Posted on 03/31/2007 6:03:17 AM PDT by FairOpinion
Is Fred Thompson a member of the Church of Christ?
As the 64-year-old former Tennessee senator reportedly mulls a bid for president, a number of readers have e-mailed The Christian Chronicle with that question.
The 106th Congressional Record listed Thompson’s religious affiliation as “Church of Christ (Stone Campbell).” In an interview with the U.S. News and World Report this week, Thompson spokesman Mark Corallo said: “Thompson is indeed a Christian. He was baptized into the Church of Christ.”
Corallo did not immediately return calls from the Chronicle seeking additional information about the politician and Law and Order actor’s religious background.
David Pinckley, treasurer of the Pulaski Street Church of Christ in Thompson’s hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., said the two grew up together.
“We went to school together, played football, went to church for many years here in Lawrenceburg,” Pinckley told the Chronicle on Friday.
“I don’t know his religious status right now, but we were both baptized around 1951 … 1952 maybe,” Pinckley added. “We were either 10 or 11 years old then. He was baptized at the First Street church in Lawrenceburg. It’s a non-institutional church now, but it wasn’t then.”
Thompson spoke in 1997 at a fund-raising event at Freed-Hardeman University, a Henderson, Tenn., college associated with Churches of Christ. Thompson used his speaking fee to create an endowed scholarship at Freed-Hardeman for history and political science students, said Stephen Morris, assistant professor of political science and university counsel.
The Robert and Ruth Thompson academic scholarship – named after Thompson’s parents – offers freshman scholarships worth between $2,500 and $5,000. His father is deceased, but Ruth Thompson lives in Franklin, Tenn., and remains a member of the Church of Christ, Pinckley said.
Thompson’s faith became an issue in the national media when Focus on the Family founder James Dobson appeared to throw cold water on a Thompson candidacy in an interview with U.S. News.
“Everyone knows he’s conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for,” Dobson said of Thompson. “(But) I don’t think he’s a Christian; at least that’s my impression,” Dobson added, telling U.S. News that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party’s conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.
Focus on the Family later issued a clarifying statement, saying that in the U.S. News interview, “Dr. Dobson was attempting to highlight that to the best of his knowledge, Senator Thompson hadn’t clearly communicated his religious faith, and many evangelical Christians might find this a barrier to supporting him. Dr. Dobson told (the reporter) he had never met Senator Thompson and wasn’t certain that his understanding of the former senator’s religious convictions was accurate. Unfortunately, these qualifiers weren’t reported. … We were, however, pleased to learn from his spokesperson that Senator Thompson professes to be a believer.”
According to U.S. News, Thompson has said he is leaving the door open for a presidential run and has won plaudits from conservatives who are unenthusiastic about the Republican front-runners. A Gallup-USA Today poll, released Tuesday, showed Thompson in third place among Republican and Republican-leaning voters, behind former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Divorced since the mid-1980s, Thompson married Jeri Kehn, a political and media consultant 24 years his junior, at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Naperville, Ill., in 2002. They have two young children. Thompson also has two grown sons and five grandchildren.
All the discussion about Thompson’s possible Church of Christ ties prompted a humorous challenge on the blog of Mark Elrod, a Harding University political scientist, at http://www.markaelrod.net.
In a post titled “The ‘I Saw Fred Thompson at a Church of Christ’ Challenge,” Elrod offered Web immortality to the first person to provide him “with a somewhat believable Fred Thompson sighting at an assembly of the Church of Christ (Stone-Campbell) in the last 20 years.”
Elrod asked specifically for any information on Thompson teaching a Bible class, presiding at the Lord’s table or leading singing.
“If it was 728b and you can prove it,” Elrod said of Thompson leading singing, “I’ll give you $100.”
Meanwhile, a few readers have contacted the Chronicle asking if Democratic president candidate Barack Obama, an Illinois senator, is a Church of Christ member.
The answer on that question is a bit clearer: Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ, a liberal denomination that ordains women and gays and supports same-gender marriage equality. The mainline Protestant demonination was formed in 1957 when the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reform Church merged.
You must forgive me, I'm not versed enough with the Church of Christ doctrine to defend or argue against it. I don't believe that baptism is necessary for salvation.
Thanks for the pings. I had completely forgotten that Fred listed his church affiliation as church of Christ while serving in the Senate.
