Volume One offers a fresh and provocative new interpretation of the story of Churches of Christ as they fashioned a new identity in the opening decades of the twentieth century. Allen and Hicks, both well-known for their work on the history and theology of Churches of Christ, have enlisted the expertise of six other contributors to tell this story. 

A Wild Democracy begins with the separation from the Disciples of Christ/Christian Church, viewing the division from the perspective of four leaders in Churches of Christ: Daniel Sommer, David Lipscomb, Samuel W. Womack, and T. B. Larimore. 

The long ordeal of separation was followed by several decades of intense identity-forming controversy - a theological free-for-all, a "wild democracy." Everyone could express their convictions and press their case; no one could dictate with any finality a list of required beliefs, though many tried. Schism was inevitable. 

In the midst of this "wild democracy," three main "traditions" emerged seeking to define the new identity. Many sharp controversies ensured: the two biggest of the first decade were rebaptism and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; the most controversial one of the 1920s and 30s was premillennialism. 

By the 1930s, after several decades of steady and intense - often uncivil - controversy, something like a doctrinal standard emerged. For a time, it held together a loose and tenuous unity between the three traditions. But by mid-century, a major division was approaching, with others to follow - stories that volumes two and three will tell. 

C. Leonard Allen serves as dean of the College of Bible and Ministry at Lipscomb University in Nashville. He taught theology, ethics, and philosophy for many years at Abilene Christian University, Biola University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and John Brown University. He has spoken widely on college campuses and in churches over the past thirty-five years on biblical, historical, and theological themes. He is the author of numerous books, including The Cruciform Church, Distant Voices, Things Unseen, Poured Out, The Bookroom: Remembrance and Forgiveness - A Memoir, and most recently, Faithful Defiance. 

John Mark Hicks is a Professor of Theology at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. He has taught for thirty-eight years in schools associated with the Churches of Christ. He has published fifteen books and lectured in twenty countries and forty states. 

ISBN: 9781684264933

Pages: 192

Dimensions (inches): 6 x 9 

Weight (pounds): .5