A Plea for Unity: The Stone-Campbell Movement - Bruce Sullivan - Deep in History

[Music] from the description in this year's brochure we read with the denomination of North America the Catholic faith will face a seemingly endless growth of new churches the continent was dotted with new Protestant faiths all claiming to hold the truth of Christianity well we've been given a glimpse of the negative fallout of de nominalization ISM yet above what could be easily described as the den of sectarian strife and denominational chaos a handful of men began to make a plea for Christian unity this plea soon became a movement and that movement the Stone Campbell movement also known as the American restoration movement is the topic for this presentation my personal interest in this topic stems from the fact that prior to might be even received into the Catholic Church 14 years ago I was a preacher in the movement my wife also gloriam has a history of at least five generations in a Stone Campbell movement and moreover we reside in the move in the movements historic stomping grounds of central Kentucky three reference works I highly recommend for those interested in the history of the movement arm the Stone Campbell movement by Leroy Garrett published by college press publication company of Joplin Missouri and reviving the ancient faith the story of Churches of Christ in America by Richard T Hughes published by William B eerdmans publishing company Grand Rapids Michigan and the origins of the restoration movement an intellectual history by Richard M Tristano published by the Glen Murray Research Center in Atlanta Georgia I'll be referring to inciting from these three reference works throughout this talk with our nation's fight for independence still a recent memory and the war of 1812 still yet in the future a grassroots movement began in what was then the western frontier country of present-day West Virginia Ohio Tennessee Indiana and Kentucky comprised largely of secede ur Presbyterians disenchanted by sectarianism the leaders of this movement began to preach a message of Christian unity based upon quote universally recognized essentials of the Christian faith characterized by trajection of man-made creeds and ecclesiastical authority the movements message struck a chord in the hearts and minds of pioneering people the frontier characterized by rugged individualism passion for freedom and a sense of destiny these frontiersman were attracted to the movements plea or emphasis rather Congregational autonomy and responsibility of each and every man to read and interpret the sacred scriptures for himself as a result by 1850 the movements ranks swelled to an impressive 200 thousand followers and by 1900 the movement could boast of more than 1 million members in fact in the 1906 u.s. census of religious bodies Churches of Christ or rather churches of the Stone Campbell movement ranked as the 5th largest religious body in the nation and today with a combined membership of over 4 million the descendants of the spiritual heirs this movement comprise the largest native Christian body in the United States I share these figures to underscore the fact of the Stone Campbell movement a movement with which I would wager that most of us for the most part are almost completely unfamiliar it was a movement though great significance in our nation's history it the movements chief spokesman Alexander Campbell was in fact in his day is well known on the western frontier as Billy Graham is today so let's take a few moments to consider the stone Campbell movement its primary personalities its distinctive clean its operational principles its presuppositions its present state of affairs and what if anything we as Catholics can learn from it in regard to the primary personalities there are dozens of men who became renowned in their day as preachers in this movement but time constrains us to just three the three men whose names are most often associated with the movement Barton W stone Thomas Campbell and Thomas's son Alexander Campbell regarding Barton W stone Leroy Garrett tells us that born in Port tobacco Maryland the December 24th 1772 life had been difficult for young Barton he recalls how as a lad he watched his older brothers leave home to fight in the Revolutionary War and up hearing the sound of artillery as General Greene and Lord Cornwallis met in mortal combat only 30 miles from his home he was a frontiersman he eluded marauding Indians as he crossed unexplored wilderness country in North Carolina and Tennessee he made himself vulnerable to wild beasts as he bedded down at night far removed from civilization when he passed within a few miles of Nashville in 1796 he noted that it was quote a poor little village hardly worth notice when stone finally settled on the Kentucky frontier it was on 100 acres of land that he purchased for five hundred dollars in Bourbon County just outside of Lexington it was there that he'd serve as a Presbyterian pastor of two small congregations one at Concord and the other at nearby cane Ridge it was there also that his young bride Elizabeth Campbell bore him four daughters but nine years after being Wed to Barton Elizabeth died giving birth to her son Barton w stone Jr who also died ston later married Celia Wilson Bowen who born six more children he had a total of 49 grandchildren two of whom were playmates of Mark Twain in the streets of Hannibal Missouri small world as a Presbyterian minister Barton W stone had serious reservations regarding some of the fundamental tenets of Calvinism to which he was expected to adhere in fact so strong were his reservations that he initially refused ordination because of them but upon confessing these reservation reservations it's the two pillars of the presbytery they asked him just how far he was willing to go and accepting the confession of faith he responded that he'd accepted quote insofar as it conformed to the Word of God surprisingly enough this answer satisfied the presbytery and they proceeded with the ordination so just what were the parts of the Presbyterian confession of faith the troubled stone for one thing he did not feel free to confess the doctor of the Most Holy Trinity he did not consider the Holy Spirit to be a person but rather a power or energy sent from God furthermore while he believed that the sacred scriptures certainly revealed Jesus Christ to be the Son of God he did not think they presented him as actually being God stone believed that while Christ as the word was the instrumental cause of creation he was not the first cause which in effect made him a created being this led to his opponents accusing of being an Arian a charge which he denied later as an example of the early Stone Campbell movements minimalistic approach to doctrine the movements primary champion Alexander Campbell while himself quite Orthodox in regard to his belief in the Most Holy Trinity would actually defend stone by relegating