To illustrate how silence signifies nothing, let the next page represent silence. Look at it. It is blank. What do you see on it? You see nothing, otherwise it would not be blank.
Write on it a word. Write the command, look. To the extent that there is something on the paper, whether it is a flyspeck or a word, the sheet is no longer blank. And now that the sheet is no longer blank, what do you see? You see the word look. Draw a box around the word look to represent the area of the command where silence no longer exists—that is, where the paper is not blank anymore. What else do you see? Do you not see that it is necessary to have your eyes open in order to look? Why do we see this? Not because it is written on the page, nor because it is implied by the remaining blankness, but because it is required in order to follow the command look.
Now write the words, stand up. When you wrote that command, you brought into existence another requirement. i.e., do not remain seated. Where do you see this requirement-—on the blankness that is left on the paper?
(The next page is blank)
No, of course not. You see it because it is required by the command, stand up. There is nothing in the remaining blankness that was not there before you wrote the words. Blankness is nothing. Silence is like blankness; it is nothing.
Silence as the Absence of Revelation or Instruction from God
Among Churches of Christ there is a great deal of confusion over the role that silence plays in determining the things that the Lord requires of us. Many argue that authority resides in the silence of Scripture. When men speak of the authority of silence, or of the prohibitions of silence, they are speaking about the absence of instruction, either by command or example. The particular type of authority these men find in silence is a negative authority. In other words, if the Bible does not mention something, then they believe that this silence is to be interpreted as God's saying, "You shall not do this thing." Thus, You shall not eat the Lord's Supper more than once a week, and You shall not eat the Lord's Supper on any day but Sunday.
In the Churches of Christ, our focus has been on the letter of the law and not the spirit. This focus assumes that God has decreed rules and regulations that men must keep in order to be right before Him. This view further assumes that God has left many of these rules unstated, but requires that they be inferred from the silence of Scripture. Where no instructions or examples are given of a particular practice, some claim that such a practice is proscribed (forbidden) by the authority of silence. It is vitally important that we examine these claims, because they deal with a person's standing with God. This book is the result of such an examination.
I humbly ask those who are reading this book not to react against the things presented because of emotional ties to our traditional stance. Please be honest with yourselves and give this investigation serious consideration with an open mind. I do not want you to accept something that is not the truth. If you see any real flaws in what has been presented here, I shall be grateful if you will point them out to me. For the majority of my years of preaching, I taught and clung to the concept of the authority of silence. I have turned from it neither lightly nor easily. I do not want to be found advocating false teachings. I can no longer justify holding to our traditional stance on this subject.
It is my prayer for you that you will give these things serious study and be willing to discard anything you find to be out of harmony with the Bible. It is my prayer for the Church that we will unite on the necessary things, allow liberty in all else, while exercising love toward one another in all things. To this end, with God's help, I dedicate this book.
