ideas as to what constitutes a true church be erroneous or confused, we shall be likely to go astray as to all that follows, and misinterpret its polity, order, ordinances, its structure government and purpose.[115] Hiscox then quotes among other confessions the Baptist Confession of 1689, which says in part: ....Those thus called He commandeth to walk together in particular societies or churches, for their mutual edification, and the due performance of the public worship which He requireth of them in the world. The members of these churches are saints by calling, visibly manifesting and evidencing their obedience unto the call of Christ; and do willingly consent to walk according to the appointment of Christ, giving up themselves to the Lord, and one to another, by the will of God, in professed subjection to the ordinances of the gospel.[116] This is one reason why the EMDA advocates have gone so far astray. The first point in their survey was wrong. Consequently all of their subsequent measurements, from that wrong point, are nothing but error compounded. We will in the next chapter consider these matters.
[94] Milburn Cockrell. Scriptural Church Organization. He gives the meaning of mother, p. 50, but then did not use the word according to the definition given. [95] Curtis Pugh. Three Witnesses For The Baptists. Cf. his definition of Church, which does not define his concept of church as used in his book and his definition of Landmarkers contains no definition at all! pp. 122, 124. [96] Cf. GPP, April 2000, p. 1. Art. “Church Constitution,” where I defined their theory for them. In that article, I gave their position the name of “authority theory” but because some of them complained about this name I have changed it to EMDA in this book. [97] 7 Questions and Answers as to Church Authority. p. 15, 35; Scriptural Church Organization, p. 81. [98] 7 Questions, p. 25, 34; Scriptural Church Organization, p. 65. [99] Milburn Cockrell. SCO, EMDA advocates contend that churches are connected necessarily to a previous church in a sort of ecclesiastical biogenesis. [100] Milburn Cockrell. SCO, “A husband and wife can have a daughter. In fact when one church gives birth to another church, Christ and his wife have given birth to a baby girl.” p. 52. Cf. Chapter 6. [101]7 Questions. p. 34. [102] Tom Ross. Resetting An Old Landmark. p. 9-10. [103] 7 Questions. p. 27. [104] 7 Questions. p. 27. [105] 7 Questions. p. 35. [106] Milburn Cockrell. SCO, p. 81. [107]B.H. Carroll. Interpretation of The English Bible. Acts. p. 44. [108] Scriptural Church Organization. p. 5. [109]i.e.,Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of the Saints.
[110]
If I remember correctly, from what Bro Cockrell told me, when we discussed this
issue, he was baptized by a NABA church. If this is correct, then he certainly
did not have five point baptism as both
[111]
A year or two back I got a request from a brother in the
[112] [113]Perhaps EMDA advocates will develop a Limbo for churches which failed in one or more of these Laws so they will not be totally excluded from church blessings even though they did not rise up to full EMDA orthodoxy. That should be no more difficult than to make these traditions into laws in the first place. [114]See an excellent article by Bro Thomas Williamson in PPP, April 1, 2004. Bro Williamson points out how one must be careful of these who offer mother church services: “The first step is to realize that there are some churches that claim perpetuity under false pretenses–they offer their church “mothering” services, without being able to demonstrate that they have any kind of perpetuity.” http://www.gpp‑5grace.com/graceproclamator/pp0404_complete.htm#Got%20Perpetuity [115] Edward Hiscox. The New Directory For Baptist Churches. p. 26. [116] Op. Cit., p. 30. This is Chapter 26. 5 of the 1689 Confession. One of the references given is Mt. 18:15- 20, which shows the compilers understood this text referred to the constitution of a church. |