Trinitarian theology that the category of quote opinion stone also had trouble with the Calvinistic doctrines of election reprobation and predestination else there is they have trouble with in Calvinism these tenets of Calvinism had been a source of significant turmoil in the soul of young Barton W stone in his personal journey of faith because their expression in him they took the form of a view of conversion that genuinely required a lengthy drawn-out torturous process that required the sinner to wait until God decided to move an irresistible manner in his heart but after hearing a young preacher by the name of William Hodge stone would later write I now saw that a poor sinner was as much authorized to believe in Jesus Christ at first as at last that now was accepted time the day of salvation this realization would put Barton on the path of becoming a reformer and placed him in company with like-minded preachers who were instrumental in launching will become to be known as the Great Western revival also known as his second great awakening which was talked about last night by dr. Chacon stones Ruhlman great revival was a significant one having heard the success of the Presbyterian revivalist preacher James McGrady in Logan County Kentucky stone journeyed nearly 200 miles to Logan County in order to observe the revival that was taking place there he was so deeply impressed by the way in which revivalist ik preaching stirred the hearts of men and engendered religious fervor that he came back to Bourbon County and advertised there a similar revival meeting to be conducted at his church that meeting which began on Friday August 6 1801 and lasted until the following Thursday August 12th 1801 was a now-famous cane Ridge revival there was attended by as many as 20 to 50,000 people depending you know the sources you consult the Cambridge revival made a significant impact in Barton stone because it confirmed him in his belief that salvation could invade men's lives without years of waiting moreover he was deeply impressed by its ecumenical character frontier religion was often characterized by sectarian bigotry but a cane Ridge stone witnessed Presbyterian Methodist and Baptist clergy setting aside their differences in order to preach the fundamentals of the gospel to spiritually hungry men and women as such the great revival would serve as a catalyst to initiate a movement to unite all Christians a movement that would find its most noteworthy early leader ship in the person of Martin W stone while not particularly an original thinker Barton stone would supply the primary leadership in the early days of the frontier unity movement because of his passion obsession with unity as emphasis and the premise of love in the pursuit of Christian unity his crossing of confessional lines is an abandonment of Calvinism eventually led to trouble with the presbytery leading him and other Presbyterian clergyman of like mine to withdraw from the Senate of Kentucky and organize a new one which they named the Springfield presbytery upon so doing stone went before his congregations at Concord and cane Ridge in order to explain to them why he no longer could preach to them as a presbyterian as Leroy Garrett reports it Stone stated my labor should henceforth be directed to advance the Redeemers kingdom irrespective of party stone then proceeded to relieve them with her salary obligation to him tearing up the contract in their presence but assured them that he would continue to preach among them though not on the same basis as before true to his word stone continued to travel far and wide preaching almost as much as before returning home to work his fields at night but within one year the members of the newly formed Springfield presbytery came to the realization that while the presbytery they had formed created unity for themselves and nonetheless made them a party separate from others as stone would put it years later in his autobiography we had not worn our name more than one year before we saw it savored of a party spirit therefore he went on to state with the man-made creeds we threw it overboard and took the name Christian and so doing they would now be free as stone to put it to heartily unite with our Christian brethren of every name in order to formalize and underscore the radical break of sectarianism they drew up on the early foundational documents of the budding unity movement the last will and testament of the Springfield presbytery the documents dated June 28 1804 which serves in a very real sense as a proper date for the the origin of the denomination we now know today is the Christian Church and for the beginning of the Stone Campbell movement historians have variously described the last will and testament of the Springfield presbyteries being quote whimsically phrased delightfully ironical and even playful and attitude take for example this paragraph we will that the Senate of Kentucky examine every member who may be suspected of having departed from the confession of faith and suspend every such heretic immediately in order that the oppressed may go free and taste the sweets of gospel liberty but as Garrett points out nothing could be more serious than their impress meaning in the first place which reads we will that this body die be dissolved and sink into union with if Christ at large for there is but one body and one spirit even as we are called in one hope of our calling this appeal to the foundation stones of Christian unity as elucidated by st. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians would become a hallmark but stone Campbell movement and while it can be argued that the movement was unofficially launched with the writing of the last will and testament of the springfield presbytery it would fall upon another presbyterian minister and his son to set forth the principles that would guide the movement and bring it to prominence that Minister was Thomas Campbell born February 1st 1763 in County Down Ireland Thomas Campbell was raised in the Anglican Church but as a young man joined the Secession Church the Secession Church was a splinter group from the Church of Scotland that forms a protest to this Church of Scotland's attempt to enforce the existing laws of patronage these laws deprived congregations of the privilege of selecting their own pastors and instead made it the responsibility the local landlords to appoint pastors as justanna recounts for us protests went unheeded and by 1733 a split it was formalized by the formation of a new presbytery which became the nucleus of a new group known as the Cedars the Cedars spread throughout Scotland and into Northern Ireland as well Thomas Campbell became a member of this secession church and was eventually ordained as a minister in the most radical wing of the Cedars known as the old light anti burger to Cedar Presbyterians which underscored his vehement rejection of any connection whatsoever between church