* ' ■ ' 
 
BX73I5 
 
 Sectioo V Z * 
 
PHILLIPS BIBLE INSTITUTE SERIES 
 of Efficiency Text-bool^s for Bible Schools and Churches 
 
 How the Disciples Began 
 and Grew 
 
 NOV 19 
 
 A Short History of the Christian Church 
 
 By 
 
 M. mZdAVIS, A.M. 
 
 Minister Ross Aoenue Christian Church, Dallas, Texas. 
 Author of "Change of Heart;" "Queen Esther;" 
 "Elijah;" "First Principles;" "The Elder- 
 ship;" "The Restoration Movement of 
 the Nineteenth Century, ' ' and 
 "How to be Saved. " 
 
 Cincinnati 
 
 The Standard Publishing Company 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Foreword 9 
 
 L 
 
 CAUSES OF THE MOVEMENT. 
 Widespread Working of the Leaven 11 
 
 IL 
 
 EARLY HISTORY OF THE CAMPBELLS. 
 
 Brief View of Thomas Campbell — Early Life of 
 Alexander Campbell — Why Thomas Campbell Came to 
 America — Shipwreck of Alexander Campbell — In Glas- 
 gow University — Preview of Alexander Campbell — Land- 
 ing of Thomas Campbell in America — First Experiences 
 — Independent Work — Declaration and Address — Re- 
 
 union of Father and Son 29 
 
 in. 
 
 DECLARATION AND ADDRESS. 
 
 The Declaration — The Address — The Appendix — The 
 Two Phases of the Movement 51 
 
 IV. 
 
 PREPARATORY WORK. 
 
 Alexander Campbell's First Sermon — Trouble with 
 Pittsburgh Synod — Change of Leaders — Brush Run 
 Church — Points of Progress — Marriage of Alexander 
 Campbell — Settling the Baptismal Question — Other 
 Points of Progress — Why Alexander Campbell Was Not 
 
 a Party Man 65 
 
 5 
 
6 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 V. PAGE 
 
 INTO AND OUT OF THE BAPTIST 
 CHURCH. 
 
 Into the Baptist Church — Debates with Walker and 
 McCalla — Sermon on the Law — The Christian Baptist — 
 "Bethany" — Things Specially Opposed by Mr. Campbell 
 — Millennial Harbinger — Great Growth — Walter Scott — 
 Mr. Campbell Warning His Enemies — Out of the Bap- 
 tist Church 83 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE STONE MOVEMENT. 
 
 Early Life of Barton W. Stone — Religious Experi- 
 ence — Wonderful Revivals — Withdraws from Presby- 
 terianism — First Church After New Testament Model — 
 First Meeting of Stone and Campbell — Union of the Two 
 Peoples — Differences Between Them — Garrison's Illus- 
 tration — Why the Stone Movement Is Considered a 
 Tributary and Not the Main Stream — Power of Love.. . 105 
 
 VII. 
 
 THE WORK BROADENING AND DEEP- 
 ENING. 
 
 Theory of Union Tested — Aylett Raines — Campbell, 
 Stone and Errett on Faith and Opinion — Causes of 
 Gospel Success — Mr. Campbell's Visit to the Old World. 125 
 
 VIII. 
 
 THREE GREAT DEBATES 
 
 Controversy Unavoidable — Debates with Owen, Pur- 
 cell and Rice 145 
 
 IX. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 Why Educational Interests Were Delayed — Bethany 
 College — Distinguished Graduates— Transylvania Univer- 
 
CONTENTS 7 
 
 PAGE 
 
 sity— The Bible College — Other Colleges — School of Mis- 
 sions — Phillips Bible Institute — Southern Christian Insti- 
 tute^ — Summary 161 
 
 X. 
 
 MISSIONARY. 
 
 Why Missions Were Delayed — Early Discussions on 
 the Subject — American Christian Missionary Society — 
 Christian Woman's Board of Missions — Foreign Chris- 
 tian Missionary Society — National Benevolent Associa- 
 tion — Church Extension — Ministerial Relief — England — 
 Canada — Australia — Japan — France 177 
 
 XI. 
 
 FOUR GREAT LIEUTENANTS. 
 
 Walter Scott — "Raccoon" John Smith — Isaac Errett— 
 John W. McGarvey 199 
 
 XII. 
 
 RETROSPECT, PROSPECT, DANGERS AND 
 DUTIES. 
 
 Remarkable Growth — The Cause of It — Twelve Points 
 Emphasized — The Nineteenth Century — An Impressive 
 Picture — Four Dangers — Five Duties — Military Picture 
 of Our Place and Duty 227 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/howdisciplesbegaOOdavi_0 
 
A FOREWORD 
 
 This volume is in the main a condensation of the 
 author's larger work, 'The Restoration Movement 
 of the Nineteenth Century," and its aim is to meet 
 the wants of that large class of readers in this busy 
 age who have persuaded themselves that they have 
 not the time to read anything but a condensed story. 
 It claims not to be elaborate or exhaustive, but repre- 
 sentative and reliable. It would bring out such fea- 
 tures of our history as will give one a good under- 
 standing of the most remarkable religious movement 
 since New Testament times. But it is hoped that 
 all who can do so, will also read the larger book on 
 which this one is based. 
 
 Each chapter is followed by a number of review 
 questions which will help to rivet the principal 
 thoughts in the mind of the reader. Be sure to study 
 these questions ; and if you find that you can not 
 readily answer them, it is evidence that you should 
 reread the chapter. 
 
 The author believes that in all our schools and 
 homes more time should be given to the study of 
 our history. It is not sufficient to acquaint the stu- 
 dent with church history as a whole, but he should 
 become familiar with our own individual history, 
 which is more interesting than a novel, and more 
 thrilling than romance. He would be a poor Ameri- 
 
 9 
 
10 
 
 A FOREWORD 
 
 can who knew of this favored land only through 
 the world historian. He needs some reliable volume, 
 local in its nature. 
 
 Praying the blessings of the Father on this 
 modest but earnest attempt to do good, we commit 
 it to our readers in the hope that it will not only 
 increase light, but that it will make each one of 
 them purer and stronger for the conflicts of life. 
 
L 
 
 CAUSES OF THE MOVEMENT 
 
 11 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. Fundamental Causes. 
 
 a. The Renaissance. 
 
 b. The Divided Church. 
 
 c. A Warring Church. 
 
 d. Beclouded Theology. 
 
 e. Arrogant Clergy. 
 /. Human Creeds. 
 g. Rank Infidelity. 
 
 2. The Leaven at Work. 
 
 a. In the Old World. 
 
 b. In the New World. 
 
 c. Old Churches. 
 
 12 
 
I. 
 
 Causes of the Movement. 
 
 To understand any great movement among men 
 we must know the cause or causes which produced 
 it. This is not a world of chance. Every effect 
 has its cause. To understand the French Revolu- 
 tion we must go back of that bloody conflict for 
 a starting-point. We must know that the people 
 for generations had writhed and groaned under 
 the heavy heel of Bourbon rule, and when this 
 could be endured no longer they rose in their 
 wrath and struck for liberty. The same is true 
 of the American Revolution. The throwing of a 
 few pounds of tea overboard in Boston harbor was 
 not its cause, but its dramatic manifestation. A 
 brave people, loyal and long-suffering, had at last 
 reached the limit of oppression, and this was their 
 way of telling the world about it. Even so, if we 
 would understand the Restoration Movement of the 
 nineteenth century, or read aright the History of 
 the Disciples, we must go back into the past and 
 study its 
 
 medieval to the modern world, especially in the re- 
 vival of the classical arts and letters. Its earliest 
 
 x. Fundamental 
 Causes 
 
 Some of these were: a. The 
 Renaissance, the movement of 
 transition in Europe from the 
 
 13 
 
14 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 traces are found in Italy in the fourteenth century. A 
 hundred years later it was greatly stimulated by bring- 
 ing into Italy the ancient literature of Greece. The 
 Italian Renaissance reached its zenith about the first 
 of the sixteenth century, as seen in the works of such 
 men as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and 
 Raphael. It soon invaded Germany and England, 
 and filled the land with light and inspiration. The 
 students of science, philosophy and religion began 
 to seek for the sources of things. The Bible, long 
 a chained book by order of the Pope, was liberated, 
 and its contents were eagerly and earnestly investi- 
 gated. The darkness of superstitious reverence 
 was blown away from it, and the light of scientific 
 study was substituted. It became a new book, not 
 only fanning the flames of religious fervor, but also 
 stimulating patriotism, and the highest life in the 
 individual, in the home and in the nation. 
 
 Two fundamental principles, invaluable to the 
 religious life, were enunciated. The first was the 
 right of private judgment. Every man had the 
 right to read the Bible for himself and interpret 
 it according to his own understanding. The sec- 
 ond was that when the Book was thus studied, it 
 would produce union among Christians as it did 
 in the beginning. 
 
 Perhaps no two notes were sounded oftener 
 and stronger by the Campbells and their colaborers 
 than these. Christianity, they contended, was a 
 child of light. It did not sneak into the world 
 during some dark night and by some obscure way, 
 but it came in the broad daylight and in the most 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 15 
 
 public manner. Paul, in his great speech before 
 Agrippa, said, "This thing was not done in a 
 corner" (Acts 26:26). Their motto, therefore, was, 
 "Turn on the light." 
 
 b. The Divided Church. A second cause was 
 the divided Church. In the light of the Book these 
 men saw this to be unnecessary, unreasonable, 
 indefensible, unscriptural and sinful. They heard 
 their Lord praying for the oneness of his Church 
 (John 17:11-23): "Holy Father, keep through thy 
 own name those whom thou hast given me, that 
 they may be one, as we are." This language was 
 too plain to be misunderstood. Nothing short of 
 the oneness between the Father and Son — a unity 
 absolutely harmonious and helpful — would answer 
 this prayer. They also heard him connect the sal- 
 vation of the world with this, saying: "That they 
 may be one in us, that the world may believe that 
 thou hast sent me." 
 
 If there was not another word in the New 
 Testament condemning division, this prayer would 
 be sufficient; but they found more. They heard 
 their Master speak of other sheep that must be 
 brought: "That there shall be one fold and one 
 shepherd" (John 10:16). They heard Paul (1 
 Cor. 1 : 10) pleading "that ye all speak the same 
 thing, and that there be no divisions among you." 
 They heard him (1 Cor. 3:3) characterize their 
 divisions as "carnal" ; and they heard his forcible 
 analogy (1 Cor. 12:12-27), comparing the Church 
 to the human body: "For as the body is one, and 
 hath many members, and all the members of that 
 
16 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 one body, being many, are one body; so also is 
 Christ." 
 
 They saw on every hand that these divisions 
 were weakening the forces of God and dissipating 
 their energy. Instead of one great army moving 
 granaly on to victory, as in the apostolic age, there 
 were hundreds of little detachments jealously 
 watching each other, rather than the common foe. 
 
 c. A Warring Church. A third cause was in 
 the sad fact that these divided sections were not 
 only jealous of each other, but in many cases they 
 were actually devouring one another. Instead of 
 being allies, they were enemies. Nelson, just before 
 one of his greatest victories, called two of his cap- 
 tains who hated each other, to the flagship, and 
 putting their right hands in his left, he pointed to 
 the opposing fleet and said : "There is the enemy ; 
 you must be friends." It is said that during the 
 Mexican War a staff officer, admiring the courage 
 shown on a certain section of the field, rode rapid- 
 ly to General Taylor and called his attention to it. 
 Taylor immediately discovered that it was two 
 divisions of his own army mowing each other 
 down, and he shouted to the officer: "Those are 
 our own men destroying each other. Hurry down 
 there and stop it!" No army, however brave and 
 patriotic, could live long under such fierce cross- 
 firing as existed in the army of the Lord one 
 hundred years ago. 
 
 d. Beclouded Theology. Another cause was 
 the beclouded theology of the day. The religious 
 teachers were often such as the Saviour described 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 17 
 
 when he said the blind were leading the blind and 
 both would fall into the ditch. The Bible was not 
 a systematic revelation, but a jumble of jewels 
 thrown together without system or order. The 
 different dispensations had never been discovered. 
 The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the 
 Mount were both from God, and their teachings 
 should be indiscriminately applied. The same was 
 true of Moses and Jesus. Each was to be heard 
 without reference to the time and place of speak- 
 ing. A lost soul seeking the Saviour was as likely 
 to be referred to the Psalms, the Prophets or the 
 Law as to the Book of Acts. Man was a machine 
 and conversion a miracle. The Bible was a "dead 
 letter," and the Holy "Ghost," in some miraculous, 
 indescribable and irresistible manner, was the author 
 of every conversion. Material sights and sounds, 
 visions and sensations, dreams and experiences, 
 were the assurance of pardon, rather than the word 
 of God. 
 
 e. An Arrogant Clergy. An arrogant clergy 
 was another cause. Most of these men were igno- 
 rant, and ignorance and arrogance generally go 
 hand in hand. They had taken away the key of 
 knowledge, and would increase the chasm between 
 themselves and the common masses. They stood 
 upon stilts, and would- have the world look up to 
 them. "God made men," said Mr. Campbell; "the 
 priests make laymen." They stood in the way of 
 every reformation ; they were the chief causes of 
 the divided condition of the Church; and they 
 
 lorded it over God's heritage, and assumed the 
 2 
 
18 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 right of legislation for those in the pew. As Eli- 
 jah found it impossible to redeem Israel from 
 idolatry so long as the priesthood of Baal ruled, 
 so these men looked upon the restoration of 
 primitive Christianity as an impossibility until the 
 power of the modern clergy was broken. There 
 were many exceptions to this rule — men as pure 
 and noble as ever lived — but they were excep- 
 tions. 
 
 /. Human Creeds. The tyranny of human 
 creeds was a sixth cause. They are comparatively 
 harmless to-day, but not so a century ago. Then 
 they were found everywhere, and they were as 
 rigid as rods of iron. No man, whatever his char- 
 acter, could enter the Church without accepting 
 their every detail. Within their sacred enclosure 
 all truth was to be found, and therefore the min- 
 ister was to be simply an automaton, or hand-organ, 
 echoing the thoughts of others rather than his own. 
 Independent research, and the avowal of new truth 
 thus found, were condemned. Each creed was an 
 iron bed, and the preacher was made to fit it. If 
 too long, he was shortened, and if too short, he 
 was lengthened. The bed was greater than the 
 man. 
 
 Such a claim was repulsive for another reason — 
 it implied that the truth needed artificial support. 
 Half-truths need human help, but the pure truth, 
 as spoken by God, can stand alone. The Master 
 asked no protection for it, but cast it forth as an 
 angel from the skies, capable of caring for itself 
 amid all conditions. Even the true scientist asks 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 19 
 
 not the protection of men for his discoveries. He 
 knows that 
 
 "Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again; 
 The eternal years of God are hers; 
 But Error, wounded, writhes in pain, 
 And dies among his worshipers." 
 
 Creeds had destroyed the unity of the Church, 
 and now they would have to be destroyed in order 
 to the restoration of that unity. 
 
 g. Infidelity. Rank infidelity was the last 
 cause we mention. The beginning of the nine- 
 teenth century was a period of blatant unbelief not 
 far from atheism. The skepticism of Europe had 
 taken firm root both at home and in America. The 
 Revolutionary War and the French Revolution con- 
 tributed largely to this result. The lifelessness of 
 the Church was also a large contributor. The 
 pagan world was in densest darkness, and there was 
 no adequate effort to send thither the gospel. In 
 our own land the star of empire was moving 
 rapidly westward, but the church and schoolhouse 
 were not found in these border settlements. Un- 
 belief was aggressive and reckless. The Legisla- 
 ture of Connecticut in 1741 declared against the 
 work of the religious evangelist; Thomas Paine 
 was an idol, and his flimsy arguments against the 
 Christ were almost universally accepted. In Yale 
 University there were two Paine societies, and less 
 than a half-dozen Christians. The College of Wil- 
 liam and Mary, Bowdoin College and Transylvania 
 University were little better. 
 
 Here is a sample of the underlying causes 
 
20 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 leading to the Restoration Movement, and surely 
 they not only justify, but demand, the movement. 
 
 years ago. Astronomers had noticed that Uranus 
 was being disturbed by some power, but they 
 knew not what it was, and many of them set to 
 work to locate it. Two of them — Adams, of Eng- 
 land, and Lever rier, of France, each ignorant of 
 the other's purpose, entered their laboratories and 
 began investigations. About the same time they 
 located the place of the trouble, and, pointing their 
 telescopes to the place, Neptune was discovered as 
 the disturbing element. 
 
 About the time of the dawning of the nine- 
 teenth century all could see that the religious world 
 was sadly troubled. The Church had well-nigh 
 lost her power, and her progress had been ar- 
 rested. Dark clouds overhung the heavens, and 
 hope fled from the hearts of many. Good men 
 saw there was something terribly wrong, but they 
 knew not what it was. Moved by a single impulse, 
 a desire to discover and remedy the wrong, they 
 began their investigations. In many cases they 
 were far removed from each other, ignorant of 
 the feelings, purposes and labors of the others. But 
 one by one they located the trouble in the divided 
 condition of Christendom, with its attendant evils, 
 and they began the work of its removal. 
 
 a. In the Old World. In the Old World the 
 Haldane brothers, two of God's noblemen, inaugu- 
 
 2. The Leaven at 
 Work 
 
 The discovery of the planet 
 Neptune is a good illustration of 
 the religious unrest one hundred 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 21 
 
 rated a movement of power and promise, but, as 
 men count success, it was a failure. But, as God 
 counts it, it was a success. They demonstrated 
 the weakness and wickedness of division, and 
 pointed out the only remedy: a return to apostolic 
 Christianity. God wanted them for sowers, not 
 reapers. The old soil where they lived and labored 
 was too much preoccupied for the seed to take 
 ready root. But it was not lost, but was trans- 
 ferred by the Campbells to the virgin soil of the 
 New World, where it has already grown into 
 greatness, and yet seems only in its infancy. 
 
 Thomas Campbell had much the same experi- 
 ence with the Presbyterians that the Haldanes had 
 with the Church of Scotland. Like them, he 
 located the hurt of Zion in her divided condition, 
 and with all his power he strove for her union. 
 To a man with his clearness of vision and gentle- 
 ness of spirit, divisions in the family of God were 
 almost unbearable. Especially was this true when 
 carried to the ridiculous extremes which he wit- 
 nessed. Andrew Hunter, one of his brethren, con- 
 tracted to build a church house in Glasgow for 
 the Episcopalians. He was warned by the dig- 
 nitaries of his church not to do it, but he would 
 not heed the warning. Charges were preferred 
 against him and he was brought before the synod 
 and condemned, that dignified body holding that 
 the building of an Episcopal meeting-house was 
 the same as the building of the "high places" 
 (places of idol- worship) of the Old Testament. 
 They also excommunicated a man for going to 
 
22 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 hear James Haldane and Rowland Hill preach. 
 
 There were four different bodies of Presby- 
 terians, all holding to the Westminster Confession. 
 Mr. Campbell was greatly grieved at this, and in 
 1804, just at the time when Barton W. Stone in 
 America was turning away from sectarian divisions 
 and organizing churches according to the New 
 Testament model, it looked as though they would 
 unite. His influence locally was so great that all 
 opposition was overcome, and the lower synod 
 voted for union. But when it reached the General 
 Associate Synod of Scotland, it was condemned, 
 and had to be abandoned. But, as with the Hal- 
 danes, his labors were not lost. Sixteen years 
 later, long after the Campbells had renounced 
 denominationalism and were laboring for Christian 
 union in the New World, success came. 
 
 b. In the New World. Let us now cross the 
 Atlantic and note the working of the leaven here 
 where the great struggle is to take place. We find 
 it in widely separated regions, and often among 
 antagonistic bodies, and led by men utterly ignorant 
 of similar movements elsewhere. The spirit mani- 
 fested itself among the Methodists at the time of 
 the declaration of American independence. These 
 people, now under a different system of political 
 government, naturally began anew the study of 
 church government. Thomas Coke and Francis 
 Asbury led in the plea for a prelacy, they being 
 regarded as "superintendents" or bishops. But a 
 counter movement, led by James O'Kelly, favored 
 the Congregational form of government, with the 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 23 
 
 New Testament as the only book of discipline. But 
 the Episcopal party was so strong that O'Kelly and 
 his followers felt justified in withdrawing. On 
 Christmas Day, 1793, at Manakin Town, North 
 Carolina, the secession took place. At first they 
 called themselves "Republican Methodists"; but 
 later they adopted the name "Christian,'' and 
 resolved to acknowledge Christ as the only head 
 of the Church, and the Bible as the only rule of 
 faith and practice. Judged by numbers, the O'Kelly 
 movement was not a large success. But their 
 principles, being true, still live in the lives of many. 
 
 Soon after this the leaven was seen in the Bap- 
 tist Church. Dr. Abner Jones, of Hartland, Connec- 
 ticut, tiring of human names and creeds, began to 
 urge with great zeal that all such things be aban- 
 doned, and that the people return to the simple 
 life of New Testament Christianity. During the 
 years 1800-1803, he established congregations at 
 Lyndon, Vermont, and Bradford and Pierpoint, 
 New Hampshire. The work grew and spread 
 among both the Regular and Freewill Baptists until 
 it was seen in New England, New York, Pennsyl- 
 vania, Ohio, and in the British Provinces. They 
 would have no name but Christian, and no law but 
 that of the Bible. 
 
 The largest and most important of these move- 
 ments was led by Barton W. Stone, a Presbyterian 
 preacher of Kentucky, of whose work we shall speak 
 more fully later. Mr. Stone was a man of strong 
 mind and clean heart, and his following was large 
 numerically, and influential. He saw the cause of 
 
24 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 his Master suffering, and he believed the remedy- 
 was in a return to primitive Christianity. As early 
 as in 1804 there were many congregations — notably 
 at Caneridge and Concord — and a constantly widen- 
 ing influence extended over other States. They 
 would wear no name but the name of Christ, and 
 would accept no book of discipline but the Bible. 
 When this people later united with the followers 
 of Mr. Campbell, both were benefited, and God 
 greatly blessed the union. 
 
 c. Old Churches. There is another line of 
 evidence showing the presence and power of this 
 leaven, which, though peculiarly interesting and 
 important, is not generally known. It is in the 
 history of old churches in America, Scotland, Ire- 
 land, Wales and England, endeavoring to follow 
 the model of the New Testament Church. In 1818 
 the church of Christ in New York, one of whose 
 elders was Henry Errett, father of Isaac Errett, 
 hearing of other churches striving for the divine 
 model, issued a circular letter and sent to them, 
 asking for fuller knowledge regarding their history, 
 and a closer fellowship in their work. This New 
 York church still exists, and is now known as the 
 West Fifty-sixth Street Church of the Disciples. 
 
 The church of Christ meeting in Morrison's 
 Court, Glasgow, responded with the information 
 that "such churches as ours have existed in Scot- 
 land from thirty to forty years." This takes us 
 back to 1778, or to the time of the American 
 Revolution. This church is probably of Scotch- 
 Baptist origin, and it antedates the Haldanes. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 25 
 
 From the church of Christ worshiping at Leith 
 Walk, Edinburgh, the correspondent said: "It is 
 about twenty years since we were first associated 
 together." This takes us back to 1798. This was 
 J. A. Haldane's famous congregation, the remains 
 of the old Independent church which had moved 
 to Leith Walk. 
 
 The reply from Tubemore, Ireland, showed 
 that they were organized in 1807. This was the 
 spiritual home of Alexander Carson. 
 
 The churches at Manchester and Dublin were 
 established in 1810. 
 
 The church at Criccieth, North Wales, was in 
 existence in 1795, the date of its earliest records. 
 But it is known to be several years older than this. 
 It was a Baptist congregation. About this time 
 there was a desire among some of these Baptists 
 to adhere more closely to the New Testament faith 
 and practice. J. R. Jones, the leader of this move- 
 ment, was a man of ability. In 1799 several con- 
 gregations, including Criccieth, withdrew from the 
 Association, and from that time till 1841 they were 
 associated with the Reformed Baptists, now known 
 as Scotch Baptists. After the death of Mr. Jones 
 in 1822, David Lloyd, father of Richard Lloyd, be- 
 came its minister, and he, in turn, was succeeded 
 by William Jones, another strong man. Mr. Jones 
 came under the influence of Alexander Campbell's 
 writings, with the result that in 1841 the church 
 left the Scotch Baptists, discarding all human 
 creeds and names, and took its place with the 
 Restoration Movement of the nineteenth century. 
 
26 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 For many years Richard Lloyd, a gifted and faith- 
 ful preacher of the ancient gospel, has been the 
 minister at Criccieth. And his nephew and foster- 
 son, David Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer of Great Britain, one of the most power- 
 ful men of the world, is a member of this congrega- 
 tion. By many he is regarded as the highest 
 embodiment of Christian civilization on the face of 
 the whole earth. Speaking of the principles by 
 which his wonderful influence has been attained, 
 he says: "A very large part of the economic and 
 social principles I am pressing upon the English 
 people I obtained from reading the writings of 
 Alexander Campbell." And yet we have some 
 young men, unknown outside of a very narrow 
 circle, who boast of having never read the works 
 of Mr. Campbell. 
 
 These churches were ideal in their aim, if not 
 in their attainments. They believed that the only 
 way to restore the lost power of the New Testament 
 Church was to reproduce that Church in the present 
 day. They were mainly independent in origin, and 
 they had little fellowship with each other. Messen- 
 gers occasionally passed from one to another, but 
 there was no general organization. But the fact 
 that each was trying to restore the primitive faith 
 according to the light of the Book brought them 
 into substantial agreement. By invitation Mr. 
 Campbell visited them in 1848, and was cordially 
 received ; and as a result they have since had a 
 closer fellowship with each other, and with their 
 brethren in America. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 27 
 
 We see that the religious world was ripe for 
 the work of this great Restoration Movement. Like 
 our Christ, it came in the fullness of time. All 
 over the land pious men located both the evil and 
 the remedy, and they did what they could to stay 
 the ruin resulting from a divided Church. But for 
 the most part they consisted of small companies 
 remote from each other, and with no magnetic 
 leader to mass them into one solid army and lead 
 them to victory. Surely God will supply that 
 leader. When poor Israel, groaning in the bondage 
 of Egypt, needed such a leader, Moses was called. 
 When the unfinished work of Moses was to be 
 completed, Joshua appeared. When the altars of 
 Jehovah had been torn down, Elijah came. When 
 the secret plot of Haman to destroy the Jewish 
 people in a single day was about to be consum- 
 mated, Esther brought deliverance. When the 
 people needed to be aroused for the coming of the 
 King, John the Baptist, in trumpet tones, awoke 
 the consciences of the multitudes. When Popery, 
 drunk on the blood of the saints, chained the 
 Bible, and held the people in densest darkness, then 
 Luther, the lion-hearted, proved to be the man of 
 destiny. And when the Church, cold and formal, 
 had lost her zeal for the salvation of men, Wesley 
 appeared. And now, in this great emergency, his- 
 tory must repeat itself, for God still lives and loves, 
 and his ears are open to the cries of his children. 
 Another leader is needed, and he is found in the 
 person of Alexander Campbell, a worthy associate 
 of these illustrious predecessors. 
 
28 HOW THE DISCIPLES BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. What is necessary to the understanding of 
 great results? 
 
 2. Name seven fundamental causes back of the 
 Restoration Movement. 
 
 3. Illustrate the religious unrest one hundred 
 years ago. 
 
 4. What of the work of the Haldanes? 
 
 5. What of the work of Thomas Campbell? 
 
 6. What of the work among religionists of 
 America ? 
 
 7. What of the work among some of the old 
 churches of America and Europe? 
 
 8. What of David Lloyd George? 
 
 9. What of history repeating itself? 
 
II. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY OF THE 
 CAMPBELLS 
 
 2<J 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. In the Old World. 
 
 a. Leaders Needed. 
 
 b. Greatness of Thomas Campbell. 
 
 c. Birth of Thomas Campbell. 
 
 d. Birth of Alexander Campbell. 
 
 e. Early Life of A. Campbell. 
 Conversion of A. Campbell. 
 
 g. Shipwreck. 
 
 h. Glasgow University. 
 
 i. Preview of A. Campbell. 
 
 2. In the New World. 
 
 a. A Parallel. 
 
 b. First Work of T. Campbell. 
 
 c. First Trouble. 
 
 d. Mighty Slogan. 
 
 e. Forward Stride. 
 
 /. Declaration and Address. 
 g. Family Reunited. 
 
 30 
 
II. 
 
 Early History of the Campbells. 
 
 In the first chapter we saw clearly that this 
 movement was of God. It was providential. The 
 Bible tells us that Jehovah created the earth, but 
 the newspapers tell us how he governs it. His 
 hand is always on the helm. When great things 
 need to be done, he sees that they are done. When 
 his people, looking largely to human wisdom for 
 guidance, rather than to the Bible, had divided and 
 subdivided and were on the verge of ruin, he saw 
 to it that in many places good men with one voice, 
 clear and strong, raised the cry, "Back to the 
 
 leaders. Truth, great as it is, must become in- 
 carnate in order to the greatest good. The Sermon 
 on the Mount found its greatest vitality, not in 
 its utterance, but in its Author. Its greatest truths 
 incarnated in his sinless life are unanswerable and 
 irresistible. What would the Ten Commandments 
 have been without the leadership of Moses? What 
 would the ninety-five theses nailed on the church 
 door at Wittemberg have been but for Luther's 
 leadership? And what can come of this almost 
 
 Bible !" 
 
 i. In the Old 
 World 
 
 a. Leaders Needed. But it 
 is not enough to have a great 
 cause. There must also be great 
 
 31 
 
32 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 universal cry for a return to New Testament truth, 
 except we have a leader? It must come to naught, 
 and so the Lord sees that we have him. 
 
 Thomas Campbell was not the leader, but his 
 son. Alexander, was. But the father was the 
 original mover, and it was his mission to have 
 all things ready for his son when that son was 
 ready to assume the leadership. It often happens 
 that the man who discovers a new principle, or 
 makes a valuable invention, is not the man to turn 
 it to practical good. It is usual in war for the 
 cavalry to bring on the battle, but the infantry and 
 artillery do the main fighting. David gathered the 
 material for the temple, but his son Solomon erected 
 the building. 
 
 b. Greatness of Thomas Campbell. Thomas 
 Campbell was eminently fitted for the work to which 
 God called him. His strong mind, his kind heart, 
 his love of peace, his reverence for the word of 
 God, his liberal culture., his sorrow over the evils 
 of division, and his experience in the work of 
 union both in the Old World and in the New, 
 were elements of this fitness. 
 
 He, because of the greatness of his son, is 
 liable to be underestimated. In fact, it has been 
 said that he "was eclipsed by his son." This 
 gifted son, with few equals and no superiors among 
 men, was richly endowed with the powers of argu- 
 ment and oratory. But in intellectual insight and 
 originality he was perhaps not superior to his 
 father. God meant them to supplement each other 
 perfectly, and the one without the other could not 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 33 
 
 have succeeded as they did. The father blazed 
 the way over which the son traveled to fame and 
 laid the foundation on which the son built so wise- 
 ly and well, hence they are in no sense rivals, any 
 more than were Luther and Melancthon, or Moses 
 and Joshua. Joshua could not have led Israel into 
 Canaan had not Moses first brought them out of 
 Egypt and through the wilderness. 
 
 As an illustration of the father's strength, let 
 it be remembered that it was he who wrote the 
 "Declaration and Address," one of the strongest 
 papers of the religious world since the apostolic 
 age. It was he who sounded the great war-cries, 
 so thrilling and so useful in this work: "Where 
 the Bible speaks, we speak; and where the Bible 
 is silent, we are silent." "A thus saith the Lord, 
 either in express terms, or by approved precedent, 
 for every article of faith and item of religious 
 practice." "Nothing ought to be received into the 
 faith or worship of the church, or be made a test 
 of communion among Christians, that is not as 
 old as the New Testament." "The restoration of 
 primitive Christianity, in its doctrine, its ordinances 
 and its practice." These mighty slogans, which 
 could come from no ordinary mind, are from the 
 head and heart of Thomas Campbell. 
 
 c. Birth of Thomas Campbell. Thomas 
 Campbell was born in County Down, Ireland, Feb- 
 ruary 1, 1763, and died in Bethany, Virginia, Janu- 
 ary 1, 1854. His ancestors were from western Scot- 
 land, and belonged to the famous Campbells of 
 Argyleshire. In June, 1787, when in his twenty- 
 
 3 
 
34 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 fourth year, he was married to Miss Jane Corneigle, 
 a descendant of the French Huguenots, a beautiful 
 woman, and richly endowed with the spirit of her 
 noble ancestry. Her distinguished son, speaking 
 of her near the close of his life, said that she more 
 nearly represented his ideal of a Christian wife and 
 mother than any other woman he ever saw. 
 
 d. Birth of Alexander Campbell. Alexander 
 Campbell was born near Shane's Castle, County 
 Antrim, Ireland, September 12, 1798, and died 
 in Bethany, Virginia, March 4, 1866. His boy- 
 hood was spent on a farm near Armagh, Rich 
 Hill and Newry, when his father preached for the 
 church at Ahorey. It was one of the most beau- 
 tiful places in Ireland, so much so that when 
 William the Third, advancing on Boyne, came 
 near Newry, he was so impressed with the scenery 
 that he exclaimed to his officers, "This is a country 
 worth fighting for." 
 
 e. Early Life of A. Campbell. Young 
 Campbell had the best possible school advantages 
 while the foundation of his education was being 
 laid. He was first in a primary school at Market 
 Hill, and next in an academy at Ahorey, conducted 
 by his uncles, Archibald and Enos Campbell. After 
 this he returned home, and his father took charge 
 of his education. Like James Mill, who was the 
 teacher of his great son, John Stuart Mill, Thomas 
 Campbell was in the main the educator of his 
 famous son. 
 
 But the boy became tired of school and chafed 
 under its restraints. He longed for outdoor life, 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 35 
 
 with its rugged but life-making sports; in fact, his 
 intellectual powers did not manifest themselves 
 early. On one occasion, when the weather was 
 warm, he sought the shade of a tree in which to 
 prepare his French lesson on "The Adventures of 
 Telemachus." He fell asleep and dropped his 
 book, and a hungry cow, browsing near, devoured 
 it. He was sharply reprimanded by his father, and 
 was told that "the cow had more French in her 
 stomach than he had in his head," a fact which 
 he could not deny. 
 
 His wise father diagnosed his case correctly, 
 and applied the right remedy. He saw that the 
 physical wants of his son were asserting themselves, 
 and took away his books and gave him a plow. 
 He needed a strong body through which his mas- 
 sive brain could work, and the farm, the best 
 gymnasium in the world, was at hand. He knew 
 that a strong rower must have a strong boat. Her- 
 cules in a frail craft would only hasten its destruc- 
 tion by the force of his strokes. 
 
 The father anxiously watched the experiment, 
 for he did not want his son to be a farmer; and 
 when he was sixteen he rejoiced to detect in his 
 broad-shouldered, deep-chested boy an awakening 
 thirst for books, and he was sent back to them. 
 These he devoured with avidity, saying that he was 
 determined to become "one of the best scholars in 
 the kingdom." 
 
 About this time the father left the farm and 
 established a high-grade academy at Rich Hill. 
 Here Alexander perfected his English studies, and 
 
36 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 did such work in Latin and Greek as was neces- 
 sary for matriculation in the university. His prog- 
 ress was so rapid that he was soon made assistant 
 teacher in the school. 
 
