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5 “The Bible Is Right!” The Theology and Strategy of Marshall Keeble If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister , let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. —1 Peter 4:11 Marshall Keeble’s theology, which he imbibed fundamentally from white leaders in Churches of Christ and which he then reflected in his sermons, eventually formed the theological platform from which southern African American Churches of Christ emerged. Although Keeble himself left few writings for posterity, in 1931 B. C. Goodpasture assigned Connie Alderman of Valdosta, Georgia, to transcribe Keeble’s homilies, and these discourses furnish essential insight into the theology of both this dynamic evangelist and the black congregations he spoke into existence. This chapter explores how Keeble and other black ministers in Churches of Christ viewed the Bible, understood the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life, emphasized baptism for the remission of sins, and argued for the exclusivity of the Church of Christ, even as they embraced as wayward believers those who were aligned with the Christian Church. Authority of Scripture In his sermon “The Power of the Written Word,” Keeble underscored the importance of seekers coming “to Jesus as the Bible directs.” Keeble held a high view of Scripture, placing the Bible and the Holy Spirit on the same plane. Refuting Pentecostals who claimed “the working of the Holy Ghost independent of God’s word,” Keeble asserted: “I am one of those that believe that all the power is in the word of God and if you ever get any power to do anything for Christ, it must come through the written word.”1 Keeble’s “the bible is right!” / 57 conviction that God’s power (or God’s Spirit) was inseparable from the written word stems from the influence of Alexander Campbell, Tolbert Fanning , and David Lipscomb. In his 1843 debate with the Presbyterian theologian Nathan L. Rice, Campbell affirmed: “In conversion and sanctification, the Spirit of God operates on persons only through theWord [sic].”2 One Campbell interpreter has noted that, more precisely, Campbell believed that it was not “the Spirit in the Word which converts, rather it is the Spirit with the Word.”3 The perspective that God’s Word worked in conjunction with God’s Spirit carried over into the twentieth century. In 1906, when asked about the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life, David Lipscomb remarked, “The word of God is the seed of the kingdom, in which the Spirit, that gives life, dwells. The abiding presence of the Spirit is obtained through receiving and cherishing the word of God in the heart.”4 F. B. Srygley, also a longtime editor of the Gospel Advocate, argued: “Though the Holy Spirit quickens the dead sinner into spiritual life, he does it through his word as a means.”5 R. N. Hogan, a prominent black preacher in Churches of Christ, expressed in 1970: “Everything that the Holy Spirit says to us is through the word that has been revealed by the Spirit and written by the apostles.”6 Reacting to Pentecostals who insisted that the spiritual gifts of healing and speaking in tongues extended to modern Christians, Hogan reiterated this view fourteen years later. “We do not need those spiritual gifts today, for everything that pertains to life and godliness is revealed to us through the written word. . . . Our knowledge is limited to the written word: we only know what is written , and our salvation depends upon our faith in, and obedience to, that which is written.”7 This view of the Holy Spirit’s work in a believer’s life had been articulated specifically to refute Pentecostals’ arguments, and Keeble and other black leaders in Churches of Christ clearly replicated this position initiated by white leaders in Churches of Christ and used it in their frequent confrontations with Pentecostal teachings. Keeble’s sermon, “Been to Worship, But Wrong,” similarly accentuated his conviction of the Bible’s centrality. “Make up your minds, the Bible is right. You can go home and fuss all night, the Bible is right. You can go home and have spasms, the Bible is right.” Forrest Neil Rhoads has commented that Keeble’s emphasis on “the Bible is right” appealed to his audiences and critically impacted their thinking. “Gentlemen, you can...

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