and state in April 1807 Thomas emigrated to the United States leaving his wife and children behind in Ireland with plans for them to join and once he'd established himself in America upon landing in Philadelphia on May 13 1807 Thomas Campbell presented himself and his credentials to the secedes associates Senate of North America which just happened to be in session at that very time and in that very City he was cordially received and giving preaching assignments in the frontier town of Pittsburgh and its environs but his honeymoon with the local secede her establishment was short-lived for than four months charges were brought against him which called into question his orthodoxy the charges were in reference to Campbell's practice of inviting those not of his particular sect the communion table in the words of biographer Robert Richardson mr. Campbell's sympathies were strongly aroused in regard to the destitute condition of someone in the vicinity who belonged to other branches of the Presbyterian family and who had not Fei long time at an opportunity of partaking of the Lord's Supper and he felt it his duty in the preparation sermon to lament the existing divisions and suggests that all his pious hearers who felt so disposed and duly prepared should without respect to party differences enjoy the benefits of the communion season then providentially afforded them but the Senate's actions over the succeeding 18 months made it very clear to Campbell that his convictions regarding individual Christian unity and Christian unity were taking him on a path that diverged significantly from that of the Presbyterian establishment in the summer of 1809 therefore he joined with others of like mind in forming the Christian Association of Washington that is Washington Pennsylvania convinced that man-made creeds with a source of sectarian strife Campbell conceived was to become something like a motto for the Association and one of the most often coughed quotas sayings of the later subsequent movement where the Scriptures speak we speak and where the Scriptures are silent we are silent one of the first actions of the associations who entrust Thomas Campbell the task of drawing up a statement regarding the purposes and objectives of the Association the resulting document the Declaration and address has been widely regarded as the Magna Carta of a stone Campbell movement and its publication of September 7th 1809 regarded by many as the de facto date for the launching of the movement we will consider this document in some detail afternoon introducing the man who would make the document famous Thomas Campbell's son Alexander Campbell born in September 12th 1788 in County Antrim Ireland Thomas Campbell's son Alexander remained behind with his mother and siblings when his father preceded him to America in 1807 he and the rest of his family would be reunited with Thomas late in September excuse me in the summer of 1809 at about the same time as a declaration and address was being completed during the two-year interim Alexander gave himself to formal studies at the University of Glasgow in Scotland wreak a murder under the influence of Scottish enlightenment philosophy particularly that of John and Thomas reads common-sense philosophy the amalgamation of different elements from both schools of thought provided Campbell with the philosophical foundation for his approach to Christianity in the Bible there's also while at Glasgow that young Alexander arrived at similar conclusions to his father's in regard to sectarianism Leroy Garrett relates for us again in 1809 when Alexander Campbell was only twenty years old he went before the elders of the anti burgers at Cedar Presbyterian Church in Glasgow Scotland to obtain a metal token that would allow him to participate in the upcoming semiannual communion service being a member of the Secession Church in Ireland and having no letter he was required to go before the session in Glasgow and be examined he was accordingly examined by the session and received the token however when the hour came for Alexander to commune with his fellows to Cedars there is serious doubt in his mind as whether he should do so some 800 communicants were served in shifts as they gathered around 8 or 9 tables at a time Alexander kept postponing his decision hesitating to enter by the door into the communion room allowing others who go on ahead of him as he dropped farther back in a waiting line finally he made his decision once he was seated at one of the tables he dropped his token in the plate but declined to partake of the elements when they passed before him he walked out a free man realizing that life would never be the same now that he turned his back in the Church of his youth Campbell's personal physician and biographer dr. Robert Richardson would later say of that experience the ring of the token falling upon the plate announced the instant at which he announced Presbyterianism forever the legend Bowsher becoming fuss a sign or rather a token not of communion but of separation later that same year when father and son were reunited in America Thomas and Alexandra happily discovered that they did Lee arrived at similar conclusions regarding their former denomination and at once set about working as partners to initiate a movement within the greater church that would promote unity based upon the principles and Thomas Campbell's declaration and address they had no intention of starting another church rather they saw themselves as working within the existing denominations and in fact initially associated themselves with the Baptist in their region while it was Thomas Campbell who composed the guiding document for the movement it would be a son Alexander who would become its chief spokesman and in a certain sense something of a showpiece for the movement this was due in large part to his extraordinary gifts an untiring nature arriving in America is an immigrant with a little to his name Alexander Campbell became a genuine American success story he was in many respects the quintessential early 19th century American deeply impressed with the glories of the new nation and a landed occupied he imagined that a golden age was near possibly even the final triumph of the kingdom of God hence the magazine he published for over 30 years was called the Millennial Harbinger this perspective on America and the times in which he lived would fueled his zeal for what he would call the restoration of the Ancient Order Campbell settled in Brook County Virginia where he met Margaret Braun the daughter of a local carpenter in 1911 he and Margaret were married and Margaret's father in order to keep Alexander and Margaret close to home deeded over the family farm to the young couple located in what is now the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia the farms full potential was realized through Alexander's ingenuity and elbow grease eventually making Alexander Campbell one of