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 Alexander Campbell. 
 
The Story of a Century 
 
 A Brief Historical Sketch and Exposition 
 of the Religious Movement 
 Inaugurated by 
 Thomas and Alexander Campbell. 
 1809—1909. 
 
 By J. H. GARRISON, 
 Editor of "The Christian-Evangelist, '* 
 
 "Call to remembremce the former days, 
 in which, after ye were enlightened, ye 
 endured a great confli<5l of suffering." 
 
 —Heb. 1 0:^2. 
 
 ST. LOUIS: 
 CHEISTIAN PUELISHIXG COMPANY. 
 1909. 
 
Copyright, 1909. 
 CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 ST. LOUIS, MO. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 To the Memory of One of the World's 
 Great Reformers, 
 
 Alexander Campbell, 
 
 Who, in a time of religious indifference and sec- 
 tarian strife, was catholic without being Roman, and 
 protestant without being sectarian; who, seeing that 
 union among Christians was essential to the world's 
 conversion, saw, also, that a return to Christ and 
 His Christianity was essential to union; who, 
 maligned as a heretic and as a disturber of the estab- 
 lished order of things by many in his day, will receive 
 from posterity his vindication and be numbered with 
 the world's immortals; whom not having seen we love 
 for his character and his work's sake, this volume is 
 affectionately dedicated by the author. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter. Page. 
 
 I— In the Fullness of Time 15 
 
 II— The Prime Mover. 23 
 
 III — How the Movement Originated 33 
 
 IV — Some Guiding Principles. . . : 43 
 
 V— The Chief Actor 53 
 
 VI — Application of Principles 63 
 
 VII— A Change of Leaders 73 
 
 M:II— Learners of Christ 83 
 
 IX — Union vrith the Baptists 91 
 
 X— Mr. Campbell's Task Outlined 99 
 
 XI— Some of Mr. Campbell's Co-Laborers 109 
 
 XII— A Tributary Movement 123 
 
 XIII— From Darkness to Light— A Great Eevival 131 
 
 XIV — Disciples and Christians Unite 141 
 
 XV — The Principles of Lenity Vindicated 149 
 
 XVI — Education and Organization 159 
 
 XVII — Rapid Numerical Increase 169 
 
 XVIII — Some Personal Factors in the Movement .179 
 
 XIX— Hindrances Without 191 
 
 XX— Hindrances Without (Continued.) 203 
 
 XXI— Hindrances Without (Continued.) 213 
 
 XXII— Hindrances Within 223 
 
 XXIII— Hindrances Within (Continued) 231 
 
 XXIV— The Remedy 241 
 
 XXV — Some Things Accomplished - .251 
 
 XX^^— Some Unfinished Tasks 261 
 
 XX\ai— The Outlook 271 
 
''For in those dark and iron days of old, 
 Arose, amid the pigmies of their age, 
 
 Minds of a massive and gigantic mold, 
 
 "Whom we must measure as the Cretan sage 
 
 Measured the pyramids of ages past, 
 
 By the far-reaching shadows that they cast." 
 
A FOREWORD. 
 
 This is not a history, properly speaking, of the 
 people best known throughout the world as Disci- 
 ples of Christ, nor of the current Reformation which 
 they advocate. Others have written such histories, 
 and still other historians of the future will write more 
 fully of that movement whose beginning is one of the 
 most notable events of the past century. The pres- 
 ent effort is far less ambitious than that. It is an 
 attempt to draw a sketch in boldest outline — a sort 
 of bird's-eye view — of the religious movement whose 
 Centennial we are to celebrate next autumn. The 
 intention is to present just enough of the chief facts, 
 persons, and principles of the movement, to furnish 
 an outline study for those who have not hitherto 
 acquainted themselves with its character and purpose. 
 The details may be filled in later by those who wish 
 to make a more thorough study of the subject. It 
 often helps readers to get a clearer mental grasp of 
 the great outstanding facts of history and the prin- 
 ciples which underlie them, not to obscure these im- 
 portant matters by too many unimportant details. 
 These may be acquired when the leading facts and 
 guiding principles are mastered. 
 
 The chief motive in such a sketch as is proposed 
 above, at this time, is to win a hearing from busy 
 
 —9— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 men who, though not sufficiently interested to under- 
 take the reading of an elaborate history, would, 
 nevertheless, read a shorter sketch for the sake of 
 having at least a general knowledge of a religious 
 movement that has made such rapid growth and has 
 exerted so great an influence on the religious thought 
 and life of our times. It is believed, too, that the 
 time is propitious for such a hearing. Our Centen. 
 nial celebration, which is approaching, is sure to at- 
 tract the attention of many people to our Reformatory 
 movement, who have hitherto taken but little pains 
 to understand its meaning and mission. To furnish 
 such a brief statement and exposition of the move- 
 ment and of the progress it has made during the cen- 
 tury as will meet the demand of this class of readers, 
 as well as of many among us who will not take time 
 to read a more elaborate history, is the author's aim. 
 We would cherish the hope, too, that many of these 
 readers will become so interested as to seek further 
 and more complete information than we shall under- 
 take to furnish in this brief treatise. 
 
 In carrying out this purpose, it will be necessary 
 to make an exposition of the movement itself, as well 
 as to state its leading facts and principles. This is 
 more necessary, because, like every new movement 
 in the history of the world, this Reformation has 
 been misconceived and misrepresented so that many 
 have a very false or inadequate view of its real char- 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 acter and purpose, and of the men who are its chief 
 promoters. Not only has the movement been mis- 
 understood by many on the outside, but even some 
 of its professed advocates have so misconceived and 
 misrepresented its spirit and purpose as to add to the 
 confusion in the public mind regarding its evangel- 
 ical character and its catholic scope and aim. The 
 author can not hope to be able to give such an ex- 
 position of its meaning as will command the approval 
 of every type of mind among us, but he does hope to 
 make such a statement as will represent the prevail- 
 ing judgment and sentiment, not only of the leading 
 minds among us, but of the great mass of our mem- 
 bership. 
 