 /. Conversion of A. Campbell. Young Camp- 
 bell became a Christian while at Ahorey, but it 
 was with great agony of spirit. He was under the 
 influence of the prevailing theology of the day, 
 and thought his conversion would be accompanied 
 by some strange material manifestation in vision, 
 voice or sensation, as evidence of his acceptance 
 by the Lord. His despondency and anxiety con- 
 tinued for quite awhile. He was often alone in 
 prayer. But finally he determined to cast these 
 things aside and do what the Bible said, and trust 
 implicitly in its promises. "From the moment I 
 was able to feel this reliance on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, ,, he said, "I obtained and enjoyed peace of 
 mind." This bitter experience was invaluable to 
 him in after years, for God designed that he should 
 flood the world with light on the subject of con- 
 version, and he was now impressing him with the 
 importance of the work, and showing him how 
 to do it. 
 
 g. Shipwreck. Thomas Campbell, on account 
 of failing health, was sent on a voyage to America 
 for rest and recuperation. Alexander, though only 
 nineteen years of age, was left in charge of the 
 school and family. The father, pleased with Ameri- 
 ca, requested the family to join him, and they 
 would make their home there. But the vessel bear- 
 ing them was wrecked, and it looked as if all was 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 37 
 
 lost. Signals of distress were unanswered, and 
 all expected death at any moment. In this awful 
 hour the future of Alexander Campbell was shaped. 
 Having done all in his power for the safety of the 
 family, he sat down on a piece of the broken ship 
 and abandoned himself to reflection. In the solemn 
 presence of death, life assumed a new meaning, and 
 he promised God that if saved he would devote 
 himself wholly to his service, and spend his life 
 in the preaching of the Word. 
 
 h. Glasgow University. It was late in the 
 year, and sea-voyaging was dangerous, and it was 
 decided to remain in Scotland till the next year, 
 thus giving Mr. Campbell the long-wished-for 
 opportunity of completing his studies in the famous 
 University of Glasgow. God was leading him, as 
 he had led Moses, in a strange way. He needed 
 the touch of this great school to equip him for his 
 glorious mission, as Moses needed the education 
 of Egypt, and God saw that he got it. 
 
 The new environment was full of inspiration, 
 and it aroused the ambitious young student and put 
 him at his best. Glasgow was a great city for that 
 day — '114,000 — and was hoary with age, and rich 
 in the records of twelve centuries. To a young 
 man who knew only rural and village life, this 
 meant much. The school was large — fifteen hun- 
 dred students — and the alma mater of his father. 
 Some of the old Faculty still remained, and 
 teachers of the father became teachers of the son. 
 No wonder that Mr. Campbell, physically strong 
 and quivering with holy ambition, made wonderful 
 
38 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 progress in his studies. He rose at four and retired 
 at ten, and every minute of the sixteen working- 
 hours was made to tell for good. He was in the 
 front rank of all his classes, and was one of the 
 ''prize men" in logic. 
 
 While here he came directly under the influence 
 of the Haldanes, and his convictions against divi- 
 sions in the church, and abhorrence of a dominating 
 clergy, with other important things afterwards so 
 prominent in his teachings, were clarified and 
 strengthened. Richardson, his biographer, referring 
 to this period, says: "It may be regarded as the 
 first phase of that religious reformation which he 
 subsequently carried out so successfully to its 
 legitimate issues." It was while here that, after 
 much prayer and thought, he fully decided to aban- 
 don denominationalism and devote his life to the 
 union of God's people. 
 
 i. Preview of A. Campbell. Alexander Camp- 
 bell, like Saul of Tarsus, was a many-sided man. 
 As an editor he stood in the front rank, as is evi- 
 dent from the Christian Baptist and Millennial Har- 
 binger. As an author he is seen as one of the 
 best, in the sixty volumes which came from his 
 pen. As a teacher Bethany College stands in our 
 midst as his glorious monument to-day. As a 
 business man he was a success. As a polemic per- 
 haps he had no superior. As a statesman he served 
 with distinction in the Constitutional Convention 
 of Virginia with ex-President Madison, Chief Jus- 
 tice Marshall, John Randolph of Roanoke, and 
 other illustrious men of that old commonwealth. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 39 
 
 As a religious leader, in spite of the most difficult 
 circumstances, he gathered about him an army of 
 heroic men and women, who in a single century 
 have grown into large proportions, and now stand 
 in the vanguard of the mighty hosts of the Lord. 
 As a preacher, by common consent, he is regarded 
 as one of the best. 
 
 Let us hear what some of the eminent men of 
 the world say of him: 
 
 Moses E. Lard: "To few men has nature been 
 more kind than to Mr. Campbell. No word but 
 lavish will express her gifts to him; and this must 
 be accepted as true, whether it have reference to 
 the inner or outer man. Physically, not one in 
 a thousand was so well endowed as was he. Nature 
 was in a fertile mood when she molded that large, 
 sinewy body. Material was abundant and bestowed 
 with no grudging hand. . . . But his greatness lay 
 in his intellect. In resources of mind no word but 
 opulent will describe him. Here he was great, pre- 
 eminently great, in the true sense of that fine, 
 simple word. . . . We do not hesitate to affirm 
 that since the last inspired man bowed his head in 
 death a greater than our lamented brother has not 
 risen." 
 
 Jeremiah Black, who served both as Chief Jus- 
 tice of Pennsylvania and Attorney General of the 
 L T nited States, says : "As a great preacher, he will 
 be remembered with unqualified admiration by all 
 who had the good fortune to hear him. The inter- 
 est which he excited can hardly be explained. The 
 first sentence of his discourse 'drew audience still 
 
40 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 as death,' and every word was heard with rapt 
 attention to the close. It did not appear to be 
 eloquence; it was not the enticing words of man's 
 wisdom ; the arts of the orator seemed to be incon- 
 sistent with the simplicity of his character. It was 
 logic, explanation and argument so clear that every- 
 body followed without effort, and all felt that he 
 was raising them to the level of a superior mind. 
 Persuasion sat upon his lips. Prejudice melted 
 away under the easy flow of his elocution. The 
 clinching fact was always in its proper place, and 
 the fine poetic illustration was ever at hand to shed 
 its light over the theme. But all this does not 
 account for the impressiveness of his speeches, and 
 no analysis of them can give any idea of their 
 power." 
 
 Ex-President Madison says : "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 
 expounder of the Scriptures I have ever heard." 
 
 Dr. Herman Humphrey, president of Amherst 
 College, says: "In listening to him you feel that 
 you are in the presence of a great man. He speaks 
 like a master of assemblies." 
 
 Dr. Bell, an eminent physician of Louisville, who 
 heard him in a sermon on the Book of Hebrews, 
 says: "It has been forty-five years since I heard 
 that discourse, but it is as vivid in my memory as 
 when I first heard it." 
 
 Robert Graham, president of Kentucky Univer- 
 sity, says: "I can hardly express my admiration 
 of him in every walk of life. In the social circle 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 41 
 
 he was by far the finest talker I ever heard, in the 
 lecture-room the most instructive, and in the pulpit 
 he had few equals, and no superior." 
 
 James S. Lamar, a distinguished preacher and 
 author, says: "The people admired him, loved him, 
 hung enchained upon his lips, trusted him, and 
 spread his name and fame far and wide. He 
 moved in a sphere of his own. He seemed to feel 
 that he had a special mission, an appointment from 
 his Lord to do a peculiar and world-wide work. I 
 believe that the Divine Spirit so rested upon his 
 soul that he lived and thought and preached under 
 the sacred and solemn pressure of this conviction. 
 He was a God-appointed and God-inspired man, a 
 figure statuesque, colossal, mighty; a grand and 
 masterful man, worthy of his sacred mission, worthy 
 of the great brotherhood whom he led into the light 
 and liberty of the gospel, and worthy of the large 
 place which he will one day be given in the history 
 of the Church." 
 
 George D. Prentice, the brilliant editor of the 
 Louisville Journal, says: "Alexander Campbell is 
 unquestionably one of the most extraordinary men 
 of our time. Putting wholly out of view his tenets, 
 with which we, of course, have nothing to do, he 
 claims, by virtue of his intrinsic qualities as 
 manifested in his achievements, a place among the 
 very foremost spirits of the age. His energy, self- 
 reliance and self-fidelity, if we may use the expres- 
 sion, are of the stamp that belongs only to the 
 world's first leaders in thought or action. His per- 
 sonal excellence is without a stain or a shadow. 
 
42 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 His intellect is among the cleanest, richest, pro- 
 foundest ever vouchsafed to man. Indeed, it seems 
 to us that in the faculty of abstract thinking, in the 
 sphere of pure thought, he has few, if any, living 
 rivals. . . . He grasps and handles the highest, 
 subtlest, most comprehensive principles as if they 
 were the liveliest impressions of the senses. No 
 poet's soul is more crowded with imagery than his 
 is with the ripest forms of thought. Surely the life 
 of a man thus excellent and gifted is a part of the 
 common treasure of society. In his essential char- 
 acter he belongs to no sect or party, but to the 
 world." 
 
 David Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer of Great Britain, as seen in the preceding 
 chapter, says : "A very large part of the economic 
 and social principles I am pressing upon the Eng- 
 lish people I obtained from reading the writings 
 of Alexander Campbell." 
 
 Robert E. Lee, the great leader of the "Lost 
 Cause," says: "He was a man in whom were illus- 
 triously combined all the qualities that could adorn 
 or elevate the nature to which he belonged; knowl- 
 edge the most varied and extended, virtue that 
 never loitered in her career nor deviated from her 
 course. A man who, if he had been delegated as a 
 representative of his species to one of the many 
 superior worlds, would have suggested a grand idea 
 of the human race." 
 
 It is hoped that this brief preview of the hero 
 of this history may quicken our interest in the 
 remarkable story connected with his name. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 43 
 
 a. A Parallel. Thomas 
 2. In the New Campbell, after a voyage of thir- 
 World ty-five days, landed in Philadel- 
 
 phia on May 27, 1807. This was a speedy voyage 
 for that time. But when the good ship "Brutus" 
 sent her passengers ashore, it seems that no one 
 of them impressed himself on the bystanders as a 
 man of destiny. These bystanders were as blind as 
 to the character of the newcomers as were their 
 European ancestors eighteen hundred years ago, 
 when a little ship from Troas landed at Neapolis, 
 and Paul for the first time pressed his feet on 
 the soil of Europe. Just as there was no one then 
 who could foresee what God would do for Europe 
 and the world through this modest Asiatic preach- 
 er, so no one now could divine the destiny of this 
 noble spirit who had for the first time stepped on 
 American soil. However, as in the afterglow the 
 world knew and appreciated the great apostle, so 
 will the same world yet learn to appreciate to the 
 full the labors of this man, and those of his son, 
 who was soon to follow. 
 
 b. First Work. Mr. Campbell fortunately 
 found the synod of his church in session in Phila- 
 delphia on his arrival. He reported to that body 
 promptly, and was cordially received, and by it was 
 assigned to the Presbytery of Chartiers, and was 
 given work in Washington County, Pennsylvania. 
 This was choice territory, with Pittsburgh, an impor- 
 tant city, as its center. He located in the town of 
 Washington, in the county of the same name. 
 
 c. First Trouble. The ocean voyage and 
 
44 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 change of climate proved to be the right prescription 
 for Mr. Campbell, and he was ready to enter upon 
 his new work without delay. His hopes were 
 bright, for he thought that in a new land, where 
 political liberty had been so recently won, he would 
 find a congenial atmosphere in which to labor for 
 the spiritual liberty which he had been unable to 
 secure in his old home across the sea. But he soon 
 discovered that he was to be disappointed. Early in 
 his American ministry he was sent up the Alleghany 
 Valley to hold communion services among the scat- 
 tered brethren of that region. He found other 
 Presbyterians who had not for years had the 
 privilege of the sacred Supper, and his big, warm 
 heart cordially invited them to join in the feast. 
 This was a clear violation of "the usages" of the 
 Seceders, and Mr. Campbell was called to account 
 for it at the next meeting of the presbytery, and 
 was censured for his conduct. He plead in vain 
 that his action was in harmony with the Scriptures. 
 They did not deny this, but urged that he had vio- 
 lated the "usages" of the church, and he should 
 suffer for it. 
 
 Mr. Campbell appealed to the Synod of North 
 America, their highest church court; for while he 
 was as tender and gentle as a woman, and a lover 
 of peace, he was not the man to submit passively 
 to a wrong which robbed him of his rights as a 
 preacher, and took from his brethren sacred privi- 
 leges vouchsafed to them in the word of God. This 
 fine trait of his character is generally overlooked. 
 He was like Melancthon in courtesy and kindness, 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 45 
 
 but when the occasion demanded it, he was as cour- 
 ageous as Luther. Here he was a stranger in a 
 strange land, and yet he acted as if he were in 
 the midst of a host of old friends, tried and true. 
 In fact, the real Thomas Campbell is just now com- 
 ing into view. We have not known him before; 
 neither has he known himself. Hitherto he has 
 been a young man at the threshold of life; but now 
 he is forty-four, with his powers well developed, 
 and with an environment calling them into active 
 exercise. Life heretofore has been preliminary and 
 preparatory, but henceforth it is to be stern and 
 real. Until now he has been a soldier in the 
 camp of instruction; but the battle, fierce and 
 furious, has begun. His life-work — the restora- 
 tion of primitive Christianity — is coming into clearer 
 outline, and, like a real hero, he confers not with 
 flesh and blood, but responds at once to duty's 
 call. 
 
 His appeal to the supreme synod was masterly. 
 There was nothing in it vindictive, but in calmness 
 and courage he plead for religious liberty as guar- 
 anteed in the Book. Here is a sample sentence of 
 that appeal: "How great the injustice, how aggra- 
 vated the injury will appear, to thrust from com- 
 munion a Christian brother, a fellow-minister, for 
 saying and doing none other things than those 
 which our divine Lord and his apostles have taught. 
 ... I plead the cause of the Scriptural and apos- 
 tolic worship of the Church, in opposition to the 
 various errors and schisms which have so awfully 
 corrupted and divided it." 
 
^6 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 But his appeal was in vain, leaving him with 
 but a single course to pursue in order to preserve 
 his self-respect and loyalty to his convictions : de- 
 clare his independence of all human tribunals; and 
 this he did, saying, "Henceforth I decline all min- 
 isterial connection with, or subjection to, the Asso- 
 ciate Synod of North America." 
 
 What this painful step cost Mr. Campbell, the 
 refined and loving Christian gentleman, we can 
 never know. But, like Paul, he was ready, if need 
 be, to give up everything — even life itself — for the 
 truth as he saw it in the Bible. 
 
 d. Mighty Slogan. His withdrawal from the 
 Seceders did not lessen the labors of Mr. Campbell. 
 He continued to preach mainly in the homes of his 
 friends, and the people heard him gladly. So 
 intense was the interest aroused that a special meet- 
 ing was called to consider their future course. A 
 large audience accordingly gathered at the home of 
 Abraham Altars, a friendly outsider, and Mr. Camp- 
 bell made a great speech, exalting the Bible as the 
 all-sufficient and the alone-sufficient rule of faith and 
 practice, and reaching his thrilling climax in the 
 famous words, "Where the Scriptures speak, we 
 speak ; and where the Scriptures are silent, we are 
 silent." The sequel shows this to have been one of 
 the most important conferences ever held on the 
 .American continent. 
 
 At the conclusion of the address a deathlike 
 silence settled on the audience. The impression 
 was wonderful. It was a time for meditation, 
 and not words. But when the silence was finally 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 47 
 
 broken, the excitement was intense. Andrew Mon- 
 roe, an intelligent Scotchman, was the first to speak. 
 "Mr. Campbell/' he said, "if we adopt that as 
 a basis, there is an end to infant baptism." Mr. 
 Campbell replied : "Of course, if infant baptism is 
 not found in the Scriptures, we can have nothing 
 to do with it." At this Thomas Acheson, an emo- 
 tional spirit, arose and, in much excitement, ex- 
 claimed : "I hope I may never see the day when 
 my heart will renounce the blessed saying of the 
 Scripture, 'Suffer little children to come unto me, 
 and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom 
 of heaven' 1" And he burst into tears. James 
 Foster said: "Mr. Acheson, in the Scripture which 
 you have quoted there is no reference whatever 
 to infant baptism." 
 
 e. Forward Stride. The enunciation of this 
 great principle was a mighty stride forward. It 
 marks an epoch in religious history. The clouds 
 were rifted, and the guiding star of the new move- 
 ment for the first time shone clearly on the path- 
 way of this unconscious reformer. The exact time 
 had come for this declaration. The soil at last was 
 ready for the seed, and the sower was there to 
 scatter it. The soil in the Old World was preoccu- 
 pied, and so he was sent across the Atlantic to 
 deposit it in the virgin soil of the greatest republic 
 beneath the stars. 
 
 /. Declaration and Address. On August 17, 
 1809, another important meeting was held, when it 
 was determined to organize, not a church, but 
 "The Christian Association of Washington." It 
 
HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 was evident to all that organization was essential to 
 effectiveness. "This act and this date." says C. 
 L. Loos, "may be regarded as the actual beginning 
 of our reformation in an organized form." A com- 
 mittee of twenty-one was appointed to recommend 
 the best means of promoting the purposes of the 
 organization. Mr. Campbell wrote the report of the 
 committee ; and. when completed, the committee 
 was called together, and on September 7, 1809, it 
 was unanimously adopted, and ordered published 
 to the world. 
 
 This "Declaration and Address'' is one of the 
 most remarkable productions of its kind in the 
 world, and the brief analysis of it in the following 
 chapter will richly reward a careful study. 
 
 g. Family Reunited. On September 29, 1809. 
 more than two years after Thomas Campbell left 
 Ireland, the family, in charge of his son, Alexander, 
 after a billowy voyage of forty-six days, landed in 
 Xew York. Only a few days were spent in sight- 
 seeing, after which the long overland trip of three 
 hundred and fifty miles across the mountains to 
 Washington, Pennsylvania, was begun. The father 
 met them on the way, and they talked of many 
 things as they journeyed homeward. But the all- 
 important subject discussed by the two men was 
 the "Declaration and Address." proof-sheets of 
 which Mr. Campbell had with him. And thus, most 
 appropriately, the first thing read by Alexander 
 Campbell in America was this "Address." He was 
 delighted with it. And later, when he had given 
 it careful study, he said to his father that he 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 49 
 
 intended to devote his life to the propagation of 
 the principles contained in it. 
 
 Before reaching home they learned, greatly to 
 each other's joy, that their views regarding sec- 
 tarianism were the same. They had decided that 
 a divided Church could never present to the 
 world the idea of unity taught in the Scriptures. 
 The circumstances under which they reached this 
 conclusion were wholly different, and during the 
 time they had no conference with each other on 
 the subject. The father, while actively engaged in 
 the work of the ministry, was forced, by the stern 
 logic of facts, to this belief ; and the son, while 
 laboring as a student of the Bible, and observing 
 the narrowness and bitterness of a divided Church, 
 was reluctantly driven to the same conviction. So 
 vicious was sectarian hatred that Mr. Campbell 
 told his son that "nothing but the law of the land 
 had kept his head upon his shoulders." Each had 
 up to this time half feared to make known to the 
 other these mighty inner revolutions, hence their 
 joy was all the greater at the discovery, and their 
 convictions were strengthened at this new evidence 
 that the Father was guiding them in their ways. 
 
 4 
 
50 HOW THE DISCIPLES BEGAN AXD GREW 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Why is it necessary to have truth incarnated? 
 
 2. What is often the fate of discoverers and 
 inventors ? 
 
 3. What evidence is there of the strength of 
 Thomas Campbell? 
 
 4. Sketch the early life of Alexander Camp- 
 bell. 
 
 5. Why did Thomas Campbell come to 
 America? 
 
 6. Tell of the shipwreck of Alexander Camp- 
 bell. 
 
 7. Sketch his life in Glasgow University. 
 
 8. Give the preview of Alexander Campbell. 
 
 9. Tell of the landing of Thomas Campbell in 
 America. 
 
 10. What of his first work and first trouble? 
 
 11. Tell of his experience with the synods. 
 
 12. Tell of his great address in the home of 
 Abraham Altars. 
 
 13. What of the "Declaration and Address"? 
 
 14. Tell of the reunion of father and son. 
 
DECLARATION AND ADDRESS 
 
 51 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER III. 
 
 1. The Declaration. 
 
 a. Unity, Peace and Purity. 
 
 b. Means to This End. 
 
 c. Disclaimer. 
 
 2. The Address. 
 
 a. Oneness of the Church. 
 
 b. Co-operation. 
 
 c. Tests of Fellowship. 
 
 d. Perfect Constitution. 
 
 e. Ordinances and Commandments. 
 /. Inferences and Deductions. 
 
 g. Doctrinal Information. 
 
 h. Essential Knowledge. 
 
 i. The Saints a Great Family. 
 ;. A Horrid Evil. 
 
 k. Cause of Corruption and Division. 
 /. Faith and Obedience. 
 m. Human Expedients. 
 
 3. The Appendix. 
 
 a. The Author. 
 
 b. Two Phases. 
 
 c. Fundamental Wrong. 
 
 52 
 
III. 
 
 Declaration and Address. 
 
 'The Declaration and Address/' written by 
 Thomas Campbell, and published to the world by 
 the Christian Association of Washington, is one of 
 the most remarkable productions of its kind, and 
 we would like to give it in full, but space forbids. 
 It covers fifty-four closely printed pages, and con- 
 tains more than thirty thousand words. But we 
 give an analysis, though brief, which conveys a 
 good view of the production, and suggest that the 
 reader secure a copy in full for his library. It 
 is a threefold address, containing the "Declaration," 
 the "Address" and the "Appendix." 
 
 spirit, we desire to be at rest; and were it possible, 
 we would also desire to adopt such measures as 
 would give rest to our brethren throughout all the 
 churches, as would restore unity, peace and purity 
 to the whole Church of God." 
 
 b. Means to This End. "Rejecting human 
 opinions and the inventions of men as of 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 
 
 i. The Declara- 
 tion 
 
 a. Unity, Peace and Purity. 
 "Tired and sick of bitter jar- 
 rings and j anglings of a party 
 
 53 
 
54 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 original standard; taking the Divine Word alone 
 for our rule; the Holy Spirit for our teacher and 
 guide ; and Christ alone, as exhibited in the Word, 
 for our salvation; that, by so doing, we may be 
 at peace among ourselves, follow peace with all 
 men, and holiness, without which no man shall see 
 the Lord." 
 
 c. Disclaimer. "This Society by no means 
 considers itself a Church, nor do the members con- 
 sider themselves as standing in that relation; but 
 merely as voluntary advocates of Church reforma- 
 tion ; and as possessing the powers common to all 
 individuals who may please to associate themselves 
 for any lawful purpose; namely, the disposal of 
 their time, counsel and property as they may see 
 cause." 
 
 Let it be noted here that the purpose of this 
 
 Association was union, and not division. Like 
 
 Wesley, they would work from within, and not 
 
 from without, for the purification of the Church. 
 
 Preliminary to the thirteen 
 2. The Address . . . . 
 
 propositions following, there is 
 
 a discussion of the character of the Christian 
 
 religion, and the spirit of the appeal made. A 
 
 single quotation will reveal the clear thought and 
 
 sweet spirit here. 
 
 "It is to us a pleasing consideration that all the 
 
 churches of Christ which mutually acknowledge 
 
 each other as such, are not only agreed in the 
 
 great doctrines of faith and holiness, but are also 
 
 materially agreed as to the positive ordinances of 
 
 the gospel institution; so that our differences, at 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 55 
 
 most, are about the things in which the Kingdom 
 of God does not consist; that is, about matters of 
 private opinion and human invention. What a pity 
 that the Kingdom of God should be divided about 
 such things? Who, then, would not be the first 
 among us to give up human inventions in the wor- 
 ship of God, and to cease from imposing his private 
 opinions upon his brethren, that our breaches might 
 thus be healed? Who would not willingly conform 
 to the original pattern laid down in the New Testa- 
 ment for this happy purpose? Our dear brethren 
 of all denominations will please to consider that we 
 have our educational prejudices and particular cus- 
 toms to struggle against as well as they. But this 
 we do sincerely declare, that there is nothing that 
 we have hitherto received as matters of faith or 
 practice, which is not expressly taught in the Word 
 of God, either in express terms or approved prec- 
 edent, that we would not heartily relinquish, so 
 that we might return to the original unity of the 
 Christian Church; and in this happy unity, enjoy 
 full communion with all our brethren in peace and 
 charity. The like dutiful condescension we expect 
 of all that are seriously impressed with a sense of 
 the duty they owe to God, to each other, and to 
 their perishing brethren of mankind. . . . With 
 you all we desire to unite in the bands of Christian 
 unity — Christ alone being the Head; his word the 
 rule; an explicit belief of, and conformity to, it in 
 all things, the terms. More than this you will not 
 require of us ; and less we can not require of you." 
 In all literature nothing can be found clearer 
 
56 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 in thought, gentler or more considerate in expres- 
 sion, and more free from the touch and taint of 
 sectarianism, than this. 
 
 Then follow the itemized propositions, preceded, 
 however, by this precautionary word: "Let none 
 imagine that the enjoined propositions are intended 
 as an overture toward a new creed or standard of 
 the Church. Nothing can be further from our 
 intention. They are merely designed to open the 
 way that we may come fairly and firmly to original 
 ground upon clear and certain promises, and take 
 up things just as the Apostles left them. Having 
 said so much to solicit attention and prevent mis- 
 take, we submit as follows: 
 
 a. Oneness of the Church. "That the Church 
 of Christ on earth is essentially, intentionally, and 
 constitutionally one; consisting of all those in every 
 place that profess faith in Christ and obedience to 
 him in all things according to the Scriptures, and 
 that manifest the same by their tempers and con- 
 duct. 
 
 b. Co-operation. "That although the Church 
 must necessarily exist in distinct societies, locally 
 separate one from another; yet there ought to be 
 no schisms, no uncharitable divisions among them. 
 They ought to receive each other as Christ hath 
 received them to the glory of God. And for this 
 purpose they ought all to walk by the same rule, 
 to mind and speak the same thing, and to be per- 
 fectly joined together in the same mind and judg- 
 ment. 
 
 c. Tests of Fellowship. "That, in order to 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 57 
 
 this, nothing ought to be inculcated as articles of 
 faith, nor required as terms of communion, but what 
 is expressly taught in the word of God, . . . 
 either in expressed terms, or by approved precedent 
 
 d. The Perfect Constitution. "That although 
 the Old and New Testaments are inseparably con- 
 nected, making one perfect revelation of the 
 Divine will, for the edification and salvation of the 
 Church, and therefore in that respect can not be 
 separated; yet as to what directly belongs to their 
 immediate object, the New Testament is a perfect 
 constitution for the worship, discipline and govern- 
 ment of the New Testament Church, and as per- 
 fect a rule for the particular duties of its members, 
 as the Old Testament was for the Old Testament 
 Church. 
 
 e. Ordinances and Commandments. "That 
 with respect to the commands and ordinances of 
 our Lord, about which the Scriptures are silent as 
 to the express time or manner of performance, if 
 any such there be, no human authority has power 
 to interfere in order to supply the supposed 
 deficiency, by making laws for the Church. Much 
 less has any human authority power to impose 
 new commands or ordinances not enjoined by the 
 Lord. Nothing ought to be received into the faith 
 or worship of the Church, or be made a term of 
 communion among Christians, that is not as old as 
 the New Testament. 
 
 /. Inferences and Deductions. "That al- 
 though inferences and deductions from Scripture 
 premises, when fairly inferred, may be truly called 
 
58 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 the doctrine of God's Word, yet they are not bind- 
 ing upon the consciences of Christians farther than 
 they perceive the connection; for their faith must 
 not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power 
 of God. 
 
 g. Doctrinal Information. "That although 
 doctrinal exhibitions of Divine truths, and defen- 
 sive testimonies in opposition to prevailing errors, 
 be expedient; and the more full and explicit they 
 be for those purposes the better; yet as these 
 must be in a great measure the effect of human 
 reasoning, they ought not to be made terms of 
 Christian communion, unless we suppose, what is 
 contrary to fact, that none have a right to the 
 communion of the Church but such as possess a 
 clear and decisive judgment, or are come to a 
 high degree of doctrinal information; whereas the 
 Church from the beginning did, and ever will, con- 
 sist of little children, and young men, as well as 
 fathers. 
 
 h. Essential Knowledge. "That as it is not 
 necessary that persons should have a particular 
 knowledge or a distinct apprehension of all divinely 
 revealed truths in order to entitle them to a place 
 in the Church ; neither should they, for this pur- 
 pose, be required to make a profession more exten- 
 sive than their knowledge; but that, on the contrary, 
 they have a due measure of Scriptural knowledge 
 respecting their lost condition, and of the way of 
 salvation through Jesus Christ, accompanied with a 
 profession of faith in, and obedience to, Him in all 
 things according to His Word, is all that is neces- 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 59 
 
 sary to qualify them for admission into the 
 Church. 
 
 i. The Saints a Great Family. "That all 
 that are enabled to make such a profession, and to 
 manifest it in their conduct, should consider each 
 other as the precious saints of God, should love 
 each other as brethren, children of the same family 
 and Father, temples of the same Spirit, members 
 of the same body, subjects of the same grace, ob- 
 jects of the same Divine love, bought with the same 
 price, and joint-heirs of the same inheritance. Whom 
 God hath thus joined together no man should dare 
 to put asunder. 
 
 ;'. A Horrid Evil. "That division among Chris- 
 tians is a horrid evil, fraught with many evils. It 
 is anti-Christian, as it destroys the visible unity of 
 the body of Christ; as if he were divided against 
 Himself, excluding and excommunicating a part of 
 Himself. It is anti-Scriptural, as being strictly pro- 
 hibited by His sovereign authority; a direct viola- 
 tion of His expressed command. It is anti-natural, 
 as it excites Christians to contemn, to hate and 
 oppose one another, who are by the highest and 
 most endearing obligations to love each other as 
 brethren, even as Christ has loved them. 
 
 k. Cause of Corruption and Division. "That 
 (in some instances) a partial neglect of the revealed 
 will of God; and (in others) an assumed authority 
 for making human opinicns and human inventions 
 a term of communion by introducing them into the 
 constitution, faith or worship of the Church ; are, 
 and have been, the immediate, obvious and univer- 
 
60 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 sally acknowledged causes of all the corruptions 
 and divisions that ever have taken place in the 
 Church of God. 
 
 /. Faith and Obedience. "That all that is 
 necessary to the highest state of perfection and 
 purity in the Church, is, first, that none be received 
 as members but such as having that due measure 
 of Scriptural knowledge described above, do profess 
 their faith in Christ and obedience to Him in all 
 things according to the Scriptures ; nor, second- 
 ly, that any be retained in her communion longer 
 than they continue to manifest the reality of their 
 profession by their conduct ; thirdly, that her 
 ministers, duly and Scripturally qualified, incul- 
 cate none other things than those very articles of 
 faith and holiness expressly revealed in the Word 
 of God. Lastly, that in all their administration 
 they keep close by the observances of all the ordi- 
 nances, after the example of the primitive Church, 
 exhibited in the New Testament, without any addi- 
 tions whatsoever of human opinions or inventions 
 of men. 
 
 m. Human Expedients. "That if any circum- 
 stantials indispensably necessary to the observance 
 of Divine ordinances be not found upon the page 
 of revelation, such, and such only, as are absolutely 
 necessary for this purpose, should be adopted, under 
 the title of human expedients, without any pre- 
 tence to a more sacred origin, — so that any subse- 
 quent alteration or difference in the observance of 
 these things might produce no contention nor divi- 
 sion in the Church." 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 61 
 
 3. The Appendix 
 
 The Appendix is an effort to 
 make absolutely plain every point 
 
 in the foregoing at all liable to be misunderstood. 
 
 a. The Author. This great document shows 
 its author a man of great head and heart, for none 
 but a great head could have conceived it, and none 
 but a great heart could have so sweetened it with the 
 spirit of the Master. It became the magna charta 
 of the great Restoration Movement which followed. 
 It might also be called a Declaration of Independ- 
 ence, for, like the one written by Thomas Jeffer- 
 son, it was a protest against spiritual tyranny, and 
 a plea for larger liberty in the realm of the soul. 
 So fully and so fairly does it cover the questions 
 involved, that no attempt was ever made by the 
 opposers of the movement to controvert a single 
 position which it contains. 
 
 b. Two Phases. The work of the Campbells 
 has two distinct and different phases. Here it is 
 seen in its first phase, showing them willing, like 
 Wesley in the Church of England, to remain with- 
 in the fold of denominationalism on certain condi- 
 tions. Mr. Campbell, in the Harbinger of 1837, 
 says: "So fully were we aware of the evils of 
 schism, and so reluctant to assume the attitude of 
 a new party, that we proposed to continue in the 
 Presbyterian connection, even after we were con- 
 vinced of various imperfections in the form of 
 its government, in its system of discipline, in its 
 administration of Christian ordinances, and of the 
 want of Scriptural warrant for infant baptism ; 
 provided only that they would allow us to follow 
 
62 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 our own convictions by not obliging us to do what 
 we could not approve, and allowing us to teach and 
 enforce only those matters for which we could 
 produce clear Scriptural authority, and make all 
 the rest a subject of forbearance till further 
 enlightened." 
 
 Evidently they had their doubts as to whether 
 the goal for which they were striving — Christian 
 union — could be attained in this way ; but their con- 
 sciousness of the evils of division, and their aver- 
 sion to doing anything that would make them 
 appear like a new denomination, constrained them 
 to give the attempt a fair test. The significant phrase 
 "till further enlightened" indicates that they were 
 not sure of their footing. But the longer the test 
 continued, the stronger was the conviction that the 
 plan would not work. The walls surrounding the 
 different religious bodies were so strong, and the 
 bitterness within was so intense, that not even a 
 respectable federation could be formed. Some were 
 unwilling to be known even as allies of others. 
 
 c. The Fundamental Wrong. Surrounded by 
 an atmosphere like this, these men soon discovered 
 that there was something fundamentally wrong. 
 They saw themselves as physicians dealing with the 
 surface indications of a disease when the real 
 trouble was in the blood of the patient. Denomina- 
 tionalism itself was a surface indication of a con- 
 stitutional wrong back of it; and even though they 
 had succeeded in banding together its different 
 members, the fabric would have fallen for want of 
 a foundation. The cause of sickness must be 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 63 
 
 removed before we can reasonably look for health. 
 The original Church was united ; its Author and its 
 inspired builders so erected it, and therefore union 
 is right and division is wrong. The clear-cut tones 
 of their great slogan, "Where the Bible speaks, 
 we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent," 
 Were distinctly heard above the din and confusion 
 of the contending factions — they were "further 
 enlightened" — and they saw that their goal could be 
 reached only by the restoration of the New Testa- 
 ment Church, and so ever afterward they bent their 
 every energy to this end. Henceforth nothing short 
 of the full and complete restoration of the Apos- 
 tolic Church in its faith, its ordinances and its 
 life interested them. 
 
 This is the second phase of their work, and no 
 man can understand it, or correctly represent it, 
 who is blind to this distinction. At first they were 
 willing, for the sake of union, to overlook many 
 things taught in the Scriptures, among them the 
 ordinances; but later they went back of all denom- 
 inationalism, and all uninspired creeds and councils, 
 to the fountain-head, and began the work of the 
 reproduction of the Church as it was in the begin- 
 ning. Then, and not before, their movement began 
 to move, because until now it was on the wrong 
 track; and if we would keep it moving, we must 
 see that it remains on this track. 
 
64 HOW. THE DISCIPLES BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Why not give the "Declaration and Address" 
 in full? 
 
 2. How many pages and words in it? 
 
 3. What is its threefold division? 
 
 4. Name the three points in the first division. 
 
 5. Name the thirteen points in the second 
 division. 
 
 6. What is the purpose of the third division? 
 
 7. State the two phases of the work of the 
 Campbells. 
 
 8. Can this work be understood, or correctly 
 represented, without a recognition of these phases? 
 
IV. 
 
 PREPARATORY WORK 
 
 5 
 
 65 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1. Alexander Campbell's First Sermon. 
 
 2. Trouble with the Pittsburgh Synod. 
 
 3. Positions of Father and Son Reversed. 
 
 4. The Church in the Wilderness. 
 
 5. Progress. 
 
 a. Sick Church Discovered. 
 
 b. Causes of the Sickness. 
 
 c. Remedy Discovered. 
 
 66 
 
IV. 
 
 Preparatory Work. 
 
 i. Alexander Not long after the coming of 
 
 Campbell's First the son, the father asked him 
 Sermon t0 c i ose one 0 f his meetings with 
 
 an exhortation. This was his first attempt to take 
 any public part in the worship. He spoke easily 
 and effectively, and at the close his father was 
 heard in an undertone to say, "Very well, very 
 well." On July 15, 1810, when in his twenty-sec- 
 ond year, he preached his first sermon. He spoke 
 to a large audience in a grove near their home. It 
 was well prepared, and delivered with eloquence 
 and force, so much so that at its close many said 
 he was a better preacher than his father; a high 
 compliment truly, for all regarded Thomas Camp- 
 bell as one of the greatest preachers of his day. 
 His text was : "Whosoever heareth these sayings of 
 mine, and doeth them, I will liken him to a man 
 who built his house on a rock," etc. (Matt. 7:24- 
 27). His text was the keynote to the strong life- 
 current now beginning to manifest itself in this 
 gifted young man. It was a bugle-call to the world 
 to hear and heed the words of God rather than 
 those of men. Soon after this he preached the 
 first sermon at Brush Run, their first congregation, 
 when his text was again prophetic. It was from 
 
 67 
 
68 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Job 8:7: "Though thy beginning was small, yet 
 thy latter end should greatly increase." How 
 literally true has this promise been fulfilled in the 
 history of this people. Then they were indeed a 
 "feeble folk," but in a single short century they 
 have become a mighty army, a million and a half 
 strong, and now constitute one of the greatest fac- 
 tors in the religious world. 
 
