{"id":46072,"date":"2015-09-26T22:04:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-27T03:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=46072"},"modified":"2023-02-24T17:55:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T23:55:50","slug":"the-history-behind-freedoms-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-history-behind-freedoms-ring\/","title":{"rendered":"The History Behind \u201cFreedom\u2019s Ring\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n

“While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage<\/i>” (II Peter 2:19).<\/p>\n

My first encounter with the doctrine promoted by\u00a0Freedom’s Ring<\/i>\u00a0was when the congregation where my wife and I met got pulled into apostasy by well-intentioned members. One started receiving a series of magazines written by Charles A. Holt, called\u00a0The Examiner<\/i>. Though I was no longer a member of that congregation, I was given copies of this publication. At first glance, it sounded interesting, but the more I dug into the teachings, the more I realized how subtly twisted was its teachings. Unfortunately, these teachings spread like a wildfire in that small congregation and it resulted in a split.<\/p>\n

My second encounter came while preaching in Nebraska. Two young couples moved into the area. We enjoyed having them as a part of the group, but rumblings were soon heard that they were spreading false doctrine in private Bible studies. I asked and received a copy of a book called\u00a0Freedom’s Ring\u00a0<\/i>by Cecil Hooks. Reading through it, I realized that it sounded very familiar. It was Holt’s teachings repackaged. After a series of confrontations both public and private, the couples left, along with two new converts that they had influenced.<\/p>\n

Cecil Hooks’ website has extensive links to the writings of W. Carl Ketcherside and Leroy Garrett. Charles Holt acknowledges that his views stem from his reading of W. Carl Ketcherside and Leroy Garrett [“The Editor and His ‘Admirers’- Some Observations,” The Examiner<\/i>, Vol. 4, No. 4]. Carl Ketcherside was influenced by Daniel Sommer, editor of the\u00a0Octographic Review<\/i>, which was also called the American Christian Review<\/i>. Sommer opposed the idea of located preachers. Later in Ketcherside’s life, he became fascinated with the idea of unity, renounced many of his old beliefs, and began promoting the acceptance of all believers in Christ. [Scott Harp,”The Life of Carl Ketcherside<\/a>,” ]. It is the later Ketcherside teachings that were picked up by Garrett, Holt, and Hooks.<\/p>\n

However, the seeds for these beliefs are even older. Back in 1856, a debate occurred between Robert Milligan and Tolbert Fanning in the pages of the Gospel Advocate<\/i>. Fanning advocated this view:<\/p>\n

“The logical teachers, and overseers of the church were elders. The elders were by the elderly men in the church. They ‘kept the house for the Lord,’ and edified the saints. All the teaching was done by this group. They had no office, but each elder (old man) in accordance with his ability, taught and edified the church. The evangelists went from place to place, preaching the gospel, establishing churches, and encouraging them to meet regularly. With Fanning located preachers were but pastors and were taboo. So with salaried ministers.” [Earl West,\u00a0The Search for the Ancient Order<\/i>, Vol. 1, p. 342].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The tenet that preachers should not be located at and supported by one congregation is advocated by what is commonly called the mutual edification movement. Carl Ketcherside, Leroy Garret, Charles Holt, and Cecil Hooks are all apologists for this movement.<\/p>\n

“The Examiner. This movement, spearheaded by Charles Holt, opposed the traditional eldership as a self-perpetuating, back-room decision making, board. It called for an end to the concept of the located preacher and the local church treasury. The movement had minimal effect on the churches generally, though some individuals adopted the view and separated themselves from the local church.” [Ferrel Jenkins, “Please Don’t Call Us ‘Anti’,”\u00a0Pepperdine University Bible Lectures<\/i>, May 1, 1998].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We should be aware of the history behind these teachings. When we were dealing with the false teaching in La Vista, people were repeatedly stating that the ideas advocated seemed like a jumbled mess without a unifying core. Knowing the history, it can be explained in Ketcherside’s shifting beliefs that were picked up wholesale by others.<\/p>\n

While these men have been faced down in the past and proven wrong repeatedly, they would tell their readers that no one has been able to oppose them and that no one would debate them – claims that are easily proven to be false. Yet, with the Internet providing easy access to documents of the past, the old ideas that were proven wrong get picked up again, requiring churches to defend the truth all over again.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage” (II Peter 2:19). My first encounter with the doctrine promoted by\u00a0Freedom’s Ring\u00a0was when the congregation where my wife and I met got pulled into apostasy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[726,34,801,695],"class_list":["post-46072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church-history","tag-false-teaching","tag-freedoms-ring-false-teaching","tag-mutual-edification"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45784,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/have-you-heard-of-cecil-hook-and-his-book-free-in-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":46072,"position":0},"title":"Have you heard of Cecil Hook and his book Free in Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Asked a question of previous Williams Road Church of Christ why they removed the \"church of Christ\" and now just refer to themselves as the Williams Road Church. The short answer referred me to Cecil Hook and his book Free in Christ. What would the explanation be without me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5791,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/questions\/","url_meta":{"origin":46072,"position":1},"title":"Questions","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: II Timothy 2:14-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many years ago, a set of false teaching was being promoted in the congregation. When the false teacher was asked by the congregation to explain himself, he gave a list of questions to one of the younger members, who passed it on the older members.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28918,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-in-charge-the-preacher-or-the-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":46072,"position":2},"title":"Who is in charge, the preacher or the elders?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, I'm forced to ask this question: between the ministers and the elders, who is in charge of a local congregation? Where that I am, there is a serious power tussle between the two. The ministers say, since they teach the men to become elders and also ordain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83178,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-an-eldership-direct-multiple-congregations\/","url_meta":{"origin":46072,"position":3},"title":"Can an eldership direct multiple congregations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We teach that elders are appointed in local congregations and that no congregation oversees another congregation. Neither does the elder of one congregation have overseeing power or responsibility over another congregation. In Acts 15, we know that there were Jewish Christians who insisted that Gentile Christians must circumcise and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70562,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-eldership-censor-preaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":46072,"position":4},"title":"Can eldership censor preaching?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I understand elders make decisions to run the day-to-day operations of the congregation. If they cannot show a scriptural reason for not allowing a male member to preach, can they prohibit him from preaching? While it can always be said, \"Not enough knowledge,\" how does that not become\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29235,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-organization-of-the-church-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":46072,"position":5},"title":"The Organization of the Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Hebrews 8:1-5 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We give God glory when we teach His doctrine and execute it accordingly - I Peter 4:11 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thus we are to follow the pattern set for us - Philippians 3:17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Warnings abound not to change the message - Galatians 1:6-10 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Any change would give glory to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46072\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}