the wealthiest men in all Virginia in fact the abundant fruit of his Labor's word Laver enabled eggs Alexander Campbell to donate thirteen hundred acres of the establishment of Bethany College which he founded in 1840 and to endow the institution with its first ten thousand dollars roughly equivalent of two hundred thousand dollars by today's standards in addition he served as the college's first president setting it on a course of excellence that has made Bethany College a liberal arts colleges some distinction to this day and the oldest private institution of higher education in West Virginia as a civic leader Alexander Campbell is elected to represent his district the 1829 Virginia constitutional convention at which he served with Chief Justice John Marshall the governor of Virginia William B Giles and two former presidents of the United States James Madison and James Monroe in fact during his four months in Richmond as a convention delegate Campbell filled pulpits of various churches and on Sunday mornings he lectured occasions throughout the city in the course of such speaking engagements he was heard by many of the convention delegates including former President James Madison Madison spoke highly of camels role in the convention and then added but it is as a theologian the mister Campbell must be known it was my pleasure to hear him very often as a preacher of the gospel and I regard him as the ablest and most original expound or the scriptures I've ever heard Alexander Campbell's rise to prominence as a preacher and expositor of Scripture was fueled to a large degree by several public debates which were widely publicized in his time this might seem a bit strange to us and view of the fact that there seems to be not much interest in debates in our day but in the 19th century it was different debates brought welcome diversion even entertainment in addition to prodding inquiry in the search for truth camels debates the commanded the attention of both religious and political leaders throughout the region and earned him a reputation for erudition and eloquence through those debates warrant special mention the first was a debate on the evidences of Christianity held in Cincinnati Ohio in April of 1829 his opponent was the then famous Scotch sceptic Robert Owen who had attracted regional and attention by starting a secular socialist community in New Harmony Indiana the story is told of how prior to the debate owen came to visit campbell at his home in bethany during the course of his visit owen found as a sputum to be not only affable and pleasant but also quick with repartee while out walking the grounds of his estate campbell showed his visitor the family cemetery whereupon owen observed that he had one advantage over the christian and that he had no fear of death well answered campbell you say you have no fear and death have you any hope in death after a solemn pause own admitted that he had no hope and death ah then you're on a level with that brute campbell rejoined pointing to a nearby ox he has fed till he's satisfied and stands in the shade whisking off the Flies and he has neither hope nor fear and death at this owen could only smile and seemed willing to admit the Justice of Campbell's logic about conclusion their subsequent debate it was apparent that Bowen clearly admired campbell describing him as manly honest and fair as well as learned in an industrious gamble for his part was later drew guard owen as the most gentlemanly opponent he'd ever faced in public debate in fact the two men often ate dinner together after a day of debating as to the outcome of the debate by all standards of measure campbell managed to put Owen to flight though you know someone say at least clipped his wings thereby making Campbell the champion of all believers and bringing him widespread respect and admiration throughout the region the second debate of some notoriety and a particular interest of this conference took place in Cincinnati as well in February of 1837 between Campbell and the young Catholic Archbishop of Cincinnati John Purcell this debate was particularly interesting because while it established Alexander Campbell was both a representative and defender of Protestantism and gray shading Campbell to the Protestant denominations it also placed him in the awkward position of pleading for Christian unity while representing a divided Protestantism the disputants were to debate seven charges which Campbell laid against the Catholic Church get these they were as follows one the Catholic Church is not now in or she ever Catholic apostolic or holy but she's a sect and the fair import of the word older than the sex now existing not the mother and mistresses of church has been an apostate from the Church of Christ to the notion of apostolic succession without foundation in the Bible and reason 3 she is not uniform in faith but fallible and changeable as other sects in religion and philosophy for she's the Babylon of st. John 5 purgatory indulgences confession and transubstantiation are amoral in their tendencies injurious to the well-being of society political and religious 6 the world is not indebted to the Church of the Bible and 7 my favorite if the church is infallible an unchangeable she's opposed to the spirit of the institutions of the United States which means progress ie if you are infallible then getting an American small wondered that the debate was scheduled to take place over seven days with two sessions per day totaling 5.5 hours per day for a total of 38 and 1/2 hours of debate times have changed 38 hours half hours a debate it's important to note that while the charges leveled against the Catholic Church by Campbell might see an inflammatory the debate was not conducted in acrimonious manner again Garrett tells us whatever merits the debate had otherwise the disputants came out of it with a high opinion of one another while Campbell viewed Purcell as a gentleman and one of the fairest men he'd ever debated Purcell described Campbell as a quote most lovable character who treated me in every way and on all occasions like a brother as to the outcome of the debate at its conclusion one of the city's newspapers reported catholicity lost nothing and Protestantism gained nothing by the discussion this analysis of the debate is corroborated by the fact after the debate there were numerous conversions to the Catholic faith in addition the manner in which Archbishop Purcell both presented and defended the Catholic faith brought him national prominence and resulted in invitations to deliver lectures and sermons and nearly every diocese of the nation and according to old Catholic Encyclopedia he was henceforth regarded or looked upon as kind of the representative bishop of the West finally the third debate that should be mentioned is one that took place in Lexington Kentucky between Alexander Campbell and n L rice a Presbyterian minister from Paris Kentucky the debate