Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 9
Michael contrasted the 1955 “bisheless” letter being treated as decisive with his comment, “I’m not sure what the people done before 1955…they had the Bible”; how does that tension expose competing authorities (Bible vs. inherited rulings), and where might modern evangelicalism have its own “1955 letters” (unstated traditions) that function like final authority?
Another way to ask: Michael noticed a 1955 letter was treated like the final word, even though people before then had the Bible. How does this show a struggle between the Bible and man-made rulings, and what “unwritten rules” in evangelical churches might act the same way today?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The tension exposes a struggle over what finally governs the church: Scripture or later institutional rulings treated as binding. Michael’s point suggests that when a tradition becomes decisive, people may stop asking how the Bible itself directs doctrine and discipline.
- A minister challenged Michael about “a 1955 writing…a bisheless…where all the churches got together…had to do with excommunication.”
- Michael replied he had not read it and questioned the assumption: “I’m not sure what the people done before 1955…they had the Bible, and I believe they got along fine.”
- He notes “those were the types of things that they really held themselves on,” implying that letter carried functional authority.
- In the same season, the ministry resisted discussing “the Bible or the articles of faith,” insisting the “focus” was “our ordinance.”
- Michael’s positive turning points came from Scripture-backed arguments (Schleitheim articles, John 3, 1 John 5:13) rather than institutional documents.