 The "Declaration and Ad- 
 s' Trouble with dress „ ag tQ ^ immediate effect 
 
 Pittsburgh Synod on the P eo P le ' was a disappoint- 
 ment to Mr. Campbell. Its ar- 
 guments, overtures and entreaties, though kind in 
 spirit, and thoroughly Scriptural, seemed powerless 
 among them. They neither accepted nor rejected 
 them, but let them severely alone. And it looked as 
 if the "Association" was drifting in the direction of 
 a distinct religious body, and they were in danger of 
 becoming another sect in the ridiculous attitude of 
 pleading for the destruction of all others. Such a 
 thought was most abhorrent to the Campbells. Like 
 most of the reformers before them, they would not 
 add another to the already long list of sectarian 
 bodies, but would correct their wrongs from within. 
 And while they were worrying over the matter, a 
 solicitation came for them to form a union with 
 another Presbyterian body. The son opposed it 
 privately, but felt that he was too young to make 
 public his opposition. His high regard for the judg- 
 ment of his father also restrained him. And so, on 
 October 4, 1810, Thomas Campbell, on behalf of the 
 "Association," applied for membership in the Pitts- 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 69 
 
 burgh Synod. In the application he was careful to 
 guard against all misunderstandings. He made it 
 clear that they were not a church, but only a society 
 of Christians formed for the purpose of promoting 
 Christian union; neither would they submit to the 
 laws of the Synod except as those laws harmonized 
 with the Bible. In a word, they were not to 
 become Presbyterians, but would co-operate with 
 them in their work. They were neither ready to 
 lose their identity nor to modify their lofty aim. 
 
 Under the circumstances, of course, the applica- 
 tion was denied. "For a party to have admitted 
 into its bosom those who were avowedly bent on 
 the destruction of partyism," says Richardson, 
 "would have been suicidal. It would have been 
 only to repeat, in another form, the story of the 
 wooden horse of Troy, and to have the gates of 
 its well-walled ecclesiastical city thrown open to its 
 enemies." But Mr. Campbell's dread of increas- 
 ing the number of denominations, for the moment, 
 seemed to blind him to the absurdity of the situa- 
 tion. 
 
 Had the Synod been as courteous in its refusal 
 as Mr. Campbell was in his application, the result 
 would have been different; but it went out of its 
 way to say some very unkind things, and closed 
 with these words : "For the above, and many other 
 important reasons, Mr. Campbell's request can not 
 be granted." Of course no self-respecting man, 
 however averse to controversy, could remain silent 
 under these circumstances, and so Mr. Campbell 
 demanded to know what was included in the omni- 
 
70 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 bus phrase, "many other reasons." He was assured 
 that no immorality was implied, but that it referred 
 to four grave errors: (1) That he had taught that 
 there were opinions in the "Confession of Faith" 
 not found in the Bible; (2) that infant baptism 
 was not authorized by the Scriptures; (3) that he 
 was opposed to human creeds, and (4) that he 
 encouraged his son to preach without any regular 
 authority. 
 
 When he saw that his character was not 
 attacked, Mr. Campbell was disposed to dismiss 
 the matter without comment. But not so with his 
 son. His opposition to the whole affair in the 
 beginning now being vindicated, he felt that the 
 time for weak submission had passed, and that 
 something aggressive was demanded. He was 
 young, his blood was hot, and he was unwilling 
 to stand by and allow the Synod to go out of its 
 way to mistreat his honored father and his breth- 
 ren. And though inexperienced in religious polem- 
 ics, like David, he was ready to meet any Goliath 
 who would champion what he believed to be the 
 wrong. Accordingly, at the semi-annual meeting of 
 the Association now near at hand, he addressed 
 a large audience, setting forth its spirit and pur- 
 pose. 
 
 Little did the Synod think that this bold youth 
 who thus took up the gauntlet which they had 
 thrown down would soon meet and overthrow 
 the greatest champions of denominationalism and 
 infidelity in the land. They never dreamed of his 
 extraordinary power. "But," as Grafton says, 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 71 
 
 "Alexander Campbell was no ordinary young man. 
 Like Minerva, who stepped full-grown from the 
 brain of Jove, he stepped upon the platform an 
 accomplished speaker, a master of assemblies, 
 already possessed with the power to sway men's 
 hearts." 
 
 nized leader. It was his voice which first pointed 
 out the sin of division and the way to union in 
 Christ. It was his pen which wrote the "Declaration 
 and Address," the most important production of the 
 age. But henceforth the son, without edict of church 
 or council, and without conference with the father, 
 takes his honored and responsible place. The day 
 had come when the opposition had grown so strong 
 and tyrannical that a more aggressive leader was 
 needed, and the father instinctively and gladly 
 stepped to the rear, and, as he passed, he threw his 
 mantle over the shoulders of his son. 
 
 The change came by the direction of God. 
 These were providential men about whom we 
 are speaking. Thomas Campbell was by nature 
 and training the man to discover the need of the 
 religious world. But it required one less averse 
 to conflict, and less concerned about immediate 
 results, to apply the remedy. A bold, strong, dar- 
 ing leader was needed, and his son, Alexander, 
 was the man for the hour. But this does not 
 reflect unfavorably on the father. It is no reflec- 
 
 3. Positions of 
 Father and Son 
 Reversed 
 
 At the close of his great ad- 
 dress the positions of the father 
 and son were reversed. Until 
 now the father was the recog- 
 
72 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 tion on the surveyor of a great highway that 
 another is called to build the road. Is John the 
 Baptist any less a hero because as the "Morning 
 Star" he was eclipsed by the "Sun of Righteous- 
 ness"? Is it not honor enough for the father that 
 he wrought out the platform of the greatest relig- 
 ious movement since the apostolic age, and trained 
 a son to present it successfully to men? It was 
 Jehovah's plan that the father should lay the foun- 
 dation and the son should build thereon. 
 
 They called it "Brush Run." It was veritably a 
 church in the wilderness. This step was not of 
 choice, but of compulsion. They could not other- 
 wise enjoy their religious privileges, or perform 
 their sacred obligations. The organization was 
 effected May 4, 1811, with a membership of thirty. 
 Thomas Campbell was elected elder; John Dawson, 
 George Sharp, William Gilchrist and James Foster 
 were chosen deacons. On January 1, 1812, Alex- 
 ander Campbell was ordained as a preacher. 
 
 At their first meeting, June 16, Alexander 
 Campbell preached and the Lord's Supper followed. 
 Several of the members declined the emblems, and, 
 on inquiry as to the cause, it was learned that as 
 they had not been baptized they felt they had no 
 right to them. It was also discovered that nothing 
 but immersion would satisfy them. Neither of the 
 Campbells had been immersed, but as their plan 
 was to make this a question of forbearance, allow- 
 
 4. The Church in 
 the Wilderness 
 
 After the failure of this well- 
 meant effort there was no course 
 open but to organize a church. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 73 
 
 ing each one to settle it for himself, without dis- 
 cussion, they were buried with their Lord in the 
 waters of Buffalo Creek. 
 
 _ Let us pause for a moment 
 
 5. Progress , , 
 
 and note some steps of progress 
 
 that had been made thus far: 
 
 a. They Had Discovered that the Church 
 Was Sick. This was important, for men will have 
 nothing to do with the doctor until convinced that 
 they are sick. How many consumptives might have 
 lived longer but for a fatal error at this point. 
 
 b. They Had Located the Causes of Her 
 Sickness. Among these causes were division, 
 absence of love for each other among these divi- 
 sions, a beclouded theology, human creeds and 
 rank infidelity. A correct diagnosis is of the 
 greatest importance. 
 
 c. They Had Found the Remedy. Union in 
 the Christ with the Bible as the basis of authority. 
 This meant the restoration of the New Testament 
 Church, the most important of all. 
 
 This was remarkable progress, all things con- 
 sidered. This heroic little band, our "Pilgrim 
 Fathers," saw not fully the way they were going, 
 but well they knew their Guide. They had dis- 
 covered a few of the fundamental principles and 
 had embraced them with their whole hearts. Other 
 questions, such as the plan of salvation and the 
 action and meaning of baptism, which afterwards 
 loomed up large, had scarcely been thought of. But 
 the leaven was in the lump, and time would do the 
 rest It is not so important where a man is as the 
 
74 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 direction in which he is headed. These men were 
 a long way from the Apostolic Church, but their 
 loins were girded, the pillar of light was leading, 
 and they were headed in that direction. 
 
 Alexander Campbell was married to Miss Mar- 
 garet Brown, daughter of John Brown, of Brooke 
 County, Virginia (now West Virginia), March 13, 
 1811. Just one year later a little girl came into the 
 home, and brought them many blessings, among 
 them a demand that the question of infant baptism 
 be restudied. Questions are never settled until they 
 are settled right. Like Banquo's ghost, they refuse 
 to down until they are downed according to the 
 eternal principles of truth. 
 
 As already seen, the Campbells had decided that 
 this was to be a question of forbearance, each one 
 deciding it for himself. "As I am sure," said 
 Alexander Campbell, "it is unscriptural to make 
 this matter a test of communion, I let it slip. I 
 wish to think and let think on these matters." Here 
 is proof of the fact that we often look at a thing, 
 but do not see it. Two things are essential to 
 sight — the object and the angle. There is an angle 
 in which light is absorbed by an object, and there 
 is one in which it is reflected by it, hence an object 
 is visible or invisible, important or unimportant, 
 according to the viewpoint. This question, as seen 
 from the viewpoint of their education and inherit- 
 ance, was not to be neglected, but it was not to be 
 made a test of fellowship. Most of the members 
 at Brush Run had been baptized in infancy, and 
 thought they had done their duty in the matter. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 75 
 
 Thomas Campbell, expressing the prevailing idea 
 on the subject, said that "it was not necessary 
 for them to go, as it were, out of the church mere- 
 ly for the purpose of coming in again by the regular 
 and appointed way." 
 
 But a baby is a revolutionizing power in the 
 home. Until it comes, the whole great question of 
 babyhood, one of the truly great questions of the 
 world, is treated theoretically. And if there is any 
 one better qualified to deal with it than another, 
 it is the one who has had no experience with it. 
 But after the baby arrives, the question ceases to be 
 theoretical, and becomes most intensely practical. 
 The ancestors of this particular child had for 
 generations been believers in infant baptism. But 
 the grandfather and father had solemnly agreed 
 that all religious questions should be settled by the 
 Bible. Their motto was: "Where the Bible speaks, 
 we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent." 
 Hence they turn to the old Book for light. Being 
 a thorough Greek scholar, the father went into the 
 original with his investigations. He was soon 
 satisfied that a penitent believer was the only Bible 
 subject of baptism. He was startled and stunned 
 at the discovery, but he had the courage of his 
 convictions, and it was once for all accepted. He 
 did not stop here, but pressed his investigations 
 into the meaning of the original word, and in a 
 little while was convinced that it meant immersion. 
 He paused for a moment, dazed and shocked, but 
 it was only for a moment. His ancestral faith, 
 hoary with age and honors, was being destroyed, 
 
76 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 and he could not witness the scene except with deep 
 emotion. But, being a logician, he saw that bad 
 as these two discoveries were, the worst was yet 
 to come. If neither affusion nor infant baptism 
 was in the Book, then he had never been baptized. 
 The wife fully agreed with her husband, and they 
 lost no time in adjusting themselves to the new 
 light shining on their pathway. Matthias Luce, a 
 Baptist preacher, agreed to immerse them. The 
 son, always thoughtful of his father, apprized him 
 of his purpose, before taking the step. He was 
 rather reticent, but, knowing the competency of his 
 son, both in scholarship and character, to settle such 
 questions, he interposed no objections. 
 
 The agitation in the Campbell family on the 
 subject of baptism was widespread, and yet there 
 had been no conferences on the subject. Dorothea, 
 a sister of Alexander, told her brother that she had 
 been reading her Bible carefully, and was convinced 
 that it did not teach infant baptism, and she asked 
 him to speak to her father about it. The brother, 
 smiling, told her that he and his wife had reached 
 the same conclusion, and that he was then on his 
 way to see Mr. Luce about baptizing them. Here 
 is another proof that God was moving on the 
 hearts of the people and leading them to the truth 
 as it was in the Scriptures. 
 
 June 12, 1812, was the day of the baptisms, and 
 Buffalo Creek the place. Mr. Luce, on his way to 
 Buffalo, spent the night with Thomas Campbell. 
 The next morning, as they were about to start to 
 the water, Mr. Campbell told him that he and his 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 77 
 
 wife, after a thorough study of the question, had 
 decided to be immersed. This was the first intima- 
 tion to others that the older people had also been 
 involved in the baptismal agitation, and it added 
 greatly to the interest of the subject. 
 
 The prominence of the parties to be baptized, 
 and the novelty of the scene (for Baptists were not 
 numerous in that section), attracted an immense 
 audience to the home of David Bryant, near the 
 Buffalo. Thomas Campbell, in an elaborate address, 
 gave the reasons resulting in this action, and said 
 they must walk in the light as God had it shine on 
 their way. Alexander followed in a strong address, 
 emphasizing the two points that immersion alone 
 was Bible baptism, and that the penitent believer 
 was the only proper subject of the ordinance. 
 James Hanen and wife were convinced by this 
 address, and the seven were baptized by Mr. Luce 
 on this occasion. 
 
 Mr. Campbell at this time took another advanced 
 step in the restoration of the primitive practice. He 
 and Mr. Luce had agreed that the ordinance should 
 be in strict harmony with apostolic custom, and 
 as there was no precedent for the "religious ex- 
 perience" practiced by Baptists as a prerequisite 
 for baptism, this was to be omitted, and the con- 
 fession made by Peter at Caesarea Philippi, "Thou 
 art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 
 16:17, 18), would be substituted in its place. Mr. 
 Luce hesitated here, not because the change sug- 
 gested was not Biblical, but because it was not 
 according to "Baptist usage" ; but he finally yielded, 
 
78 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 saying that he believed it to be right, and he would 
 do his duty and risk the censure likely to be heaped 
 upon him. And so, perhaps, here for the first 
 time "the good confession," as practiced by the 
 early Church, was honored and emphasized on 
 American soil. 
 
 The influence of this meeting was immediate 
 and widespread. On the next Lord's Day at Brush 
 Run thirteen others made "the good confession," 
 and were baptized by Thomas Campbell. Many 
 others followed their example, and in a short time 
 the church was composed almost entirely of bap- 
 tized believers. But a few turned away from them, 
 refusing to discredit the faith of their ancestry. 
 They could agree on everything except baptism, and 
 so Richardson well says that "immersion, apt 
 emblem of separation from the world, occasioned 
 a separation between those who had been pre- 
 viously united in religious fellowship." 
 
 They were making rapid progress in their search 
 for the "old paths." The discovery of one truth 
 led to the discovery of others. They were like 
 travelers in a forest. Often the finding of a single 
 dim path leads to others not so dim, till finally 
 they are on a well-beaten roadway which is easily 
 followed. We have already seen three impor- 
 tant discoveries, and now we see three others. 
 The first three are general in their character, but 
 these have to do with the details in giving one's 
 self to God. They are: 
 
 1. That immersion is the baptism of the Bible. 
 They had received without question the faith of 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 79 
 
 their fathers for generations. But when forced 
 to study the matter for themselves, as honest 
 scholars, they saw at once that immersion alone 
 was taught in the Book, and that affusion was of 
 a later date, and of human origin. 
 
 2. That the penitent believer zvas the only proper 
 subject of baptism. The baptism of infants, like 
 sprinkling and pouring, had been practiced so long 
 that it would have been almost sacrilegious to ques- 
 tion its validity. But when they were compelled 
 to find Bible authority for the baptism of their 
 baby, or leave it unbaptized, again, as conscientious 
 scholars, they had to abandon one of their most 
 cherished traditions. 
 
 3. That "the good confession," made from the 
 heart, was the sole condition preceding baptism. 
 They saw that Christ was the only Saviour of 
 men, and when the lost would come to him they 
 were not required to relate a "Christian experience," 
 a thing impossible for the sinner, but to confess 
 him as their personal Saviour, and, on the confes- 
 sion of faith, be baptized into his name. 
 
 As Alexander is now the recognized leader 
 of the great work inaugurated by his father, it is 
 well that we hear a word from him on the ques- 
 tions before them at this time. In giving his 
 reasons for not being a "party man," he said: 
 
 1. "Because Christ has forbidden me. He has 
 commanded us to keep the unity of the Spirit; to 
 be of one mind and one judgment; and to call no 
 man master on the earth." 
 
 2. "Because no party would receive into com- 
 
80 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 munion all whom God would receive into heaven. 
 God loves his children more than our creeds." 
 
 3. "But if I am asked by a partisan, 'Could 
 you not join us and let these things alone?' I 
 answer, No, because — 
 
 "(1) The man who promotes the interest of a 
 party stands next in guilt to the man that made 
 it. The man that puts the second stone on a build- 
 ing is as instrumental in its erection as the man 
 that laid the first. 
 
 "(2) All parties oppose reformation. They all 
 pray for it, but will not work for it. None of 
 them dare to return to the original standard. I 
 speak not against any particular denomination, but 
 against all." 
 
 These clear-cut utterances show that this young 
 man was not simply a religious zealot, but a 
 philosopher, with an intelligent appreciation of the 
 mighty task to which his Master had called him. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 81 
 
 Review. 
 
 1. What of Alexander Campbell's first two 
 sermons ? 
 
 2. Tell of the experience of the Campbells with 
 the Pittsburgh Synod. 
 
 3. Tell of the change of leaders. 
 
 4. What of the organization of the Brush 
 Run Church? 
 
 5. Name four points of progress. 
 
 6. Tell of the marriage of A. Campbell. 
 
 7. What of the struggle with the baptismal 
 question ? 
 
 8. Tell of the immersion of the Campbells. 
 
 9. What of the effect on Brush Run Church? 
 
 10. Name three other points of progress. 
 
 11. Why was A. Campbell not a "party man"? 
 
 6 
 
- ■v. 
 
V. 
 
 INTO AND OUT OF THE 
 BAPTIST CHURCH 
 
 83 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER V. 
 
 1. Immediate Results. 
 
 a. Enemies. 
 
 b. Friends. 
 
 c. Influence. 
 
 d. Lessons. 
 
 2. Sermon on the Law. 
 
 3. "Christian Baptist." 
 
 a. Name. 
 
 b. Prospectus. 
 
 c. ''Bethany/' 
 
 d. Influence. 
 
 e. Raking Fire. 
 
 f. Destructive and Constructive. 
 
 4. "Millennial Harbinger." 
 
 5. Into the Mahoning Association. 
 
 a. Eagle in a Storm. 
 
 b. Great Lieutenants. 
 
 c. Scott's Signal Honor. 
 
 d. Tidal Wave. 
 
 6. Out of the Baptist Church. 
 
 7. Causes of Separation. 
 
 a. Divisions of the Bible. 
 
 b. Design of Baptism. 
 
 c. Conversion. 
 
 d. Creeds. 
 
 e. Administration of Baptism. 
 /. Reception of Members. 
 
 g. Call to the Ministry. 
 
 h. Lord's Supper. 
 
V. 
 
 Into and Out of the Baptist Church. 
 
 x. Immediate Re- 
 sults 
 
 a. Enemies. The change of 
 the Brush Run Church into a 
 society of immersed believers nat- 
 
 urally produced both enemies and friends — enemies 
 among Presbyterians and friends among Baptists. 
 The community was strongly pedobaptist, and the 
 clergy, already displeased with Mr. Campbell's 
 teaching, aroused and cultivated a bitter opposition 
 against him. Their influence then was great — much 
 greater than to-day — and the very atmosphere was 
 impregnated with suspicion and misrepresentation. 
 Friendships were sundered, business relations were 
 disturbed, and homes were made unhappy. It even 
 invaded the sacred places of public worship. More 
 than once, when Thomas Campbell was baptizing, 
 sticks and stones were thrown into the water, 
 accompanied with threats of physical violence. But 
 he always preserved the dignity and spirit of the 
 Christian gentleman, and thus turned the coarse 
 indignities into a blessing for himself and the 
 cause he plead. But it is significant that his son 
 had no such annoyances at his meetings. There was 
 something in the tone of his voice and in the 
 flash of his eye that forbade them, however bitter 
 the feelings of his enemies. He was a born 
 
 85 
 
86 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 leader of men, and this power to cower an insolent 
 foe was a part of his equipment as such. 
 
 b. Friends. But over against this opposition 
 there was a corresponding sympathy among the 
 Baptists. They were not numerous in the vicinity 
 of Brush Run, but eastward on the Monongahela 
 River, and in the fertile valleys at the base of the 
 Alleghany Mountains, they were sufficiently so to 
 have an Association, called Redstone, named for 
 an old Indian fort sixty miles above Pittsburgh, 
 where Brownsville is now situated. This Associa- 
 tion urged Brush Run to enter their fellowship, 
 claiming that they held enough in common to jus- 
 tify the union. They felt a pardonable pride in the 
 fact that these two strong and scholarly men, after 
 thorough investigation, had adopted their views on 
 the action and subjects of baptism. But the Camp- 
 bells, remembering their experience with the Pres- 
 byterians, were a little shy. However, after much 
 thought and prayer, and still anxious to avoid 
 even the appearance of forming a new denomina- 
 tion, they decided, on certain conditions, to enter 
 the Redstone Association. This matter was 
 brought before the Brush Run Church in the 
 autumn of 1813, and it was decided to accept the 
 invitation from their Baptist brethren on the condi- 
 tion that they be "allowed to teach and preach what- 
 ever they learned from the Holy Scriptures," 
 "regardless of any creed or formula in Christen- 
 dom." This decision was presented to the Associa- 
 tion, and after considerable discussion it was voted 
 to receive them. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 87 
 
 c. Increased Influence. After this the Baptist 
 churches were thrown open to Mr. Campbell, and 
 his services were sought far and wide by his new 
 brethren, and, mounted on his faithful horse, he 
 gladly responded to the calls. Wherever he went 
 he was bold to make known his peculiar views. He 
 would hide nothing from them. He discussed such 
 questions as the place and purpose of baptism; the 
 Lord's Supper; regeneration; conversion; Christian 
 union ; the covenants ; the law and the gospel, etc. 
 Great audiences flocked to hear him, and friends 
 were made by the thousands. He soon was 
 regarded as the leading champion of their cause, 
 and when they needed a special representative on 
 important occasions they turned to him. At their 
 request he met in debate Rev. John Walker, at Mt. 
 Pleasant, Ohio, in 1820, and Rev. William McCalla, 
 both Presbyterians, at Washington, Kentucky, in 
 1822. These discussions added greatly to his pres- 
 tige as a scholar, orator and polemic, and his Bap- 
 tist brethren drew nearer to him, and began to 
 take him more fully into their confidence. At a 
 private conference with a number of the preachers 
 at the close of the McCalla debate, he candidly 
 but kindly said to them: "Brethren, I fear that if 
 you knew me better you would esteem and love me 
 less, for let me tell you that I have almost as much 
 against you Baptists as I have against the Presby- 
 terians." 
 
 d. Important Lessons. Mr. Campbell learned 
 two important lessons from the discussions : First, 
 their value as educational agencies. "A week's 
 
88 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 debating," he said, "is worth a year's preaching;" 
 and, second, the value of the printing-press in dis- 
 seminating truth. Both debates were published in 
 book form, and wherever they went they were like 
 torchlights among the people, who were generally 
 in the dark on the questions discussed. 
 
 hounded his every step, and who were always on 
 the lookout for some new charge against him. As 
 a rule, they were small men, filled with envy, and 
 not overscrupulous in their methods. At the meet- 
 ing of the Redstone Association at Cross Creek, 
 Virginia, in 1816, he preached his famous "Ser- 
 mon on the Law," which proved to be the enter- 
 ing wedge of separation between him and the 
 Baptists. Such a sermon to-day would not pro- 
 duce the same results, for there has been much 
 progress in all the churches during the century 
 since then, and mainly because of this sermon; but 
 then it was like a firebrand, and these enemies 
 seized upon it, perverted it, and turned many against 
 its author. 
 
 No single sermon ever delivered by this mighty 
 preacher had the effect of this one. It was epoch- 
 making. Here, for the first time, he drew clearly 
 the difference between the law and the gospel, which 
 proved in after years an impregnable bulwark in 
 his conflicts with religious error. The law was tem- 
 porary and local, but the gospel was for all time, 
 and universal. The antitype had given way to the 
 
 2. Sermon on the 
 Law 
 
 But trouble was brewing for 
 Mr. Campbell in the Baptist fold. 
 He had some enemies who 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 89 
 
 type, and the shadow to the substance. As a sys- 
 tem the law had waxed old and passed away. 
 Only the ethical, which was necessarily immortal, 
 remained. The Patriarchal dispensation was the 
 starlight; the Jewish dispensation was the moon- 
 light; that of John the Baptist was the twilight; 
 and the Christian dispensation, beginning with the 
 coronation of the Christ and the descent of the 
 Spirit at Pentecost, was the full sunlight. The 
 Patriarchs had the bud; the Jews had the blossom; 
 the Christian has the matured fruit of divine 
 grace. 
 
 devoted to religious culture. He did not like the 
 name given to the journal, but accepted it on the 
 suggestion of his father and Walter Scott, as an 
 effort at conciliation. These brethren urged that 
 since their work was largely among the Baptists, 
 to use their name would be pleasing to them, and 
 to modify it by the word "Christian" would prevent 
 it from being regarded as denominational. 
 
 b. The Prospectus. The prospectus was clear 
 and candid: "The Christian Baptist shall espouse 
 the cause of no religious sect, except the ancient 
 sect called Christians first at Antioch. Its sole 
 object shall be the eviction of the truth and the 
 exposing of error in doctrine and practice. The 
 editor, acknowledging no standard of faith other 
 than the Old and New Testaments, and the latter 
 as the standard of the religion of Jesus Christ, 
 
 a. The Name. In 1823 Mr. 
 
 3. The "Christian 
 Baptist" 
 
 Campbell established the Chris- 
 tian Baptist, a monthly journal 
 
90 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 will, intentionally at least, oppose nothing which it 
 contains, and recommend nothing which it does 
 not enjoin." The enterprise was pushed with 
 vigor. A building was erected near his home, 
 presses and type were bought, printers were em- 
 ployed, and a regular publishing-house was estab- 
 lished, which had a successful history of more than 
 forty years. The industry and working capacity 
 of the editor are seen in the fact that his preaching 
 increased rather than diminished with the advent 
 of the paper; he attended to an immense corre- 
 spondence; supervised the publishing department; 
 and for recreation he directed the work of his fine 
 farm on the Buffalo. 
 
 c. The Name "Bethany." It was in connec- 
 tion with the publication of this journal that the 
 name "Bethany," a name inseparably associated 
 with the life and labors of Mr. Campbell, came 
 into use. In the beginning, when the circulation 
 was small, the paper was carried to West Liberty, 
 a little village four miles away, and mailed from 
 that point. But the circulation increased rapidly, 
 and this plan became so inconvenient and burden- 
 some that Mr. Campbell had a post-office estab- 
 lished in his home and called it "Bethany," and 
 for the next thirty years he was the postmaster. 
 
 d. Influence. The influence of the Christian 
 Baptist was remarkable. The brilliant and fear- 
 less editor was a sort of free lance, resembling 
 Elijah and John the Baptist. Religious circles were 
 stirred to the center, and fast friends and furious 
 foes gathered about him, and his influence was 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 91 
 
 multiplied many-fold. Bible reading became the 
 order of the day, and, like the Bereans, the people 
 searched the Scriptures daily to see if the strange, 
 new things he said were true. The characteristic 
 atmosphere was no longer stagnation, but agitation. 
 There was no such thing as sitting on the fence. 
 Neutrality was impossible. Men had to take sides. 
 Preachers denounced it and warned their people 
 against reading it, but they read it all the more, 
 and converts were numerous, and many of them 
 were the strongest men of the land; such men as 
 P. S. Fall, James Challen and D. S. Burnet. 
 
 e. Raking Fire. The paper kept up a raking 
 fire all along the line, but was especially severe at 
 certain points. The editor was hard on the profes- 
 sional clergy and handled them without gloves. He 
 characterized them as "hireling priests," "textuary 
 divines," our "scrap doctors," etc. Elijah at Mt. 
 Carmel was not more sarcastic. He charged them 
 with ignorance, pride, self-seeking, and an anxiety 
 to keep the people in darkness so that they might 
 lord it over them. He scored them for their clerical 
 dress, their sanctimonious speech, their long-faced 
 piety, their devotion to party, and their claim to 
 a special divine call. He denounced with special 
 severity their love of titles: "Reverend," "bishop," 
 "doctor" and "father." 
 
 He was severe in his condemnation of the 
 tendency to legislate, as seen in many of the conven- 
 tions, synods and associations. Such gatherings for 
 mutual edification, exhortation and co-operation he 
 encouraged, but he opposed their tyranny and law- 
 
92 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 making proclivities, and urged the churches to guard 
 most sacredly their Christ-given liberty. 
 
 Human creeds were handled roughly by him. 
 The "Philadelphia Confession" was popular among 
 Baptists, and those who ignored it could have no 
 fellowship in their associations. The Redstone 
 Association at one time refused to admit fourteen 
 congregations because the letters of their messen- 
 gers failed to avow allegiance to the "Confession." 
 This was at their meeting in 1827, to which Mr. 
 Campbell was sent as a corresponding messenger 
 from the Mahoning Association. The editor 
 denounced them as misnomers, declaring that they 
 were not confessions of faith, but of opinions. 
 
 /. Destructive and Constructive. But the 
 work of the Christian Baptist was not simply 
 destructive, but also constructive. Its editor was 
 not an iconoclast. He only destroyed that he might 
 build something better. His paper was always 
 loaded to the guard with great dissertations on the 
 fundamental questions of the religious life; notably 
 among these was a series of editorials called "The 
 Ancient Order of Things," expounding the apos- 
 tolic faith and practice, which attracted wide atten- 
 tion, and produced much commendation and con- 
 demnation. 
 
 the Millennial Harbinger, a monthly journal double 
 its size, which continued till after the death of Mr. 
 Campbell in 1865. No religious paper of that day, 
 
 4. "Millennial 
 Harbinger" 
 
 In 1830, after a remarkable 
 career of seven years, the 
 Christian Baptist gave place to 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 93 
 
 and possibly no one of any day, ever had a greater 
 influence in molding thought than did this one dur- 
 ing these seven years. 
 
 as the leaders could not refute it, they redoubled 
 their energies to close the mouth of its author. 
 He was tried for heresy, but acquitted. But their 
 zeal, worthy of a better cause, was increased rather 
 than decreased by defeat. They circulated all 
 manner of reports about him, not only involving 
 his doctrinal standing, but his moral character also. 
 At last, wearied with this continual strife, the 
 Brush Run Church withdrew and united with the 
 Mahoning Baptist Association of eastern Ohio. 
 About this time (August, 1823) Mr. Campbell and 
 about thirty others, mainly from Brush Run, or- 
 ganized a church at Wellsburg, Virginia, now West 
 Virginia, the second congregation in the Restoration 
 Movement. The wisdom of this change was mani- 
 fest in the fact that the Mahoning Association soon 
 wheeled into line with the work of the Campbells. 
 
 a. Eagle in a Storm. Mr. Campbell, like an 
 eagle in a storm, only rose the higher and soared 
 the more grandly because of the furious winds 
 shrieking about him. In his new journal he was 
 proving himself as powerful with the pen as he 
 was in the pulpit, and the work went forward with 
 leaps and bounds. In Kentucky men like "Rac- 
 coon" John Smith, P. S. Fall, John T. Johnson, 
 
 5. Into the 
 Mahoning Asso- 
 ciation 
 
 The great "Sermon on the 
 Law" was the straw which broke 
 the camel's back. The masses 
 were carried away with it, and, 
 
94 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 the Creaths, Vardeman, Morton, etc., were his 
 magnetic leaders. Vardeman baptized 550 people 
 in six months; Smith baptized 339 in six weeks; 
 John Secrest baptized 222 in a hundred days; and 
 others did as well. 
 
 b. Great Lieutenants. In Ohio, Adamson 
 Bentley, Walter Scott, William Hodgen, Joseph 
 Gaston, and others, aroused the people from their 
 lethargy and rallied them under the new banner. 
 Mr. Scott became the evangelist of the Mahoning 
 Association in 1827. This Association, organized 
 in 1820, consisted of ten Baptist churches (the 
 number later was doubled) in eastern Ohio near 
 the Pennsylvania line, and between the Ohio River 
 and Lake Erie, and was known as the Western 
 Reserve. One of them (Wellsburg) was in Vir- 
 ginia. It had a choice population, mainly from 
 New England. Scott was a remarkable young man, 
 thirty years old, and a born evangelist. He was a 
 personal friend and ardent admirer of Mr. Camp- 
 bell. The churches were spiritually dead. In 1825 
 they reported only sixteen conversions. But God 
 wrought wonders in them through this new evangel- 
 ist. He was a close student of the Bible, and he 
 resolved to preach the same gospel preached by the 
 Apostles, and to preach it in the same way. He 
 would adopt not only their message, but also their 
 method. At first he failed. It was so new and 
 novel that the people, astounded, would hear, but 
 would not obey. But he persevered and God gave 
 him the victory. A tidal wave swept through the 
 churches and the first year there were one thousand 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 95 
 
 conversions. And during the next two years, when 
 his labors closed, the interest and enthusiasm 
 increased, and, like a flood, swept everything before 
 it. Not only individuals by hundreds and thousands 
 were saved, but often entire congregations embraced 
 "the ancient order of things." Baptist churches 
 would vote out the "Philadelphia Confession" and 
 substitute the Bible in its place. Presbyterians, 
 Lutherans and Episcopalians were also reached in 
 large numbers. The Deerfield Methodist Church 
 came over as a whole. Mr. Campbell, like a great 
 general, kept his eye on the field, and he became 
 alarmed lest the burning zeal of his able and ardent 
 lieutenant should lead him into error; and he 
 sent his father to visit his field of labor to see and 
 report the work. From New Lisbon, April 9, 
 1828, he wrote as follows: 
 
 "I perceive that theory and practice in religion, 
 as in other things, are matters of distinct consid- 
 eration. We have spoken and written many things 
 correctly concerning the ancient gospel, but I must 
 confess that in respect to the direct application of it, 
 I am, for the first time, on the ground where the 
 thing has appeared to be practically exhibited to 
 the proper purpose. Mr. Scott has made a bold 
 push to accomplish this object by simply boldly 
 stating the ancient gospel, and insisting upon it." 
 
 c. Walter Scott's Signal Honor. This means 
 that the Campbells had discovered the panacea for 
 the world's sins, but they had not practically applied 
 it. And let it be said, for the sake of truth and 
 to the glory of Walter Scott, that he was the first 
 
96 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 man in America, if not in the world, to take the 
 field notes of the Apostles, discovered and repub- 
 lished by the Campbells, and run and apply the 
 original survey, beginning at Jerusalem. 
 
 d. Tidal Wave. And what was true in Ken- 
 tucky and Ohio was also true on a smaller scale 
 in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ten- 
 nessee and Virginia. The Baptist historian, Bene- 
 dict, speaking of the First Baptist Church of 
 Nashville, Tennessee, says: "It increased between 
 three and four hundred members, when the Camp- 
 bellites succeeded in making proselytes to their 
 views of nearly the whole of this great and grow- 
 ing interest. The pastor and people, with their 
 chapel, all were brought under the influence of the 
 Reformers." The New York Baptist Register of 
 1830 says: "Mr. Campbell's paper, and their vigor- 
 ous missionary efforts, are making great achieve- 
 ments. It is said that one-half of the Baptist 
 churches of Ohio have embraced this sentiment, and 
 become what they call Christian Baptists. It is 
 spreading like a mighty contagion through the 
 Western States, wasting Zion in its progress." An- 
 other Baptist, writing to Mr. Campbell in 1828, said 
 that in "traveling twenty-five hundred miles I 
 found only four regular Baptist preachers whom 
 you have not corrupted." 
 
 as his influence increased, but it was also turned 
 against his converts who came from the churches. 
 