 The author has a deep sense of his inability for 
 so important a task as is here outlined, and it is 
 only at the urgent solicitation of others that he has 
 undertaken to prepare this condensed story of a cen- 
 tury. He shall earnestly seek, and shall confidently 
 expect to receive, the help and guidance of that 
 illuminating Spirit, whose presence in the church 
 and in the hearts of all true believers is the hope of 
 all future growth and progress. 
 
 —11— 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 There is an urgent and widespread demand for a popular 
 history of the great religious movement known as the Current 
 Reformation. A large and ever-increasing number of people 
 wish information concerning its genesis and growth. This 
 demand receives special emphasis at this time from the fact that 
 the hundredth anniversary of this reformatory movement is to 
 be celebrated in Pittsburgh in October of the present year (1909). 
 'The Story of a Century'* was written in response to this 
 demand. The timeliness of its appearance greatly enhances its 
 value. 
 
 The author is particularly well qualified to write such a his- 
 tory. As the editor of a religious newspaper for forty years he 
 has found it necessary to discuss the principles and objects and 
 and results of the movement many times. This constant discus- 
 sion has familiarized him with every phase of the subject. 
 
 Richardson's "Memoirs of Alexander Campbell" will always 
 have the greatest value. That work is a classic, and must be 
 read by any one who wishes to acquaint himself thoroughly 
 with the origin and progress of the Current Reformation during 
 the first sixty years of its history. But the Memoirs are too 
 elaborate for the general reader. Richardson wrote at such 
 length that only scholars and specialists read his bulky and 
 splendid volumes. 
 
 —13— 
 
Introduction 
 
 "The Story of a Century'* is a work of such compass that all 
 who are interested in the subject of which it treats can find 
 time to read it. The author has covered the ground covered by 
 Richardson, though necessarily much more briefly, and has 
 given an account of what has been accomplished during the last 
 forty years, the period that has elapsed since Richardson 
 wrote. 
 
 The writer of this volume believes with all his heart in the 
 fundamental principles of the current Reformation, and has con- 
 tended for them with great ability throughout his entire ed- 
 itorial career Moreover, he has unbounded admiration for the 
 men and women who were the exponents and champions of 
 those principles. He has written with the highest appreciation 
 of the heroic pioneers and their successors; he honors the great 
 men God raised up for the accomplishment of his own eternal 
 purpose, and glories in their exploits and achievements. 
 
 A new generation has grown up since Richardson published 
 his immortal work. This new generation and the whole 
 religious world should know about this movement that is now 
 engaging the attention of mankindo If they will read "The 
 Story of a Century" they will know far more than they now 
 know. Those who are interested in the Kingdom of God will 
 find this history far more fascinating and immeasurably more in- 
 structive than anytnovel. It is easy and delightful reading. 
 One who takes it up will not willingly lay it down until the last 
 page has been read. "The Story of a Century" is one of the few 
 books that the reader wishes were longer. 
 
 ARCHIBAI.D McIvBAN. 
 
 Cincinnati, Aug. 6, 1909. 
 
 —14— 
 
1 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 In The Fullness of Time. 
 
I doubt whether religion was ever at a 
 lower ebb in the North Atlantic States thap 
 it was at the beginning of the nineteenth 
 centurv. The teaching that man could do 
 nothing had borne its natural fruit in in- 
 differentism. . . . Westward the star of em- 
 pire was taking its way, but there was no 
 home missionarv society to plant the church 
 or the schoolhouse in the border settlements. 
 The pagan world dwelt in a great darkness, 
 and there was no foreign missionary society 
 to send thither the Gospel. The opposition 
 to religious revivals was so great as to lead 
 the Consociation of Connecticut in 1741 
 to de<!lare against the use of evangelists 
 for the promotion of revivals, and the 
 Legislature of that state to enact laws 
 against their activity. The reaction which 
 this religion of fatalism produced was not 
 unnatural, but it was not intelligent. 
 Thomas Paine was its most popular expo- 
 nent, and his superficial arguments against 
 Christianity had la vogue in intellectual 
 circles which it is difficult for us now to 
 comprehend. In Yale University at the 
 close of the eighteenth century there were 
 two Thomas Paine Sor-ieties, and only four 
 or five professed members of the Christian 
 Church." — Lyman Ah^ott, on A Century 
 of Progress, 
 
1 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 In the Fullness of Time. 
 
 Jesus Christ came in the fullness of time. That 
 is, he came at that point in time when his mission 
 would count for most. So every movement for the 
 world's betterment that has made a permanent im- 
 pression on the thought and life of men has come in 
 the fullness of time. The world needed it, and it 
 came to supply that need. We can not, therefore, 
 judge rightly any movement, whether in religious, 
 govermental or social reform, without knowing 
 something of the conditions out of which the move- 
 ment arose. 
 
