Page "Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)" Paragraph 23

In 1906, the U. S. Religious Census listed Churches of Christ for the first time as a group which was separate and distinct from the Disciples of Christ.

However, the division had been growing for years, with published reports as early as 1883.

The most obvious distinction between the two groups was the Churches of Christ rejecting the use of musical instruments in worship.

The controversy over musical instruments began in 1860, when some congregations introduced organs, traditionally associated with wealthier, denominational churches.

More basic were the underlying approaches to Biblical interpretation.

The Churches of Christ permitted only those practices found in accounts of New Testament worship.

They could find no New Testament documentation of the use of instrumental music in worship.

The Disciples, by contrast, considered permissible any practices that the New Testament did not expressly forbid.