 6. Out of the 
 Baptist Church 
 
 The opposition to the work 
 did not lessen in its bitterness 
 toward Mr. Campbell personally 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 97 
 
 This was especially true of the Baptists. Mr. 
 Campbell knew it, and he kept the people posted 
 regarding it. Much as he deplored the thought of 
 organizing a new religious body, the stubborn facts 
 facing him were driving him to the conviction that 
 his mission could not be fulfilled within the narrow 
 limits of any denomination. He had hoped the 
 Baptist churches would return to apostolic prac- 
 tice and become the nucleus around which the 
 religious world could be rallied, but his hope was 
 growing weaker every day. Speaking of the 
 probable separation, he said: 
 
 "If there be division, gentlemen, you make it, 
 not I; and the more you oppose us with the weight 
 of your censure, like the palm-tree, we will grow 
 the faster. I am for peace, for union, for har- 
 mony, for co-operation with all good men. But I 
 fear you not. If you fling firebrands, arrows and 
 discord into the army of the faith, you will repent 
 it, not me. You will lose influence, not me. We 
 covet not persecution, but disregard it. We fear 
 nothing but error ; and should you proceed to make 
 divisions, you will find that they will reach much 
 farther than you are aware, and that the time is past 
 when an anathema will produce any other effect 
 than contempt from some and a smile from others." 
 
 And finally when the inevitable came, and he 
 and his brethren were forced to leave the Baptist 
 fold, he said : "All the world must see that we 
 have been forced into a separate communion. We 
 were driven out of doors because we preferred the 
 approbation of the Lord to the approbation of 
 
 7 
 
98 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 any sect in Christendom. If this be our weakness, 
 we ought not to be despised; if our wisdom, we 
 ought not to be condemned. We have lost no 
 peace of conscience, none of the honor which comes 
 from God, none of the enjoyments of the Holy 
 Spirit, nothing of the sweets of Christian com- 
 munion, by the unkindness of those who once 
 called us brethren. 
 
 " 'More true joy Marcellus exiled feels 
 Then Caesar with a Senate at his heels.' 
 
 "We have always sought peace, but not peace 
 at war with truth. We are under no necessity 
 to crouch, to beg for favor, friendship or protec- 
 tion. Our progress is onward, upward and resist- 
 less. With the fear of God before our eyes, with 
 the example of the renowned worthies of all ages 
 to stimulate our exertions, with love to God and 
 man working in our bosoms, and immortality in 
 prospect, we have nothing to fear, and nothing to 
 lose that is worth possessing." 
 
 These are the ringing words of a man who 
 believes he has a mission and who is determined, re- 
 gardless of the cost, to be true to Him from whom 
 he received it. To some they will appear to be 
 lacking in the element of human kindness. But it 
 should be remembered that Mr. Campbell was a 
 young man, that the provocations were great and 
 that his enemies had seen to it that the combative 
 in him had been fully cultivated. When an old 
 man, mellowed and enriched by age and experience, 
 his tone was softer and sweeter, and he regretted 
 more keenly that the separation ever took place. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 99 
 
 The causes of the separation were both doc- 
 trinal and practical. Some of the most important 
 of the doctrinal causes were these: 
 
 a. Regarding the Proper 
 
 on the Law" was preached, this point was empha- 
 sized. Mr. Campbell did not discard the Old 
 Testament, as often charged by his enemies, but 
 only claimed that "the handwriting of ordinances 
 that was against us," which was contrary to us, 
 "and which by Christ was taken out of the way, 
 nailing it to the cross," was not binding in our 
 day. He taught that the Old Testament, as much 
 as the New, came from God, but that it was given 
 specially to the Jew, and not to the whole world, 
 and that it was not a book of authority to the 
 Christian, except as its teachings were incorporated 
 in the New. Of course its moral principles, like 
 their author, were immortal. But the Baptists 
 insisted on the equal authority of both books. 
 Robert Semple, one of their leaders, said : "I aver 
 that the Old and New Testaments are essentially 
 the same as to obligation, and stand in the same 
 relation to each other and to us as different parts 
 of the New Testament do to each other." But Mr. 
 Campbell said the difference was like that between 
 a State when a Territory, and when later it became 
 a State. The Territorial constitution is binding 
 only to the extent that it is re-enacted in the consti- 
 tution of the State. 
 
 b. Regarding the Design of Baptism. In his 
 
 7. Causes of the 
 Separation 
 
 Division of the Bible. As 
 early as 1816, when the "Sermon 
 
100 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 debate with Walker in 1820 Mr. Campbell asserted 
 that baptism was connected with remission of sins. 
 In his debate with McCalla three years later, he 
 made the same argument with added emphasis and 
 illustrations. But in 1830 he made a distinction 
 between the change of heart and the change of 
 state. "A change of heart," he said, "though it 
 necessarily precedes, is in no sense equivalent to, 
 and never to be identified with, a change of state." 
 He compared it with the marriage ceremony, which 
 is not for the purpose of changing the hearts of 
 the contracting parties, but their state or relation- 
 ship, and that they are not married, however great 
 the change of heart toward each other, until this 
 ceremony has taken place. The Baptists called 
 this "baptismal regeneration," or "water salvation," 
 and rejected it as the baldest and boldest kind of 
 heresy. They claimed that baptism was not in 
 order to, but because of, remission of sins, and 
 therefore it did not precede, but followed, forgive- 
 ness of sins. 
 
 c. Regarding Conversion. Baptists were 
 strongly Calvinistic, and taught that man, "dead in 
 trespasses and in sins" — as dead spiritually as 
 Lazarus was physically — required a spiritual mir- 
 acle through the direct operation of the Holy Spirit 
 in order to spiritual life, just as it required a 
 physical miracle to give life to the body of 
 Lazarus. Mr. Campbell claimed that his death in 
 sin did not destroy his power of choice, otherwise 
 he would not be responsible; but that he was con- 
 verted or not, not because of some miraculous 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 101 
 
 power, exerted or withheld, but because of his own 
 decision in the matter. 
 
 d. Regarding Creeds. The Baptist believed 
 that human creeds were essential to church life, and 
 most of them had adopted the "Philadelphia Con- 
 fession." Mr. Campbell argued that creeds had 
 not one word to justify them in the Bible, and that 
 their use had also condemned them. From the 
 first they had been the prolific source of division. 
 The Apostolic Church, organized and directed by 
 inspired men, had no such creed. 
 
 Some of the most serious practical differences 
 were these: 
 
 e. Regarding the Administration of Bap- 
 tism. Baptists said that only ordained preachers 
 had the right to baptize. On the other hand, Mr. 
 Campbell taught that since all Christians were 
 kings and priests unto God, each one had a right 
 to administer the ordinances of the Lord's house. 
 
 /. Regarding the Lord's Supper. The Bap- 
 tist custom was to observe this ordinance once a 
 quarter or once a month, while Mr. Campbell plead 
 for its observance once a week. He showed this 
 to have been the practice of the primitive Church 
 by both the New Testament and later church his- 
 tory. The Baptists practiced "close communion," 
 but he taught that each should examine himself, 
 and not his brother, "and so let him eat of that 
 bread, and drink of that cup" (1 Cor. 11:28). 
 
 g. Regarding the Reception of Members 
 into the Church. The Baptists required their 
 converts to relate a "Christian experience," either 
 
102 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 to the officers or to the congregation, and they were 
 received or rejected by a vote. If the experience 
 indicated a genuine conversion, they were received; 
 if not, they were rejected. But Mr. Campbell said 
 all who believed with the whole heart in the Christ, 
 and confessed him before men, should be baptized 
 into the "one body," the Church. 
 
 h. Regarding the Call to the Ministry. 
 The Baptists believed that every genuine call to the 
 ministry was accompanied by some miraculous 
 manifestation akin to the light and voice in Saul's 
 conversion and call. Mr. Campbell insisted that 
 the cases were not parallel ; that Paul was called 
 to be an Apostle, and the miraculous was an essen- 
 tial in all such cases, but, Apostles not being needed 
 now, the miraculous was no longer essential to the 
 call. Now, when a consecrated and gifted young 
 man, like Timothy, is well reported of by the 
 churches, they call him, and set him apart to "the 
 ministry of the word."' 
 
 These, and kindred points, constantly agitated, 
 and often exaggerated, finally did their work, and 
 separated a people who ought to have been one. 
 No exact day can be named as the time of this sad 
 occurrence, for it was gradual in its growth and 
 consumed several years in its consummation, but 
 the year 1830 is not far from the correct date. 
 After this time the followers of Campbell were 
 known as "Christian," "Disciples of Christ," or 
 "Christian Churches," the legal title usually being 
 the "Church of Christ" at such a place. 
 
 During the eighty-four years since the separa- 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 103 
 
 tion, Time, God's gracious minister of healing, 
 who loves to hide the wounds of war with tender 
 grasses and fragrant roses, has done much toward 
 healing those old sores, so that in many places the 
 two peoples are now nearer together than ever 
 before. And it is the hope and prayer of many in 
 both communions that the time may soon come 
 when these, the two largest immersionist bodies in 
 America, may be one. 
 
104 HOW THE DISCIPLES BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. When did the Campbells enter the Baptist 
 Church ? 
 
 2. Why did this act produce new enemies and 
 new friends? 
 
 3. When were the debates with Walker and 
 McCalla? 
 
 4. What lessons were learned from the debates? 
 
 5. What of the "Sermon on the Law"? 
 
 6. What of the Christian Baptist? 
 
 7. How did "Bethany' get its name? 
 
 8. What special things did the Christian Bap- 
 tist oppose? 
 
 9. What of the Millennial Harbinger? 
 
 10. What of the growth of the cause at this 
 time? 
 
 11. What of Walter Scott? 
 
 12. What of Campbell's warnings against divi- 
 sion? 
 
 13. State the causes of the separation. 
 
VI. 
 
 THE STONE MOVEMENT 
 
 105 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1. Early Life. 
 
 a. Birth. 
 
 b. Conversion. 
 
 c. Calvinism. 
 
 2. Early Ministry. 
 
 a. Ordination. 
 
 b. Wonderful Revival. 
 
 3. Later Ministry. 
 
 a. COLABORERS. 
 
 b. Springfield Presbytery. 
 
 c. Breaks with Denominationalism. 
 
 d. Distinguished Honor. 
 
 e. Last Will and Testament. 
 /. Trials and Triumphs. 
 
 4. First Meeting of Stone and Campbell. 
 
 a. First Impressions. 
 
 b. Second Impressions. 
 
 5. Forces United. 
 
 a. Preliminary Meetings. 
 
 b. Lexington Meeting. 
 
 c. Messengers to the Churches. 
 
 d. The People Contrasted. 
 
 e. An Important Result. 
 /. Beautiful Illustration. 
 
 g. The Younger the Stronger. 
 
 h. Love the Leading Element. 
 
 106 
 
VI. 
 
 The Stone Movement. 
 
 Alexander Campbell was now 
 i. Early Life - r , 
 
 forty-two years of age, just en- 
 tering the prime of his splendid manhood. The 
 "Declaration and Address" was issued in 1809, 
 hence he had been twenty-one years developing the 
 principles of the mission upon which his Master 
 had sent him. Like a great ship, it took time to 
 fully loose him from his moorings and swing him 
 into the open sea; but he is there now, and ready 
 for the voyage. 
 
 As already seen, the spirit of union was by no 
 means confined to the Campbells, but it was abroad 
 in the land. It was found on both sides of the 
 Atlantic, and in the ranks of many of the churches. 
 The largest and most influential of the union 
 movements was led by Barton W. Stone. 
 
 a. Birth. Mr. Stone was born near Port 
 Tobacco, Maryland, December 24, 1772, sixteen 
 years before the birth of Alexander Campbell. He 
 was the youngest of a large family, and the father 
 died while the child was too young to remember 
 him. When he was seven years old the mother 
 moved to Pittsylvania County, Virginia, near the 
 place where this writer was born and reared. Here, 
 in full view of the beautiful Blue Ridge Moun- 
 
 107 
 
108 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 tains, the boy grew to young manhood. The hard- 
 ships of pioneer life, intensified by the privations 
 incident to the Revolutionary War, were important 
 elements in laying the foundation of the strong 
 life of Mr. Stone. From the humble home in the 
 forest, and only thirty miles away, he could 
 hear the guns of General Green and Lord Corn- 
 wallis in the battle of Guilford Court-house, North 
 Carolina. 
 
 b. Conversion. Mr. Stone, like most thought- 
 ful young men of that time, when he would 
 become a Christian, had serious trouble with Cal- 
 vinistic theology. He was taught that all men were 
 totally depraved, unable to think a good thought, 
 utter a good word, or do a good deed till God's 
 "Spirit by some physical, almighty and mysterious 
 power had quickened, enlightened and regenerated 
 the heart." "I asked myself, Does God love the 
 world — the whole world? And has he not almighty 
 power to save? Had I a child whom I greatly 
 loved, and saw him at the point of drowning, and 
 utterly unable to save himself, and if I were able 
 to save him, would not I do it? Would not I con- 
 tradict my love to him — my very nature — if I did 
 not save him? And will not God save all whom 
 he loves?" 
 
 This reasoning drove Mr. Stone into the doc- 
 trine of unconditional election and reprobation as 
 taught in the "Westminster Confession of Faith," 
 and left him almost mad. Speaking of it later, he 
 says: "I shudder while I write. Blasphemy rose 
 in my heart against such a God, and my tongue 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 109 
 
 was tempted to utter it. Sweat profusely burst 
 from the pores of my body, and the fires of hell 
 gat hold of me." 
 
 All this time relief was at his finger-tips, but 
 the clouds of speculative theology so blinded him 
 that he did not see it. Finally, in desperation, he 
 turned to the old Book, and these clouds fled away 
 like mists before the sun, and his soul was at 
 peace. "From this state of perplexity," he says, "I 
 was relieved by the precious word of God. I be- 
 came convinced that God did love the whole world, 
 and that the reason why he did not save all was 
 because of their unbelief ; and that the reason why 
 they believed not, was not because God did not exert 
 his physical, almighty power on them, but because 
 they received not the testimony given in his Word 
 concerning his Son. I now saw that it was not 
 against the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ that I had been tempted to blaspheme, but 
 against the character of a God not revealed in 
 the Scriptures." 
 
 c. Calvinism. After this outburst of faultless 
 logic and righteous indignation, Mr. Stone, in the 
 solemnity of the presence of death, expresses his 
 convictions concerning this doctrine. "Let me here 
 speak when I shall be lying under the clods of the 
 grave: Calvinism is among the heaviest clogs in 
 Christianity in the world. It is a dark mountain 
 between heaven and earth, and is amongst the 
 most discouraging hindrances to sinners from 
 seeking the Kingdom of God." 
 
110 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 2. Early Ministry 
 
 a. Ordination. From this 
 moment Mr. Stone was a new 
 
 man. The shackles which had fettered him were 
 broken, and the scales which had blinded him had 
 been removed, and as a free man with clear vision 
 he threw himself with ardor into his work. He 
 became a candidate for the ministry ; but when asked 
 if he accepted the "Westminster Confession of 
 Faith," he answered, "As far as consistent with the 
 Word of God," thus showing himself in perfect 
 harmony with the slogan of the Campbells : "Where 
 the Bible speaks, we speak; and where the Bible is 
 silent, we are silent." 
 
 b. Wonderful Revival. In 1801, having heard 
 of a wonderful revival in southern Kentucky, he 
 went down to study the work. There, in Logan 
 County, multitudes gathered, and strange things 
 transpired. "The scene to me," he says, "was new 
 and passing strange. It baffled description. Many, 
 very many, fell down as men slain in battle, and con- 
 tinued for hours in an apparently breathless and 
 motionless state — sometimes for a few moments re- 
 viving and exhibiting symptoms of life by a deep 
 groan, a piercing shriek, or by a prayer for mercy 
 most fervently uttered. After lying there for hours, 
 they obtained deliverance. The gloomy cloud which 
 covered their faces seemed gradually and visibly 
 to disappear, and hope in smiles brightened into 
 joy — they would rise, shouting deliverance, and then 
 w r ould address the surrounding multitude in lan- 
 guage truly eloquent and impressive. My conviction 
 was that it was a good work — the work of God." 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 111 
 
 Mr. Stone returned from these strange and 
 stirring scenes fired anew with holy zeal. His 
 first sermon at Caneridge was on the words: 
 "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
 every creature. He that believeth and is baptized 
 shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be 
 damned." This was the beginning of another 
 revival similar to the one he had visited. Experi- 
 ences on the part of sinners were equally strange 
 and startling. And the people in equal numbers 
 came from far and near, and thousands turned to 
 God. It looked in some respects like another 
 Pentecost. Twenty-five thousand people camped 
 on the ground until the food supply failed, and 
 would have remained longer could they have been 
 fed. Like fire in stubble, the influence of the 
 meeting swept abroad until a wide scope of coun- 
 try was involved. Doubtless there was fanaticism 
 here, but it was not all fanaticism, or good and 
 permanent results would not have followed as they 
 did. 
 
 T A ... . a. Colaborers. Mr. Stone 
 
 3. Later Ministry 
 
 was surrounded by some strong 
 colaborers in this work: Richard McNemar, John 
 Thompson, John Dunlavy, David Purviance and 
 Robert Marshall. Their preaching was in direct 
 conflict with the "Confession of Faith." They 
 taught that salvation was for all, and that every 
 one, without the aid of the miraculous influence 
 of the Spirit, could be saved. No wonder this 
 preaching wrought wonders, for it was the same 
 kind that wrought wonders in the early Church. 
 
112 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Neither is it strange that it aroused violent opposi- 
 tion, for Satan knew its danger to his Kingdom, 
 and he would, if possible, stop it. So, in a short 
 time they were tried for heresy in the synods and 
 presbyteries for preaching uncalvinistic doctrines. 
 McNemar was the first victim, and when they saw 
 that he would be excluded from the fold, these 
 five men, during a recess of the Synod, retired to 
 a garden, and, after prayer and consultation, drew 
 up a protest, a declaration of independence, and a 
 withdrawal from their jurisdiction, but not from 
 their communion. This protest was presented to 
 the Synod by the moderator, and it greatly sur- 
 prised and enraged that body. 
 
 These brave men retired to the home of a 
 friend near by, and were quickly followed by a 
 committee from the Synod seeking to reclaim them. 
 During the conference with the committee, one of 
 its members, Matthew Houston, was converted to 
 the righteousness of their cause, and united with 
 the protestants. 
 
 When the Synod received the report of this 
 committee it solemnly suspended the dissenters 
 because they had departed from the doctrine and 
 usages of the Church, and had taught a doctrine 
 subversive of the "Confession of Faith." But in 
 this second point they were unjust to Stone, for 
 he was ordained with the understanding that he 
 accepted the "Confession" only so far as it agreed 
 with the Bible. 
 
 b. Springfield Presbytery. Immediately these 
 brethren formed themselves into an organization 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 113 
 
 known as the Springfield Presbytery. They sent 
 a vigorous letter to their churches, telling them what 
 had transpired, and why they had withdrawn from 
 the Synod. They also filed their objections to the 
 "Confession of Faith," and to all human creeds, 
 and their determination to take the Bible, and the 
 Bible alone, as their only rule of faith and prac- 
 tice. This letter was widely circulated, and it had a 
 large influence. 
 
 c. Breaks with Denominationalism. The 
 ties of confidence and love, binding Mr. Stone to 
 his churches, were tender and strong, and it was 
 painful to break them. But he had new light, and 
 he must walk in it; and so he told them that he 
 could not longer preach Presbyterianism, and that he 
 would henceforth labor to spread the Redeemer's 
 Kingdom irrespective of denominationalism. He 
 released them from all financial obligation, and said 
 he would continue to preach among them, but not 
 as their pastor. Having already freed his slaves, 
 and now having no salary, he worked on his little 
 farm to support his family. But he preached inces- 
 santly, and great throngs gladly heard him. 
 
 The Springfield Presbytery was an infant of 
 a short life. Within a single year these men saw 
 their distinctive name savored of party spirit, and 
 they threw it overboard and substituted the name 
 "Christian. " This noble act, which should have 
 commended them to all good men, only intensified 
 the opposition against them. 
 
 d. Distinguished Honor. In the light of all 
 this, it would seem that the distinguished honor of 
 
 8 
 
114 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 organising the first churches since the great apos- 
 tasy, with the Bible as their only rule of faith and 
 practice, and ivith "Christian" as the family name, 
 belongs to these brave men, and that it occurred in 
 Kentucky in 1804, and that Caneridge was the 
 first. 
 
 e. Last Will and Testament. Light im- 
 proved is always light increased, as the history of 
 these men shows. They soon published "The Last 
 Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery," 
 one of the most unique productions in religious 
 literature. The independent study of the Book was 
 not long in causing them to abandon infant baptism 
 and affusion. But none of them had been immersed, 
 and for a moment they were puzzled as to how to 
 overcome this difficulty; but it was only momentary, 
 for they soon saw that the authority to preach 
 the gospel involved the right to administer its 
 ordinances, and so the preachers first baptized 
 each other, and then baptized their congregations. 
 
 Let it be remembered that all this occurred five 
 years before Thomas Campbell issued the "Declara- 
 tion and Address," and eight years before he 
 and his illustrious son were immersed. 
 
 /. Trials and Triumphs. For a time every- 
 thing went well, and churches sprang up as if by 
 magic over a wide territory. But a new fad 
 called "Shakerism," a semi-religious socialistic 
 movement from New York, was introduced, and it 
 made havoc with the faith of many of their new 
 converts. Two of the preachers lost their moor- 
 ings and went with them, and the day which 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 115 
 
 dawned with such bright promise seemed destined 
 to end in a night of densest darkness. But Mr. 
 Stone, by nature as kind and gentle as a woman, 
 was also courageous as a lion when courage was 
 demanded, and stood manfully by the ship, and 
 steered her safely through the storm, and out again 
 into the peaceful waters of prosperity. But other 
 troubles came, and two more of his preachers de- 
 serted him and returned to the original fold. Speak- 
 ing of this in after years, he said: "Of the five of us 
 who left the Presbyterians, I only was left, and 
 they sought my life." But God did not desert 
 him, and his influence increased greatly, and 
 churches were planted in Kentucky, Tennessee and 
 Ohio. 
 
 a. First Impressions. In 
 4. First Meeting im Mr StQne and Mf c 
 of Stone , „ r , 
 
 and Campbell bdl first met When the ^ com " 
 pared views it seemed that there 
 
 were irreconcilable differences between them. 
 Stone thought Campbell heterodox on the Holy 
 Spirit, and Campbell suspected Stone's soundness 
 on the divinity of Christ. But on a fuller investi- 
 gation they found these differences more imaginary 
 than real, and they joined hearts and hands, and 
 God blessed them with the most important work 
 since the apostolic age. If good men would 
 always thus deal with their differences, this 
 blessed result would become one of the ordinary 
 experiences of life. 
 
 b. Second Impressions. Theirs was a case of 
 esteem and love on first sight, and this feeling 
 
116 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 continued to the end of life. Stone, near the end, 
 said: "I will not say there are no faults in Bro. 
 Campbell, but there are fewer, perhaps, in him 
 than any man I know on earth; and over these few 
 my love would throw a veil, and hide them forever 
 from view. I am constrained, and willingly con- 
 strained, to acknowledge him the greatest pro- 
 moter of this Reformation of any man living." 
 And this feeling was fully reciprocated by Mr. 
 Campbell. 
 
 ward each other, the work of union between their 
 followers was well on the way when it was begun. 
 And so, after a number of friendly conferences, it 
 was decided to have a meeting of representative 
 men from both sides at Georgetown, Kentucky, to 
 continue four days, including Christmas Day of 
 1831. The results of this conference were so 
 satisfactory that another was convened in Lexing- 
 ton on New Year's Day following. The spirit of 
 the Master was supreme in these gatherings, and 
 the blessings of the Lord rested richly on his 
 people. 
 
 b. Lexington Meeting. The Lexington meet- 
 ing was held in the old meeting-house of the Stone 
 brethren on Hill Street on Saturday. At an early 
 hour the house was crowded. Stone and John T. 
 Johnson and Samuel Rogers and G. W. Elley and 
 Jacob Creath and "Raccoon" John Smith were 
 there, with many others worthy of special men- 
 tion, but we have not space for their names. The 
 
 5. Forces United 
 
 a. Preliminary Meetings. 
 With the leaders feeling thus to- 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 117 
 
 Lord has them in the heavenly records. It was not 
 a convention of elders and preachers, but a great 
 mass-meeting of all classes. It was decided that 
 one man from each party should speak, setting 
 forth clearly the grounds of union, and Stone and 
 Smith were selected as the speakers. After a 
 private conference it was agreed that Smith should 
 make the first address. 
 
 At the appointed hour Smith, realizing the 
 tremendous importance of the occasion, arose and 
 delivered one of the great speeches of his life. 
 The following quotation will give the reader an 
 idea of the character of the address. He said: 
 
 "God has but one people on the earth. He has 
 given to them but one Book, and therein exhorts 
 and commands them to be one family. A union 
 such as we plead for — a union of God's people on 
 that one Book — must, then, be practicable. Every 
 Christian desires to stand in the whole will of God. 
 The prayer of the Saviour, and the whole tenor 
 of his teaching, clearly show that it is God's will 
 that his children should be united. To the Chris- 
 tian, then, such a union must be desirable. There- 
 fore the only union practicable or desirable must be 
 based on the word of God as the only rule of 
 faith and practice. 
 
 "There are certain abstruse and speculative mat- 
 ters — such as the mode of divine existence, and the 
 nature of the atonement — that have for centuries 
 been themes of discussion among Christians. These 
 questions are as far from being settled now as 
 they were in the beginning of the controversy. By 
 
118 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 a needless and intemperate discussion of them, 
 much feeling has been provoked, and divisions 
 have been produced. For several years past I 
 have tried to speak on such subjects only in the 
 words of inspiration, for it can offend no one to 
 say about these things just what the Lord himself 
 has said. Whatever opinions about these and 
 similar subjects I may have reached in the course 
 of my investigations, if I never distract the Church 
 of God with them, or seek to impose them on my 
 brethren, they will never do the world any harm. 
 I have the more cheerfully resolved on this course 
 because the gospel is a system of facts, commands 
 and promises, and no deduction or inference from 
 them, however logical or true, forms any part of 
 the gospel of Jesus Christ. No heaven is promised 
 to those who hold them, and no hell is threatened 
 against those who deny them. They do not con- 
 stitute, singly or together, any item of the ancient 
 and apostolic gospel. While there is but one 
 faith, there may be ten thousand opinions; and 
 hence, if Christians are ever to be one, they must 
 be one in faith, and not in opinion. 
 
 "For several years past I have stood pledged 
 to meet the religious world, or any part of it, on 
 the ancient gospel and order of things as presented 
 in the Book. This is the foundation on which 
 Christians once stood, and on it they can, and ought, 
 to stand again. From this I can not depart to 
 meet any man in the wide world. While, for the 
 sake of peace and Christian union, I have long since 
 waived the public maintenance of any speculation 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 119 
 
 I may hold, yet not one gospel fact, commandment, 
 or promise, will I surrender for the world. 
 
 "Let us then, brethren, be no longer Camp- 
 bellites, or Stoneites, or New Lights, or Old 
 Lights, or any other kind of lights, but let us all 
 come to the Bible, and the Bible alone, as the 
 only Book in the world that can give us all the 
 light we need." 
 
 Stone, with his heart filled with love and hope, 
 responded in a brief speech. "I will not attempt," he 
 said, "to introduce any new topic, but will say a 
 few things on the subjects presented by my beloved 
 brother. Controversies in the Church sufficiently 
 prove that Christians can never be one in their 
 speculations upon these mysterious and sublime sub- 
 jects, which, while they interest the Christian 
 philosopher, can not edify the Church. After we 
 had given up all creeds and taken the Bible, and the 
 Bible alone, as our rule of faith and practice, we 
 met with so much opposition that I was led to 
 deliver some speculative discourses upon these sub- 
 jects. But I never preached a sermon of that kind 
 that really feasted my heart; I always felt a 
 barrenness of soul afterwards. I perfectly accord 
 with Brother Smith that these speculations should 
 never be taken into the pulpit; and when com- 
 pelled to speak of them at all, we should do so in 
 the words of inspiration. 
 
 "I have not one objection to the ground laid 
 down by him as the true Scriptural basis of union 
 among the people of God; and I am willing to 
 give him, now and here, my hand/' 
 
120 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 And as he spoke these words, he extended his 
 hand to Smith, who received it rapturously, and the 
 union of these two great bodies was virtually 
 accomplished. 
 
 It was then proposed that all who felt willing 
 to unite on the principles enunciated should signify 
 it by giving to each other the hand of fellowship; 
 and at once the audience arose and joyfully joined 
 hands. A song was sung, and, amid tears of inex- 
 pressible happiness, the union was confirmed. On 
 the Lord's Day following they broke the loaf 
 together, and around the emblems of the suffering 
 Saviour they renewed their pledge of love and 
 loyalty in a common cause. 
 
 c. Messengers to the Churches. Smith and 
 Rogers were sent among the churches to carry the 
 glad tidings of the union, and to direct and confirm 
 them in their new relations. 
 
 d. The People Contrasted. Dr. Richardson's 
 wise words contrasting the two parties to this union 
 are in point here. "While the features of this 
 organization — the Stone wing — were thus, in a 
 good measure, similar to those of the reformation 
 in which Mr. Campbell was engaged, there were 
 some characteristic differences. With the former, 
 the idea of uniting all men under Christ was prom- 
 inent; with the latter, the desire of an exact con- 
 formity to the primitive faith and practice. The 
 one occupied itself chiefly with casting abroad the 
 sweep-net of the gospel, which gathers fishes of 
 every kind; the other was intent on collecting 'the 
 good into the vessels' and casting 'the bad away.' 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 121 
 
 Hence the former engaged mainly in preaching, the 
 latter in teaching. And thus they supplemented 
 each other. Where one was strong, the other was 
 weak. One appealed mainly to the head, the other 
 to the heart. In one the protracted meeting 'was 
 prominent/ and converts were multiplied; in the 
 other the mists and clouds of theological specula- 
 tion were dissipated, and the Church of the apos- 
 tolic days was being brought back into view. In 
 a word, one was gathering fuel and the other fire, 
 and when the two were properly adjusted, the 
 world was stirred as it has not been since the days 
 of primitive Christianity." 
 
 e. An Important Result. W. T. Moore calls 
 attention to an important result of the union which 
 should not be overlooked: "From the Campbellian 
 point of view this union had its drawbacks. At 
 the time it was consummated the 'Reformers' were 
 practically sweeping everything before them in the 
 Baptist churches of Kentucky, Ohio and other 
 places where the 'Christians' had attained consider- 
 able influence. But the union seriously affected 
 the trend of the Baptist churches toward the 
 Reformatory movement. Many of those who had 
 sympathized with the Reformation utterly refused 
 to become associated with a movement which had 
 coalesced with Unitarians and pedobaptists." This 
 charge was false, but it had the semblance of truth, 
 and for a time it did much injury. 
 
 /. Beautiful Illustration. J. H. Garrison 
 beautifully ilustrates the union of these people. 
 He says: "As two streams having independent 
 
122 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 sources in the high mountain ranges, in flowing 
 toward the sea, by the law of gravitation often 
 meet and mingle their waters in one river, so these 
 two independent religious movements — the one 
 organized by the Campbells, the other by Barton 
 W. Stone — having the same general aim, the unity 
 of God's children, naturally flowed together under 
 the law of spiritual gravitation, when unhindered 
 by sectarian aims, forming a mighty stream of 
 reformatory influence, whose effect has been felt 
 in every part of the Church universal." 
 
 g. The Younger the Stronger. In this case, 
 as with the Campbells, the younger was the 
 stronger. The son, so far as the later and larger 
 history of their work, rather than the father, gave 
 it form and direction. The Missouri River, though 
 longer than the Mississippi, is a tributary of the 
 latter. And so the Stone movement, though several 
 years older in its organic form than that of the 
 Campbells, is generally regarded a tributary and not 
 the main stream, in this onflowing and world- 
 blessing spiritual current. This is because all 
 the vital and permanent in the teachings of Stone, 
 and much more, were found in the teachings of 
 Campbell. That this may be seen, it is only neces- 
 sary to enumerate the leading principles which 
 have given the Restoration Movement its place 
 and power in the world. These are briefly as 
 follows : 
 
 (1) The plea for Christian union; 
 
 (2) The exaltation of the Bible as the only rule 
 of faith and practice; 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 123 
 
 (3) The restoration of the ordinances to their 
 original place and meaning; 
 
 (4) The emphasis of human responsibility in 
 things spiritual; 
 
 (5) The exaltation of the Christ as the creed 
 and foundation of the Church, and the supreme 
 authority in Christianity. 
 
 h. Love the Leading Element. One final 
 word of much importance remains to be said con- 
 cerning this union ; viz., love was the leading ele- 
 ment in this glorious consummation. The people 
 first became acquainted with each other; this 
 acquaintance ripened into friendship, and this 
 friendship into love. No amount of argument and 
 information and exhortation, in the absence of love, 
 could have wrought such results. Pieces of steel 
 thrown together will touch each other, but they 
 will not unite; but melt them and they become one 
 common whole. 
 
124 HOW THE DISCIPLES BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. What of the early life of Barton W. Stone? 
 
 2. What of his early religious experience? 
 
 3. How far did he accept the "Confession of 
 Faith"? 
 
 4. What of his early revivalistic experience? 
 
 5. Tell of his five colaborers. 
 
 6. What of their trouble with the Synod? 
 
 7. Tell of the new Synod — its birth and death. 
 
 8. What of the first churches modeled after 
 the New Testament Church? 
 
 9. Tell of the trouble with Shakerism. 
 
 10. Tell of the first meeting of Stone and Camp- 
 bell. 
 
 11. Describe the union of the two peoples. 
 
 12. What were some of the differences between 
 them ? 
 
 13. Give Garrison's illustration. 
 
 14. Why is the Stone movement regarded a 
 tributary, and not the main stream? 
 
 15. What of the power of love? 
 
VII. 
 
 THE WORK BROADENING 
 AND DEEPENING 
 
 125 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1. Christian Union Tested. 
 
 a. Principle Involved. 
 
 b. Test Applied. 
 
 c. Result Obtained. 
 
 2. Faith and Opinion. 
 
 a. Campbell's Views. 
 
 b. Stone's Views. 
 
 c. Errett's Views. 
 
 3. Phenomenal Success. 
 
 a. Clearer Light. 
 
 b. Better Organization. 
 
 c. Change Wanted. 
 
 d. Menu Appetizing. 
 
 e. Worthy Men. 
 
 /. Natural Results. 
 
 4. Alexander Campbell's Labors. 
 
 a. Change in Public Sentiment. 
 
 b. Preaches to Congress. 
 
 c. Visits the Old World. 
 
 d. Returns Home. 
 
 12C 
 
VII. 
 
 The Work Broadening and Deepening. 
 
 i. Christian 
 Union Tested 
 
 a. The Principle Involved. 
 Theories, however beautiful and 
 promising, are worthless if not 
 
 workable. The Patent Office is full of patents with 
 faultless models, but they will not work. In this 
 practical age men have a merciless way of testing 
 such things. If they can show good results, they 
 adopt them; if not, they cast them aside. The 
 Campbells had for years been preaching a theory 
 of Christian union, and good men were interested, 
 but, like Thomas, they had their doubts as to 
 whether it would work. "Where the Bible speaks, 
 we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent," 
 looked good to those who believed the Bible, but 
 many thought as a theory it would not stand the 
 test. And when the forces of Stone and Campbell 
 united, they hoped against hope, fearing that the 
 glittering scheme, like a rope of sand, would go 
 to pieces. But they did not have long to wait for 
 just the test they desired. It was found in the 
 case of Aylett Raines, a Restorationist preacher of 
 Ohio, and a fine young man. 
 
 b. The Test Applied. He and Walter Scott 
 were operating in the Western Reserve at the same 
 time, but they had never met. Scott was turning 
 
 127 
 
128 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 the "world upside down," and Raines felt it his 
 duty, as the leader of the Restorationists, to counter- 
 act his influence, and he attended one of his meet- 
 ings that he might know at first-hand the teachings 
 of the great evangelist. Scott always gave his 
 hearers a chance to be heard, and Raines, fond of 
 controversy, went there for that purpose. But 
 the sermon so impressed him that he had no desire 
 to criticize. He continued to hear, and he was 
 more and more impressed, until finally he decided 
 that Scott was right and he was wrong. But 
 there was so much at stake that he took time to 
 consider well before acting. He prayed to God 
 for guidance, and counseled with his brethren. He 
 had a preaching tour of several weeks, and he 
 decided to fill his engagements and present his 
 new views in order that he might see what others 
 thought of them. He was freely criticized, but it 
 only confirmed him in his convictions. At the 
 end of the tour he spent four days in conference 
 with one of his preaching brethren — E. Williams — 
 a man of influence, and, as a result, he was con- 
 verted and they baptized each other, and at once 
 entered heartily into the work with Scott. In a 
 few weeks Raines immersed fifty people, inclu- 
 ding three of his preaching brethren. Soon he had 
 the privilege of several days' conference with Thom- 
 as Campbell, and his new faith was greatly 
 strengthened. 
 