 The religious reformation of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, which is the theme of this story, was, in an 
 important sense, the child of its time. It grew out 
 of conditions which prevailed at the beginning of the 
 last century. It was an effort to remedy the abnor- 
 mal condition of the church and of religious life 
 which then existed. It was a moral necessity under 
 the divine government. It had to be. It was as inevit- 
 able as the tides, or the precession of the equinoxes. 
 It v/as the necessary result of a living and reign- 
 
 —17— 
 
The Story of a Cextury. 
 
 ing Christ who, though exalted above all principali- 
 ties and powers as *'head over all things to the 
 Church" which he established, is fulfilling his ancient 
 promise, *'IyO, I am with you always, even unto the 
 end of the world.'* The fullness of time in which 
 this movement had its origin may be seen from the 
 following facts: 
 
 I. All accounts agree that the beginning of the 
 nineteenth century was marked by a widespread un- 
 belief, amounting, in many cases, to atheism. A 
 number of causes contributed to this condition of 
 things, chiefly, perhaps, the deism among English 
 thinkers of the eighteenth century,]the French Revo- 
 lution with its extreme reaction against religion in 
 that country, the war of the Revolution through 
 which this country had just passed, together with the 
 spiritual deadness of the churches. It is not strange, 
 under such conditions, that the students in connec- 
 tion with the various insitutions of learning were 
 skeptics. In the American Church History Series, 
 Volume 12, it is said that "When Theodore Dwight 
 became president of Yale College in 1795, only four 
 or five students were members of the church. The 
 predominant thought was skeptical. * * * 
 The College of William and Mary was a hotbed of 
 unbelief." Transylvania University, Bowdoin Col- 
 lege and other institutions of learning were in the 
 same condition. Professional men of the early part 
 
 —18— 
 
The Story oi^ a Century. 
 
 of the last century were largely unbelievers. Natur- 
 ally enough, out of this skepticism there flowed a 
 stream of immorality, manifesting itself in various 
 ways. 
 
 2. As one of the causes producing this unbelief 
 and immorality, and one of the conditions indicating 
 the necessity of a religious reform, religious partyism j 
 prevailed among the churches to an almost incredible 
 degree. It is difficult for us who live in these freer 
 times, when religious liberty has gained the ascend- 
 ency, to imagine the bitterness of party spirit,, and 
 the servitude to custom and tradition, which pre- 
 vailed at this period. The following statement 
 quoted from Dr. Richardson's Memoirs, describes the 
 condition which prevailed in the first decade of the 
 last century: **Each party strove for surpremacy, 
 and maintained its peculiarities with a zeal as ardent 
 and persecuting as the laws of the land and the use- 
 ages of society would premit. The distinguishing 
 tenets of each party were constantly thundered from 
 the pulpit, and any departure from the ^traditions of 
 the elders' was visited at once with the severest 
 ecclesiastical censure. Covenanting, church politics, 
 church psalmody, hyper-Calvinistic questions, were 
 the great topics of the day, and such was the rigid, 
 uncompromising spirit prevailing that the most trivial 
 things would produce a schism, so that old members 
 were known to break off from their congregations 
 
 —19— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 simply because the clerk presumed to give out, be- 
 fore singing, two lines of a psalm instead of one^ as 
 bad been the usual custom." Pp. 245-6. Each 
 sect or party seemed to regard itself as the only 
 true representative of the kingdom of God on earth, 
 and its aim seems to have been to oppose and pull 
 down all other existing religious organizations. To 
 build up the denominational walls higher, and to 
 fortify themselves against each other more securely, 
 seems to have been the chief occupation of ministers 
 and other active workers. The spirit of brotherly 
 love had been driven out by the spirit of party strife 
 and hatred. 
 
 There must have been, of course, exceptions to 
 this rule, but such was the condition which generally 
 prevailed. Does any one imagine that a state of 
 things like that could be permanent? Was not some 
 organized movement to remedy these evils a necessity 
 of the times? Must not the loving heart of Christ 
 have been grieved over the condition of his church? 
 We can but think that he v;ho prayed for the unity of 
 his followers was only biding the time and the place 
 for a movement to promote that unity for which he 
 prayed. 
 
 3. The third fact to be mentioned, as indicating 
 the fullness of time for such a movement in this 
 country, is that it had recently thrown off its alle- 
 giance to Great Britain, and here in the New World a 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 new Republic was born, "dedicated to the proposi- 
 tion that all men are created free and equal." Here, 
 on the free soil of America, where religious liberty 
 was recognized and guarded by the organic law of 
 the land, there was an opportunity such as had never 
 existed before in any age, or in any land, to inaugu- 
 rate a movement looking to the healing of the divis- 
 ions in the church and the restoration of those fea- 
 tures which had been lost from it during the period 
 of its apostasy. Surely the need existed for such a 
 reformation; Jesus Christ had prayed for it, and here, 
 in this land of freedom, which, as Emerson says, is 
 another name for opportunity, was the great oppor- 
 tunity, not only for a union of the states, but for the 
 union of the churches under Jesus Christ. 
 
 But God carries forward the great movements in 
 his church through men. "The spirit of a man is 
 the candle of the Lord." In the preparation for 
 Christianity the spirit of John the Baptist became the 
 candle of the Lord, and he was a "bright and shin- 
 ing light" for his day. In the first century Paul was 
 the chosen instrument for bringing the young 
 church out of the thraldom of Judaism into its larger 
 life and liberty. In the sixteenth century Luther 
 was God's agent for instituting a religious reforma- 
 tion which profoundly affected the life of the church 
 for all time. A little later John Calvin, and then, in 
 the eighteenth century, John Wesley, became candles 
 
 —21— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 of the hord for their age and generation. Had God 
 any human agent prepared for the mighty work of 
 reform which was demanded in his church at the 
 beginning of the nineteenth century? 
 
 —22— 
 
> 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Prime Mover. 
 
