Doctrines to be Rejected

Forasmuch as it is common in our day to profess faith in Christ without understanding the truth concerning him, and while holding beliefs that make it entirely void, we deem it necessary to supplement the declaration of our faith in its positive features, with a definition of our position in relation to the heresies now current in the world, in the garb of truth; and for the preservation of the truth from the corrupting influence of the fables of the apostasy, and also in order the more effectually to "try every spirit" making profession of the faith, we ask of every person claiming our fellowship, an assent to our statements on this head, as well as an endorsement of our profession of positive faith.

  1. The Trinity

    That God is not three, but One Father, out of whom are all things - even the Spirit and the Son.1
    1. I Cor 8:6; Eph 4:6

  2. The "Eternal Sonship" of Christ, and the Free-Life Doctrine

    That the Son of God was not co-eternal with the Father, but is the result of the Father's manifestation in the flesh, by the operation of the Holy Spirit upon Mary, in the manner defined in paragraph 7, and that when he so appeared, his life in the flesh was no more a "free life" than that of his brethren whom he came to redeem, but was, "in all points," what theirs was, as his mission (to put away death by death) required, the difference between him and them being that he was without transgression.1
    1. Luke 1:35; Matt 1:20; Rom 8:3; Heb 2:14,17; 4:15; 5:9; Ps 21:4

  3. The "Third Person in the Godhead."

    That the Holy Spirit is not a person, but the vehicular effluence of the Father, filling all space, and forming the medium and instrument of all the Father's operations.1
    1. Job 26:13; 33:4 Ps 104:30; Neh 9:30

  4. The Immortality of the Soul

    That the immortality of the soul is a pagan fiction, subversive of the first law of the Deity's moral government, viz., that the wages of sin is death.1
    1. Gen 3:19; Ps 89:48; 30:3; 81:13; Job 33:22; Rom 5:12; 6:23; I Tim 6:16

  5. The Theory of Disembodied Existence

    That there is no existence in death, conscious or unconscious, and that the popular belief in heaven and hell is a delusion.1 Therefore -
    a - That the wicked will not suffer eternal torture, but will be engulfed in total destruction after resurrection.2
    b - That the righteous will not ascend to kingdoms beyond the skies at death, or at any other time, but will inherit the earth forever.3
    1. Ps 6:5; Eccl 9:5,6,10; Ps 44:3-4; Isa 38:18-19; Job 3:13,22
    2. Ps 37:10,20,34; Job 20:5,8; I Thess 1:9-10; Ps 144:20; 104:35; 73:27; Job 21:30; Prov 13:30
    3. Prov 10:30; 11:31; Matt 5:5; Ps 37:9,22; Rev 5:9-10; Dan 7:27

  6. Supernatural Personal Devil

    That there is no such thing as a supernatural personal devil, the devil of Scripture being a personification of sin in its several phases and manifestations among men.1
    1. Heb 2:14; Acts 5:3-9; Matt 16:23; Rev 2:10,12-13; John 6:70; Rev 12:3,17

  7. Ecclesiastical and Sky Kingdoms

    That the kingdom of God is not "the church," or a region beyond the stars, but a system of things to be established under Christ on earth, in the Holy Land.1
    1. Dan 2:44; 7:13; Jer 23:5; Luke 1:32-33; Amos 9:11; Ezek 37:21,22

  8. Three-Fact Gospel

    That the Gospel is not the death, burial and resurrection of Christ merely, but "the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ."1
    1. Acts 8:12; 28:30-31

  9. No Judgment at the Coming of Christ

    That the judgment of the saints, at the tribunal of Christ, when he comes, is not a simple allotment of rewards, but a dividing of the faithful from the unfaithful, with reference to the question of life or death.1
    1. I Cor 4:5; II Cor 5:10; Rom 2:5-6,16; 2:18; Gal 6:8