| From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase |
Editor's Note: The 81st Annual Convention of the American Council of Christian Churches met in Carlisle, Pennsylvania from October 25-27, 2022. The convention approved several resolutions on critical issues confronting Christians and the church in our time, including the one below. We present it for the edification and encouragement of God's people. - Dr. Paul Elliott [3]
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American Council of Christian Churches
81st Convention, October 25-27, 2022
Faith Chapel, Carlisle, PA
"Truth for Christ and the Church"
God delivered unto the saints His perfect, unchanging, inspired written revelation in the Scriptures (Jude 3; 2 Timothy 3:16). Through His written truth, God saves and sanctifies souls (Romans 10:17; John 17:17). The Lord ordained His church as "the pillar and ground of the truth," to declare and defend the Word (1 Timothy 3:15). Jesus Christ gives ministers to shepherd His church (2 Corinthians 11:2-4; Ephesians 4:11-16). Christ's ministers are stewards of His truth (2 Corinthians 4:1-2) who must always proclaim it (2 Timothy 4:2), living godly lives to be holy, useful tools in their Master's hands (2 Timothy 2:20-22).
In the early 1600s, members of Christ's church settled in New England. After they built their homes and church meeting houses, provided for daily essentials, and formed a civil government, they sought to establish a college to provide formal training for their ministers. They dreaded leaving "an illiterate ministry to the churches when our present ministers shall lie in the dust."[1] Consequently, they founded a college in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Two years later one of their ministers, John Harvard, died. In his will Harvard left the College half his estate and his entire library. The grateful College trustees named the institution after him.
The founders of Harvard were not only committed to train men to accurately handle the Scriptures, but also to live holy lives of devotion, prescribing:
Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life (John 17:3); and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him (Proverbs 2:3).
Everyone shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day, that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein, both in theoretical observations of language and logic, and in practical and spiritual truths, as his tutor shall require, according to his ability; seeing the entrance of the word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:130). [2]
Harvard College's first motto was Veritas - Truth - superimposed on three open books representing the Scriptures, the only source of God's revealed truth. Shortly afterward the motto became Veritas Christo et ecclesia - Truth for Christ and the church, specifying the College's aim. Harvard has long since abandoned Christian truth and the school's original aim. The process of abandonment was gradual, occurring over several presidencies. Today, Harvard University is a fountain of unbelief, the exact opposite of her founders' wishes.
The experience of Christ's church today underscores the necessity of Veritas Christo et ecclesia - Truth for Christ and the church. The corrupting effects of sin are prevalent in every area of human life. Society at large is committed to evil, sexual deviancy, violence, the murder of infants, and rejection of divine authority. Sound churches experience compromise, divisions, and decline. Christian educational institutions depart from their founding character and purposes. Pastors leave the ministry because of increasing pressures. Scores of churches are without pastors.
Therefore, the American Council of Christian Churches at its 81st annual convention, October 25-27, 2022, at Faith Chapel, Carlisle, PA resolves to steadfastly believe, embrace, proclaim, defend, and obey God's truth given in the Scriptures. We will pray for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest field. Though we live in perilous times, we will continue in God's truth given in the Scriptures, faithfully laboring to proclaim His Word until He returns.
References:
1. The phrase appeared in Harvard's 1643 promotional pamphlet titled, "New Englands [sic] First Fruits" (guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=405381&p=6465805).
2. Excerpt from "The Rules and Precepts of Harvard" (christianheritagefellowship.com/the-christian-founding-of-harvard).
3. Dr. Elliott is a member of the ACCC's executive committee.
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