began as September 15th 1843 and it lasted for 16 days it is noteworthy if for no other reason because the moderator of the debate was a local Lexington attorney and former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Henry Clay Robert Richardson relates to us that as a moderator mr. clay was to be objective and show no partiality but at one point in the debate he had difficulty doing this during Campbell's first address on the work of the spirit mr. clay became unusually intentive he leaned forward and began to bow was sent waving his hand at the same time in his graceful approving manner as Campbell's argument unfolded it was apparent that clay was carried away by the power of the presentation suddenly finding himself he drew back and looked to see if anyone had seen him off-guard four years later when Alexander Campbell toured Great Britain he carried with him a letter of introduction from Henry Clay were in Clay stated dr. Campbell is among the most eminent citizens of the United States distinguished for his great learning and ability for successful devotion to the education of youth for his piety and as the head and founder of one of the most important and respectable religious communities in the United States this letter from Henry Clay gave him access to the American ambassador in London who in turn introduced Campbell to both the House of Lords in the House of Commons more than any others these three men Barton stone Thomas Campbell and Alexander Campbell were responsible for launching a unity movement that is widely regarded as the precursor of the modern ecumenical movement initially stone and the Campbells represented two separate movements they were seemingly oblivious to each other's existence stones movement was primarily on the western frontier of Kentucky and mostly among Presbyterians the Campbells on the other hand were laboring in middle for the middle frontier country of western Pennsylvania in Virginia and associated most adapted the followers of stone refused any label other than Christian razzed those in Campbell's camp were most often known as disciples while the two movements are similar in many ways it has generally acknowledged that stones movement placed a greater emphasis on Christian unity while the Campbell's movement focused more on what would come to be known as the restoration of the ancient order these two themes unity and restoration when merged into one become the basis for the distinctive plea the stone camera movement when the stone and Campbell movements were formally United in Lexington Kentucky in 1832 so what is that distinctive plea in a day of intense sectarian rivalry and mutual suspicion the stone Campbell movement promoted the idea that Christians could unite if they would but allow diversity in matters of opinion and oppose as impose as terms of fellowship only such as required by the scriptures as opposed to Articles imposed by Creed's in other words at the heart of the stone camel movement for Christian unity was a belief that Protestantism had failed in two important respects namely in an overemphasis and doctrinal details and the subsequent application of those details of the basis for fellowship and by making matters of opinion or what they call opinion and in matters of faith therefore the approach to unity that the movement advocated was one that could best be described as an acceptance of unity with diversity hence they adopted the famous words of st. Augustine in essentials unity and not essentials Liberty in all things charity in its after mentioned debate with presbyterian NL rice Alexander Campbell laid out the essence of the movement with these words our bond of union is not opinion nor unity of opinion it is one Lord one faith one baptism one spirit one hope one God and Father of all these we all preach and teach we have no standard opinions amongst us we have no patented form of sound words drawn up by human art and man's device to which you all must bow eternal fidelity it is our peculiar Felicity and perhaps it may be our honor too that we have been able to discover a ground so common so sacred so divinely abated so perfectly Catholic and enduring on which every man who loves our Lord Jesus Christ sincerely may unite and commune and harmonize and cooperate in all the works of faith and all the labors of love and in all the perseverance of hope did you notice the word Catholic in a statement unfortunately Campbell's concept of catholicity was one that was divorced from his from the organic continuity of the historic Catholic faith therefore as we shall see his pursuit of catholicity and faith and practice was to prove it was to prove perpetually problematic nevertheless you can feel the energy in his conviction he was in fact convinced that they had discovered the true path to Christian unity and as a result the means by which the role to be evangelized and the Millennial age inaugurated in a series of articles publishing Campbell's paper dr. Richardson would later write this Reformation was born of the love of Union and Christian Union has been its engrossing theme its design he went on to say has been to urge two important truths there could be unity of faith at the same time liberty of private judgment Garrett tells us that Richardson conceded that reconciling these two truths had troubled Protestantism for three centuries but he was certain that the present restaurante Reformation had formulated the principles that had long last reconciled them what are those guiding principles dated September 7th 1809 the Declaration and address of Thomas Campbell was the Magna Carta of the Stone Campbell movement and it set forth the guiding principles behind the movements plea for Christian unity modern ecumenical leaders often acknowledge it as one of the great milestones in the path of Christian unity in America the Declaration address is first published was 56 pages long and divided into three parts the first part only three pages in length was a declaration for the reasons and purposes of the formation of the Christian Association of Washington the second part totaling 18 pages was an address that amplified the arguments of the previous section the third part an appendix of 31 pages consisted of a series of explanations offered to quote prevent mistakes that is to anticipate and answer criticisms three months after its initial publication a postscript was written offering suggestions for the implementation of the association's program you have to go through a lot to get away from creeds don't you 56 pages let us now briefly consider these three parts of the Declaration and address in tristana's analysis the first part the declaration contained four basic ideas the first is an affirmation of the right of private judgment we were also persuaded that as no man can be judged for his brother so no man can judge for his brother every man must be allowed to judge for himself as every man must bear his own