Not to men of greatest intellect does God 
 communicate his message for a given time 
 of crisis in the history of hiis providential 
 movements in the world, but to men of 
 purest heart, of humblest mind, of greatest 
 hunger to know and do the will of God, 
 of greatest willingness to suffer for truth's 
 sake, and to be counted a heretic, if need 
 be, for the glory of God and the advance- 
 ment of His kingdom. Such men were Mo> 
 ses, and Isaiah, and Paul of Bible times, 
 ■and such have been the men who, in the 
 centuries of Christian history, have done 
 most to enrich the world with spiritual truth. 
 Such a man was Thomas Campbell, the edu- 
 cated but humble and believing Presby- 
 terian minister, who, landing in the New 
 World, opened his mind and heart to re- 
 ceive God's truth for his age and genera- 
 tion. 
 
 —24— 
 
Thomas Campbell. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Prime Mover. 
 
 In unnoticed and humble events God often hides 
 the seeds of coming revolutions and reformations. 
 On a May day in the year 1807 an Atlantic sailing 
 vessel landed in Philadelphia, and among the pas- 
 sengers who passed along the gangplank and 
 stepped upon the shores of the New World was an 
 Irishman with Scottish blood in his veins. He was 
 alone and a stranger in a strange land. A glance at 
 his face and manner would have revealed to any good 
 judge of human nature the fact that this new-comer 
 was no ordinary foreigner seeking his fortune in this 
 land of promise. His high intellectual forehead, his 
 handsome face and features, his courtly bearing, 
 showed him to be a man of broad culture, and of un- 
 usual ability, while his deep earnestness and grave 
 demeanor would have marked him as a preacher of 
 the gospel. Thousands of vessels before and since 
 have landed their passengers from the Old World at 
 that and other harbors. Was there anything in this 
 particular arrival of special significance to the New 
 World? As God sees and measures events there 
 —25— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 was, for this Irisli clergyman was Thomas Campbell, 
 a minister in the Seceders' Branch of the Presby- 
 terian Church, who was soon to deposit a seed of 
 truth in the soil of the New World that was to bring 
 forth an abundant harvest in the field of religious re- 
 form. 
 
 In mentioning the name of Thomas Campbell, 
 the prime mover in the religious reformation, whose 
 story in brief outline is to be told in these articles, 
 we are not unmindful of the fact that there were 
 other movements having in view the same general 
 aim, which antedated that of the Campbells. In 
 many places, as in New England, under the ministry 
 of Abner Jones, in New York City, in a church made 
 up largely of Scotch Baptists, in Kentucky under the 
 ministry of Barton W. Stone, and others, there was 
 manifested a deep dissatisfaction with the existing 
 condition of the religious world, and efforts were 
 made in the way of religious reformation, having in 
 view the reinstatement of the Bible as the only rule ^ 
 of faith and practice and the unity of God's people. 
 Most of these became tributary to the religious refor- 
 mation whose prime mover was Thomas Campbell, 
 and whose chief actor and guiding spirit in its devel- 
 opment was his son Alexander Campbell. This 
 movement had within it the elements of truth con- 
 tained in the others, together with some additional 
 features which have helped to make it the most 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 potent factor in the work of religious reform during 
 the nineteenth century. 
 
 Thomas Campbell, whose arrival in the New World 
 has just been mentioned, was born in County Down, 
 Ireland, on February i, 1763. He traced his geneal- 
 ogy to the Campbells of Argyle, Scotland. He was, 
 therefore, of Scotch-Irish blood, an element of our 
 American life which has contributed much, in many 
 fields of labor, to the greatness of our country. His 
 father, Archibald Campbell, was a Romanist, and 
 served as a soldier in the British army under General 
 Wolfe. Later in life he abjured Romanism and be- 
 came a strict member of the Church of England. 
 Thomas, after his conversion, became identified 
 with the Seceder Branch of the Presbyterian Church, 
 and early decided to devote himself to the work of 
 the ministry, for which he prepared himself first by a 
 preparatory course of study at a private school, and 
 afterwards by a three-years* course in the University 
 of Glasgow, taking the prescribed course for minis- 
 terial students. After completing his literary course 
 at the university he entered the theological school of 
 the Anti-Burghers, a branch of the Seceders* Church, 
 to which he belonged. He completed the appointed 
 course here, and in due time was licensed to preach. 
 Before entering upon the active work of the ministry 
 he conducted very successfully some private schools. 
 Later, however, he became a regular minister in con- 
 
The Storv of a Century. 
 
 nection witli the Synod of Belfast and the pastor of 
 the church in Ahorey, where he was distinguished 
 for his earnest and indefatigfable labors. In his biosf- 
 raphy, by his son Alexander, it is said of him that 
 '*he was the most earnest, indefatigable and devoted 
 minister in the Presbyterian Synod to which he be- 
 longed. In preaching, teaching and in visiting his 
 charge, inculcating personal and family religion, he 
 had certainly no superior; and, so far as we could 
 ascertain, no equal." Before leaving Ireland' he took 
 an active part in seeking to bring about a union be- 
 tween the different branches of the Presbyterian 
 Church in Ireland. 
 
 Prof. Charles Louis Loos, who knew Thomas 
 Campbell personally for many years, said of him: 
 
 He was a man of large brains, of superior natural endowments. 
 And what was notable in him in this respect was the well-bal- 
 anced adjustment of these gifts. ♦ * * He had, also, re- 
 ceived a liberal education and a rich literary culture. ♦ * ♦ 
 As with Luther and Calvin, the Word of God was to him the sov- 
 ereign law of decision in religion and in the conduct of life. To 
 the end of his life he held the profoundest evangelical convic. 
 tion concerning the Bible and Christian doctrine. A valuable 
 characteristic of this Christian hero was his firmness of convic- 
 tion. He was not, as might be supposed from his marked cour- 
 tesy and gentleness of disposition, ready to yield like Melanch- 
 thon under hard pressure. * * On the contrary, he had all the 
 courage of the Scotch Covenanter. He never yielded when con- 
 scious of right in any important matter, especially when the 
 Word of God was at stake. * * Thomas Campbell's character 
 was adorned with a charm of genuine courtesy and refinement of 
 
