Is necessary inference really necessary?
If you Google "necessary inference," you end up finding almost entirely Church of Christ websites, or websites about the Church of Christ and it's sometimes unique doctrines. The reason? The term was popularized by Church of Christ preachers using a three-finger recital of how we establish Biblical authority for modern church practices: command, example, and necessary inference. But adherence to this methodology didn't come from Alexander Campbell, or even his father. "While Thomas Campbell, in his Declaration and Address, says we should use command and example to understand what God would have us do, Alexander Campbell, in his Christianity Restored, spends a hundred pages on hermeneutical principles and never mentions "command, example, and necessary inference." (Stafford North at Oklahoma Christian University) "We only pretend to assert [...]