 Scott's first year as evangelist for the Mahoning 
 Association was drawing to a close, and God had 
 crowned his labors with a thousand conversions, 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 129 
 
 and had enabled him to establish the principles of 
 the Restoration Movement throughout the Associa- 
 tion. The annual meeting at Warren, Ohio, was 
 an unusually large one. Three facts contributed 
 to this result: (1) The splendid report of the 
 evangelist; (2) Alexander Campbell preached the 
 opening sermon; (3) the case of Aylett Raines 
 was considered. It was generally understood that 
 Raines still, in a large measure, retained his old 
 views on restoration, and many thought he should 
 renounce them, or be denied a place in the Asso- 
 ciation. Mr. Campbell was aware of this, and 
 his sermon was shaped accordingly. The text was 
 Rom. 14:1: "Him that is weak in the faith receive 
 ye, but not to doubtful disputations;" or, as ren- 
 dered in the new version, "without regard to dif- 
 ferences of opinion/' The sermon was worthy of 
 the great preacher and the great occasion, for it 
 developed clearly a fundamental principle in the 
 union question: the difference between faith and 
 opinion. 
 
 The next day the case came up for considera- 
 tion, and the venerable and beloved Thomas 
 Campbell was the first to speak. He regretted that 
 such questions should be brought before the Asso- 
 ciation, for they would produce discord among 
 brethren. He said that Raines was a Restoration- 
 ist and he was a Calvinist, "but, notwithstanding 
 this difference of opinion, I would put my right 
 hand into the fire and have it burnt off before 
 I would hold it up against him." 
 
 c. The Result Obtained. Alexander Camp- 
 
 9 
 
130 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 bell followed with an address which cleared away 
 the confusion, and led to a satisfactory solution of 
 the matter. He made the difference between faith 
 and opinion so clear that all saw it, and he showed 
 that Raines' views were a question of opinion, 
 because there was no testimony in the Book on the 
 subject, and therefore it could not be a matter of 
 faith. He suggested that Mr. Raines promise his 
 brethren to preach the gospel as the Apostles 
 preached it, and retain his opinions as private prop- 
 erty, prophesying that if he would do so, these 
 opinions would vanish, and he would soon, like 
 Paul, be preaching nothing but Christ and him 
 crucified. Mr. Scott heartily commended Mr. 
 Campbell's advice. Mr. Raines gladly made the 
 promise, and the Association by vote retained him 
 in her fellowship. Thus the question of opinions 
 as a test of fellowship — one always fraught with 
 evil if not wisely handled — was settled, unity was 
 preserved, and the church was saved from a sore 
 calamity. 
 
 question of Christian union. Mr. Raines, it was 
 true, held some peculiar views, but since all men 
 hold such views on that, or some other questions, 
 he was not peculiar after all. His faith, his life, 
 his love, and his loyalty were right, and he should 
 be fully fellowshiped in spite of any views he 
 might hold. Unity in faith and diversity in opin- 
 ion was the only possible road to union. 
 
 2. Faith 
 and Opinion 
 
 a. Campbell's Views. This 
 incident shows that Mr. Camp- 
 bell understood thoroughly the 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 131 
 
 Years later, in his debate with N. L. Rice, Mr. 
 Campbell said: "We long since learned the les- 
 son to draw a well-defined boundary between faith 
 and opinion, and, while we earnestly contend for 
 the faith, to allow perfect freedom of opinion; and 
 of the expression of the opinion, as the true 
 philosophy of church union and the sovereign 
 antidote against heresy. Hence in our communion 
 at this moment we have as strong Calvinists and 
 as strong Arminians, I presume, as any in this 
 house — certainly many that have been such. Yet 
 we go hand in hand in one faith, one hope, and in 
 all Christian union and co-operation in the great 
 cause of personal sanctification and human redemp- 
 tion. It is not our object to make men think alike 
 on a thousand themes. Let them think as they like 
 on any matters of human opinion, and upon 'doc- 
 trines of religion,' provided only they hold the 
 Head Christ and keep his commandments. I have 
 learned not only the theory, but the fact, that if 
 you want opinions to cease or subside, you must 
 not debate everything that men think and say. 
 You may debate anything into consequence, or 
 you may, by a dignified silence, waste it into ob- 
 livion. 
 
 'The great cardinal principles upon which the 
 Kingdom rests are made intelligible to all, and every 
 one who sincerely believes these and is baptized is, 
 without any other instrument, creed, covenant or 
 bond, entitled to the rank and immunities of the 
 city of God, the spiritual Jerusalem, the residence 
 of the King. It embraces all that believe in Jesus 
 
132 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 as the Christ, of all nations, sects and parties, 
 and makes them all one in Christ Jesus." 
 
 b. Stone's Views. Barton W. Stone is equal- 
 ly clear. Speaking of the union consummated at 
 Lexington, he says : 
 
 "It may be asked, Is there no difference among 
 you? We answer we do not know, nor are we 
 concerned to know. We have never asked them 
 what was their opinion, nor have they asked us. 
 If they have opinions different from ours, they are 
 welcome to them, provided they do not endeavor 
 to impose them on us as articles of faith. They say 
 the same of us. 
 
 "It may be asked, Have you no creed or con- 
 fession as a common bond of union? We answer, 
 Yes. We have a perfect one delivered to us from 
 Heaven, and confirmed by Jesus and his Apostles 
 — we mean the New Testament. We have learned 
 from the earliest history of the Church to the pres- 
 ent time that the adoption of man-made creeds 
 has been the invariable cause of division. We 
 have therefore rejected all such creeds as bonds of 
 union, and have determined to rest on that alone 
 given by divine authority, being well assured that it 
 will bind together all who live in the spirit of it." 
 
 Never since the apostolic age had the very 
 heart of the union question been more clearly 
 presented, and never, even in that age, did men 
 have a better appreciation of it. It was to be in 
 faith, not in opinions; and it was to deal with 
 fundamentals, and not incidentals. In dealing with 
 this mighty problem these men saw that it was 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 133 
 
 just as important to ignore the unimportant as it 
 was to emphasize the important. 
 
 c. Errett's Views. Isaac Errett, one of our 
 later leaders, and one of our most representative 
 men, says : "With us the divinity and Christhood 
 of Jesus is more than a mere item of doctrine — it 
 is the central truth of the Christian system, and 
 in an important sense the creed of Christianity. It 
 is the one fundamental truth which we are jealous- 
 ly careful to guard against all compromise. If 
 men are right about Christ, Christ will bring them 
 right about everything else. We therefore preach 
 Jesus Christ and him crucified. We demand no other 
 faith, in order to baptism and church membership, 
 than the faith of the heart that Jesus is the Christ, 
 the Son of the living God ; nor have we any term 
 or bond of fellowship but faith in this divine 
 Redeemer and obedience to him. All who trust 
 in the Son of God and obey him are our brethren, 
 however wrong they may be about anything else; 
 and those who do not trust in the divine Saviour 
 for salvation, and obey his commandments, are 
 not our brethren, however intelligent and excellent 
 they may be in all beside. ... In judgments mere- 
 ly inferential, we reach conclusions as nearly 
 unanimous as we can; and where we fail, exercise 
 forbearance, in the confidence that God will lead 
 us into final agreement. In matters of opinion — 
 that is, matters touching which the Bible is either 
 silent, or so obscure as not to admit of definite 
 conclusions — we allow the largest liberty, so long as 
 none judges his brother, or insists on forcing his 
 
134 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 opinions on others, or on making them an occa- 
 sion of strife." 
 
 and the cause or causes of it have been much dis- 
 cussed by the religious world. But these causes 
 are not far to seek, for they are philosophical, fun- 
 damental, and easy of comprehension. Some of 
 them were : 
 
 a. Clearer Light. The light was becoming 
 clearer to the workers. Up to this time they had 
 been threading their way through a dense, dark 
 forest of difficulties, and their vision was not clear. 
 Men walk timidly when they do not see clearly. 
 
 b. Better Organization. Their forces were 
 being organized. The reason why a handful of 
 police is more than a match for a large mob is 
 that one is organized and the other is not. 
 
 c. Change Wanted. The masses wanted a 
 change. Most of their teachers were mystical, 
 theoretical and speculative — a poor pabulum for 
 hungry souls. Hunger is the best appetizer. No 
 cook, however good, and no viands, however deli- 
 cious, are appreciated by the man without an 
 appetite. 
 
 d. Menu Appetizing. The menu was appetiz- 
 ing, and it was what the people needed. (1) They 
 gave them a new view of the Bible. It was no 
 longer a heterogeneous mass of spiritual truth, 
 jumbled together without system, but an orderly 
 revelation worthy of its Author. The God of the 
 
 3. Phenomenal 
 Success 
 
 The numerical success begin- 
 ning about this time and continu- 
 ing to the present is phenomenal, 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 135 
 
 stars was the God of the Bible, and the former 
 were not more systematic in their movements than 
 was the latter in its arrangement. (2) They made 
 clear the distinction between the Old Testament 
 and the New. One was specially for the Jew, 
 and the other was for all men; one was temporary, 
 the other permanent; one told about Mt. Sinai and 
 Moses, the other about Calvary and the Christ. 
 (3) They exalted the Book above all man-made 
 creeds as the one all-sufficient and the alone-suf- 
 ficient rule of faith and practice for the children 
 of God. (4) They showed the sinfulness of divi- 
 sion, and the way to union in the Christ and his 
 Word. (5) They emphasized the difference 
 between faith and opinion, and showed how we 
 could be one in the former, though varied as the 
 leaves of the forest in the latter. (6) They 
 showed that the doctrine of election — the dominant 
 doctrine of the day — had reference to character, 
 and not to individuals. (7) They placed special 
 stress on the human side of salvation, and showed 
 that, while it was free to all, it was forced upon 
 none. (8) They showed that the Holy Spirit in 
 conversion operated through the gospel, and in 
 harmony with the laws of our mental nature. (9) 
 They strove to reproduce the New Testament 
 Church in its name, its creed, its life and its 
 ordinances. (10) And last and best, they re-en- 
 throned the Christ as the central thought in Chris- 
 tianity, and made it clear that a personal Saviour 
 for a personal sinner, and not a system of doc- 
 trines, was the proper object of faith. 
 
136 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 e. Worthy Men. The men were worthy of 
 the message. In spiritual as in material warfare, 
 the man behind the gun is an all-important fac- 
 tor. The gun may be the best, but it can not do 
 its best without a real hero to handle it. The 
 message from the Lord needs manly men to deliver 
 it. The sun shining through colored windows car- 
 ries with it every tint in the glass. The careful 
 reader can detect the personal characteristics of 
 Paul, Peter, James, John, and other authors, in 
 their writings. And these were grand men, worthy 
 successors of their apostolic ancestors. Not many 
 of them were college men, but they were richly 
 endowed with the rugged common sense char- 
 acteristic of pioneers. They possessed in a large 
 measure the four elements of true manhood: 
 brains, conviction, courage and consecration. They 
 knew the gospel, they believed it, they loved it, 
 and they were always ready to live or die for it 
 according to the command of the Master. They 
 believed in the old Book, and its voice was an end 
 of controversy. They sacrificed home, friends, 
 pleasure — everything — and, without money and 
 without price, they answered the Macedonian cry 
 and carried its message wherever it was possible 
 for them to go. How I wish I could call in full 
 the names of these old worthies. But here are a 
 few of them : Smith, Gano, Allen, Challen, Burnet, 
 Church, Bullard, Shelburne, Creath, Rogers, Cole- 
 man, Fall, Bentley, Gaston, Henry, Hayden, 
 O'Kane, Goodwin, Houshour, Mathes, Franklin, 
 Richardson, Pendleton, Hopson, Lard, McGarvey, 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 137 
 
 Milligan, Errett. Many others could be mentioned, 
 for their name is "legion," but we have not the 
 space. But their names are in the Lamb's Book of 
 Life, and the Lord has already welcomed them into 
 their glorious reward. 
 
 /. Natural Results. With such men as these 
 making such a plea as they made, great growth was 
 the natural result. They appealed to the practical 
 common sense of the common people, and they 
 heard them gladly. They did not always agree 
 with them, but they understood them, which is a 
 rich compliment to any preacher. Their message 
 was a new one, and it brought relief to thousands 
 of despondent and almost despairing souls who had 
 long been struggling in the mists and fogs of the 
 theology of the day. It scattered this mist and 
 fog like the sun scatters the fogs of the morning, 
 and makes the earth all the brighter because they 
 once enveloped it in their damp, chilly folds. 
 
 And this evangelistic fervor continues till this 
 day. Never in our history have there been so 
 many large ingatherings by our evangelists as at 
 this time. And while it is true, perhaps, that at 
 times too much stress is laid upon mere numbers, 
 this is exceptional and not the rule. Neither is the 
 work done by the evangelists only, but also by 
 the local preacher. Most of his sermons, especial- 
 ly those at the evening service, are closed with a 
 fervent appeal to the unconverted to accept the 
 Christ as the Saviour, and great numbers are thus 
 saved. In the mid-week prayer-meeting and Sun- 
 day school this appeal is often made and accepted. 
 
138 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 This feature of our work has had much to do 
 
 in the rapid growth of a hundred years, which 
 
 makes us rank fifth among the Protestant bodies 
 of America. 
 
 good tidings to a large and constantly increasing 
 audience on both sides of the Atlantic. With his pen 
 in the Christian Baptist, Millennial Harbinger, and 
 in his numerous books, notably "The Christian Sys- 
 tem," and in his sermons heard by enthusiastic audi- 
 ences everywhere, and through his debates, he was 
 reaching the masses and molding thought to a 
 remarkable degree. He made many long tours 
 through every section of the country, and was 
 received everywhere with open arms and warm 
 words of welcome. A great change had taken place 
 since the beginning of his work, when he stood 
 almost alone as the representative of an unpopular 
 cause. The newspapers lent him their influence, 
 and rulers and lawmakers bade him welcome. He 
 was at last being recognized in a manner commen- 
 surate with his worth. 
 
 b. Preaches to Congress. On June 2, 1850, 
 at the invitation of both Houses of Congress, he 
 delivered an address in the Capitol. Perhaps no 
 such a scene was ever witnessed there before or 
 since. The hall of the Lower House was filled 
 to overflowing, the meeting was opened with sing- 
 ing and prayer, and the speaker took his text from 
 
 4. Alexander 
 Campbell's 
 Labors 
 
 a. Change in Public Sen- 
 timent. Mr. Campbell, while 
 not an evangelist in the strict 
 sense of the term, was telling the 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 139 
 
 John 3 : 16, 17, from which he showed the great- 
 ness of God's love as contrasted with the friend- 
 ship and love of man. The distinguished audi- 
 ence for an hour and a half heard him with marked 
 attention. He was also received with great respect 
 in New York, and other important centers. Wher- 
 ever he went — East or West, North or South, in 
 the United States or in Canada — the people hailed 
 him with delight. 
 
 c. Visits Old World. The long-cherished 
 dream of revisiting the old country, and thus 
 extending his plea for New Testament Christian- 
 ity, was about to be realized. Pressing invitations 
 from the churches there convinced him that the 
 time was ripe for his going. Accordingly, on May 
 4, 1847, he sailed from New York on board the 
 "Siddons," a sailing-vessel, which he preferred to 
 a steamer, in order that he might have a longer 
 time at sea. After a pleasant voyage of twenty- 
 five days he landed in Liverpool. Here he was 
 met by Mr. J. Davies, of Mollington, who had 
 been active in introducing Mr. Campbell's writings 
 in England. He visited Chester, and preached to 
 large audiences. His sermons were well received. 
 He also delivered two sermons in the church build- 
 ing formerly occupied by Matthew Henry, the 
 commentator, but then owned by the Unitarians. 
 On June 7 and 8 he delivered addresses in Concert 
 Hall, Liverpool, which had been built by the 
 Owenites for the promotion of infidelity, but was 
 now used in the sen-ice of Christianity. On June 
 22 he visited Leicester, where he spoke to large 
 
140 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 audiences, and visited the famous ancient abbey 
 to which Wolsey retired to die in 1530. The city 
 was interesting also because it was the home of 
 Carey, the famous missionary, and that of Robert 
 Hall, who occupied his pulpit for eighteen years. 
 He was shown here the guard-house, still standing 
 on the wall, where Bunyan, as a soldier under 
 Cromwell, served his country. He next visited 
 London, where he spoke several times. Here, on 
 July 9, he addressed the skeptics in their hall on 
 the question, "Has God ever spoken to man?" 
 for which they gave him a vote of thanks. 
 
 Leaving London, he made a brief visit to Paris. 
 The magnificence of the city astonished him. The 
 Louvre and Tuileries were beautiful beyond descrip- 
 tion. The twenty-one elegant bridges spanning the 
 Seine were much admired. The splendid architec- 
 ture of the churches was impressive, but not so the 
 worship of one he visited. "While gazing on all 
 the grandeur above and around me," he says, "I 
 saw the priest standing before the altar with his 
 back to a half a dozen devotees kneeling in differ- 
 ent parts of the church, performing various genu- 
 flections and grimaces. A large cross was in- 
 wrought on his coat, after the manner of Indian 
 beads, so that while his back was to the people, 
 a gorgeous cross from head to heel was visible. 
 What a splendid device! How easy to carry such 
 a rich and beautiful cross, kneeling on a velvet 
 cushion under a golden canopy, with a few august 
 worshipers in his rear! What a commentary on the 
 words, 'Take up your cross and follow me.' I 
 
BEGAN AXD GREW 
 
 141 
 
 turned away from this disgusting mummery and 
 left the Cathedral." 
 
 Returning to England, he visited a number of 
 places, and then, just thirty-eight years after his 
 departure, he returned to Scotland. Many brethren 
 from various parts of Scotland met him in Edin- 
 burgh to welcome him, and to hear him preach. 
 While in Scotland his views on the question of 
 slavery were misrepresented by bad men, and he 
 was put in prison. But, as is usual in such cases, 
 the persecution proved a boomerang, and came 
 back in force on the head of the persecutor. Mr. 
 Campbell was annoyed, and delayed a few days, 
 but Rev. James Robertson, who aimed to injure 
 him, had to flee the country. 
 
 After a pleasant and profitable sojourn in 
 Scotland, Mr. Campbell entered Ireland, the land 
 of his birth, on September 17, stopping at Belfast. 
 Preaching at a number of places, he came to 
 Rich Hill, where he preached. Speaking of his 
 experiences about the childhood home, he says: 
 "Mr. Greer [his traveling companion] spent the 
 whole of that day, the 23d, in carrying me in his 
 carriage over the grounds around my father's 
 farm and residence, the old stone meeting-house 
 and the surrounding residences of prominent mem- 
 bers of the congregation. But more than forty 
 years had carried them all away, except a few 
 members of their families, who still reside on their 
 patrimonial inheritances, of which Mr. Greer him- 
 self was one, occupying the same house in which 
 his father died fifty years ago. We had the sexton 
 
142 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 open the meeting-house, some sixty feet by forty, 
 and, with many a melancholy though somewhat 
 pleasing reminiscence, I surveyed the pews, saying 
 to myself, 'Here sat such a one, and there sat such 
 a one; and where sit they now?' The pulpit and 
 doors were new modified; all else was in statu quo 
 as it was when I heard my father in April, 1807, 
 deliver his farewell sermon to a large and weep- 
 ing concourse." 
 
 d. Returns Home. Returning to England, he 
 attended the annual meeting of the English breth- 
 ren at Chester, and filled some other engagements, 
 when he sailed for home on the steamer "Cambria," 
 and reached Boston on October 19, wearied with 
 his long and arduous trip, but comforted in the 
 thought that much good had been accomplished. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 143 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. What was the feeling of many in regard 
 to the theory of Christian union? 
 
 2. How was the theory tested in the case of 
 Aylett Raines? 
 
 3. Give Campbell's position on faith and 
 opinion. 
 
 4. Give Stone's position on the same subject. 
 
 5. Give Errett's position on the subject. 
 
 6. Name the causes of the success at this 
 time. 
 
 7. What were Mr. Campbell's three main 
 agencies for spreading the gospel? 
 
 8. Tell of his visit to Europe. 
 
VIII. 
 
 THREE GREAT DEBATES 
 
 10 
 
 145 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1. Debate with Owen. 
 
 a. Changed Conditions. 
 
 b. Clearing the Deck. 
 
 c. A Telling Anecdote. 
 
 d. Great Occasion. 
 
 e. Twelve-hour Speech. 
 
 /. Verdict of the Audience. 
 g. Debate a Success. 
 
 2. Debate with Purcell. 
 
 a. Not Catholic. 
 
 b. Human Foundation. 
 
 c. Unstable. 
 
 d. Evil of Prophecy. 
 
 e. Immoral Tendency. 
 /. False Claim. 
 
 g. Anti-American. 
 
 h. Campbell's Courage. 
 
 i. Battle of Giants. 
 Verdict of Audience. 
 
 k. Thrilling Incident. 
 
 3. Debate with Rice. 
 
 a. Men Contrasted. 
 
 b. Campbell's Mind. 
 
 c. Comment Desired. 
 
 d. Debate a Success. 
 
 148 
 
VIII. 
 
 Three Great Debates. 
 
 Controversy was unavoidable in the life of 
 Alexander Campbell. Popular error can not be 
 pulled down and unpopular truth exalted in its 
 place without controversy. This is true in all the 
 realms of life — in nature, in religion, in science, 
 in literature and in politics; and yet many men are 
 opposed to it in the realm of religion. These men 
 seem to forget that Elijah, in restoring the law, was 
 a controversialist; that John the Baptist, in prepar- 
 ing the way of the Lord, was a controversialist; 
 that Christ, in establishing Christianity, was a 
 controversialist ; that Paul, the greatest product of 
 Christianity and the chief defender of the early 
 Church, was a controversialist ; that Luther, Calvin 
 and Knox were controversialists. Whether con- 
 troversy is right or wrong depends on the purpose 
 and spirit with which it is conducted. When the 
 controversialist knows that he knows all the truth, 
 and seeks to triumph over an opponent much as 
 the Indian gloats over the scalp of a white man, 
 it is altogether wrong. But when conscious of 
 the fact that he does not know it all, and in con- 
 troversy, properly conducted, he seeks for more light, 
 it is altogether right. Air. Campbell was an ideal 
 controversialist. He sought truth for truth's sake, 
 
 147 
 
148 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 and not for the sake of personal glory. He 
 moved upon a loftier plane than this. Had he 
 resorted to the common subterfuges often used by 
 small men, he would have made a botch of it — he 
 was too large for that kind of thing — but as he 
 conducted it, it was wonderfully productive of 
 good. We desire, therefore, that the reader shall 
 see him in three of his greatest debates. 
 
 been defending Christianity in the house of its 
 friends, but now he meets its open enemies. In- 
 fidelity, like a flood, was pouring into the United 
 States. David Dale's success at New Lanark Mills, 
 Scotland; Faurier's theories of communism in 
 France; and the "Social System" of Robert Owen, 
 son-in-law of Mr. Dale, were making inroads among 
 the people. Advocates of these views in large 
 numbers were coming to America, and they were 
 active and aggressive. They established them- 
 selves at Kendall, Ohio; New Harmony, Indiana, 
 and some other places, and boldly taught that 
 Christianity was a barrier to progress, and should 
 be shoved out of the way. A paper, ably edited, 
 was established to advocate these views. 
 
 b. Clearing the Deck. As soon as Mr. Camp- 
 bell saw this he ran up the banner of Christ to the 
 masthead and cleared the deck for battle. He 
 published in the Christian Baptist a series of strong 
 articles on "Robert Owen and the Social System," 
 and "Deism and the Social System," and they 
 
 a. Changed Conditions. 
 
 i. Debate with 
 Owen 
 
 Up to this time (1829) Mr. 
 Campbell, in his discussions, had 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 149 
 
 accomplished the desired results. In February, 
 1828, he was asked if he would meet Dr. Under- 
 hill in debate. He replied that he was always 
 ready to defend his Master, but that he preferred 
 not to meet a subordinate of Mr. Owen, but 
 that gentleman himself. He would measure arms 
 only with the king; and, as Mr. Owen was not 
 averse, he did not have long to wait. Mr. 
 Owen had been boldly flaunting his challenge in 
 the face of the clergy for some time, but no one 
 accepted it; but the moment it was seen by Mr. 
 Campbell he accepted it, forwarding his accept- 
 ance to New Orleans, where Mr. Owen was lec- 
 turing. 
 
 c. A Telling Anecdote. Just before the 
 debate Mr. Owen visited Mr. Campbell at Bethany 
 to arrange for the discussion, and one evening 
 when the two were strolling together over the 
 farm they came to the family burying-ground, and 
 Mr. Owen paused and said, "There is one advan- 
 tage I have over the Christian — / am not afraid to 
 die; and if some few items of my business were 
 settled, I would be perfectly willing to die at any 
 moment." Mr. Campbell replied, "You say you 
 have no fear in death; have you any hope in 
 death?" After a solemn pause, Mr. Owen an- 
 swered, "No." "Then," continued Mr. Campbell, 
 pointing to an ox standing in the shade, whisking 
 off the flies, "you are on the level with that brute. 
 He has fed till he is satisfied, and there he stands 
 in the shade, and has neither fear nor hope in 
 death." Mr. Owen, unable to meet this simple 
 
150 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 but crushing reply, blushed in confusion and made 
 no attempt to meet it. 
 
 d. A Great Occasion. The debate took place 
 in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 13-21, 1829, and it was 
 a great occasion. Mr. Campbell was the acknowl- 
 edged champion of the Christian faith, and Mr. 
 Owen was no less distinguished as its foe; and 
 the issue involved being the one great question of 
 the world, it was one of the truly remarkable and 
 important events in religious history. 
 
 e. Twelve-hour Speech. Mr. Campbell being 
 a philosopher, and realizing the importance of 
 thorough work, gave to his defense of Christianity 
 the widest possible range. On the fifth day Mr. 
 Owen completed the reading of his manuscript, and, 
 finding himself unable to follow his opponent in 
 his broad generalizations and masterly summaries, 
 he requested him to proceed without interruption 
 to the close of his argument. Then followed a 
 speech of twelve hours, "which," says Richardson, 
 "for cogency of argument, comprehensive reach of 
 thought and eloquence, has never been surpassed, 
 if ever equaled." And when it closed, a thoughtful 
 hearer, not in sympathy with Mr. Campbell, 
 expressed the feelings of himself and most of the 
 audience when he said, "I have been listening to 
 a man who seems as one who had been living in 
 all ages." 
 
 /. Verdict of the Audience. Mr. Campbell, 
 at the close, anxious that those who did not hear 
 the debate should know the sentiment of those who 
 did, asked all who believed in the Christian relig- 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 151 
 
 ion to rise, when it seemed that every one rose. 
 He then put the other side of the question, and 
 three stood. Mr. Owen pleasantly remarked that 
 "it made him happy to see others happy." 
 
 g. Debate a Success. The debate was a suc- 
 cess in that it checked the rising tide of infidelity, 
 and encouraged the friends of the Christ. It also 
 greatly helped Mr. Campbell in his work by plac- 
 ing the religious world, both Protestant and Cath- 
 olic, under lasting obligations to him, and by giving 
 to him the prestige and power that come to a 
 victorious leader in a crucial hour. It was pub- 
 lished, and had a large sale; and it remains to 
 this day an authority on Christian evidences. An- 
 other significant result was that Mr. Owen soon 
 abandoned his infidel schemes in America and 
 returned to Scotland. 
 
 on the subject of "Moral Culture." In the lecture 
 he claimed that modern civilization in a large 
 measure was traceable to the Lutheran Reformation. 
 Bishop Purcell, of the Catholic Church, took issue 
 with him, and said that the Reformation had been 
 the cause of all of the contention and infidelity in 
 the world. Mr. Campbell promptly informed him 
 that he was ready for a discussion of their dif- 
 ferences. Purcell did not reply at once; and an 
 impatient community, much disturbed by the efforts 
 of the Catholics to exclude the Bible from the 
 public schools, got up a large petition urging Mr. 
 
 2. Debate with 
 Purcell 
 
 During October, 1836, Mr. 
 Campbell lectured before the 
 Cincinnati College of Teachers 
 
152 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Campbell to come to the defense of Protestantism 
 against Rome. The debate of seven days, beginning 
 January 13, 1837, in Cincinnati, was finally 
 arranged, Mr. Campbell affirming these seven 
 propositions : 
 
 a. Not Catholic. "The Roman Catholic insti- 
 tution, sometimes called the 'Holy Apostolic 
 Church,' is not, nor was she ever, catholic, apos- 
 tolic or holy, but is a sect, in the fair import of 
 that word, older than any other sect now existing; 
 not the mother and mistress of all churches, but 
 an apostasy from the only true and apostolic 
 Church of Christ. 
 
 b. Human Foundation. "Her notion of 
 apostolic succession is without any foundation in 
 the Bible, in reason, or in fact; an imposition of 
 the most injurious consequences, built upon un- 
 scriptural and antiscriptural traditions, rested whol- 
 ly upon the opinions of interest and fallible men. 
 
 c. Unstable. "She is not uniform in her faith 
 or united in her members, but unstable and fallible 
 as any other sect of philosophy or religion — Jew- 
 ish, Turkish or Christian ; a confederation of sects 
 under a politico-ecclesiastic head. 
 
 d. Evil of Prophecy. "She is the Babylon of 
 John, the man of sin of Paul, and the empire of 
 the youngest horn of Daniel's sea-monster. 
 
 e. Immoral in Tendency. "Her notions of 
 purgatory, indulgences, auricular confession, super- 
 erogation, etc., essential elements of her system, are 
 immoral in their tendency and injurious to the 
 well-being of society, religious and political. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 153 
 
 /. False in Claim. "Notwithstanding her pre- 
 tensions to have given us the Bible and faith in it, 
 we are perfectly independent of her for our 
 knowledge of that book and its evidences of divine 
 origin. 
 
 g. Anti-American. "The Roman Catholic 
 religion, if infallible and unsusceptible of reforma- 
 tion, as alleged, is essentially anti-American, being 
 opposed to the genius of all free institutions, and 
 positively subversive of them, opposing the general 
 reading of the Scriptures and the diffusion of use- 
 ful knowledge among the whole community, as 
 essential to liberty and the permanency of good 
 government." 
 
 h. Campbell's Courage. It required courage 
 and equipment of the highest type to affirm these 
 revolutionary propositions, with such an opponent 
 as Purcell. But no man was better prepared for 
 the task than Mr. Campbell. His life up to 
 young manhood had been spent in priest-ridden 
 Ireland, where he saw the system under its 
 true colors, and learned to loathe it, as he did 
 every system of oppression. His thorough knowl- 
 edge of the history of the Church, all through her 
 bloody career, made him familiar with the ground 
 over which he had to pass. And his undenomina- 
 tional attitude to the creeds of Christendom left 
 him untrammeled in the defense of Christianity 
 as no party man could possibly be. A single quota- 
 tion from his opening address shows his apprecia- 
 tion of this last point. "I come not here," said 
 he, "to advocate the particular tenets of any sect, 
 
154 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 but to defend the great cardinal principles of 
 Protestantism." 
 
 i. Battle of Giants. This was a battle 
 between giants on a question of transcendent impor- 
 tance, and the interest in it was deep and wide- 
 spread. Throughout the discussion Mr. Campbell 
 fully sustained himself as a Christian gentleman 
 and powerful defender of the truth. The Protes- 
 tant clergy of Cincinnati and vicinity, among whom 
 was the famous Lyman Beecher, were hearty in 
 their commendation. Much prejudice against him 
 was dissipated, and his great plea for the restora- 
 tion of the ancient order of things was heard by 
 them and their people more kindly. 
 
 /'. Verdict of Audience. The audiences were 
 large, and increased to the close; and so appre- 
 ciative were they that, at a mass-meeting, resolutions 
 were adopted declaring "that it is the unanimous 
 opinion of this meeting that the cause of Protes- 
 tantism has been fully sustained throughout the 
 discussion." The debate was published, and had a 
 large sale. It is perhaps the strongest thing of 
 its kind in the English language. 
 
 k. Thrilling Incident. The following thrilling 
 incident, worthy of special mention, occurred dur- 
 ing the debate. Mr. Campbell, quoting from the 
 "Moral Philosophy" of Alphonso de Liguori, used 
 this passage: "A bishop, however poor he may 
 be, can not appropriate to himself pecuniary fines 
 without the license of the Apostolic See. But he 
 ought to apply them to pious uses. Much less 
 can he apply those fines to anything else than 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 155 
 
 religious uses, which the Council of Trent has laid 
 upon non-resident clergymen, or upon those clergy- 
 men who keep concubines." 
 
 The object of this stinging quotation was to 
 show that among the Roman priesthood marriage 
 was a worse crime than concubinage, for the 
 former brought an immediate excommunication, but 
 the latter was winked at, and only fined. 
 
 Purcell indignantly denied that Catholics had 
 ever taught such doctrine, and said that no such 
 passage was in Liguori's works. Pointing to the 
 nine volumes of this author on the stand, he said: 
 "I have examined these volumes from cover to 
 cover, and in none of them can so much as a 
 shadow be found of the infamous charges." He 
 then requested Mr. Kinmount, a classical teacher, 
 to examine Liguori and find, if possible, this par- 
 ticular passage. The next day Purcell brought this 
 gentleman to the platform, and he told the audience 
 that he had not been able to find the passage. 
 
 At this the most intense excitement prevailed, 
 and it looked bad for Mr. Campbell. His quotation 
 was not directly from Liguori, but from an Eng- 
 lish synopsis made by a Mr. Smith of New York, 
 a converted Catholic. He finally got in touch with 
 Mr. Smith, who told him that he would find the 
 language on page 444 of Volume VIII. Asking 
 the loan of this volume from Purcell, he turned to 
 this page, and found it zvord for word as he had 
 quoted it, in the bishop's own edition. But he did 
 not stop here. He took the original Latin and 
 the synopsis of Mr. Smith to Mr. Kinmount, who 
 
156 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 certified that it was a faithful translation. And 
 so Mr. Campbell was vindicated, and his prestige 
 greatly increased, while his opponent correspond- 
 ingly suffered at the hands of the public. 
 
 terian), in Lexington, Kentucky, beginning Novem- 
 ber 15, 1843, and continuing sixteen days with 
 Henry Clay as chief moderator. Rev. R. J. 
 Breckenridge, one of their most distinguished men, 
 was asked to meet Mr. Campbell, but he declined, 
 saving, "No, sir, I will never be Alexander Camp- 
 bell's opponent. A man who has done what he 
 has to defend Christianity against infidelity, to 
 defend Protestantism against the delusions and 
 usurpations of Catholicism, I will never oppose 
 in public debate. I esteem him too highly." And 
 so Mr. Rice, a man wholly unlike Mr. Campbell, 
 was selected. The one has been compared to a 
 great military leader, marshaling his forces in 
 regular military order, and fighting his battles 
 according to the highest rules known in material 
 warfare: the other, to a guerrilla captain, who 
 avoids the open field, and seeks from ambush to 
 fall upon his foe at some unguarded point and 
 inflict a temporary injury. 
 
 b. Breadth and Sweep of Campbell's Mind. 
 An example will show the broad sweep of Mr. 
 Campbell's mind. He was aiming to establish the 
 general rule that "where words denote specific action 
 their derivatives, through all their various flexions 
 
 3. Debate with 
 Rice 
 
 a. The Men Contrasted. 
 Mr. Campbell's last debate was 
 with Rev. N. L. Rice (Presby- 
 
BEGAX AND GREW 
 
 157 
 
 and modifications, retain the specific meaning of the 
 root." Applying this philosophic rule to bapto, he 
 showed that in its two thousand flexions and modi- 
 fications it retained the radical syllable bap, and 
 so never lost the idea of dip. His illustration was 
 as follows: "Agriculturists, horticulturists, botanists 
 will fully comprehend me when I say that in all 
 the domain of vegetable nature, untouched by 
 human art, as the root, so is the stem, and so are 
 the branches. If the root be oak, the stem can 
 not be ash nor the branches cedar. What would 
 you think, Mr, President, of the sanity or veracity 
 of a backwoodsman who would affirm that he 
 found in the state of nature a tree whose root was 
 oak, whose stem was cherry, whose boughs were 
 pear, and whose leaves were chestnut? If these 
 grammarians and philologists have been happy in 
 their analogies drawn from the root and branches 
 of trees to illustrate the derivations of words, how 
 singularly fantastic the genius that creates a 
 philological tree whose root is bapto, whose stem 
 is cheo, whose branches are rantizo, and whose 
 fruit is karharizo! or, if not too ludicrous and 
 preposterous for English ears, whose root is dip, 
 whose trunk is pour, whose branches are sprinkle, 
 and whose fruit is purification!" 
 