 —28— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 manner; he was a true gentleman, and these qualities were worth 
 much to him as a Christian reformer. The crowning grace in the 
 life of this eminent servant of God was his deep, unaffected 
 piety. It was a piety that was true 'godliness' and was, like that 
 of his great son, healthy and manly, free from every taint of pie- 
 tism.* 
 
 Nothing reveals more clearly the real character 
 of a man than his personal letters. His biography 
 by his son, Alexander, contains a number of these 
 letters, written while out in the field doing the work 
 of an evangelist, to his son, to his wife, and to his 
 daughter. In a letter to his son, written from Ken- 
 tucky he says: 
 
 You can not conceive what a terrible dust our humble name 
 has kicked up. If it were not coupled with the pure cause of 
 God — the ancient gospel of the Saviour, and the sacred order of 
 things established by his holy apostles — I should tremble for the 
 consequences. But, alas, the enemies have blasphemed the 
 blessed gospel, by pasting our sinful name upon it to bring it 
 into disrepute. 
 
 In a letter to his daughter, written from North 
 Carolina in 1834, he says: 
 
 Yes, thanks be to God, like John I have had my Patmos re- 
 cesses. By him I am exempted from the attachments of a known 
 world. I have been thrown back upon myself, having no con- 
 scious friend to look to, in whose ears or bosom I might repose 
 my cares, but that ever-present, ever-conscious Guardian, Pro" 
 tector, Friend, of whom it is written, "Cast all your cares on him' 
 for he careth for you." Sweet necessity! that shuts us out and 
 shuts us to him alone. I walk out alone and solitary to the fields 
 
 ♦Reformation of the Isineteenth Ceiitury. 
 
 —29— 
 
Thk Story of a Ce:ntury. 
 
 and groves, to indulge in meditation, and commune in holy as 
 pirations, in looks, sighs and tears, with my everywhere and 
 ever present Father — the Great I Am — to whom I freely speak as it 
 occurs upon any subject of these vast and mighty concerns, say- 
 ing, Thou art knowledge, power, wisdom, goodness, justice, 
 truth, holiness, love, mercy and condescension. 
 
 Here is another extract from a letter written his 
 son from Virginia in 1832: 
 
 The opponents here are doing all they can, but the cause of 
 reform is daily gathering strength, is in the ascendant. If the 
 public advocates from the pulpit and the press would only keep 
 their temper, use soft words and hard arguments, it would jpro- 
 gress still more, "for the wrath of man worketh not the righteous- 
 ness of God." May we not expose evils without exposing per- 
 sons that practice them, further than to endeavor affectionately 
 to convince them that they are wrong? * * * Moreover the 
 servant of the Lord must not strive. But be gentle to all, apt to 
 teach; patient; in meekness instructing those that oppose them- 
 selves; if God perad venture will give them repentance and the 
 knowledge of the truth; that so they may recover themselves out 
 of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by his will. * * 
 I most cordially wish never to see or hear one ironic hint, one 
 retaliative retort by any friend or advocate of the reformation. 
 Let these weapons remain the exclusive property of the disputers 
 of this world. When a soldier of the faith assumes them he 
 loses caste. They sit awkwardly upon him, as Saul's armor did 
 of old upon the champion of Israel; till laid aside he can not 
 conquer. Speaking the truth in love is the Christian motto. 
 
 Well would it have been if the admonition had 
 been heeded by all the advocates of this Reformation. 
 
 Such was the Christian character of Thomas 
 Campbell, a man of ardent faith, of profoundest 
 humility, of deepest piety and devotion, of sincere 
 
 —30— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 reverence for the Word of God, of whose work it is 
 said by our opponents, that it is wholly outward and 
 concerned merely with forms and doctrines! It has 
 seemed proper to give this brief sketch of the man 
 himself and of his splendid personality, before call- 
 ing attention to his special contribution to the refor- 
 mation of the nineteenth century. 
 
 —31— 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 How The Movement Originated 
 
Where the Scriptures speak, we speak: 
 where the Scriptures are silent, we are 
 silent. — Thomas Campbell. 
 
 "Nothing ought to be received into the faith 
 and worship of the church, or be made a term of 
 commumion among Christians that is not as old 
 as the New Testament." 
 
 "Union in Truth is our motto. The Divine 
 Lord is our standard; in the Lord's name do we 
 display our banners. Our eyes are upon the prooi- 
 ises." 
 
 "We have no nostrum, no peculiar discovery of 
 our own to propose to fellow Christians, for the 
 fancied importance of which they should become 
 followers of us. We propose to patronize nothing 
 but the inculcation of the express word of God — 
 either as to matter of faith or practice; — but every 
 one that has a Bible and can read it, can read 
 this for himself." — Thomas Campbell. 
 
 Here were the germs of a great relig- 
 ious movement in the Church looking to its 
 purification and unification. It led to a 
 re- discovery of Christ. A new and inde- 
 pendent study of the Scriptures took Christ 
 out of the circumference, where the the- 
 ology had placed him, and put him in the 
 center, as the sole object of saving faith, 
 the only authority in Christianity and 
 the only bnsis of Christian union. It gave 
 a new sctt'ng to and interpretation of the 
 saying of Eupcrtus Mildenius — *'In things 
 essential unity; in things not essential 
 liberty ■ in all things charity. ' ' 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 How THE Movement Originated. 
 
