Restoration Movement - Key Principles

Key Principles

The Restoration Movement was characterized by several key principles:

• Christianity should not be divided, Christ intended the creation of one church.

• Creeds divide, but Christians should be able to find agreement by standing on the Bible itself (from which they believe all creeds are but human expansions or constrictions).

• Ecclesiastical traditions divide, but Christians should be able to find common ground by following the practice (as best as it can be determined) of the early church.

• Names of human origin divide, but Christians should be able to find common ground by using biblical names for the church (i.e., "Christian Church", "Church of God" or "Church of Christ" as opposed to "Methodist" or "Lutheran", etc.).

A number of slogans have been used in the Restoration Movement, which are intended to express some of the distinctive themes of the Movement. These include:

• "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent."

• "The church of Jesus Christ on earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one."

• "We are Christians only, but not the only Christians."

• "In essentials, unity; in opinions, liberty; in all things love."

• "No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible, no law but love, no name but the divine."

• "Call Bible things by Bible names."

All of the three major U.S. branches of the Movement share the following characteristics:

• A high view, compared to other Christian traditions, of the office of the elder; and

• A "commitment to the priesthood of all believers".