Both threads are interesting. It seems inevitable that those outside the south confuse the church of Christ with ICC and UCC. The same thing happened when the Mary Winkler story first hit.
Do you think it is because it is outside the south? I thought the churches were all over the U.S. but of course more prominent in the South
No, just you.
How much did you say you were getting paid to be a Rudybot here again?
It does not matter what each of us believes about baptism. It matters what God wants. We are not providing salvation and eternal life, God is.
I have never understood the big hesitation of people claiming they do not believe in baptism, or baptism not required.
I would think any would be more than willing to be baptised since Jesus himself was baptised and since there are directions to from Jesus (Mark 16:15-16)
"He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will
be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
How very selfish and petty we must appear when we are offered salvation because God gave His Son Jesus to die for our sins, Jesus suffered and did die for us. All we are required to do is profess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God, repent of our sins and be baptised for the remission of those sins and we have Jesus to intercede for us as we follow Him.
Then we come along and say "Ok, God I'll take salvation but I don't want to be baptised, you see I do not believe it is required."
What do you think God would think if that is our reply to the most wonderful gift anyone could bestow.
Are we willing to say "Ok, I would go along with accepting that gift - but, gee, baptism? I just don't think I can tolerate that".
Frankly, I would not want to take the chance that I had interpreted God's meaning correctly if I choose to ignore those verses that tell us to repent and be baptised and we will be saved.
JAMES DOBSON HAS LOST HIS CREDIBILITY. HE WAS AN AVID SUPPORTER AND FRIEND OF THE "REVEREND" TED HAGGARD A FAGGOT AND A METH ADDICT.
YEAH, DOBSON KNOWS HOW TO "JUDGE" WHO IS A CHRISTIAN ALRIGHT. I WONDER IF HE THINKS TED HAGGARD WAS/IS SAVED?
Give me a freakin' break.
That is classic. It says it all and is funny.
Well, I don't agree that he has far less baggage than anybody else running, but I do think that if Thompson got the nomination that people that support other conservative candidates would have no qualms about getting behind him for the win.
I never said that a person SHOULD NOT be baptized. I said it's not necessary for salvation. The first example in this discussion is the thief on the cross. You're right. It doesn't matter what we think. I was saved by grace through faith. Water has no redemptive qualities. It does show, however, a desire to follow Christ's example.
In Christ
I said neither of those things in my post.
You lose me with that argument - it's the same old, "If you don't play it my way we won't play at all." Obviously, at least at this point, Republicans who favor Giuliani outnumber the radical social right. The whole Terri Schiavo mess scared the crap out of a lot of us. We do NOT want federal government involved to that degree in our ethical and religious decisions. You argue we should deal with our differences by converting completely to your point of view. We argue that if you're going to participate as a Republican, you need to go along with what the majority of the party decides.
Churches of Christ generally emphasize their intent to simply be part of the original church established by Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection, which became evident on the Day of Pentecost as described in the New Testament in Acts 2. Churches of Christ emphasize the use of only the New Testament to find doctrine, ecclesiastical structure, and moral beliefs, while maintaining that the Old Testament is also the inspired Word of God, is historically accurate, and that its principles remain true and beneficial (although its laws are not binding under the new covenant in Christ unless otherwise taught in the New Testament).
Members of the churches of Christ point out that throughout church history many have sought a return to the simple, original Christianity that is "pre-denominational" and unbound by the decisions of councils or denominational hierarchies.
Members do not consider themselves either Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant. They hold to the biblical and historical reality that the church was founded by Jesus Christ, and that its doctrines and practices were established long before these other traditions, movements, structures, councils, etc. The church therefore biblically, historically and spiritually transcends these other entities that developed later within denominationalism. Members also do not typically consider themselves to be members of a denomination, but prefer to simply be "Christians" (in contrast to, for example, a Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, etc.), with no other religious title needed or even authorized.
This pretty much sums up my personal faith. Are you implying that there is something wrong with such beliefs?
Medved is the spokesman for the liberal wing of the GOP. It's good to see that Thompson has him worrying too.
We aren't electing a pope, and America doesn't want a king--the head of the national church.
I want a leader who can take us through these current troubles without destroying our nation.
AMEN! Yoou just said the same thing I was trying to say in post 157, but more eloquently.
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