 In the personality of Thomas Campbell, as we 
 have briefly sketched it, we have seen a fit instru- 
 ment for God to use in introducing a religious 
 reformation. He was possessed of fine natural abil- 
 ity, had received a good literary and theological 
 training, and was humble, devout, teachable, with 
 an unquestioning faith in, and a reverence for, 
 God's Word. As previously stated, he was a min- 
 ister in the Seceder Branch of the Presbyterian 
 Church, one of the strictest branches in that body. 
 On his arrival in Philadelphia on May 27, 1807, be- 
 ing in his forty-fourth year, he found the Seceder 
 Synod of North America in session and, presenting 
 his credentials, he was cordially received and as- 
 signed to the Presbytery of Chartiers, in Southwest- 
 ern Pennsylvania. lyocating in the town of Wash- 
 ington, in Washington county, he began work at 
 once among the Seceder congregations in that region. 
 Having been sent up the Allegheny valley to hold a 
 sacrament of the I^ord's Supper among the scattered 
 members of that flock, he found members belonging 
 
 —35— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 to different branches of the Presbyterian body, and 
 being compassionate toward them he ignored their 
 denominational distinctions and invited them all to 
 the communion service. He was accompanied by a 
 young theologian of the same'body who, taking note 
 of his liberal sentiments and of his charity, which 
 was wider than his own particular branch, made com- 
 plaint before the Presbytery that Mr. Campbell was 
 not * 'sound'' in the unadultered faith of the Seced- 
 ers. The Presbytery had already observed the 
 breadth of Mr. Campbell's teaching and sympathy, 
 and were quite disposed to entertain complaints 
 against him. His defense, however, was that he had 
 done nothing contrary to the Scriptures, and chal- 
 lenged his accusers to point out where he had trans- 
 gressed the Word of God. It was enough, however, 
 that he had transgressed the "Seceder Testimony," 
 and for this reason he was reprimanded. 
 
 CENSURED FOR HIS LIBERALITY. 
 
 Assured of the righteousness of his cause, Thomas 
 Campbell appealed to the Seceder Synod of North 
 America, which was the highest court in the church, 
 and in his appeal to them shows clearly the direction 
 in which his mind is tending. He protests against 
 the injustice of thrusting out from their communion 
 ''a Christian brother, a fellow minister, for saying 
 and doing none other things than those which our 
 
 —36— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 Divine Ivord and his Holy Apostles have taught, and 
 enjoined to be spoken and done by his people/' He 
 hopes that *'it is no presumption to believe that say- 
 ing and doing the very same things that are said and 
 done before our eyes on the sacred page, is infallibly 
 right, as well as all-sufficient to the edification of the 
 church, whose duty and perfection is in all things to 
 the conformed to the original standard." In the 
 innocence of his heart he asks his brethern of the 
 Synod this question: *'Is it, therefore, because I 
 plead the cause of the scriptural and apostolic wor- 
 ship of the church, in opposition to the various er- 
 rors and schisms which have so awfully corrupted 
 and divided it, that the brethren of the Union should 
 feel it difficult to admit me as their fellow laborer in 
 that blessed work?" It was exactly for that reason 
 that Thomas Campbell found himself under censure. 
 While setting aside the action of the Presbytery as 
 irregular, the Synod nevertheless censured Thomas 
 Campbell for expressing sentiments '*very different 
 from those held and professed by this church." 
 
 Even this sharp rebuke was not sufficient to cut 
 the tie that bound this devoted preacher to the church 
 with which he had been so long identified, and he 
 submitted to the censure with the explanation that 
 his submission should be understood to mean no more 
 on his part than an act of deference to the judgment of 
 the court that he might avoid giving offense to hivS 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 brethren. He still hoped that his brethren would 
 see the reasonableness of his plea for healing the 
 divisions in the church by returning to a stricter 
 conformity to the Word of God. Instead of this, 
 however, the opposition to him grew more intense 
 until it became evident to him that God was leading 
 him in another way. It is wonderful how God, by 
 outward circumstances, guides and shapes the course 
 of men whom he has chosen to do his work? It is 
 clear enough to us who live in these later days that his 
 great work as a reformer could never have been ac- 
 complished in connection with this "straightest sect'' 
 of the Calvinistic faith, but it required the kind of op- 
 position which he received to convince him that he 
 must sever his relation with the church of his first 
 love in order to accomplish the work which God 
 wanted him to do. He therefore served notice on the 
 Synod that he was no longer subject to its control, 
 and that he surrendered *'all ministerial connection" 
 with it, and held himself henceforth independent of 
 its authority. 
 
 A RULE OF REFORMATION. 
 
 This decisive step was not taken without personal 
 grief, we may be sure, but it was taken under a 
 solemn sense of duty, which afterwards brought its re- 
 ward in a new sense of freedom in the service of God. 
 He continued his ministerial labors, however, meeting 
 
 —38— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 in private dwellings, barns, schoolhouses, and in the 
 groves, God's first temple. At his suggestion a 
 meeting was held not long afterwards to take counsel 
 on the best method to pursue to accomplish some 
 definite results in the way of religious reform. It 
 was a deeply interesting and a very solemn meeting- 
 Thomas Campbell spoke at considerable length, de. 
 ploring the evils of our sectarian divisions, and plead- 
 ing for union on the Bible alone as the only infalli- 
 ble standard of faith and duty. It was in this address 
 that, seeking for some rule of action that would guide 
 their course, he exclaimed: "That rule, my highly 
 respected hearers, is this: ''WJiere the Scriptures 
 speak^ we speak; where the Scriptures are silent^ we 
 are silent.^ " The saying pleased the people, in the 
 main, who seemed to feel that here was a principle 
 enunciated that would guide them out of bondage to 
 human traditions and speculations into the liberty 
 and unity which are in Christ. 
 