judgment must give an account of himself to God next the right of private judgment is linked to the idea of the sole authority of Scripture we are also of the opinion that as a divine word is equally binding upon all so all lie under an equal obligation to be bound by it and it alone and not by any human interpretation of it and that therefore no man has a right to judge his brother except insofar as he manifestly violates the Express letter of the law the third part of the declaration is a condemnation of sectarian division moreover being well aware from sad experience of the heinous nature and pernicious tendency of religious controversy among Christians tired and sick of the bitter jarring and jangling of a party spirit we would desire to be at rest and were it possible we would also desire to adopt and recommend such measures as we give rest to our brethren throughout all the churches as a restore unity peace and purity to the whole Church of God and finally human opinions identified as a source of division among Christians with this antidote being founded embracing the Scriptures alone our desire therefore for ourselves and our brethren would be that rejecting human opinions and the inventions of men as of any authority or as having any place in the Church of God we might forever cease from further contentions about such things returning to and holding fast by the original standard taking the Divine Word alone for our rule the Holy Spirit for our teacher and guide to lead us in all truth and Christ alone is exhibited in the word for our salvation that by so doing we may it be at peace among ourselves follow peace with all men and holiness without which no one will see the Lord the second part of the document the address is fundamentally a plea for Christian unity and puts forth 13 propositions that delineate the principles which shape the movement we will look at but two of these the more noteworthy ones and the first proposition arguably it's the most famous and fundamental to understanding the thoughts of Thomas Campbell he says the Church of Christ upon earth is essentially intentionally and constitutionally one consisting of all those in every place to profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him and all things according to the scriptures and that manifests the same by their tempers and conduct and of none else as none else can be truly improperly called Christians now in a day that was rife with sectarian strife these words of Thomas Campbell had a truly Catholic ring to them consider example for example paragraph 813 of the Catechism the Catholic Church very read that quote the Word made flesh the Prince of Peace reconciled all men to God by the cross restoring the unity of all in one people and in one body in fact the paragraph goes on to say that unity is the essence of the church moreover the next paragraph 814 goes on to affirm that true catholicity true Catholic unity rather is a unity with diversity something affirmed by both stone and Campbell but the critical difference is this the unity with diversity professed and practiced by the Catholic Church is made that is made possible by what paragraph 815 identifies as the bonds of unity these bonds however which include apostolic succession cannot be found in their completeness apart from visible communion with the Catholic Church the third proposition in Campbell's address sets forth is formula for achieving Christian unity nothing ought to be inculcated upon churches as matters of faith required of them as terms of communion but as expressly taught and enjoined upon them in the Word of God nor ought anything to be admitted as a divine obligation in their church Constitution and management's but what is expressly enjoying by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles upon the New Testament church either in Express terms or by approved precedent in formulating this protocol for unity Campbell included in elements that would prove to be problematic throughout the entire history of his movement namely the criterion those listed last approved precedent the movement would eventually experience unending turmoil over disputes regarding what is the identification nature and application of the slippery criterion of approved precedent in summary the preceding citations serve to illuminate and underscore the principal themes and gist of the declaration address they can produce the three fundamental points that in essence become the guiding principles of the movement first the Church of Christ is one body comprised of all to Christians secondly divisions among Christians is therefore the most grievous sin and thirdly because divisions are caused primarily by the opinions of men being substituted for added to the truths of God with God's Word unity lead possible only when Christians agree to impose upon each other nothing more or less than the essential faith and joined by Express command or approved example in Sacred Scripture up to this point I guess I sound like a pretty good apologist for the movement now I put on my Paul Harvey hat and we're here the rest of the story these guiding principles however are in actuality conclusions conclusions that reflect certain starting assumptions these underlying presuppositions are what must be examined before because conclusions stand or fall with the validity and accuracy other antecedent assumptions so what are those presuppositions underlying the Stone Campbell Movement the Stone Campbell Movement can accurately be described as a primitive iStent in other words there was an attempt to restore or recreate primitive Christianity or rather a particular perception primitive Christianity in Campbell's de Campbell in particular thought that by restoring what he believed to be primitive Christianity Christians would be able to arrive at the common agreeable ground of the pure pristine Apostolic Faith and for Campbell at least the unity that would result from the successful restoration of primitive Christianity would usher in the Millennium that is the consummation in the kingdom of God here on earth but like most primitive astone Campbell movement had two primary operating assumptions the first Sola scriptura or the belief that the Bible alone is all that one needs for authority and secondly the belief in a general apostasy are falling away of the church both of these presuppositions needed to be granted if the existence of the movement was to be justified the fleshing out of these starting assumptions would basically proceed along the following lines first because of the influence of scottish as common sense realism Campbell believed that each and every individual could arrive at an accurate understanding a sacred scripture by means of applying the scientific method to the study of the sacred texts separate and apart from sacred tradition and the Magisterium of the church in fact in Campbell's view and in that of virtually all primitive is