Should Christians Support The Salvation Army
by Wayne Jackson

[Editor's note: Each year during the last few weeks of the year in public places we see individuals taking donations for the Salvation Army. You've surely seen these folks standing in front of stores and ringing their bells. The great frenzy of the holiday season will soon be upon us. If you have never given serious thought to the question asked in the title above, then it is "high time" that you did. Please prayerfully consider the following article that speaks directly to this theme. RDC (Editor’s Note from ConyersChurchofChrist.com)]

Street bands, trucks collecting items for repair, pleasant looking elderly ladies ringing bells at Christmas time, soup lines, etc. - all of these are identifying marks of the highly publicized Salvation Army, an organization hailed as a veritable paragon of virtue by most religious people. The Salvation Army is acclaimed for its significant charitable thrust. It operates hostels for the homeless, employment bureaus, hospitals, clinics, leprosaria, homes for unwed mothers, orphan homes, boarding schools, etc. Many would conclude that such an institution is worthy of highest praise. Admittedly, such a benevolent disposition is commendable; it is a fact, however, that the Salvation Army is a religious organization unauthorized by the teaching of the Bible, and many of its doctrines are contrary to plain New Testament teaching. And there is no virtue in filling a man's belly with food while filling his soul with error! Let us briefly consider the Salvation Army movement.

Origin - The founder of the Salvation Army was William Booth. Booth was born in Nottingham, England in 1829. As a young man, he joined the Methodist Church, and shortly thereafter, around 1844, he allegedly had some sort of "conversion experience" which led to his becoming a revivalist preacher about two years later. In 1862 he left the Methodists to evangelize among the poor. Booth started the East London Christian Mission in 1865, the name being changed to "The Salvation Army" in 1878. According to its charter, issued in New York State in 1899, the Salvation Army is an organization "designed to operate as a religious and charitable corporation" whose paramount purpose "is to lead men and women into a proper relationship with God" (What Is The Salvation Army?, pp. 8,9).

Organization - The structure of the Salvation Army bears not the slightest resemblance to that of the church revealed in the New Testament. Rather, it is more akin to the hierarchical system of Roman Catholicism. The headquarters of this international system is in London and is under the authority of the "General." The General operates through a "Chief of Staff" into various overseas departments where limited administrative decisions are made. In the United States the Army is divided into four Territories, with headquarters in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and San Francisco. Each has its own commander with rank of Commissioner or Lieutenant-Commissioner. There is also a National commander with headquarters in New York…" (Ibid., p. 10).

Doctrine - The official creed book of the Salvation Army is The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine published by the International Headquarters in London. The "General Order" which prefaces the book states: "This volume contains an exposition of the principle Doctrines of the Salvation Army as set forth in its Deed Pool of 1878. These Doctrines are to be taught in connection with all Salvation officers' training operations, both preparatory and institutional. It is required of officers of all ranks that their teaching, in public and private, shall conform to these eleven Articles of Faith." Their claim that the Scriptures constitute the only "divine rule of Christian faith and practice" is completely misleading in light of these articles of faith. The doctrine and practice of the Salvation Army reveals a dramatic lack of regard for the authority of the Bible. The good deeds of the organization are thus not to the glory of God; Jehovah is to be glorified only through the church for which Christ died (Ephesians 3:21).

Some of the doctrinal errors of this movement are outlined as follows: (1) The Salvation Army teaches that in consequence of our first parents' sin, we are born sinners, totally depraved, having inherited a disposition to self-pleasing (Handbook, pp. 85,86). The Bible does not teach such a notion. Sin is not inherited (Ezekiel 18:20), and "little ones" know neither good nor evil (Deuteronomy 1:39). God is the Father of our spirits (Hebrews 12:9; hence, when they come from Him (Ecclesiastes 12:7), they are as pure as the Source. Man begins to practice evil in his youth (Genesis 8:21). Jesus had a human mother; was He at least half depraved?

(2) Salvation Army doctrine contends that man has no way to be saved simply through the gospel message of salvation; rather, he must receive a special "illumination of the Holy Spirit" so that he may personally know that word is true (Handbook, pp. 89,133). This, of course, is in direct contradiction with Romans 1:16, which shows that the gospel is "the power of God" to save.

(3) The Salvation Army administers no baptism. They assert that it is not necessary "in order to receive salvation." They reason that there are climates and circumstances which would make immersion impractical; hence, only repentance and faith are required (Handbook, pp. 185, 186). But, Christ taught otherwise. He commanded that the gospel be preached throughout the whole world and "he that believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16). The Salvation Army has no authority to change this divine ordinance.

(4) The Salvation Army makes no provision for the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Though Jesus plainly said of the memorial supper, "this do in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24), the Salvation Army excludes it, amazingly, that they might testify to themselves and others "against the danger of trusting to an external rite as though it has virtue in itself" (Handbook, p. 188). One wonders why the Lord did not think of that! The Salvation Army's "testimony" is that of unbelief!

(5) The use of mechanical instruments of music for Christian worship is not authorized by the New Testament. It is an addition to the specific New Testament command to sing (Ephesians 5:19), and it is well known that it was a human introduction of the 7th century A.D. But, "music plays an important part in Salvation Army religion" (What Is The Salvation Army?, p. 25). It is further symbolic of the Salvation Army's disregard of sacred truth.

(6) The Army also uses women preachers in its teaching system. Catherine Booth (the founder's wife) was a preacher who addressed great audiences. She wrote a vigorous defense of the "female ministry." The Bible prohibits a woman functioning in such a capacity (1 Timothy 2:12ff). She cannot be a public preacher to sexually integrated audiences.

(7) In the New Testament, the work of the church was supported strictly by free-will contributions form its members (Acts 11:29; 1 Cor. 16:2). The Salvation Army is involved in various enterprises for the raising of money and, according to one of their books, must even "look to the public for some of its financial support" (Ibid., p. 26). No Christian should support this sect.

[Copied from The Informer, 12/12/99 via ConyersChurchofChrist.com]