 Here is another example of his masterly work: 
 'The question now before us," he says, "concerns 
 the action — the thing commanded to be done. This 
 is, of course, the most important point — the sig- 
 nificant and all-important point. Paul gives it high 
 rank and consequence when he says, There is one 
 
158 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Lord, one faith, one baptism.' There are not two 
 modes of any one of these. When we have ascer- 
 tained that one action called baptism, there can be 
 no other. It is wholly sophistical to talk of two 
 modes of baptism, unless, indeed, it be two ways 
 of immersing a person. In this there may be a 
 plurality of modes. A person may be immersed 
 backwards or forwards, kneeling or standing. 
 Other modes than these there can not be. Sprink- 
 ling is not a mode of immersing; neither is immer- 
 sion a mode of sprinkling. If sprinkling, pouring 
 and immersion be modes of baptism, then I ask 
 what is the thing called baptism? Who can explain 
 this? Of what are these three specifically differ- 
 ent actions, a mode? If sprinkling be a mode, then 
 baptism is something incognito — something which no 
 philologist or lexicographer can explain. I pro- 
 nounce these modes an unmeaning, sophistical 
 jargon, which no one can comprehend. Baptism is 
 not a mode — it is an action. The word that rep- 
 resents it is improperly, by Mr. Carson, called a 
 word of mode. It is a specific action; and the 
 verb that represents it is a verb of specific import; 
 else there is no such verb in Hebrew, Greek or 
 Latin." 
 
 c. Campbell's Comment Desired. It would be 
 refreshing to have the comment of Mr. Campbell 
 on the teachings of a little coterie of would-be 
 leaders among us who have so far departed from 
 his teaching as to speak of "immersion baptism" 
 and kindred phrases. 
 
 d. Debate a Success. The debate, a volume of 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 159 
 
 more than nine hundred pages, has had a large 
 sale. The Presbyterians for a time encouraged 
 its circulation, one of them having bought the copy- 
 right. But it was soon seen that it was not to 
 their interest to circulate it, and it was sold to 
 a friend of the Restoration Movement, and the 
 sale was greatly increased. 
 
160 HOW THE DISCIPLES BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Why is controversy unavoidable? 
 
 2. Tell us of some noted controversialists. 
 
 3. Describe an ideal controversialist. 
 
 4. Tell of the debate with Owen. 
 
 5. Give the incident at the cemetery. 
 
 6. What of Mr. Campbell's great twelve-hour 
 speech ? 
 
 7. What of the vote of the audience at the 
 close of the debate? 
 
 8. Tell of the debate with Purcell. 
 
 9. Name the propositions discussed. 
 
 10. What did the preachers think of Mr. Camp- 
 bell's work? 
 
 11. Relate a thrilling incident of the discussion. 
 
 12. Tell of the debate with Rice. 
 
 13. Give some incidents in the discussion. 
 
 14. Why would not Breckenridge meet Camp- 
 bell? 
 
IX. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL 
 
 11 
 
 101 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1. Bethany College. 
 
 a. Organization. 
 
 b. Chief Text-book. 
 
 c. Morning Lectures. 
 
 d. The Ideal Teacher. 
 
 e. Present Condition. 
 /. Location. 
 
 2. Transylvania University. 
 
 a. History. 
 
 b. Bible College. 
 
 c. Educational Society. 
 
 3. Other Schools. 
 
 o. First List. 
 
 b. Second List. 
 
 c. Female Colleges. 
 
 d. Bible Chairs. 
 
 4. Special Mention. 
 
 a. School of Missions. 
 
 b. Phillips Bible Institute. 
 
 c. Southern Christian Institute. 
 
 5. Summary. 
 
 162 
 
IX. 
 
 Educational. 
 
 The organization of Bethany College in 1841 
 marks an epoch in the history of the Restoration 
 Movement. The Campbells, being college men, 
 knew the value of education ; but until now so many 
 other things occupied them that they could not 
 turn their attention to it. They knew that brain 
 was greater than brawn; that thought ruled the 
 world; that leadership could not be divorced from 
 scholarship. They knew that an army by sheer 
 courage, numbers and patriotism might achieve 
 great results; but the same army carefully drilled, 
 and led by trained leaders, has its efficiency multi- 
 plied manyfold. 
 
 As early as 1818 Alexander Campbell estab- 
 lished in his home "Buffalo Seminary." Educational 
 advantages were meager, and he hoped thus to 
 help the local community, while he trained young 
 men for the ministry. The school was crowded 
 from the first. But after a few years it was dis- 
 continued. There were several reasons for this. 
 It did not meet his expectations in securing young 
 preachers; his health suffered from the close con- 
 finement; and the increasing demand for his serv- 
 ices as a preacher in important and often distant 
 places. 
 
 163 
 
 \ 
 
164 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 i. Bethany Col- 
 lege 
 
 a. Organization. In 1840 
 the charter for Bethany College 
 was obtained. Mr. Campbell an- 
 
 nounced this fact to the world, with his purposes 
 and plans, and asked the aid of his friends. The 
 first response, a gift of $1,000, came from W. B. 
 Pendleton, of Virginia. And, with characteristic 
 energy and faith, he proceeded, at his own respon- 
 sibility, to erect a large brick building. At a 
 meeting of the trustees on September 18 he was 
 elected president; and on May 10, 1841, four 
 teachers were added to the Faculty — W. K. Pendle- 
 ton, Andrew F. Ross, Charles Stewart and Robert 
 Richardson. The school opened October 21. 
 
 b. Chief Text-book. Mr. Campbell's idea of a 
 college was new in that he would make the 
 Bible the chief text-book. "The formation of 
 moral character, the culture of the heart," he said, 
 "is the supreme end of education. ... An immoral 
 man is uneducated. The blasphemer, the profane 
 swearer, the liar, the calumniator, etc., are unedu- 
 cated persons." 
 
 c. Morning Lectures. When the school opened 
 he began a series of morning Bible lectures which 
 at once became famous. They were neither 
 critical nor exegetical, though containing both these 
 elements as occasion demanded, but were broad 
 generalizations, sweeping through the Book from 
 beginning to end, and giving the student a clear 
 and comprehensive conception of the doings of 
 God in the creation and government of the world. 
 W. T. Moore, a Bethany student at that time, says : 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 165 
 
 "One might not remember anything very special 
 that Mr. Campbell said in these lectures, but every 
 time he went away from them he felt that he was 
 a bigger man. They developed growth, and 
 stimulated in a high degree the moral uplift. 
 While they did not underestimate the value of intel- 
 lectual development, they emphasized with intense 
 enthusiasm, and an overwhelming conviction, that 
 heart-life is essential to any worthy manhood." 
 
 d. The Ideal Teacher. Mr. Campbell was 
 the ideal teacher. While his Faculty was fine, they, 
 and every one else, knew that he was the power 
 that made the school. Garfield's saying that "Mark 
 Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on 
 the other would make a university" was never 
 better illustrated than in this case. There can be 
 no great school without a great personality at its 
 head. What the teacher is, gives force to what he 
 says. Words which fall lifeless from the lips of 
 others, strengthen and stimulate when they come 
 from his lips. There was something in Mr. Camp- 
 bell that gripped the student and filled him with 
 a desire to be and do something in the world. It 
 was impossible to dwell long in his presence and 
 not feel that there was a gold mine in you that 
 must be developed. As a result, a large number of 
 men went out from the school accomplished 
 scholars and thorough Bible students, bearing the 
 impress of the great teacher, and giving a mighty 
 impulse to the principles for which he stood. To 
 call the roll of these would show, as nothing else 
 could, how much we are indebted to "Old Bethany." 
 
166 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Distinguished teachers, preachers, authors and 
 statesmen would answer from all over the land. 
 Among the teachers, preachers and authors we find 
 Thomas Munnell, O. A. Burgess, Charles Carlton, 
 Robert Graham, Moses E. Lard, Alexander Procter, 
 F. D. Power, J. W. McGarvey, J. S. Lamar, Wil- 
 liam Baxter, C. L. Loos and W. H. Woolery. 
 Among statesmen we find Senator Geo. T. Oliver, 
 of Pennsylvania, and Champ Clark, Speaker of 
 Congress. In the Judiciary we find Joseph L. 
 Lamar on the Supreme Bench. Besides these, in 
 the business world and in church work, there is a 
 multitude doing valiant service in the kingdom of 
 the Lord. 
 
 e. Present Condition. The school, under the 
 leadership of Pres. T. E. Cramblet, has passed her 
 threescore and ten years, and grown better as she 
 grows older. Four large buildings have recently 
 been completed at a cost of $120,000, making eight 
 such structures, besides twenty dwelling-houses. 
 During last year Earl W. Oglebay, a wealthy Epis- 
 copal layman and an alumnus of Bethany, pur- 
 chased the old Alexander farm at a cost of $25,000, 
 and donated it to the Agricultural Department of 
 the school. He has erected and equipped a build- 
 ing near the old Gothic structure at a cost of 
 $65,000 for the use of the department. He further 
 plans to make the old Campbell mansion and 
 grounds, including the cemetery, a memorial to 
 Mr. Campbell, provided the plan meets with encour- 
 agement from the brethren. This home is to be 
 a museum containing Mr. Campbell's books, pic- 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 167 
 
 tures, etc., and all other historic books and docu- 
 ments pertaining to the development of the 
 Restoration Movement. 
 
 The school has property worth almost a half- 
 million dollars, with an endowment of $360,000, 
 and 250 students, one-third of whom are preparing 
 for the ministry. 
 
 /. Location. Some have thought the location 
 of Bethany College a mistake, but this is not clear. 
 Of course, it had to be west of the Alleghanies, 
 for our people were there; and, this being true, 
 Bethany possessed decided advantages as a location. 
 It was in Brooke County, Virginia (now West 
 Virginia), forty miles south of Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and seven miles from Wellsburg, on the 
 Ohio River. There were no railroads then, and 
 travel was largely confined to the water-ways. The 
 surroundings were beautiful, picturesque and 
 healthful. The crystal waters of the BufTalo, the 
 rugged mountains, the charming valleys and the 
 massive forests made it one of the loveliest and 
 most inspiring spots on the earth for student life. 
 The isolation was a safeguard against the corrup- 
 tions of the city. It was near the center of popula- 
 tion, and in easy touch with it. And it is more 
 so now, for a trolley line connects it with Wells- 
 burg. 
 
 lege that of Transylvania Uni- 
 versity must also be told. In 1836 Bacon College 
 was founded at Georgetown, Kentucky, with Walter 
 
 2. Transylvania 
 University 
 
 a. History. In connection 
 with the story of Bethany Col- 
 
168 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Scott as president pro tern. To John T. Johnson, 
 perhaps more than to any other man, belongs the 
 honor of this enterprise. In 1840 it was moved 
 to Harrodsburg, and James Shannon became presi- 
 dent. Mr. Shannon was a power in the educational 
 world. He was educated at Belfast Academical 
 (now Royal) Institute, Ireland, where he won 
 prizes in Latin, Greek, mathematics, and natural 
 and moral philosophy. Later he was elected presi- 
 dent of Missouri University, where he did a great 
 work. The school after a time was moved to 
 Lexington, and was known as Kentucky University, 
 but is now known as Transylvania University. It 
 is the oldest college west of the Alleghanies, and 
 has a record of which its friends may well be proud. 
 It really began its existence in 1798, with George 
 Washington, John Adams, Aaron Burr and General 
 Lafayette as contributors to the first endowment 
 fund. Henry Clay was at one time in the Faculty, 
 and Jefferson Davis was for four years a student 
 within her walls. The school is now 114 years 
 old. The plant is worth $750,000, and has an 
 endowment of half a million dollars, and 586 
 students. R. H. Crossfield is president, and the 
 outlook is the brightest in the history of this old 
 institution. 
 
 b. Bible College. The Bible College connected 
 with Transylvania has rendered valiant service for 
 the Restoration Movement. It was organized in 
 1865 as one of the colleges of the university with 
 Robert Milligan as president, and J. W. McGarvey 
 his assistant. In a short time I. B. Grubbs was 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 169 
 
 added to the Faculty. About fifty-five hundred of 
 our preachers at home and abroad have received 
 all, or the chief part, of their education in this 
 school. 
 
 c. Educational Society. The Kentucky Edu- 
 cation Society deserves much credit for this won- 
 derful work. It was organized in 1856 by such 
 men as Philip S. Fall, William Morton and John 
 T. Johnson. It has expended more than $100,000, 
 and aided in the education of more than five hun- 
 dred young men, among whom are many of the 
 leading preachers, teachers, writers and mission- 
 aries. At first its help was a gift, but now it is 
 a loan without interest. 
 
 _ f 0 . _ a. First List. Bethany and 
 
 3. Other Schools _ f . , . J 
 
 Iransylvama deserve the space 
 
 given them, for they were pioneers in educational 
 work. But the greatest blessing from them was 
 not the work within their own walls, but that 
 which they aroused in the land at large. The 
 educational spirit was quickened, and schools sprang 
 up in many places. In 1849 the Western Insti- 
 tute was organized at Hiram, Ohio. James A. 
 Garfield, afterwards President of the United States, 
 was the second president of the school. Eighteen 
 years later it became Hiram College, and is now 
 among our best schools. In 1850 Butler College, 
 Indianapolis, Indiana, was chartered. It was first 
 known as Northwestern Christian University. It 
 is a good school. In 1855 Eureka College, Eureka, 
 Illinois, was launched under the title of Walnut 
 Grove Academy. It also has been a success. 
 
170 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Abingdon College, of the same State, after years 
 of usefulness, became a part of Eureka College. 
 In 1853 Christian University, Canton, Missouri, was 
 organized. It is claimed that this is the first 
 school in the United States to grant equal privi- 
 leges to men and women. It is beautifully situated 
 on an eminence overlooking the Mississippi River. 
 Many successful preachers have been educated at 
 Canton. About this time Oskaloosa College, Os- 
 kaloosa, Iowa, was founded, and it proved to be 
 the nucleus of Drake University, Des Moines, one 
 of our leading educational institutions. It has 
 an enrollment of about two thousand, property 
 worth $700,000, an endowment of $570,000, and has 
 graduated in a single year forty preachers from the 
 Bible Department. Hill M. Bell is president of this 
 great school. In 1873 Addison and Randolph Clark 
 (brothers) moved their private school from Ft. 
 Worth, Texas, to Thorp Spring, where it was 
 chartered as Add-Ran College. In 1889 the school 
 became the property of the Texas churches, with 
 the name changed to "Add-Ran Christian Uni- 
 versity." In 1895 it was moved to Waco. In 1911 
 it returned to the place of its birth, and is now 
 known as Texas Christian University, with prop- 
 erty worth $450,000. F. D. Kershner, the new 
 president, is confident of enlarged usefulness in 
 the near future. Johnson Bible College, formerly 
 the School of Evangelists, Kimberlin Heights, 
 Tennessee, was founded by Ashley S. Johnson, its 
 first and only president, in 1893. He began with 
 $100, ten acres of land, two mules, three cows, and 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 171 
 
 one lonely student: Albert T. Fitts, of South 
 Carolina, "plus faith, plus obedience, plus prayer, 
 plus energy." To-day the plant is worth $200,000, 
 and the student body, more than two hundred 
 strong, representing a half-hundred States and 
 countries, is one of the most promising factors in 
 the Church of the future. Not one of these young 
 men uses tobacco. President Johnson says we 
 must do one of two things: train more preachers, 
 or become a "disappearing brotherhood," and he 
 prefers the former, and is doing his part in 
 preacher-training. Oklahoma Christian University 
 (now Phillips), located at Enid, is a young and 
 vigorous school. For several years the necessity 
 for such a school for the middle Southwest has 
 been manifest to thoughtful brethren. And in 
 1906, when Oklahoma and Indian Territories 
 became a State under the name "Oklahoma," the 
 opportune time came to act in the matter. E. V. 
 Zollars, a leading educator, was selected to lead 
 the enterprise, and T. W. Phillips, a man famous 
 for generous deeds, tendered the support of Presi- 
 dent Zollars while the experiment was being made. 
 (Mr. Phillips continued this support for four 
 years.) Large, modern buildings have been erected, 
 the enrollment has reached 350, with one-fourth 
 of them preparing to preach. The plant is worth 
 $150,000, and has an endowment of $25,000. Cot- 
 ner University, Bethany (Lincoln), Nebraska, was 
 established in 1888, and has been prosperous from 
 the beginning. Enrollment, 350; property value, 
 $150,000, with endowment of $30,000. It has fifty 
 
172 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 ministerial students. William Oeschger is presi- 
 dent. Virginia Christian College is located at 
 Lynchburg, and was founded by Josephus Hop- 
 wood in 1903. It has elegant grounds and build- 
 ings, worth $200,000, and a student body of 150. 
 O. G. Davis is president. 
 
 b. Second List. There are many other schools 
 of sterling worth, but we can mention only a few 
 of them: Atlantic Christian College, Wilson, North 
 Carolina; Eugene Bible University, Eugene, Ore- 
 gon; Keuka College, Keuka Park, New York; 
 Louisville Christian Bible School, Louisville, Ken- 
 tucky; Milligan College, Milligan, Tennessee; 
 Southern Christian College, West Point, Missis- 
 sippi ; Washington Christian College, Washington, 
 District of Columbia. These smaller schools are 
 fighting against great odds. They are in danger 
 of being ground to powder between the lower 
 millstone of the public school and the upper mill- 
 stone of State universities, and other largely 
 endowed institutions. And yet they are as essen- 
 tial to these larger ones as the thousands of 
 smaller tributaries are to the Mississippi River. 
 
 c. Female Colleges. There are also many 
 excellent female colleges. P. S. Fall,, at an early 
 day, led in this work with a school in Frankfort, 
 Kentucky. Missouri has three such schools: Chris- 
 tian College, Columbia; William Woods College. 
 Fulton, and Missouri Christian College, Camden 
 Point. We also mention three in Kentucky: Mid- 
 way Orphan School, Midway, and Hamilton and 
 Campbell-Hagerman, Lexington. Texas has two: 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 173 
 
 Carlton College, Bonham, and Carr-Burdette, Sher- 
 man. All of our schools for women are in the 
 South. 
 
 d. Bible Chairs. Besides these, the Christian 
 Woman's Board of Missions has established Bible 
 Chairs at Ann Arbor, Michigan ; Charlottesville, 
 Virginia; Lawrence, Kansas, and Austin, Texas, in 
 connection with the universities of these States* 
 
 nificant institutions. The school is of a high grade, 
 and its purpose is to fit missionaries, both at home and 
 abroad, for their work. It assumes that no student, 
 however gifted and cultured, is fitted for the mis- 
 sion field without special training. It is two years 
 old, has an equipment of $100,000, a Faculty of six 
 specialists, and a student body of twenty-eight, just 
 double the number of the first year; and the pros- 
 pect for another 100 per cent, increase for the 
 third year. Professor Paul is president. 
 
 b. Phillips Bible Institute. Phillips Bible 
 Institute, Canton, Ohio, is also unique and impor- 
 tant as an institution of learning. The special aim 
 of the school is to so aid the large number of pious 
 people who are deprived of a college education, 
 that they may become successful workers in the 
 Church. Such an aim is worthy and wise, and it 
 must win. The founder of the school (T. W. 
 Phillips) was a man famous for many good deeds, 
 of which, perhaps, this is the best, and the dean of 
 the Faculty is Martin L. Pierce. 
 
 4. Special Men- 
 tion 
 
 a. School of Missions. The 
 College of Missions, Indianapolis, 
 Indiana, is one of our most sig- 
 
174 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 c. Southern Christian Institute. The 
 Southern Christian Institute, Lum, Mississippi, is 
 our only high-grade industrial college for the col- 
 ored people. It has property worth $190,000, a 
 Faculty of thirteen, and an enrollment of 233. It 
 is under the control of the C. W. B. M. These 
 wise women believe that the negro now is more in 
 need of the aid of an industrial training, coupled 
 with the fundamentals of a good English and relig- 
 ious education, than of an education in literature, 
 science and the arts. There are thirteen ministerial 
 students in the school. The Louisville Bible Col- 
 lege, where preachers are trained for the colored 
 churches, has an enrollment of seventeen. 
 
 So great has been the growth 
 5 . Summary q{ ^ wQrk ^ p rof AJya 
 
 W. Taylor says: "To-day we have no less than 
 eighteen full-panoplied colleges and universities, six 
 junior colleges for women, four Bible colleges 
 articulating with great secular schools, seven Bible 
 chairs giving religious instruction at State schools, 
 an institute giving instruction to lay workers as a 
 specialty, and the whole crowned by a college of 
 missions which takes those graduate students who 
 are willing to devote their lives to the ministry of 
 a missionary and trains them in the arts of their 
 holy calling. Besides all these, there are all our 
 schools on the mission fields, training peoples of 
 every color in industrial arts, and raising up from 
 among them an intelligent ministry and leadership 
 for all walks of life." 
 
 From the data at hand we feel safe in saying 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 175 
 
 that in all these schools there are about nine thou- 
 sand students, of whom thirteen hundred are prepar- 
 ing to preach. Adding to this number all the min- 
 isterial students in Harvard, Yale, Union, and other 
 universities, it would probably foot up almost fifteen 
 hundred. The equipment amounts to about $6,000,- 
 000, and the endowment to about $4,000,000, mak- 
 ing a grand total of $10,000,000 invested in our 
 educational institutions. If to this amount, which 
 is properly included, we could add the money value 
 and the students enrolled in the Bible chairs and 
 mission schools at home and in the foreign field, 
 these figures would be largely increased. 
 
 The establishment of so many schools in little 
 more than a half -century is remarkable, and it 
 augurs well for the future. 
 
176 HOW THE DISCIPLES BEG AX AXD GREW 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Why were the educational interests delayed? 
 
 2. Tell of the establishment of Bethany Col- 
 lege. 
 
 3. What was new in Mr. Campbell's idea of a 
 college ? 
 
 4. Name some of the graduates of Bethany 
 College. 
 
 5. What are the present status and prospects of 
 the school? 
 
 6. Sketch the history of Transylvania Univer- 
 sity. 
 
 7. What about the Bible College? 
 
 8. Name some other colleges. 
 
 9. What of the College of Missions? 
 
 10. What of Phillips Bible Institute? 
 
 11. What of the Southern Christian Institute? 
 
 12. Give the grand summary of our educational 
 interests. 
 
X. 
 
 MISSIONARY 
 
 12 
 
 177 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER X. 
 
 1. Work Through Societies. 
 
 a. American Christian Missionary 
 
 Society. 
 
 b. Christian Woman's Board of Mis- 
 
 sions. 
 
 c. Foreign Christian Missionary So- 
 
 ciety. 
 
 d. National Benevolent Association. 
 
 e. Board of Church Extension. 
 /. Board of Ministerial Relief. 
 
 2. Independent Work. 
 
 a. England. 
 
 b. Canada. 
 
 c. Australia. 
 
 d. Japan. 
 
 e. Australian Missions. 
 /. France. 
 
 178 
 
X. 
 
 Missionary. 
 
 a. American Christian Mis- 
 i. Work Through sionary Society. The American 
 Societies n , . . Ar . . c . . 
 
 Christian Missionary Society was 
 
 organized in Cincinnati, Ohio, October, 1849, just 
 forty years after the publication of the ''Declaration 
 and Address," and it marks a forward step in the 
 history of the Restoration Movement. Up to this 
 time questions of doctrine and of local church 
 work had so absorbed the thought and energies of 
 the leaders that they had no time to consider mis- 
 sionary problems. But henceforth this is not to 
 be true. 
 
 As early as 1840 the Harbinger was agitating a 
 closer alliance of the churches in a wider work 
 than could be accomplished by single congregations. 
 And this sentiment so increased that Mr. Campbell, 
 in the February issue of 1849, said: "There is now 
 heard from the East and from the West, from the 
 North and from the South, one general, if not 
 universal, call for a more efficient organization of 
 our churches. Experience decides that our present 
 co-operative system is comparatively inefficient, and 
 inadequate to the exigencies of the times and the 
 cause we plead." Illustrating his thought, he com- 
 pared the churches to families, and said : "The con- 
 
 179 
 
180 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 stitutional independence, and individual respon- 
 sibilities of families, do not prevent their association 
 in towns, cities and states for the better securing 
 their respective interests. . . . Such were the tribes 
 of Israel, and such, to a certain degree, were the 
 churches planted by the Apostles." Speaking of the 
 details of such organization, he said : 'These are 
 wisely left to human wisdom and prudence. . . . 
 Such meetings have no special control over indi- 
 vidual churches, nor any deputed or divine right to 
 exercise jurisdiction over particular communities." 
 
 But there were some who thought such conven- 
 tions should have the power of "a sort of morally 
 authoritative deliverance" in the settlement of the 
 various questions which naturally rise in the prog- 
 ress of the work, and an effort to this end was 
 made at Cincinnati; but it failed. The brethren 
 were extremely anxious to have it known that they 
 assumed no authority over the churches, and that 
 their action was advisory, and not mandatory. And 
 so, W. K. Pendleton, reporting the Convention, 
 said : "We met, not for the purpose of enacting 
 ecclesiastical laws, nor to interfere with the Scrip- 
 tural independence of the churches, but to consult 
 about the best ways for giving efficiency to our 
 power, and to devise such methods of co-operation 
 as our combined counsels, under the guidance of 
 Providence, might suggest and approve." 
 
 Pursuant to a general call, the Convention 
 assembled in the church at Eighth and Walnut 
 Streets, Monday, October 22. The day following, 
 a temporary organization was effected by calling 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 181 
 
 Dr. L. L. Pinkerton to the chair, and electing John 
 M. Braumwell, secretary. Permanent officers were 
 then chosen : President, A. Campbell, and Vice-Pres- 
 idents : D. S. Burnet, John O'Kane, John T. John- 
 son and Walter Scott. 
 
 The Convention met for business the next morn- 
 ing at nine o'clock. President Campbell being 
 absent on account of sickness, Vice-President Bur- 
 net presided. The attendance, all things considered, 
 was good. Most of the churches were west of the 
 Alleghanies, and were without railroad facilities. 
 Many came long distances from the Atlantic States, 
 and some from as far south as New Orleans. Most 
 of them rode horseback. There were 156 mes- 
 sengers from eleven States, representing more than 
 one hundred churches. 
 
 Sixty-two years have passed since the organiza- 
 tion of the American Christian Missionary Society, 
 and she has demonstrated her right to live, as the 
 following record shows: Churches established, about 
 4,000; persons baptized, about 200,000; received 
 from other sources, about 200,000; money raised 
 and disbursed, about $2,400,000. 
 
 b. The Christian Woman's Board of Mis- 
 sions. This society was organized in Cincinnati 
 during the General Convention, October, 1874. 
 After much consultation between a number of influ- 
 ential women, Mrs. Caroline Pearre wrote Thomas 
 Munnell, corresponding secretary of the American 
 Christian Missionary Society, presenting their plans 
 and asking his advice. In his answer is found this 
 beautiful and prophetic sentence: "This is a flame 
 
182 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 of the Lord's kindling, and no man can extinguish 
 it." Isaac Errett wrote his famous editorial in the 
 Christian Standard, "Help Those Women," at this 
 time; J. H. Garrison also lent the movement the 
 influence of his paper, The Christian, now the 
 Christian-Evangelist. About seventy-five women 
 participated in the organization. The first officers 
 were Mrs. Maria Jameson, President; Mrs. William 
 Wallace, Recording Secretary; Mrs. C. N. Pearre, 
 Corresponding Secretary, and Mrs. O. A. Burgess, 
 Treasurer, with headquarters at Indianapolis, 
 Indiana. These officers were presented to the Con- 
 vention, and, following a cordial reception, the fol- 
 lowing resolution was adopted: "Resolved, That 
 this Convention extends to the Christian Woman's 
 Board of Missions recognition and hearty approval, 
 assured that it opens a legitimate field of action 
 and usefulness in which Christian women may be 
 active co-operants of ours in the great work of 
 sending the gospel into all the world. We pledge 
 ourselves to help these women who propose to labor 
 with us in the gospel." 
 
 Their motto was, "The love of Christ constrain- 
 eth us;" their field was the world; and their plan 
 was to organize auxiliary societies in the churches 
 with dues of ten cents a month. The following, 
 from the first president to her first executive com- 
 mittee, touches the keynote of their plan : "As little, 
 insignificant rivulets from unnoticed, hidden springs 
 running together make the constant larger stream, 
 which hurrying on with swollen waters bears its 
 steady contribution to the great river, so will the 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 183 
 
 mites of the poor widows, and the pennies of the 
 children, and the dollars of the salaried women, and 
 the larger sums of those with independent incomes, 
 flowing together make one great stream pouring 
 forth to water and refresh the fields of missionary 
 labor." 
 
 Their phenomenal success is an unanswerable 
 argument for the wisdom of their plan. The forms 
 of work are evangelistic, educational, medical, 
 orphanage, colporteur, industrial, and house-to-house 
 visitation. Their fields of labor are the United 
 States, Canada, New Zealand, Jamaica, India, Mex- 
 ico, Porto Rico, South America and Africa. 
 
 The offerings from 1874 to date amount to about 
 $4,000,000, and the property is valued at $1,000,000. 
 
 c. The Foreign Christian Missionary 
 Society. This society was organized at the Nation- 
 al Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1875. 
 Officers were elected as follows : President, Isaac 
 Errett; Vice-Presidents, W. T. Moore, Jacob Bur- 
 net, J. S. Lamar ; Corresponding Secretary, Robert 
 MofTett; Recording Secretary, B. B. Tyler; Treas- 
 urer, W. S. Dickinson, with headquarters in Cin- 
 cinnati. 
 
 As in the case of the women's work, there was 
 no friction or opposition to the "mother society" 
 in this move. It was prompted solely by the con- 
 viction that the work, both at home and abroad, 
 would be helped by it. The two societies have 
 always met together in their annual conventions, 
 and have worked in perfect harmony. 
 
 One of the most important factors in this 
 
184 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 society is "Children's Day." Its origin is natural, 
 beautiful and inspiring. Just before the Louisville 
 Convention in 1880, J. H. Garrison, with his fam- 
 ily, was at the family altar at the close of the day. 
 The father in his prayer asked God to bless their 
 efforts to send the gospel into all lands by leading 
 every one to more liberal giving for this purpose. 
 At the close of the prayer their little boys, Arthur 
 and Earnest, said : "We want to give something." 
 And they brought their jugs and emptied them of 
 their contents of $1.13, and said: "We want this 
 to go to the children who know nothing about 
 Jesus." The father took it to Louisville, and, in an 
 address before the Convention, told the story. It 
 touched the hearts and opened the purses of every- 
 body. And to-day this pittance has been so mul- 
 tiplied that these little ones have more than a 
 million dollars to their credit for the evangelization 
 of the world. 
 
 The society is at work in Japan, China, Philip- 
 pine Islands, India, Africa, Cuba, Norway, Sweden, 
 Denmark and England. The work is varied: 
 evangelistic, educational, medical, literary and 
 benevolent. There are 169 missionaries and 759 
 native helpers, totaling 928. There are ninety-five 
 schools with 5,096 pupils, and of this number 295 
 native students are preparing for the ministry in 
 their native lands. Total receipts, about $5,500,000. 
 
 d. The National Benevolent Association. 
 This society was organized in St. Louis, Missouri, 
 in 1886. The first act of the Association was to aid 
 a sick brother who had a large family dependent 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 185 
 
 upon his labor. The first donation was five dollars, 
 which came from Galena, Kansas. The Association 
 was incorporated in 1887, with St. Louis as head- 
 quarters; and the first Home was opened in that 
 city in 1889, in a rented cottage. 
 
 The aim of the Association is to establish Homes 
 and hospitals wherever needed ; to help all who 
 deserve assistance, especially those of our own 
 people ; and thus save orphan children and aged 
 Christians from the almshouse, and thrill the 
 Restoration Movement with the spirit of benevo- 
 lence seen in the Lord and the early Church. 
 Orphans and other unfortunate children, under 
 fourteen years, are eligible to the Homes of the 
 Association. These are placed in Christian families 
 as rapidly as possible. Old and indigent Chris- 
 tians of seventy years are received on recommenda- 
 tion of their congregations, and upon the payment 
 of $100. Husband and wife, $150. In the hospital 
 the destitute sick receive free treatment. 
 
 The work of the Association is conducted through 
 eleven affiliated institutions: Christian Orphans' 
 Home, St. Louis, Missouri ; Christian Orphans' 
 Home, Cleveland, Ohio; Juliette Fowler Christian 
 Home, Dallas, Texas; Southern Christian Home, 
 Atlanta, Georgia; Colorado Christian Home, Den- 
 ver, Colorado; Northwestern Christian Benevolent 
 Association, Portland, Oregon; Christian Old 
 People's Home, Jacksonville, Illinois; Havens Home 
 for the Aged, East Aurora, New York; Northwest- 
 ern Christian Home for the Aged, Walla Walla, 
 Washington; Sarah Harwood Home for the Aged, 
 
186 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Dallas, Texas; Valparaiso Christian Hospital, Val- 
 paraiso, Indiana. 
 
 The Association has property valued at $363,000, 
 and it carries annuities amounting to $160,000. It 
 has aided two hundred aged, indigent Christians, 
 one thousand widows, and placed four thousand 
 orphan children in homes. All in all, it has aided 
 not less than fifteen thousand people. Total money 
 received, about $1,300,000. 
 
 But its greatest enterprise is an immense 
 national hospital at Kansas City, Missouri, costing 
 more than a million dollars, the work on which has 
 already begun. A large part of its work is to be 
 free to those unable to pay. This noble and Christ- 
 like enterprise is traceable to R. A. Long, a wealthy 
 Christian gentleman, whose warm heart suggested 
 it, and whose liberal hand has made it possible. 
 
 e. The Board of Church Extension. This 
 Board was organized at the National Convention, 
 Springfield, Illinois, in 1888, with headquarters at 
 Kansas City, Missouri. F. M. Rains was the first 
 corresponding secretary. Its purpose is to help 
 house homeless churches by lending them money at 
 a low interest, to be returned in five annual install- 
 ments. Many good business men doubted the wis- 
 dom of this policy, fearing that these weak mis- 
 sion churches would not be eager to return the 
 money, since it belonged to the brotherhood. But 
 the fact that, of the 1,502 churches thus aided, 900 
 have paid their loans in full, and $1,259,241 has 
 been paid back on loans, has dissipated all such 
 fears. And the further fact that the Board, in 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 187 
 
 handling about $2,500,000 in loans scattered through 
 forty-four States and Territories and Canada, has 
 only lost $1,038, which is about one-twentieth of 
 one per cent., has demonstrated its business ability 
 and secured for itself a warm place in the heart 
 of the brotherhood. 
 
 /. The Board of Ministerial Relief. This 
 Society was organized at the National Convention, 
 Dallas, Texas, in 1895, with headquarters at Indian- 
 apolis, Indiana. The purpose is to care for aged, 
 dependent preachers. The contributions have been 
 altogether too small for so good a work, but they 
 are increasing, and the outlook is bright. A. L. 
 Orcutt is president of the Board. And recently 
 W. R. Warren, a man eminently fitted for the field, 
 has been added to the official force, which means 
 a large success in the near future. Receipts for 
 the last two years were $40,000. 
 