sacred tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium serve only to muddy the waters and thereby obscure the ostensibly clear meaning of the stir of the sacred text starting then with this view of Sacred Scripture as the primary starting assumption the primitive is forms with in his mind a picture of what he thinks the Church of Christ ought to look like in terms of teachings sacraments ordinances and organization then upon surveying the his contemporary religious landscape and failing to find any religious body that conforms to his mental image of the church the primitive Vista concludes that a massive apostasy has occurred and that the church needs to be restored this primitive his impulse was so strong in the early years of the movement the Campbell and his co-workers unabashedly claimed that they had restored the primitive gospel which in their view had not been proclaimed in its purity since apostolic times in fact so strong was Campbell's conviction regarding the uniqueness of his movement that he would write there is not one voice heard in all the world outside the boundaries of the present Reformation calling upon the people to return to the original gospel and order of things and quote so strong indeed was the confidence of these reformers that it seemed never to occur to them that maybe just maybe it was her own mental image of the church that was flawed in a need of reform moreover in their zeal to promote reform they failed to grasp the income the incongruity of their own propositions lambaste in Creed's is merely human constructs that shackled opinion individuals the opinions of men they failed to see the creedal nature of their own profession of quote no Creed but the Bible assured within themselves that their scientific approach to sacred scripture would unlock and bring to light the essential truths appoints all men of sound mind and goodwill could agree they seemingly turned a blind eye to the divisions and disputes within their own ranks or at best attempted to downplay them by claiming that there are only matters of opinion and therefore of insufficient substance to cause a rupture and fellowship but in so doing they avoided facing the fact that what is non-essential in one man's eye can prove to be quite essential and another's in that case who stands qualified to make distinction to impose that it's distinction upon others in the final analysis the dilemma of promoting unity based upon a mutual embracing of essentials of the faith while having no objective means of defining those essentials was the undoing of the restoration plea all of this serves to underscore the truth that when starting assumptions are flawed the conclusions will be as well the starting assumptions regarding the relationship between the scriptures the church and authority that undergird of the stone Campbell movement were in fact deeply flawed and impossible to harmonize with the teachings of Sacred Scripture the facts of history and sound reason this is so because the sacred scriptures themselves do not present to us the idea that the Bible alone is the sole authoritative guide for the Christian nor do they limit the Word of God is simply what is written rather the sacred scriptures testify to the realities of oral sacred tradition the dangers of private interpretation and the reality of a teaching Church guided by the Holy Spirit in other words the sacred scriptures themselves bear testimony to an approach to Authority that relies upon the divinely ordained triad of sacred scripture sacred tradition and the Magisterium of the church to put it another way the sacred scriptures themselves bear witness to the fact that the Holy Spirit inspired members of the church to write to other members of the church about members matters pertaining to the church all against the backdrop of the shared understanding of the church based upon those facts the scriptures themselves may be described as the preeminent internal documents of the church making it therefore folly to think that the church and her constant teaching pertaining to the Scriptures can simply be discarded in favour of personal opinion regarding the meaning and application of the sacred text this is the antithesis of the Stone Campbell modus operandi that would Devore divorce the sacred scriptures from sacred tradition and tear them away from the bosom of the church recall that Alexander Campbell again was quite fond of a Baconian scientific method and sought to apply its principles to study the Bible if then we were to apply the principles of Baconian scientific method to the underlying presuppositions of a stone Campbell movement would be forced to conclude that the movements of the movements approach to to Authority was effective precisely because observation of the recurring points us to a conclusion there's quite the opposite of what the movements adherents claimed that they were accomplishing the results in other words have not been clarity but confusion the fruit has not been unity but division in other words while allegedly rejecting opinion and claiming to have discovered the true bonds of unity in one Lord one faith one baptism one spirit the movement has been plagued by undying unending strife as men attempt to put flesh on the bones and to find what is that one faith what is the one baptism who is the Holy Spirit what does he do and that brings us to the present state of the movement as we have seen the ostensibly distinctive plea the stone Campbell movement was a call to Christian unity predicated upon the restoration of primitive Christianity too many both then and now such a plea is attractive because at first glance it seems like a reasonable approach that is again if the primitive is starting assumptions regarding the scriptures Authority in a church hold true but they do not ironically the unity plea the stone camera movement proved in the final analysis to be inherently divisive this is due to the fact that if unity is predicated upon agreement regarding a restoration ideal the vision is the flip side of the coin if agreement proves elusive hence it did not take long for the inherent tensions between the two ideals of unity and restoration to be manifested by the 1840s it was clear that while Campbell himself was beginning to mellow into something of an ironic akyuu - others within the movement had radicalized his restoration ideal into a legalistic approach to Christianity that was generating an exclusivist mindset while formal division was averted for many years there's ultimately unavoidable in the 1906 u.s. census of religious bodies the disciples of Christ and the Churches of Christ were finally listed as separate distinct bodies the disciples of Christ being the larger group and holding to the ecumenical ideal the unity of all Christians the Churches of Christ on the other hand holding to the restoration ideal and its accompanying exclusivism and legalism while two particular issues namely