Tommy Downs

In Search of a Unicorn: or Dismounting from a Three-horned Dilemma Tommy Downs

Scanning back to the 1500's, glimpsing the 1600's, scrutinizing the seventeen and 1800's, while melding with the 1900's and today, this book deals with many of the attempts by men of various persuasions to revitalize the church that Jesus spawned in Matthew 16: 18 when He said, "I will build MY church."

Basing his book on his membership and ministry in the predominant restoration movement churches (the churches of Christ, the independent Christian churches, and the Christian Church--Disciples of Christ), the author cites situations that show the differences among these three, but dwells mostly on ways that he has seen that they are similar and have worked together.

The Macedonia congregation of North Carolina is featured as an example of efforts to maintain a Christian witness in rural America--long before lines were drawn in 1906 between groups that use musical instruments in worship and those that don't.

The Hutterites (and other Anabaptist bodies) from the 1500's have kept to "the old way", the New Testament way as they see it, while the Presbyterians, the Anglicans, the Methodists, even the Mormons, and many others have launched movements to restore the New Testament church. Throughout the religious world there have been many efforts to go "back to the Bible.". . . some sincere and well-founded, many spurious and self-serving. The author quaintly uses the unique and elusive unicorn as a metaphor for the object of all these searches.