 Every New Testament church 
 2. Independent was absolutelv independent of 
 Work 1 i" 1 
 
 every other church, as much so 
 
 as the different families of a community. They 
 acted separately or in concert as they thought best. 
 And this must continue as our practice if we 
 would reproduce the church of that day. There 
 must be no exclusive agencies. If one chooses to 
 work through a missionary society, let him do it; 
 but if he chooses to work through his own congre- 
 gation, or as an individual, he must not be molested. 
 Our societies are to stand or fall, not by the offi- 
 cial authority of a convention, but by merit. We 
 should not disparage the work of either, but encour- 
 
188 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 age both, so long as they result in the salvation of 
 men. Having spoken of the leading societies, we 
 now call attention to some of the independent mis- 
 sions. 
 
 a. England. Let it not be forgotten that the 
 thought of Christian union was conceived in the 
 heart of Thomas Campbell while he was in the 
 Old World, though it was born in America. Let 
 it also be remembered that it was in the Old World 
 that his great son, Alexander, first saw the evil of 
 denominationalism, and broke with it; and it was 
 there he promised God that if he would save him 
 from the shipwreck he would give his life to the 
 ministry of the Word. Remembering this, as we 
 look upon the greater growth of their work in the 
 New World, we will not forget that it had its root- 
 age in the Old. It will also deepen our interest in 
 the progress of their plea in that land. 
 
 The leaven brought by these men to America, 
 and which has wrought so mightily here, has not 
 been latent there. In May, 1809, there was a 
 church of Christ in Chester, Coxlane, North 
 Wales. This old congregation — older than Brush 
 Run — has celebrated its one hundredth anniversary. 
 And during the first quarter of the last century 
 churches were organized in Bristol, Shrewsbury, 
 Wrexham and London, and in other places in the 
 north. But these churches seemed ignorant of 
 each other, and of similar churches in America, 
 until 1833. It was in this year that a young stu- 
 dent from America — Peyton C. Wyeth — worshiped 
 one Sunday morning with a Baptist church near 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 189 
 
 Finsbury Pavement, London. He had heard Alex- 
 ander Campbell, and had accepted his teachings, and 
 he was letting his light shine wherever he went — 
 even in the metropolis of the world. After the 
 service he spoke to William Jones, one of the 
 officers of the church, and a religious author of 
 ability, and told him of the Campbells and their 
 wonderful work across the Atlantic. Mr. Jones 
 was so impressed by the story of the young enthu- 
 siast that he wrote Mr. Campbell. Soon after this 
 he started the British Millennial Harbinger, hoping 
 through its influence to swing the Scottish Baptist 
 churches of England into the Restoration Move- 
 ment. Of course such a move would create dissen- 
 sion; and when the editor saw it, he gave it up, 
 rather than become a disturbing element among his 
 brethren. 
 
 But the young student's work was not in vain. 
 Other churches, struggling for the reproduction of 
 primitive Christianity, heard the good news, got 
 in touch with each other, and in 1842 forty-two 
 of them, representing thirteen hundred members, 
 came together in their first general meeting at 
 Edinburgh. In 1847 they had a second meeting at 
 Chester, which was presided over by Alexander 
 Campbell, who was present at the urgent invitation 
 of the English brethren. This meeting represented 
 eighty churches, with twenty-three hundred mem- 
 bers. 
 
 In 1845 Timothy Coop, of Southport, was con- 
 verted. He brought into the church wealth, con- 
 secration and aggressiveness. He visited America, 
 
190 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 and imbibed the spirit of enterprise characteristic 
 of the American Church, and he sought to transfer 
 it to England. He proposed to the Foreign Chris- 
 tian Missionary Society to give $5,000 for every 
 $10,000 they would devote to the evangelization of 
 England. The proposition was accepted, and evan- 
 gelists were sent across the sea. The message of 
 these men was familiar and acceptable, but the 
 methods were so new and strange that dissension 
 followed. Many did not take kindly to what was then 
 a new evangelism ; neither did they like to appear 
 as though they needed financial aid from others; 
 but least of all were they willing to be classed 
 among those in need of missionaries from a society 
 whose special work was the evangelization of the 
 heathen. Had the work been on the basis of co- 
 operation with the English brethren, and not inde- 
 pendently of them, results would probably have 
 been different. But as it was, in 1880 the churches 
 favoring American methods formed an organiza- 
 tion called the Christian Association. 
 
 This new organization has not met the hopes of 
 its friends. It has now, after about thirty years, 
 only twenty churches, with about two thousand 
 members. The other brethren have succeeded bet- 
 ter, and now have 190 churches, with a member- 
 ship of about fifteen thousand. But the difficulties 
 here are great. It is an old country, with the 
 religious habits of the people fixed and firm; the 
 Established Church is there entrenched behind the 
 law, and rich in money and social influence; and 
 the brethren have no college in which to train their 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 191 
 
 preachers. But if these people could be brought 
 together in harmonious co-operation, all difficulties 
 would vanish, and God would crown their labors 
 with a great victory. We have the right to differ, 
 but not to divide, except on fundamentals. 
 
 b. Canada. Canada is the land of opportunity. 
 Sir Wilfred Laurier says : "The nineteenth cen- 
 tury belonged to the United States; the twentieth 
 century will belong to Canada." Doubtless Canada 
 will witness wonderful progress in the next hun- 
 dred years; but the same will be true of the 
 United States. They are sister governments, living 
 side by side, with only the forty-ninth parallel of 
 north latitude, unfortified, and an imaginary line 
 midway in the lakes and rivers, between them. 
 But such lines count for nothing in Christianity. 
 Christ was a Jew, but he was not Jewish; and his 
 religion, born in little Palestine, is for the world. 
 
 Canada is a large country: four hundred thou- 
 sand square miles larger than the United States; 
 and it forms about one-third of the British Empire, 
 and is only a little less in size than the continent of 
 Europe. Omitting the northern section, which is 
 hardly habitable, it is still equal in territory with 
 her southern sister. The soil is rich, the mineral 
 wealth is great, and the climate is invigorating, con- 
 ducive to the production of a hardy, energetic and 
 thinking people. The population is now more than 
 eight million, and is increasing rapidly. 
 
 The first traces of the Restoration principles 
 were seen at River John, Nova Scotia, about 1815, 
 in the old Scotch Baptist order. The work in 
 
192 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Prince Edward was a development from this order. 
 Benjamin Howard, an evangelist from the United 
 States, preached in this region fully seventy-five 
 years ago. His was the work of promiscuous seed- 
 sowing, for no churches were organized till 1840. 
 D. Crawford, G. Garrity, W. Hughes and H. 
 Greenlow were also worthy pioneers in that 
 country. 
 
 Canada now has 100 churches, 10,000 members, 
 90 ministers, and church property worth $250,000. 
 Her expenditures annually are about $50,000 for 
 local work, $7,000 for Home Missions, $4,000 for 
 Foreign Missions, and $3,000 from the women. 
 These figures are proof of a consecrated band of 
 Christians, awake alike to the wants of the world 
 at home and abroad. The first grave dug in the 
 foreign field was for a daughter of Nova Scotia ; 
 and it was a daughter of Ontario, with great sacri- 
 fice, who first knocked at the door of Tibet. 
 Besides these, she has sent many others to the 
 heathen world, and given to the United States a 
 large number of her most useful men. But, like 
 England, her chief need is a school in which to 
 train her sons and daughters for the fruitful field 
 crying for more laborers. 
 
 c. Australia. Australia, the island-continent, 
 and the largest of the islands, has a coast-line of 
 ten thousand miles, and is two-thirds as large as 
 the United States. The population is nearing the 
 5,000,000 mark, and is growing at a rapid rate. The 
 soil is among the best in the world, and the mineral 
 wealth is wonderful. The output of her mines 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 193 
 
 increased from $40,000,000 in 1871 to $120,000,000 
 in 1905. Her imports in 1908 reached the hand- 
 some sum of $500,000,000, and her exports, 
 $610,000,000. 
 
 The seed of the primitive gospel came to this 
 great Southland from the British churches. This 
 was as it should be, for Great Britain is the mother 
 of Australia. Sturdy men from the home land 
 came there, and at once unfurled the Lord's ban- 
 ner, established the Lord's table in their homes, and 
 began to tell their neighbors of his love and his 
 power to save. For years they had no preachers 
 giving their entire time to the ministry of the 
 Word, but all of them preached all the time, as 
 they mingled with men in the business and social 
 world (see Acts 8:4), and the Lord saw to it that 
 his word did not return to him void (Isa. 55: 11). 
 
 While the work thus had its origin from Great 
 Britain, it received a wonderful impetus from 
 American importations. From the British churches 
 they received the good seed of the kingdom, and 
 were rooted and grounded in loyalty to the Lord. 
 But from America came royal spirits, among them 
 Earl, Surber, Gore, Geeslin, Carr, Haley, Maston, 
 and others, who brought with them the American 
 spirit of co-operation and evangelism, and the com- 
 bination proved a rich blessing to the cause. In 
 Adelaide, where work began in the late forties, there 
 are ten churches, three missions, and about four 
 thousand members; in Sydney, where it began in 
 1851, there are fourteen churches, with about three 
 thousand members ; and in Melbourne, where it 
 
 13 
 
194 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 began in 1853, there are thirty-five churches, and 
 more than five thousand members. The work has 
 more than doubled in the last eighteen years, and 
 there are now on the island about thirty thousand 
 members. 
 
 Australia has taken two important steps looking 
 to the prosperity and permanency of the work: 
 established a paper and a college. The Australian 
 Christian was established by the late A. B. Maston, 
 and it is doing good service. And the Australasian 
 Bible College in Melbourne has about fifty young 
 men preparing to preach the gospel. This is a 
 hopeful beginning. 
 
 d. Japan. Soon after his graduation from 
 Bethany College in 1894, W. D. Cunningham was 
 asked by the Foreign Society to become one of 
 their missionaries. In 1898 he and his wife were 
 appointed to go to Japan. Two days after start- 
 ing for the field Mr. Cunningham was taken ill. 
 And after his recovery the Board decided that they 
 would not be able to do the work, and did not 
 reappoint him. But they would not be dissuaded. 
 They felt that God had called them, and they 
 would go, trusting him for all things needed. On 
 October 1, 1901, they reached Tokyo. Mr. Cun- 
 ningham secured the position of English teacher in 
 a school and thus provided for living expenses. 
 He soon organized Bible classes, distributed Chris- 
 tian literature, and began to preach on the streets. 
 Just one month after his arrival he began the 
 publication of the Tokyo Christian, a monthly, and 
 it has become a permanent feature of his work. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 195 
 
 The Lord has never disappointed those who 
 trust in him. In 1902 Miss Alice Miller asked Mr. 
 Cunningham to take charge of the evangelistic work 
 which she had conducted successfully in Yotsuya. 
 The invitation was accepted, and plans were at once 
 adopted for needed buildings. Friends in America 
 came to the rescue, and the buildings were erected. 
 Three missions have been established, and three 
 evangelists are employed, and more than two hun- 
 dred have been baptized into the Christ. 
 
 e. Australian Missions. The New Zealand 
 churches support three white missionaries at Bula- 
 wayo, South Africa. The Australian churches sup- 
 port, as living links through the Foreign Christian 
 Missionary Society, one missionary each in China, 
 Japan and India. Two other stations have been 
 established: at Beramati, India, and one on Pente- 
 cost Island, New Hebrides. Seven white mission- 
 aries and twelve natives are employed at these two 
 points, and more than three hundred have been bap- 
 tized in a single year. Their work is done through a 
 committee appointed by the churches in their annual 
 conference. 
 
 /. France. In May, 1909, Alfred E. Seddon 
 was sent by the Christian Standard to France to 
 write up the Hors-de-Rome movement in that 
 country. He was to remain there five months. No 
 other instructions were given, hence the mission 
 work that sprang out of it may be regarded as a 
 work of Providence. 
 
 Soon after Mr. Seddon reached Paris he made 
 the acquaintance of some ex-priests, and a sys- 
 
196 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 tematic study of the New Testament was begun. 
 The first meeting was held in the home of Mr. 
 Hautefeuille on July 4. Ten ex-priests and some 
 of their wives were present. On the first Lord's 
 Day of August regular preaching services were 
 inaugurated in a hall. These meetings were kept 
 up until May, 1911. On September 8, Mr. Haute- 
 feuille, who had recently been baptized, was solemn- 
 ly set apart to the ministry of the Word. In the 
 month following, Mr. Seddon secured a three years' 
 lease on the house, No. 45 rue Raspail, Vanves 
 (Seine), just outside of Paris, on the southwest, 
 which became the headquarters of the work. It 
 was known as "Ecole Biblique." Sunday preaching 
 services were held at two places, with Bible school, 
 and a meeting for mothers. 
 
 A paper, the Messager Chretien, was published; 
 and also a number of books, tracts and New Testa- 
 ments have been translated and distributed. A 
 large correspondence reached influential persons in 
 France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy. About fifty 
 people were baptized. 
 
 The outbreak of the war drove Mr. Seddon from 
 Paris, and the work, which was already greatly 
 hampered by internal difficulties, was suspended, 
 whether to be resumed or not has yet to be deter- 
 mined. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 197 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Why was missionary organization delayed? 
 
 2. Give the earliest discussions on the subject. 
 
 3. Tell of the organization of the American 
 Christian Missionary Society. 
 
 4. Tell of the organization of the Christian 
 Woman's Board of Missions. 
 
 5. Tell of the organization of the Foreign 
 Christian Missionary Society. 
 
 6. Tell of the organization of the National 
 Benevolent Association. 
 
 7. Tell of the organization of the Board of 
 Church Extension. 
 
 8. Tell of the organization of the Board of 
 Ministerial Relief. 
 
 9. What of the idea of independent missions 
 as related to the work of the societies? 
 
 10. What of the independent work in England? 
 
 11. What of the independent work in Canada? 
 
 12. What of the independent work in Australia? 
 
 13. What of the independent work in Japan? 
 
 14. What of the independent work in France? 
 
XL 
 
 FOUR GREAT LIEUTENANTS 
 
 199 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1. Walter Scott. 
 
 a. Early Life. 
 
 b. To America. 
 
 c. Conversion. 
 
 d. Meets A. Campbell. 
 
 e. Scott and Campbell Contrasted. 
 /. As a Preacher. 
 
 g. Death. 
 
 2. "Raccoon" John Smith. 
 
 a. Unique Character. 
 
 b. Early Life. 
 
 c. First Sermon. 
 
 d. Ordination. 
 
 e. Children Burned. 
 
 /. Abandons Denominationalism. 
 
 g. Many-sided. 
 
 h. As a Preacher. 
 
 i. Our Daniel Boone. 
 
 3. Isaac Errett. 
 
 a. Man of Providence. 
 
 b. Early Life. 
 
 c. Editor "Christian Standard." 
 
 d. A Good Man. 
 
 e. A Courageous Man. 
 /. An Ideal Leader. 
 
 g. Defender of the Faith. 
 
 200 
 
John William McGarvey. 
 
 a. Early Life. 
 
 b. In Bethany College. 
 
 c. Ordination. 
 
 d. To Lexington, Kentucky. 
 
 e. Man of Courage. 
 /. Bible Critic. 
 
 g. Strong Preacher. 
 
 h. Forceful Writer. 
 *. Bible Teacher. 
 
 201 
 
XL 
 
 Four Great Lieutenants. 
 
 Mr. Campbell was a matchless leader, but he 
 always had about him a host of heroic helpers, and 
 the story of his wonderful achievements can not be 
 fully or fairly told without a brief look at a few 
 of these men. 
 
 a. Early Life. Mr. Scott 
 i. Walter Scott wag ^ b Dumfrie . 
 
 shire, Scotland, October 31, 1796. He was one of 
 ten children. John Scott, his father, was a man 
 of culture, and a musician of ability. His mother, 
 Mary Innes Scott, was not only a brilliant woman, 
 but she was as sweet and beautiful as the rose, and 
 as sensitive. A sad illustration of this is seen in 
 her tragic death. Her husband died suddenly while 
 away from home, and so great was the shock when 
 she heard of it that she died of a broken heart, and 
 both were buried in a single grave. 
 
 His parents early in his life recognized the 
 talent of their son, and determined to give him the 
 best educational advantages; and so, after careful 
 academic training, he completed his education in 
 Edinburgh University, and entered life's conflicts 
 well equipped for the struggle. 
 
 b. Comes to America. Through the influence 
 
 of an uncle — George Innes — he emigrated to the 
 
 203 
 
BEGAN AXD GREW 
 
 203 
 
 New World, landing in New York, July 7, 1818.. 
 in his twenty-second year, and began his career on 
 the Faculty of a classical academy on Long Island. 
 But, having tasted adventure, and liking it, he was 
 soon on his way West to visit the vast regions 
 beyond the Alleghany Mountains. With a com- 
 panion of his own age he made on foot the long, 
 rough journey of more than three hundred miles, 
 reaching Pittsburgh, with tired limbs and sore feet, 
 on the 7th of May, 1819. Here he found a fel- 
 low-countryman, George Forrester, who gave him 
 a place on the Faculty of his school. They were 
 congenial spirits, and at once became fast friends, 
 and fellow-students of the Bible. Mr. Forrester's 
 religious life had been influenced by the Haldanes 
 of Scotland, whose work was close akin to that 
 to which young Scott was destined to devote his 
 life. 
 
 c. Conversion. Their joint study of the Book, 
 not as controversialists, but with a burning desire 
 to know the truth that they might live it, gave 
 to the Scriptures a new meaning. It was no longer 
 a repository of proof-texts from which to establish 
 theological systems, or a jumble of gems from 
 heaven, but it was an orderly development of the 
 scheme of redemption, as much so as the text-books 
 used in their classrooms. Mr. Scott soon had to 
 give up infant baptism, which he had received from 
 his pious Presbyterian parents ; nor was it long until 
 both of them abandoned affusion altogether, and 
 were buried with their Lord in baptism. 
 
 d. Meets Alexander Campbell. In 1822, at 
 
204 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 the age of twenty-six, Mr. Scott first met Alex- 
 ander Campbell. The Lord had made them for 
 each other, and they seemed intuitively to recognize 
 the fact, for from that moment a friendship and 
 partnership in the work of the Master began which 
 grew in depth and power till ended by death. 
 They were by nature kindred spirits, and had been 
 born and reared in the same religious atmosphere. 
 Both loved the Bible with an unquenchable love, 
 and were taxing every energy to know what it 
 taught. Both were disgusted with human creeds, 
 and were searching for something full and final as 
 a bond of union for Christians. 
 
 e. Scott and Campbell Contrasted. Dr. Rob- 
 ert Richardson, one of Scott's students, contrasts the 
 two men as follows : "While Air. Campbell was 
 fearless, self-reliant and firm, Air. Scott was natu- 
 rally timid, diffident and yielding; and, while the 
 former was calm, steady and prudent, the latter 
 was excitable, variable and precipitate. The one, 
 like the north star, was ever in position, unaffected 
 by terrestrial influences ; the other, like the magnetic 
 needle, was often disturbed and trembling on its 
 center, yet ever returning, or seeking to return, to 
 its true direction. Both were nobly endowed with 
 the power of higher reason — a delicate self-con- 
 sciousness, a decided will, and a clear perception 
 of truth. But in Mr. Campbell the understanding 
 predominated ; in Air. Scott, the feelings ; and, if 
 the former excelled in imagination, the latter was 
 superior in brilliancy of fancy. If the tendency of 
 one was to generalize, to take wide and extended 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 205 
 
 views, and to group a multitude of particulars under 
 a single head or principle, that of the other was to 
 analyze, to divide subjects into their particulars and 
 consider their details. If one possessed the induc- 
 tive power of the philosopher, the other had, in 
 a more delicate musical faculty and more active 
 ideality, a larger share of the attributes of the 
 poet. In a word, in almost all those qualities of 
 mind and character which might be regarded as 
 differential or distinctive, they were singularly fitted 
 to supply each other's wants, and to form a rare 
 and delightful companionship. Nor were their dif- 
 ferences in personal appearance and physical consti- 
 tution less striking. Mr. Campbell was tall, vigorous 
 and athletic. Mr. Scott was not above the average 
 height, slender and rather spare in person, and 
 possessed of little muscular strength. While the 
 aspect of one was ever lively and cheerful even in 
 repose, that of the other was abstracted, medita- 
 tive, and sometimes had even an air of sadness. 
 Their features, too, were very different. Mr. 
 Campbell's face had no straight lines in it. Even 
 his nose, already arched, was turned slightly to 
 the right, and his eyes and hair were comparatively 
 light. Mr. Scott's nose was straight; his lips rather 
 full, but delicately chiseled; his eyes dark and lus- 
 trous, full of intelligence and softness, and with- 
 out the peculiar eagle glance so striking in Mr. 
 Campbell, while his hair, clustering above his fine, 
 ample forehead, was black as the raven's wing." 
 William Baxter also contrasts them. He says : 
 "In no sense were they rivals, any more than 
 
206 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Moses and Aaron, or Paul and Silas; but, like 
 them, with different gifts, devoting their lives to 
 the accomplishment of the same glorious end. 
 Campbell was always great and self-possessed; 
 Scott, subject to great depression, and, consequently, 
 unequal in his public efforts. But at times he knew 
 a rapture which seemed almost inspiration, to which 
 the former was a stranger. Campbell never fell 
 below the expectation of his hearers ; Scott fre- 
 quently did, but there were times when he rose to 
 a height of eloquence which the former never 
 equaled. If Campbell at times reminded his hear- 
 ers of Paul on Mars' Hill, commanding the atten- 
 tion of the assembled wisdom of Athens, Scott in 
 his happiest moments seemed more like Peter at 
 Pentecost, with the cloven tongue of flame on his 
 head, and the inspiration of the Spirit in his heart, 
 while from heart-pierced sinners on every side rose 
 the agonizing cry, 'Men and brethren, what shall 
 we do?'" 
 
 In these graphic pen-pictures of Mr. Campbell 
 and his greatest lieutenant we get a good view of 
 the men, and are impressed with their fitness for 
 joint labors in a common cause. 
 
 /. Scott as a Preacher. Mr. Scott was a 
 great preacher, not only because of his gifts as a 
 speaker, but because of his theme. Like Paul, he 
 knew nothing but Christ and him crucified. Christ 
 to him was the central sun around which all other 
 truth revolved, and from which it received its light 
 and life. "Shut your eyes to it," he said, "and 
 Christianity is a most dark and perplexing scheme. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 207 
 
 Once behold it, and you behold the most certain 
 and substantial argument for love to God and men." 
 Fifty years later Isaac Errett said : ''The most thor- 
 oughly revolutionary element in Walter Scott's 
 advocacy of reformation, and that which has proved 
 most far-reaching in its influence, is just this con- 
 cerning the central truth in Christianity. It not 
 only shaped all his preaching, but it shaped the 
 preaching and practice of reformers generally, and 
 called the attention of the religious world at large 
 to the fact that a person, and not a system of doc- 
 trines, is the proper object of faith, and that faith 
 in Jesus, and love for Jesus, and obedience to 
 Jesus, is the grand distinction of Christianity." 
 
 In 1830 he was on his favorite theme before a 
 great audience in a grove near Wheeling, Virginia, 
 and Mr. Campbell was among his hearers. His 
 distinguished hearer, usually calm and self-composed, 
 on this occasion was aroused; his eyes flashed, his 
 face glowed, and his emotions became so intense 
 that he shouted, "Glory to God in the highest!" 
 
 As an evangelist Mr. Scott was at his best. 
 God wanted him for this special work, and when 
 endowing him for it he was lavish in his gifts. 
 His warm heart, his musical voice, his chaste and 
 charming language, his tender pathos, his winsome 
 personality, his burning zeal, and his great theme, 
 "The Messiahship," made him almost irresistible. 
 And it was Scott, rather than Barton W. Stone, 
 who struck the keynote of evangelism which has 
 been so marked a characteristic among his brethren. 
 Our corps of strong evangelists, led on by Charles 
 
208 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Reign Scoville, and others almost as famous, next 
 to the Apostles, get their inspiration from Walter 
 Scott. 
 
 His mind was analytical, and he so simplified 
 a subject that all could understand. He told the 
 people that the gospel in general was threefold : 
 facts, commands and promises. The facts were to 
 be believed, the commands to be obeyed, and the 
 promises to be enjoyed. But in its specific applica- 
 tion it was fivefold: (1) Faith to change the heart; 
 (2) repentance to change the life; (3) baptism to 
 change the state; (4) remission of sins to cleanse 
 from guilt; (5) the gift of the Holy Spirit to help 
 in the religious life, and make one a partaker of 
 the divine nature. 
 
 Near the close of 1855 Mr. Scott visited his 
 old-time friend and colaborer in his home in Beth- 
 any. He was cordially received, and his spirit was 
 greatly refreshed. From early manhood these two 
 true and strong men had stood shoulder to shoulder 
 and heart to heart in one of the greatest struggles 
 of Christendom, and they had seen victory perch 
 upon the banner of Prince Jesus. And while life's 
 sun was setting it was good for them that they 
 could be together again, and in gratitude, not in 
 pride, look back over the long way they had trav- 
 eled together, and rejoice that they had been useful 
 in the service of their Lord. 
 
 g. Death. Mr. Scott died April 23, 1861, aged 
 sixty-five years. Mr. Campbell said of him: "Next 
 to my father, he was my most cordial and indefati- 
 gable colaborer in the origin and progress of the 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 209 
 
 present Reformation. His whole heart was in the 
 work. He had a rich hope of the life everlasting. 
 I knew him well. I knew him long. I loved him 
 much. By the eye of faith and the eye of hope 
 methinks I see him in Abraham's bosom." 
 
 was at all like him. He occupies a place altogether 
 his own. This peculiar and undignified nickname 
 is not a whit more peculiar than the man who wore 
 it. But just why he should have received such a 
 name is not clear, for he was never a hunter of 
 anything, much less of raccoons. But in some way 
 it was thrown at him, and it stuck, and perhaps he 
 will never get rid of it, either in this world or in 
 the world to come. And yet it must be admitted 
 that if there ever was a name needing a distinguish- 
 ing prefix, his was that name; for if all the John 
 Smiths could be assembled in a single audience, it 
 would be no mean multitude ; or if marshaled under 
 a single banner, it would make a small army. 
 
 b. Early Life. Mr. Smith, the ninth of thir- 
 teen children, was born in a little log cabin in East 
 Tennessee, October 15, 1784. The library in this 
 cabin consisted of three books: the Bible, the Con- 
 fession of Faith, and a hymn-book. These books 
 were supplemented by the wit and wisdom of his 
 Irish mother, who stored his mind with legend, 
 history and true principles. Occasionally a school- 
 teacher came that way, and John was always one 
 of his best pupils. 
 
 2. "Raccoon" 
 John Smith 
 
 a. Unique Character. Mr. 
 Smith was the most unique char- 
 acter of his time. No one else 
 
 14 
 
210 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 When John was twelve years old the father 
 crossed the Cumberland Mountains and plunged 
 deeper into the wilderness in search of cheaper 
 land for his children, locating in a beautiful sec- 
 tion known as Stockton's Valley. And soon after 
 this John's young heart began to yearn for, and 
 reach after, God. But Calvinism in its extremest 
 form was the only religion that he could find. His 
 logical mind turned from this, and he said: "Since 
 my destiny is fixed and I can not change it, I need 
 not give myself any concern. I have nothing to 
 do." But his conclusion, though logical so far as 
 Calvinism was concerned, did not satisfy his soul; 
 and after the death of his mother in 1804, his 
 spiritual agony became great, and he never rested 
 until on the 26th day of December he was received 
 into the Baptist Church, and on the day following 
 was baptized. 
 
 c. First Sermon. Preachers were scarce in 
 those days, and the neighbors urged John to preach 
 to them. But as he had received no strange call, 
 something like that of the burning bush, he hesi- 
 tated. But they would not take "No" for an 
 answer, and finally he consented to make a talk. 
 But, alas! when he rose to address the large crowd, 
 he was seized with "stage fright," and forgot 
 everything he had to say. He fled from the house; 
 but in the darkness outside he stumbled and fell. 
 The shock of the fall restored his equilibrium, and 
 he re-entered the room immediately, and delivered 
 a thrilling address — the peculiar beginning of a 
 wonderful ministry. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 211 
 
 d. Ordination. But he continued to wait for 
 the strange, miraculous call. It came not. The 
 brethren urged him to take up the work anyway; 
 and he finally consented to be ordained. He then 
 traveled far and wide, and his fame spread abroad 
 so that he soon had calls enough for a dozen 
 preachers. 
 
 e. Children Burned. Not long after this 
 occurred the saddest episode of his life. He sold 
 his home for fifteen hundred dollars and went to 
 Alabama in search of a new home. In 1814 he left 
 his family in a little rented cabin and went out 
 to select a location. But while he was away the 
 cabin burned, and two of his children and all his 
 money were consumed in the flames. The poor 
 mother escaped, but her heart was broken, and she 
 died, and was buried with the ashes of her children. 
 
 With a sad heart and an empty purse, the father 
 returned to Kentucky and continued to preach, but 
 in a different tone. He knew that his little children 
 were innocent and irresponsible, and he rebelled at 
 the awful doctrine of infant damnation as taught 
 by Calvinism. But his vision was only partially 
 cleared. He saw the error of Calvinism, but he 
 could not find its corresponding truth in the Bible. 
 In the midst of a sermon he was so puzzled over 
 this point that he stopped and said: "Brethren, 
 something is wrong. I am in the dark; we are 
 all in the dark; but how to lead you to the light, 
 or to find the way myself, before God I know 
 not." 
 
 /. Abandons Denominationalism. But God 
 
212 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 saw his struggling child, and he came to his rescue. 
 The Christian Baptist, edited by Alexander Camp- 
 bell, was placed in his hands. This bold religious 
 monthly was just the thing he needed. With sledge- 
 hammer blows it dealt with the very problems 
 which puzzled him. And so, the next year, 1824, 
 when Air. Campbell visited Kentucky, Smith met 
 him, and communed much with him, and, as a 
 result, he became a convert to his teachings concern- 
 ing the ancient order of things. He thought his 
 Baptist brethren, when they, too, saw the light, 
 would go with him; but he was destined to disap- 
 pointment. Instead, bigotry and prejudice waged 
 a fierce war against him, and in 1830 a rupture 
 occurred in their ranks, but a majority of the 
 people went with Smith. The opposition brought 
 out the best that was in him, so that he went every- 
 where like a conquering hero. Converts were num- 
 bered by the thousands, and new churches by the 
 scores. In his zeal he hardly took time to eat or 
 sleep, and the results of his labors were almost 
 incredible. In reporting them for only a few 
 months, he said to his wife, "Nancy, I have bap- 
 tized six hundred sinners, and capsized fifteen hun- 
 dred Baptists." 
 
 g. Many-sided. Smith was a many-sided man. 
 His brain was strong and clear, his common sense 
 was remarkable, his heart was large and tender, his 
 insight was like that of woman, his memory held 
 all it got, his repartee and wit were the best that 
 the Irish blood of his gifted mother could produce, 
 and his courage and conscience were never sepa- 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 213 
 
 rated in the many battles of his checkered life. 
 The question with him was never whether a certain 
 course was popular or unpopular, but was it right. 
 Eljiah facing Ahab, and John before Herod, were 
 fit types of this modern-day hero. When he broke 
 with his Baptist brethren, many of them said to 
 him: "Your friends will abandon you, you will 
 get nothing for your preaching, your debts will 
 press you to the earth, and eventually your home 
 must be given up." His noble reply was: "Con- 
 science is an article that I have never yet brought 
 into the market; but if I should offer it for sale, 
 Montgomery County, with all its lands and houses, 
 would not be enough to buy it, much less that farm 
 of one hundred acres." 
 
 h. As a Preacher. But it is as a great preacher 
 that Smith will be remembered. He knew the gos- 
 pel, and was loyal to it; he knew man, and loved 
 him; and God had been lavish in his gifts as a 
 preacher. A single sermon is all that we can give. 
 It was delivered at Crab Orchard, Kentucky, at a 
 meeting of the Tate Creek Association. The house 
 was so crowded that business could not be trans- 
 acted, and Jacob Creath suggested that some one 
 preach to the overflow in the grove. Two men 
 tried, but they could not hold the people, and they 
 were beginning to disperse. Smith was urged to 
 speak. He arose and faced the restless multitude 
 which was rapidly leaving the stand, and his first 
 work was to stop them. Raising his rich, mellow 
 voice so that all could hear, he said: "Stay, friends, 
 and hear what the great Augustine said. Augus- 
 
214 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 tine wished to see three things before he died: 
 Rome in her glory, Paul on Mars' Hill, and Jesus 
 in the flesh." A few sat down, but many moved on. 
 
 In louder tones he cried : "Will you not stay and 
 hear what the great Cato said: Cato repented 
 of three things before his death: first, that he had 
 ever spent an idle day; second, that he had ever 
 gone on a voyage by water when he might have 
 made the same journey by land; and, third, that 
 he had ever told the secrets of his bosom to a 
 woman." Many more were seated. 
 
 But he continued: "Come, friends, and hear 
 what the great Thales thanked the gods for. 
 Thales thanked the gods for three things: first, 
 that he was endowed with reason, and was not a 
 brute; second, that he was a Greek, and not a 
 Barbarian; and, third, that he was a man, and not 
 a woman." By this time all were seated and the 
 sermon began. 
 
 His theme was redemption. His text was Ps. 
 3:9: "He sent redemption to his people ; he hath 
 commanded his covenant for ever; holy and rever- 
 end is his name." His analysis was threefold: 
 (1) Redemption as conceived; (2) redemption as 
 applied; (3) redemption as completed. He seemed 
 inspired for the occasion. His voice like a trumpet 
 reached and thrilled the most distant hearer, and his 
 thought swept the audience like a storm sweeps 
 the sea. The people crowded closer to hear him, 
 and some who could find neither sitting nor stand- 
 ing room, climbed the trees, so that even the forest 
 swayed to and fro as if under the magic spell of 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 215 
 
 the mighty preacher. And when he reached his 
 climax in the third division, and portrayed the final 
 glory of the redeemed, every heart was filled with 
 emotion, every eye swam in tears of joy, every 
 face was radiant with hope, and at the close one 
 loud "Amen" ascended into the heavens. 
 
 i. Our Daniel Boone. Next to Campbell and 
 Stone, John Smith did more for primitive Chris- 
 tianity in Kentucky than any other man. Grafton 
 pays him a true and graceful tribute when he says: 
 "John Smith was a typical pioneer. What Daniel 
 Boone and David Crockett were to the early social 
 and political life of Kentucky and Tennessee, John 
 Smith was to religious society of that period." He 
 died February 28, 1868. 
 
 a. Man of Providence. Mr. 
 3. Isaac Errett « . 
 
