Canfield on the Ground of Locality

[Cal]

Originally Posted by OBW

I just did a perusal of DC's web site. Lot's of good stuff. And lot's of stuff to try to direct people back to the old LRC ways.

I spent several hours writing a 3200 word rebuttal to Canfield's booklet "Regarding the Ground of Oneness in Locality." But I decided not to make it public because I don't want to discourage brother Canfield from posting on this site.

But I would like to say a couple of things about his booklet which I feel just need to be said:

1. The ground of locality doctrine as held by Canfield produces what it claims to eliminate, that is sectarianism. The doctrine is by nature sectarian because although it appears to be about having one church per city, it is really about having one church administration per city. Since there is no way to know for sure which administration is the correct one, anyone expecting others to recognize one particular administration is by definition sectarian. This is unavoidable.
   
   
2. Canfield is totally out-of-line in stating that people who do not "go the way of the church" do not love the Lord enough. It is much like a staunch Calvinist claiming that people who do not accept his view of predestination do not love the Lord enough. Attempting to intimidate and manipulate people by saying they don't love the Lord enough because they don't hold to your pet, obscure doctrine is beneath any Christian. Unfortunately, it is a tactic not beneath some of those who have their legacy in the LC. Canfield should keep such attitudes to himself until he finds the grace to overcome them.