 What did Thomas Campbell and those who 
 agreed with him mean by the adoption and use of 
 this motto? So greatly has this saying been abused 
 by those who profess to accept it, that it seems worth 
 while to raise this question at this point. The true 
 answer to it must be found in an understanding of the 
 condition of things in the religious world at that 
 time, from which it was the purpose of these men to 
 escape. There was a whole mass of traditions and 
 
 —39— 
 
The Story of a Cextury. 
 
 commandments of men which had been bound upon 
 the consciences of the people, vrhich many had come 
 to regard as sacred and as binding as the Word of 
 God itself. On the other hand, some of the divine 
 commandments were lightly regarded, having been 
 made void by the commandments of men. It was to 
 meet this condition of things that Thomas Camp- 
 bell uttered his famous saying. 
 
 MEANING OF THE RULE. 
 
 ^''IVliere the Scriptures speak zee speak^^^ mea-nt to 
 Thomas Campbell and his co-laborers that they were 
 determined to be loyal to the Word of God, and to 
 follow it whithersoever it might lead them. A 
 "thus saith the Lord" was to be the end of all con- 
 troversy. ^^JVJiere the Scriptures are silent we are 
 silent meant that these reformers were equally de- 
 termined to resist all human authcrity in religion. 
 Where God left the w^ay open for the exercise of 
 human freedom, there no man should bind them. 
 What God does not require of us, in order to salva- 
 tion, no human authority has a right to make a con- 
 dition of salvation, or of fellowship. 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing that this say- 
 ing of Thomas Campbell was a two-edged sword, one 
 edge cutting off the pretended liberty to ignore or 
 slight what God has commanded, and the other edge 
 cutting away the pretendefl authorit«y that attempts 
 
 —40— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 to bind men where God has left them free. The 
 principle of Thomas Campbell leaves the church no 
 alternative but to accept and practice every divine 
 ordinance and doctrine. On the other hand, it gives 
 the church ample liberty to exerise its best judgment 
 in carrying out the divine commands and great pur- 
 poses of the gospel, where no methods are specified. 
 For instance, the command to preach the gospel to 
 all nations is forever obligatory on the church. How 
 that can best be carried out, by v/hat methods of 
 organization and co-operation in different ages of the 
 world and under different conditions, is to be deter- 
 mined by the best judgment of the church, only no 
 method must be adopted that antagonizes any plain 
 teaching of the gospel. It, therefore, secures loy- 
 alty to the Word of God, and loyalty to Jesus Christ, 
 while, on the other hand, it secures that liberty which 
 we have in Christ Jesus, and which must be main- 
 tained if the church is to accomplish its mission in 
 the world. 
 
 This was the germ truth from which sprang the 
 Reformation of the nineteenth century, in which 
 Thomas Campbell was the prime mover. A fuller 
 elaboration of this principle will be seen in his Dec- 
 laration and Address, to which attention will next be 
 called. 
 
 —41— 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 Some Guiding Principles. 
 
*'We are persuaded that it is high time 
 for us not only to think, but also to act 
 for ourselves; to see with our own €yes, 
 and to take all our measures directly from 
 the Divine standard; to this alone we feel 
 ourselves divinely bound to be conformed, 
 as by this alone we must be judged. We 
 are also persuaded that as no man can be 
 judged for his brother, so no man can judge 
 his brother, but that every man must be 
 allowed to judge for himself, as every man 
 must bear his own judgment, must give 
 an account of himself to God. We are also 
 of the opinion that as the Divine word is 
 equally binding upon all, so all lie under 
 an equal obligation to be bound by it and 
 it alone; and not by any human interpre- 
 tation of it, and that therefore no man has 
 a right to judge his brother, except in so 
 far as he manifestly violates the spirit of 
 the law. . . . Our desire, therefore, for 
 ourselves and our brethren would be that, 
 rejecting human opinions and the inven- 
 tions of men as of any authority, or as 
 having any place in the Church of God, 
 we might forever cease from further con- 
 tentions about such things, returning to 
 and holding fast by the original standard, 
 taking the Divine word alone for our rule, 
 the Holy Spirit for our Teacher and Guide, 
 to lead us all into all truth, 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 God." — Thomas Campbell. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Some Guiding Principles. 
 
 One of the first steps in a logical mind in begin- 
 ning a work of religious reformation, when the need 
 of it is clearly perceived and the purpose to undertake 
 it is definitely formed, is to enunciate the fundamen- 
 tal or guiding principles by which the reformation is 
 to be effected. Thomas Campbell recognized the 
 need of such a statement of principles, and also of 
 some organized effort to give them practical effect. 
 Accordingly *'at a meeting held in Buffalo, August 
 17, 1809, consisting of persons of different religious 
 denominations, most of them in an unsettled state as 
 to a fixed gospel ministry, it was unanimously agreed, 
 upon the considerations, and for the purpose here- 
 after declared, to form themselves into a religious as- 
 sociation . . . which they accordingly did, and ap- 
 pointed twenty-one of their number to meet and con- 
 fer together, and with the assistance of Elder 
 Thomas Campbell, minister of the gospel, to deter- 
 mine upon the proper means to carry into effect the 
 important ends of their Association/'* 
 
 *Life of Thomas Campbell, page 25. 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 
 