 * Errett, by common consent, 
 
 stands in the front rank as a preacher and writer 
 of the Restoration Movement. He reached this 
 position early, and maintained it throughout a long 
 and brilliant life. By many he is regarded as the 
 Joshua who took up the work of Alexander Camp- 
 bell, our Moses ; or the Elisha upox. whose shoulders 
 the mantle of our Elijah fell. They think that, like 
 Esther, he came to the throne for a special work, 
 and, like that beautiful and brave queen, he did it 
 nobly and well. 
 
 b. Early Life. Henry Errett, his father, was 
 an Irishman, and his mother was an Englishwoman. 
 They came to New York about the time the 
 Campbells began their work in Pennsylvania, and 
 were among the firstfruits of the work in the 
 
216 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 great metropolis, the father being an elder in the 
 first church of that city. Isaac was born January 
 2, 1820. The father died five years later, leaving 
 the training of the son to the mother. In his 
 twelfth year he became a Christian, and when he 
 did so, like Andrew, he sought his older brother, 
 Russell, and the two were baptized together by 
 Robert McLaren, an elder of the church in Pitts- 
 burgh, where the family was then living. His 
 educational advantages were poor, but, being bright 
 and ambitious, he made the best of them. He 
 became a printer, and before he was seventeen 
 years old was tendered the position of editor of the 
 paper on which he was working. But he declined 
 the honor, and became a teacher. Neither did this 
 suit him; and so in 1840 he became a preacher, 
 beginning in his twentieth year. He soon attained 
 distinction, and was called to places of honor and 
 responsibility by his brethren. He preached for 
 the churches at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; North 
 Bloomfield, Warren and New Lisbon, Ohio, and 
 at Muir, Ionia and Detroit, Michigan. He was 
 corresponding secretary, first for Ohio, and after- 
 wards for the American Christian Missionary So- 
 ciety. In 1873 he urged the beginning of work in 
 the foreign field ; but the brethren were slow to act, 
 and while they were waiting, he turned to the 
 women and helped them to launch their great work 
 in 1874. The men, stimulated by this example, 
 organized the Foreign Christian Missionary Society 
 one year later, with Mr. Errett as president, which 
 position he held until his death. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 217 
 
 c. Editor of "Christian Standard." But Mr. 
 Errett never found the special work for which the 
 Lord raised him up until 1865, when he became 
 editor of the Christian Standard. As an eagle 
 among the clouds, he was now in his proper atmos- 
 phere. The editorial chair, rather than the pulpit, 
 was his throne. Though a great preacher, it was 
 as a writer that he exerted his widest influence. 
 Horace Greeley was not more naturally an editor 
 than was Isaac Errett. Grafton says he "possessed 
 an innate genius for editorship, a sixth sense by 
 which he discerned the people's needs." Alexander 
 Campbell had necessarily given his life and energies 
 to truth as truth, and Isaac Errett was needed to 
 give his to this truth in its relation to human needs. 
 The one had rediscovered a mine of rarest wealth, 
 and the other was to develop this mine for the good 
 of man. 
 
 d. He Was a Good Man. Like Barnabas, he 
 was "a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit," 
 and, like Enoch, he "walked with God." Jesus 
 Christ was supreme in his life, and he strove day 
 by day to be a loyal and loving subject. The 
 heroes who stood with the Campbells in the early 
 days were men of deep personal pity, and so were 
 most of those of the later days, but not all. A 
 few were so absorbed in the intellectual side of 
 the plea that they failed to come in close touch 
 with its spiritual significance. To all such Mr. 
 Errett's life was both a rebuke and an example. 
 "He was great in his goodness, and good in his 
 greatness." 
 
218 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 e. He Was a Man of Courage. When he 
 began his leadership, extreme conservatism and 
 extreme radicalism, like two robbers, crouched on 
 either side of his pathway, and threatened his prog- 
 ress, and he was always under the fire of one or 
 the other, and often under both. But, like a kite 
 struggling with a contrary wind, he rose higher 
 and soared more grandly because of opposition. 
 But, besides these enemies from within, he had 
 to meet those from without. After the death of 
 Mr. Campbell many of these prophesied that his 
 work would speedily fail ; and they bent their 
 every energy to bring to pass the fulfillment of the 
 prophecy. While the battle was on he was always 
 in the forefront; but when it was over and the 
 victory won he was ever ready to treat with 
 clemency his former foes. 
 
 /. He Was an Ideal Leader. Leaders, like 
 poets, are born, not made. When Mr. Errett came 
 into prominence and went to the wheel the sea was 
 stormy, and there were dangers on every hand. 
 But with a clear vision and steady nerve, and with 
 the spirit of a true pilot, he guided the ship safely 
 to port. In this work he reminds one of Paul as 
 he rescued the infant Church from the Judaizing 
 teachers and blind bigots of the first century. His 
 special mission was to maintain the integrity of the 
 plea of the Campbells, and hold the Restoration 
 Movement to its original purpose ; and for a quarter 
 of a century he did it most nobly. 
 
 In the controversies over the music question, the 
 communion question, and the question of slavery, he 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 219 
 
 showed himself a masterful leader and sane coun- 
 selor. 
 
 This is seen again on the union question. Let 
 it not be forgotten that his was not the work of 
 construction, but interpretation. Mr. Campbell had 
 done the former, and he was to do the latter. He 
 was to see the plea in its entirety: not only in 
 form, but in spirit; not only as a theory, but as a 
 practice. The plea for union was not the union 
 of the Bible, but a pseudo-union which would not 
 disturb denominationalism. It was seen in union 
 revivals where it was regarded sectarian to give in 
 the language of the Apostles their answers to 
 inquiring sinners seeking the way of the Lord. The 
 voice of the Bible was to be suppressed whenever 
 that voice clashed with the popular views of Chris- 
 tendom. Mr. Errett kindly but firmly replied : "Be 
 as liberal as you please with what is your own, but 
 be careful how you give away what is not yours, 
 but God's. There is nothing that is merely human 
 which we ought not to surrender, if need be, for 
 the sake of union, but we can not yield God's com- 
 mands." 
 
 g. Defender of the Faith. The same pres- 
 sure was brought to bear from another angle. 
 Some of his own brethren urged that he was nar- 
 row, exclusive and uncharitable, and thus hindering 
 the plea. They intimated that the baptismal ques- 
 tion should be ignored, and the pious unimmersed 
 should be received into full fellowship. His answer 
 was: 
 
 "We are responsible for the way we deal with 
 
22C 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 God's truth, but not for the results of faithfulness 
 to our convictions. But we wish to say with all 
 emphasis that we believe this to be a mistake. At 
 the beginning of the plea of the Campbells for 
 union, it was unembarrassed by any of this so-called 
 exclusiveness. They were Presbyterians. They 
 sought the union of professed Christians without 
 regard to immersion, and without the rejection of 
 infant baptism. Their effort nas a signal failure. 
 The dear pious people, who were so eulogized for 
 superior spiritual worth, and pronounced to be so 
 'loyal in heart and purpose,' turned a deaf ear to 
 the plea for union. . . . But after the champions of 
 this movement were led to surrender infant mem- 
 bership and affusion, and planted themselves on the 
 ground we now occupy, their plea began at once to 
 assert great power, and within fifty years has met 
 with a success that has hardly a parallel in religious 
 movements. We have no reason, even on the 
 ground of expediency, to change our ground. We 
 therefore say to our brethren, in view of every con- 
 sideration of truth, consistency, charity and expe- 
 diency, stand firm; diminish not a word. As the 
 grounds of difference are narrowed, there will be 
 strong efforts, under the plea of charity, to bring 
 about a surrender of gospel teaching concerning 
 baptism. Pedobaptists are bent on forcing this 
 issue. In vain we tell them that they can easily, 
 without a surrender of conscience, agree to that 
 which they and we alike accept as valid baptism. 
 This is scouted by them. They are bent on classify- 
 ing baptism with things indifferent. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 221 
 
 "We will yield to the prejudices and preferences 
 of any and all, and sacrifice all cherished habits, 
 tastes and expediencies. But in regard to the faith 
 and practice revealed in the New Testament, we 
 must be sternly uncompromising. If the battle must 
 come on this question of baptism, there we shall 
 stand on apostolic ground, and repeat, day and 
 night, without ceasing, 'One Lord, one faith, one 
 baptism.' " 
 
 Thus for twenty-five years of the most critical 
 history of the Restoration Movement, Mr. Errett, 
 its recognized leader, with pen and tongue, held it 
 to the open sea; and we are largely indebted to him 
 for the gratifying fact that the ship did not founder 
 upon the reefs of unscriptural practices and human 
 dogmas. Mr. Errett died December 19, 1888, in 
 his sixty-ninth year. 
 
 W. McGarvey. He was born in Hopkinsville, 
 Kentucky, March 1, 1829, and died in Lexington, 
 Kentucky, October 6, 1911, in his eighty-third 
 year. His father was an Irishman, and came to 
 America when a young man. His mother, a Miss 
 Thomson, of old Virginia stock, was born and 
 reared near Georgetown, Kentucky. 
 
 b. In Bethany College. In 1839 the family 
 moved to Tremont, Illinois, where the foundation of 
 his education was well laid in a local academy. In 
 April, 1847, he entered the Freshman class of 
 Bethany College, and in July, 1850, he graduated, 
 
 4. John William 
 McGarvey 
 
 a. Early Life. No man 
 among us stood higher, and was 
 more generally trusted, than J. 
 
222 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 as one of the honor men, delivering the Greek 
 oration. In 1848 he gave his heart to God, and was 
 baptized by Professor Pendleton, and at once deter- 
 mined to devote his life to the ministry of the 
 Word. 
 
 c. Ordination. The family having removed to 
 Fayette, Missouri, he went from Bethany to that 
 place, where he taught a school for boys one year. 
 At a call of the Fayette Church, he gave up the 
 school, and in September, 1851, was ordained as a 
 preacher. In 1853 he accepted the work at Dover, 
 Missouri, where he remained nine years, spending 
 much of his time in extensive tours over the State. 
 He also had five public debates during this time. 
 
 d. To Lexington, Kentucky. In 1862 he 
 took up the work in Lexington, Kentucky. During 
 this year he published his "Commentary on Acts," 
 a work of great merit. In 1865 he was elected 
 professor of sacred history in the College of the 
 Bible at Lexington. After thirty years' service he 
 was made president of the college, which position he 
 held to the day of his death. 
 
 e. He Was a Man of Courage. He was a man 
 of convictions, and ever ready to enter the lists 
 against all who would assail what he believed to 
 be true. Had he been born a thousand years earlier 
 he likely would have been in the vanguard of those 
 who, under Syrian suns, were struggling to rescue 
 the sacred trophies of the cross from the hands of 
 infidels. Or, if he had lived in the first century, he 
 would likely have stood arm in arm and heart to 
 heart with Peter and Paul in the earlier battles of 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 223 
 
 the faith. Paul's description of the Christian sol- 
 dier (Eph. 6:11-19) was never more faithfully 
 illustrated than in himself, in Martin Luther, and 
 in Pres. J. W. McGarvey. His courage was not 
 that of the coarse bully, as some have thought, but 
 it was the courage of a calm and conscientious hero, 
 in perfect equipoise, responding to the stern call of 
 battle. "If I were floating on a plank in mid- 
 ocean," he said, "and a man should try to take it 
 from me, I would fight for my life." 
 
 /. He Was an Eminent Bible Critic. He 
 stood like a mighty Gibraltar against the waves of 
 destructive criticism, and saved the Book from their 
 furious onslaughts. But for the work of this 
 sturdy man, whom no considerations could swerve 
 a hairbreadth, what might have been our condi- 
 tion to-day? He waded through volumes of intri- 
 cate study, and familiarized himself with every 
 phase of German philosophy, that he might know 
 both sides of the question. During this investiga- 
 tion, embracing the period between his sixtieth and 
 seventy-fifth year, when many feel that it is time 
 to sheathe the sword and turn over the fight to 
 others, he would often come from his study, 
 stretch his arms, take a deep breath and exclaim, 
 "I feel as though I had been in a struggle with a 
 mighty giant!" And the time is not distant when 
 the entire religious world will honor him as the 
 leading defender of the faith. From 1893 to 1911 
 he conducted a department in the Christian Stand- 
 ard, "Biblical Criticism," which has been of great 
 value. 
 
224 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 g. He Was a Strong Preacher. Who that 
 ever heard him will ever forget his sermons? After 
 spending the week in his classroom one would think 
 his students would want to hear some one else on 
 the Lord's Day; but not so. In the large dining- 
 room where most of the young preachers boarded, 
 this question came up every Sunday morning: 
 "Where are you going to church to-day?" And the 
 answer usually was: "If I knew Lard would be on 
 his high horse [Moses E. Lard was preaching at 
 Main Street and McGarvey at Broadway], I would 
 go to Main Street; but as there is doubt about this, 
 I will go to Broadway, for 'Little Mac' never disap- 
 points us." When Lard was at himself, he was a 
 powerful preacher; but, like all men of moods, he 
 was not always "at himself"; but McGarvey, while 
 he often preached great sermons, never fell below 
 a lofty level. His sermons were not ornate, but 
 they were lucid unfoldings of the Book. They 
 flooded man's way with light, and inspired him to 
 walk in it. His language was simple enough for a 
 primer, and his sentences were condensed like tele- 
 grams. He was easy to hear and hard to forget. 
 
 h. He Was a Forceful Writer. He was con- 
 cise and clear. He said what he meant, and meant 
 what he said. One might not agree with him, but 
 he never misunderstood him. He often used a 
 sharp pen, and woe to the antagonist who got in 
 his way. He wrote voluminously, and was always 
 read. His books are standards as expositions of 
 the Scriptures, and as a defense of the Book against 
 infidel criticism. 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 225 
 
 t. But He Was Pre-eminently a Bible 
 Teacher. Here he did his greatest work. The 
 classroom was his throne, and never did a king 
 reign more naturally, more royally and more profit- 
 ably than did he. He knew what he taught, and 
 taught what he knew. There was nothing hazy 
 about him. He never left the student dangling in 
 the air, and wondering what he meant. He placed 
 his feet upon a rock and made him feel that his 
 foundation was sure. When, in death, he met his 
 Master, he could safely say, "I never weakened the 
 faith of any young man entrusted to me." 
 
 His knowledge of the Bible was wonderful. As 
 one of the many students who sat at his feet, this 
 writer can say that he never heard him read a les- 
 son in the classroom, either from the Old Testament 
 or the New: he always recited the Scriptures. He 
 seemed to know them "by heart." When he visited 
 the Holy Land he kept ahead of his guide, and 
 often knew locations better than he. As a Bible 
 student, both in general and detailed knowledge, 
 perhaps he has had no peer since the days of inspira- 
 tion. The London Times said: "In all probability 
 John W. McGarvey is the ripest Bible scholar on 
 earth." 
 
 And behold the result: His students, famous for 
 their loyalty to the Lord and usefulness in his King- 
 dom, are found in every land, telling the "Old, Old 
 Story" ; and though their teacher rests from his 
 labors, his works do follow him. 
 
 Brother McGarvey died in Lexington, Kentucky, 
 October 6, 1911, in his eighty-third year. 
 15 
 
226 HOW THE DISCIPLES BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Sketch the early life of Scott. 
 
 2. Give Richardson's contrast of Scott and 
 Campbell. 
 
 3. Give Baxter's contrast of Scott and Camp- 
 bell. 
 
 4. What was his favorite theme? 
 
 5. Was it Stone or Scott who shaped our 
 evangelism ? 
 
 6. What was his true element? 
 
 7. Sketch Smith's early life. 
 
 8. Tell of the death of his wife and children, 
 and the effect on his life. 
 
 9. Tell of his wonderful work. 
 
 10. What did Grafton say about him? 
 
 11. Tell of his great sermon. 
 
 12. Sketch the early life of Errett. 
 
 13. Give three strong elements of his character. 
 
 14. Describe him as a defender of the faith. 
 
 15. Sketch the early life of McGarvey. 
 
 16. Give five characteristic elements of his 
 character. 
 
XII. 
 
 RETROSPECT, PROSPECT, 
 DANGERS AND DUTIES 
 
 IG 
 
 227 
 
OUTLINE— CHAPTER XII. 
 
 1. Retrospect. 
 
 a. Proper Division of the Bible. 
 
 b. Deity of Jesus. 
 
 c. Faith and Opinion. 
 
 d. Faith Not Doctrinal, but Personal. 
 
 e. Rule of Faith and Practice. 
 /. Conversion. 
 
 g. Bible Names. 
 
 h. The Holy Spirit. 
 
 i. Restoration of Ordinances. 
 Bible Schools. 
 
 k. Christian Union. 
 /. Evangelism. 
 
 2. Prospect. 
 
 a. Wonderful Century. 
 
 b. Picture. 
 
 3. Dangers. 
 
 a. Crystallization. 
 
 b. Compromise. 
 
 c. False Tests of Fellowship. 
 
 d. Ignoring True Tests of Fellowship. 
 
 e. The Childless Church. 
 
 4. Duties. 
 
 a. Advertisement. 
 
 b. Indoctrination. 
 
 c. Co-operation. 
 
 d. Consecration. 
 
 e. Loyalty. 
 
 22S 
 
XII. 
 
 Retrospect, Prospect, Dangers and Duties. 
 
 A people who can grow from 0 to 1,500,000 
 adult communicants in a single century, and that the 
 nineteenth, must be of interest to those who would 
 know the causes back of large results. Perhaps 
 there has been no such growth since the apostolic 
 age. What is the principle permeating this growth? 
 And what are the points emphasized by the work- 
 ers? And what is the outlook for the future? Let 
 us devote this closing chapter to a twofold review — 
 retrospective and prospective — that we may be able 
 to answer these questions. 
 
 The principle involved was 
 i. Retrospect Qne Q £ ^ loftiest that ever 
 
 animated men: it was an unselfish attempt to 
 restore primitive Christianity. At great cost, and 
 with no material reward in view, these brave men, 
 despite the greatest difficulties, began the search for 
 the old paths. They would see just where Christ 
 and his Apostles trod, and, faithfully following their 
 footprints, they would give to the world of to-day 
 the Church of the first century. 
 
 The points emphasized in their search were 
 numerous and vital. The principal ones were: 
 
 a. The Proper Division of the Bible. The 
 main slogan of these old path-seekers was, "Where 
 
 229 
 
230 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 the Bible speaks, we speak; where the Bible is 
 silent, we are silent," and never were men more 
 faithful to a motto. With them what the Bible 
 said was infinitely more important than what men 
 said about the Bible. They longed for new light, 
 and when it came they welcomed it and walked in 
 it. Mr. Campbell's fine figure, representing the 
 Patriarchal age as the starlight, the Jewish age as 
 the moonlight, and the Christian age as the sun- 
 light, has been invaluable, not only to his own 
 followers, but also to the religious world at large. 
 The old Book was a tangled skein until they 
 discovered this clue. The New Testament was 
 fourfold in its divisions : The first four books were 
 history, and told about the Christ; the fifth was 
 the book of conversions, and told the sinner how to 
 appropriate the Saviour; the twenty-one Epistles 
 were addressed to Christians, and told them how 
 to live for the Christ; and the last book was 
 prophetic, and told of the reward in store for those 
 who were faithful to the end. 
 
 b. The Deity of Jesus. In the study of the 
 Book they soon saw that Christ was its center. He 
 was to the spiritual universe what the sun was to 
 the material world — the center around which all 
 lesser lights revolved, and from which they received 
 their light. Christianity was to be distinctly Christ- 
 ocentric. At that time the Church was credocen- 
 tric, for a man's standing in the Church depended 
 far more on his acceptance of the creed than on 
 his loyalty to the Lord. 
 
 c. Faith and Opinion. The difference between 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 231 
 
 faith and opinion was clearly shown and strongly 
 emphasized. Salvation was a matter of faith and 
 rested on facts, and not a matter of speculations 
 concerning these facts. In the realm of opinion 
 men had the largest possible liberty, but in faith 
 they were to be one. 
 
 d. Faith Not Doctrinal, but Personal. On 
 this vital point these men stood alone in their day. 
 With them it was a personal Saviour for a personal 
 sinner. Men were not to believe in faith, repent- 
 ance or baptism — true dogmas regarding the Christ 
 — but they were to believe in the Christ, and do 
 these things because he commanded them. When 
 the soldier believes in his leader, he will obey, 
 whether he understands him or not. 
 
 e. Rule of Faith and Practice. The substi- 
 tution of the Scriptures for all human confessions 
 of faith, as the true rule of faith and practice, was 
 one of the wisest things done by these pioneers. 
 They were not opposed to publishing their views on 
 all important questions. Mr. Campbell did much 
 work of this kind in the Christian Baptist, the 
 Harbinger, and in the "Christian System," but these 
 publications were never regarded as a creed or a 
 confession of faith. The Bible, and the Bible alone, 
 was the only and all-sufficient rule of faith and 
 practice. 
 
 /. Conversion. The darkness surrounding this 
 question one hundred years ago can hardly be imag- 
 ined to-day. Every conversion was a miracle. 
 Man was totally depraved, and could not think a 
 good thought, or do a good deed. Calvinism in its 
 
232 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 extreme form had paralyzed men. The Bible was 
 a good book, but it was a "dead letter" until made 
 alive by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit; 
 just as the heart of the sinner could not act until 
 energized by this same power. But these true 
 teachers taught that in conversion we are active, not 
 passive, and that we turn to God, which is con- 
 version, or refuse to turn, not because of inability, 
 or because of the presence or absence of miraculous 
 power, but because of our own choice in the matter. 
 
 g. Bible Names for Bible Things. It is well 
 known that our fiercest disputes about Christianity 
 are about what the Bible does not say, rather than 
 about what it does say. Few things are more essen- 
 tial to the restoration of the primitive faith than 
 pure speech. So long as the earth had one speech, 
 men were united. Knowing this, these men rejected 
 the language of Ashdod and chose that of Canaan. 
 They were suspicious that if the word was not in 
 the Bible, the idea it represented was not there. 
 Therefore, they had as little as possible to do with 
 the jargon of speculative theology, and plead for 
 Bible words for Bible ideas. 
 
 h. The Holy Spirit. On this deep question 
 dogmatism and speculation gave place to caution 
 and reverence. It was argued that the work of the 
 Spirit was specially the work of God, and he 
 would attend to that whether we understood it or 
 not. It was also contended that in conversion the 
 Spirit operated through the Word, and that after 
 conversion he took up his abode in the heart. Mr. 
 Campbell says: "We can not separate the Spirit 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 233 
 
 and Word of God, and ascribe so much power to 
 the one and so much to the other; for so did not 
 the Apostles. Whatever the Word does, the Spirit 
 does; and whatever the Spirit does in the work of 
 converting men, the Word does. We neither 
 believe nor teach abstract Spirit nor abstract Word 
 — but Word and Spirit, Spirit and Word." The 
 Spirit was not a command to be preached, but a 
 promise to be received. 
 
 t. Restoration of the Ordinances. In the 
 restoration of the two New Testament ordinances — 
 Baptism and the Supper — great good was accom- 
 plished. Both were simple and significant. As it 
 is the fate of men to die, be buried, and rise again, 
 so the first ordinance shows that the figuratively 
 dead man — dead to his past sins — is buried in a 
 symbolic grave, and is raised again to walk in the 
 newness of life. The second ordinance is the cen- 
 tral thought in the worship on the Lord's Day, and 
 keeps fresh in the mind the great cost of our salva- 
 tion. God would have us not only hear the truth, 
 but see it. 
 
 /. Bible Schools. In 1849, when the American 
 Christian Missionary Society was organized, A. S. 
 Hayden and Isaac Errett issued an appeal in the 
 interest of Bible schools, and the Convention 
 appointed a committee to look after the work. The 
 growth has been marvelous and the enthusiasm con- 
 tagious, so that all the churches have felt its 
 power and shared its blessings. Great schools, thor- 
 oughly organized, and equipped with the best liter- 
 ature, are now the order of the day. The school at 
 
234 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Canton, Ohio, led by P. H. Welshimer, is at the head 
 of the procession, and is known the world over. 
 
 k. Christian Union. An attempt to restore 
 the Apostolic Church necessarily involved the plea 
 for union, for that Church was united. The 
 Saviour taught and prayed for the union of his fol- 
 lowers, and the Apostles preached and practiced it. 
 The Restoration Movement began as a protest 
 against division, and its great battles and splendid 
 victories have been fought and won under this 
 banner. "United we stand, divided we fall," is a 
 maxim not less true in religion than in the family 
 and the nation. "We must all hang together, or 
 we will all hang separately," said one of the signers 
 of the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 /. Evangelism. No people since the days of 
 inspiration ever so stressed evangelism as did our 
 fathers. They looked upon the sinner as a man 
 overboard at sea, and the gospel as the lifeboat, and 
 his only hope, and with all possible power they 
 went to his rescue. They urged him not to wait 
 for some additional power, for the lifeboat was 
 sufficient, and not to strive to make themselves 
 better, for Christ came to seek and save the lost. 
 Such a message aroused hope in the heart of the 
 sinner, and lent lightness to the feet and eloquence 
 to the lips of the preacher, hence their unparalleled 
 success. They taught that in becoming a Christian 
 three great changes were necessary: a change of 
 heart produced by faith, a change of life produced 
 by repentance, and a change of state or relationship 
 produced by baptism. They illustrated this point in 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 235 
 
 a forcible and unforgettable way. They compared 
 it to the marriage relation, with Christ as the Bride- 
 groom and the Church as the Bride, a figure now 
 so familiar as to need no explanation. 
 
 Looking back over the past, we see that these 
 twelve points received special emphasis at the 
 hands of the workers. 
 
 a. Wonderful Century. 
 
 2. Prospect "Watchman, what of the night?" 
 is an Old Testament query as pertinent to-day as 
 when it was first uttered; and the answer from the 
 pen of the poet is as true as it is beautiful: 
 
 "Out of the shadows of night 
 The world is rolling into light; 
 It is daybreak everywhere." 
 
 Jehovah has wrought wonders during the cen- 
 tury including the history of this Restoration Move- 
 ment. He has almost made the world over. 
 Nature's forces have been discovered and brought 
 from their hiding-places and harnessed in the serv- 
 ice of man. In the social, scientific, educational 
 and political spheres he has turned the world 
 upside down. And Christianity has kept pace with 
 these onward strides. Never was the presence of 
 our King more manifest, and never were his state- 
 ly steppings more royal and grand. Let us look for 
 a moment on one of the many illustrations of this 
 glorious procession: 
 
 b. Picture. At the beginning of the century 
 we behold one lone man in an "upper room ,, in 
 the house of a modest farmer — Mr. Welch — near 
 Washington, Pennsylvania. This man, Thomas 
 
236 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 Campbell, a cultured and consecrated Presbyterian 
 preacher, with his heart bleeding over divided 
 Christendom, is writing "A Declaration and 
 Address," which was submitted to a group of sym- 
 pathizing friends in a rural community. They liked 
 it; and on September 7, 1808, they decided to pub- 
 lish it to the world. It proved to be good seed in 
 good soil, and has yielded a harvest of which only 
 our God could be the author. On May 4, 1811, 
 Brush Run Church — literally a church in the wilder- 
 ness — was organized with thirty members. This 
 little band has grown wonderfully. They have out- 
 stripped their religious neighbors, though old, rich, 
 strong, and well organized. Since 1850 five of the 
 leading Protestant bodies have increased less than 
 fivefold, but these have increased tenfold, and now 
 have nine thousand preachers, thirteen thousand 
 churches, and more than a million and a half mem- 
 bers. And within the last year it has been dis- 
 covered that in Russia and Germany there are one 
 hundred thousand, unknown before, who stand 
 with them in their peculiar work. No such growth 
 has been seen since the New Testament age. In 
 the light of this history may it not be that the 
 twentieth century will see primitive Christianity 
 restored, and the whole world bowing at the feet 
 of the Redeemer? 
 
 As we look into the future, our vision sub- 
 divides itself into dangers and duties. 
 
 a. Crystallization. Since it 
 
 3. Dangers . g true t k at history often repeats 
 
 itself, we are now nearing a critical period in our 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 237 
 
 progress. The history of religious movements is 
 that when about our age, and often earlier, they 
 lose sight of their true principles, and crystallize. 
 Lutheranism is an example. The fundamental prin- 
 ciples taught by Luther, if faithfully followed, 
 would have restored the primitive Church. The 
 same is true of other reformers. It becomes us, 
 therefore, as students of history and friends of the 
 Christ, to be warned into safety by such examples. 
 Our message is fixed and final, and adapted to all 
 ages, peoples and conditions, but our methods are 
 subject to change at any time. 
 
 b. Compromise. In Neh. 2:6 is a graphic pic- 
 ture of this danger. When Nehemiah would rebuild 
 the walls of Jerusalem he encountered determined 
 enemies. They first used force; and when it failed, 
 they resorted to ridicule; and when this failed, they 
 offered a compromise. 
 
 Could a parallel be more striking? Are we not 
 striving to rebuild spiritual Jerusalem? and have 
 we not met similar opposition? And now that we 
 have become numerous and strong, are we not 
 being asked to compromise the principles of our 
 great plea? And, alas! is it not true that we have 
 among us those who seem inclined to do it? And 
 would not compromise be as ruinous now as it 
 would have been then? The compromise of truth 
 always and everywhere means sure and deserved 
 ruin. 
 
 c. False Tests of Fellowship. All Christians 
 share in common the great salvation in Christ. 
 They are in fellowship with him, and should be 
 
238 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 in fellowship with each other. Therefore the terms 
 of salvation and the terms of fellowship should be 
 one and the same. It should not be more difficult 
 to enter heaven than to enter the Church. Faith 
 in the Christ and obedience to him are the condi- 
 tions of salvation, and they are the sole and suffi- 
 cient tests of fellowship among his followers. 
 
 In the early Church there was trouble at this 
 point (Rom. 14: 1; 1 Cor. 6: 12). Then they per- 
 tained to meats, drinks and ceremonies; but now 
 they usually pertain to musical instruments in the 
 song service and methods of work. Had such ques- 
 tions been made tests of fellowship then, the 
 Church would not have been one; and if we make 
 them tests of fellowship, we must divide. Conse- 
 crated common sense and Christian love and for- 
 bearance must settle such questions in the court of 
 expediency. 
 
 A vital principle is involved here. As the glory 
 of Christianity is in the blending of justice and 
 mercy, so the glory of the Church is in the blend- 
 ing of unity and freedom. Catholicism has union, 
 but it has it at the sacrifice of freedom. We want 
 union, but if we can get it only with the loss of 
 liberty, the price is too great. But this is not the 
 price. We can have union in faith and liberty in 
 opinion; and when we have them as the early 
 Christians did, there will be no divisions over ques- 
 tions of expediency, and the Church of that day 
 will be reproduced in the Church of our day. 
 
 d. Ignoring True Tests of Fellowship. That 
 there is real danger at this point no thoughtful man 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 239 
 
 can deny. We are being told by a few would-be 
 liberal leaders that union can never be brought 
 about by the destruction of denominationalism, but 
 rather by a broader and more liberal denomination- 
 alism; and that we are too narrow and legalistic on 
 the conditions of church membership. They grow 
 sentimental in their exhortation, and tell us that one 
 church is as good as another; that it really makes 
 no difference what one believes, if only his heart is 
 right, and that we must not be too tenacious about 
 the inspiration of the Book, the deity of the Lord, 
 or the miracles and ordinances. They would have 
 us abandon the plea which has given us our place 
 and power in the world, and take a position as one 
 of the great evangelical denominations of Christen- 
 dom. We must kindly but firmly set our faces like 
 flint against all such teaching, and be true to our 
 Lord and Master, regardless of what men think and 
 say of us. 
 
 e. The Childless Church. This danger is not 
 peculiar to us, but it threatens all religious bodies 
 alike. Our Bible schools are thronged by thousands 
 old enough to become Christians, who do not attend 
 church, and are not urged by their parents and 
 teachers to do so. Looking over an average audi- 
 ence, we see the aged, the middle-aged, the grand- 
 parents and the parents, but not the children. The 
 old-fashioned family pew, with the whole family 
 in it, is a thing of the past. The Church of to-day 
 is a childless Church. And what can we expect of 
 this Church but as in the case of a childless fam- 
 ily, utter and unavoidable extinction in the near 
 
240 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 future? The school, the army and the family must 
 be constantly recruited from the young, or time will 
 extinguish them, and the same is true of the 
 Church. Here is a question well worthy of the best 
 thought of all who love our Lord : How can we 
 induce the young to attend the preaching and com- 
 munion services of the Church? 
 
 Dmies a. Advertisement. There is 
 
 4. u ies religious body in the land, of 
 
 anything like our proportions, so little known as 
 ours; and yet we believe there is none other which 
 the world so much needs to know. And the fault 
 for this condition of things is altogether our own. 
 Our conduct here is not only short-sighted, but sin- 
 ful. Unitarians, Adventists and Scientists flood the 
 world with free literature from their best writers, 
 so that all who desire knowledge of them can get 
 it at their doors, and that without money and with- 
 out price. Money wisely spent here would bring 
 large results. 
 
 b. Indoctrination. It is said that not more 
 than 25 per cent, of our people understand our 
 plea. If this is true, our work can never be 
 done without some effective plan for the education 
 of the other 75 per cent. They must be made 
 to understand it, or they can not appreciate it 
 and work for it. In our early history this was 
 not true. Then not less than 75 per cent, under- 
 stood it, and could make others understand it. Our 
 preachers preached it, our Bible-school teachers 
 taught it, and our papers published it. It was a 
 common thing then to find a well-worn copy of the 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 241 
 
 New Testament in the pocket of the lawyer, the 
 doctor, the merchant and the farmer, and they were 
 able and anxious to teach others. Our children 
 then were not like the bright girl who, when asked 
 what she believed, answered, "I believe what my 
 church believes." And when asked what her 
 church believed, she said, "My church believes what 
 I believe." And when asked what they both 
 believed, she replied, "We both believe the same 
 thing." Such a girl, had her teachers done their 
 duty, would never have been caught in this embar- 
 rassing dilemma. 
 
 c. Co-operation. The fact that our work is a 
 movement within the Church for the restoration of 
 its former unity should make clear our relationship 
 to all who are striving to serve the Lord. We are 
 not to regard them as enemies, but as allies. Nar- 
 row and bitter critics existed in the time of Mr. 
 Campbell, as they exist to-day, and they accused 
 him of compromising the truth by admitting that 
 there were Christians other than those immediately 
 connected with his work. Replying to one of these, 
 he said: "But who is a Christian? I answer, 
 every one that believes in his heart that Jesus of 
 Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God; repents 
 of his sins, and obeys him in all things according 
 to his measure of knowledge of his will." 
 
 In the great heart of this noble man there was 
 room for the appreciation of good wherever found ; 
 and he was ever ready to co-operate in every good 
 work, when he could do so without the compromise 
 of principle. Students struggling together in the 
 
242 
 
 HOW THE DISCIPLES 
 
 same classes, and soldiers battling arm in arm on 
 the bloody field, form the strongest and most tender 
 friendships known among men. 
 
 d. Consecration. A people with the best plea 
 in the world ought to be the best people of the 
 world. As men come in touch with us they should 
 take knowledge of us that we have been with 
 Jesus (Acts 4: 13). Men who dwell in a rose gar- 
 den bear the fragrance out into the highways on 
 their garments. Our doctrine and our devotion 
 should harmonize. Our logic and our lives should 
 move on a common plane. Our plea and our prac- 
 tice ought to be one. The world is learning to love 
 the plea; now we must make it love the people. 
 And when both are loved, the walls of separation 
 will crumble, and the gates of opposition will open, 
 and our King will again come into his own. Truth 
 incarnated in a holy life is the climax of heavenly 
 power (John 8: 46). 
 
 e. Loyalty. Unwavering allegiance to our 
 Lord must characterize our every thought, word 
 and deed. We must not live, but Christ must live 
 within us. The question of his greatest disciple, 
 "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" must be the 
 supreme question of our lives. Let us see our 
 duty in the light of a picture. Imagine a great 
 battle with a million men engaged. The commander 
 has carefully surveyed the field and assigned to 
 each division its place in the struggle. But in the 
 course of the long, hard conflict the lines were often 
 changed. Finally, when a lull comes, and he would 
 re-form these lines, he finds that nine-tenths of the 
 
BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 243 
 
 army is more or less out of position. At the center 
 — the key of the position — the remnant of the one 
 hundred thousand placed there alone are in line. 
 The shattered columns must be rallied, and the 
 battle must be renewed, but how shall it be done? 
 Must the brave band at the center be withdrawn 
 and aligned with the great masses who have lost 
 position? This would be the easiest thing to do, 
 and, if left to a popular vote of the army, it 
 would likely be done. But this would mean ruin. 
 The key to the position must be held at all hazards ; 
 and so the commander orders all to re-form on the 
 original line at the center. 
 
 Even so our Commander has selected the battle- 
 field with Satan, and assigned to his army its posi- 
 tion. But in the great struggle of two thousand 
 years there have been many changes, and some of 
 his bravest and best divisions are out of line to-day. 
 How shall the army be re-formed? There is but 
 one safe way. Those at the center must not be 
 moved; but all others, under the banner of the 
 King, must line up with those who still occupy the 
 original line of battle. Because these are few, 
 some will say that the appeal for the many to rally 
 around the few, rather than for the few to rally 
 around the many, is unreasonable, bigoted, narrow 
 and uncharitable ; but these must stand firm. There 
 must be no wavering and no compromise. They 
 must be loving, but loyal. The honor of their 
 Leader, the safety of themselves, and the salvation 
 of the world are all at stake, and they must stand 
 firm. 
 
244 HOW THE DISCIPLES BEGAN AND GREW 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Has our growth been remarkable? 
 
 2. Why this remarkable growth? 
 
 3. What are the twelve main points emphasized 
 by the fathers? 
 
 4. What can you say of the nineteenth century? 
 
 5. Tell us of a lone picture at the beginning of 
 the century. 
 
 6. What of the outlook? 
 
 7. What four dangers threaten our future? 
 
 8. What five duties stare us in the face? 
 
 9. Give the military picture illustrating our place 
 and duty. 
 
Date Due 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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