the use of instrumental music and worship and the support of the missionary societies are often pointed to as being causes of the division of the movement Hughes contends that these issues or causes a division only quote because the stone Campbell movement have reduced to irreconcilable traditions one defined by ecumenical progressivism and the other by sectarian primitivism and that the movement was in fact dividing along those lines in other words if they've not divided over those particularly issues they were divided over something else or a combination of issues simply because the two camps had developed very different views regarding the world the church and the Christian faith in general but the divisions didn't stop there because within the disciples of Christ there were deep theological rifts between liberals and conservatives the conservatives being basically restorationist like the Churches of Christ but differing with them only on certain particulars like instrumental music so in 1968 the division within the ranks of the disciples of Christ was more or less formalized when those of a more liberal and ecumenical persuasion officially formed the denomination known as the Christian Church disciples of Christ often referred to simply as the disciples of Christ and so doing they basically accepted even embraced the reality of being one denomination among many in the universal body of Christ those congregations who did not go along with the restructuring continued to be known at by the designation Christian church or independent Christian Church is they like the Churches of Christ ever tainted restorationist mindset and the exclusivist posture that usually accompanies it and also like Churches of Christ and fatica Lee refused to this day to be numbered among the quote denominations insisting rather that they are simply the church that one reads about in the Bible the result has been the creation of an institutional identity out of the denial of institutional identity this posture is evidenced in what arguably is the most widely distributed tract in the history the Stone Campbell movement entitled neither Protestant Catholic nor Jew first published in the 1960s and translated into several the world's languages this tract lays out the Church of Christ claims in these words the Church of Christ is neither Catholic Protestant nor Jewish where unique and different for we're endeavoring to go all the way back to the original New Testament church using the New Testament as a blueprint we have reestablished in the 20th century Christ Church it fits no modern label is not just another denomination and quote ironically in making its case for a quote nondenominational Christianity the text of the tract also states that quote it is impossible for the church to perpetuate a system which necessarily and cements division and discord and quote that statement is ironic because the Church of Christ approach of Christianity has done little but perpetuate constant discord and seemingly endless division since 1906 from the Churches of Christ were first listed as a body separate and distinct from the disciples of Christ the Churches of Christ have continued to divide over a wide variety of issues including the use of multiple communion cups eschatology women's head coverings inter congregational cooperation just to name a few yet many within their ranks are so certain of the self-evident nature of their conclusions regarding the pattern for the church that they fail to grasp the impossibility of unity predicated on restoration nor do they seem cognizant of the incredible contradiction of a unity movement that has horribly divided the word you been waiting for in conclusion in making this presentation has been my intention to reflect upon a 19th century movement that was truly reflective of the American spirit of its day and it had a resulting least significant impact in the history of that period but even more it's been my intention to illustrate by way of the example provided by the stone Campbell movement the reality that true Christian unity at unity is ultimately a pipe dream if it is guided by punitive Asst operating assumptions or an ecumenical outlook lacking an objective means of recognizing and applying universal truths I say that because you can well be argued that the stone Campbell movement stands as the ultimate example of attempting to create Christian unity utilizing lis utilizing distinctively protestant operating assumptions but because the operating assumptions themselves are deeply flawed the movement itself failed as have all such attempts at catholicity separate and apart minister at catholic church does this mean we throw up our hands and abandon efforts to affect Christian Union hardly the pursuit of Christian unity is not only a noble one it is in fact essential to the full and effective proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord of the night of his holy passion prayed for the unity of his disciples in every generation and order that the world might believe that he was truly sent on the Father but unity must be based upon the solid foundation supplied by the Apostolic Faith hence the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us in paragraph 850 that above all charity binds everything together in perfect harmony but the unity of the pilgrim church is also assured by visible bonds of communion of which there are three profession of one faith received from the Apostles common celebration of a divine worship especially the sacraments and apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders maintaining the fraternal Concord of God's family the Catechism goes on to say that the desire to recover the unity of all Christians is a gift of Christ and a call of the Holy Spirit and then identifies certain things that are required in order to respond adequately to this call these include permanent renewal of the church conversion of heart prayer and common fraternal knowledge of each other ecumenical formation dialogue and collaboration suffice it to say Christ does not plant fanciful desires within our hearts nor does the Holy Spirit call us to engage in that which is futile therefore there's work to be done so let's all commit to praying for Christian unity you

Channel: The Coming Home Network International

Views: 7,235

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Keywords: Alexander Campbell, Barton Stone, Restorationism, Restoration Movement, Church of Christ, Churches of Christ, Thomas Campbell, Revivalism, Bible Only, Sola Scriptura, Authority, American History, Christian history, American Christian history, Presbyterian, Cane Ridge, Revival, God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Deep in History, Trinity, Conversion, Theology, Reformed Theology, Calvinism, Second Great Awakening, Great Awakening

Id: TeebFY0olO8

Length: 50min 10sec (3010 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 04 2018