 The name of this Association was the Christian 
 Association of Washington, Pa. It disclaimed any 
 purpose of considering itself a church, or its state- 
 ment of principles as a creed. It was a voluntary 
 association of Christian people of various denomina- 
 tions, who believed that a religious reformation was 
 needed and were willing to work together for that 
 end. At a subsequent meeting of this Association, 
 September 7, 1809, a Declaration and Address was 
 presented by Thomas Campbell, setting forth some of 
 the principles which should guide them in their ef- 
 forts to bring the church into closer conformity to 
 scriptural teaching. This address was approved and 
 ordered to be printed on that date. This, therefore, 
 is regarded as the birthday of the current Reforma- 
 tion. The address is directed to the entire religious 
 world, and is conceived and expressed in the spirit of 
 the deepest Christian courtesy and fraternity. 
 "Dearly beloved brethren," it goes on so say, ''why 
 should we deem it a thing incredible that the Church 
 of Christ, in this highly favored country, should re- 
 sume that original unity, peace and purity which 
 belong to its constitution, and constitute its glory? 
 Or, is there anything that can be justly deemed 
 necessary for this desirable purpose but to conform to 
 the model and adopt the practice of the primitive 
 Church, expressly exhibited in the New Testament? 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 Whatever alterations this might produce in any or in 
 all of the churches, should, we think, neither be 
 deemed inadmissible nor ineligible. Surely such 
 alteration would be every way for the better, and not 
 for the worse, unless we should suppose the divinely 
 inspired rule to be faulty or defective.'' 
 
 CONFORMITY TO NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 Note the implied confidence which this reformer 
 expressed in the sincerity and loyalty of the various 
 Protestant bodies of Christendom, in his supposition 
 that they would be willing to make such alterations 
 in their teaching and practice as would bring them 
 into perfect conformity with the New Testament 
 standard. Will Thomas Campbell himself be able to 
 conform to this rule, and to surrender opinions and 
 practices which he then held in order to consistently 
 carry out this principle? It is to his everlasting honor 
 that, although this principle demanded the surrender 
 of former cherished convictions and practices, he never 
 shrank from making the sacrifice in the interest of 
 truth and unity. So important are the principles 
 laid down in this address to any correct understand- 
 ing of the religious movement which Thomas Camp- 
 bell inaugurated, and of the motives which prompted 
 him and others in beginning the movement, that we 
 embody herein the thirteen propositions which he 
 begged his brethren of the churches to understand 
 
 —47-- 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 were not intended *'as an overture toward a new 
 creed or standard for the Church or as in any wise de- 
 signed to be made a term of communion;'* on the con- 
 trary, they were * 'merely designed for opening up 
 the way, that we may come fairly and firmly to 
 original ground upon clear and certain premises, and 
 take up things just as the apostles left them; that 
 thus disentangled from the accruing embarrassments 
 of intervening ages, we may stand with evidence 
 upon the same ground on which the church stood at 
 the beginning." We bespeak for these principles a 
 careful study on the part of all who would under- 
 stand the current Reformation. 
 
 Pregnant Propositions. 
 
 1. "That the church of Christ upon earth is essentially, in- 
 tentionally and constitutionally one, consisting of all those in 
 every place that profess their faith in Christ and obedience to 
 him in all things according to the Scriptures, and that manifest the 
 same by their temper and conduct; and of none else, as none else 
 can be truly and properly called Christians. 
 
 2. "That, although the Church of Christ must necessarily 
 exist in particular and 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 
 Jesus Christ hath also 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 things, and to be |)erfectly [joined together 
 in the same mind and in the same judgment. 
 
 3. "That, in order to do this, nothing ought to be inculcated 
 upon Christians as articles of faith, nor required of them as terms 
 of communion, but what is expressly taught and enjoined upon 
 
 —48— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 them ill the Word of God. Nor ought anything to be admitted 
 as of Divine obligation in their church constitution and manage- 
 ment but what is expressly enjoined by the authority of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and his apostles upon the New Testament church, 
 either in express terms or by an approved precedent. 
 
 4. "That although the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments are inseparably connected, making together but one per- 
 fect and entire 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 and properly belongs to 
 their immediate object, the New Testament is as perfect a consti- 
 tution for the worship, discipline and government of the New 
 Testament church and as perfect a rule for the particular duties 
 of its members, as the Old Testament was for the worship, disci- 
 pline and government of the Old Testament church and the par- 
 ticular duties of its members. 
 
 5. "That with respect to commands and ordinances of our 
 I/ord Jesus Christ, where the Scriptures are silent as to the ex- 
 press 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; nor can any- 
 thing more be required of Christians in such cases but only that they 
 so observe these commands and ordinances, as will evidently an- 
 swer the declared and obvious end of their institution. Mucli less 
 has any human authority power to impose new commands or 
 ordinances upon the church, w^iich our I/ord Jesus Christ has not 
 enjoined. Nothing ought to be received into the faith or worship 
 of the church, or be made a term of communion among Chris- 
 tians, that is not as old as the New Testament. 
 
 6. "That although inference and deductions from Scripture 
 premises, when fairly inferred, may be truly called the doctrine of 
 God's holy word, yet are they not formally binding upon the con- 
 sciences of Christians farther than they perceive the connection 
 and evidently see that they are soj for their faith must not stand 
 in the wisdom of men, but in the power and veracity of God* 
 Therefore no such deductions can be made ter^-s of communion, 
 
 (4) —49— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 but do properly belong to the after and progressive edification of 
 the church. Hence it is evident that no deductions or inferen- 
 tral truths ought to have any place in the church's confession. 
 
 7. "That although doctrinal exhibitions of the great system 
 of Divine truths, and defensive testimonies in opposition to pre- 
 vailing errors, be highly expedient and the more full and ex- 
 plicit they be for those purposes, the better; yet, as thesemust be, 
 in a great measure, the effect of human reasoning and of course 
 must contain many inferential truths, they ought not to be made 
 terms of Christian communion unless we suppose, what is con- 
 trary to fact, that none have a right to the communion of the 
 church but such as possess a very clear and decisive judgment, or 
 are come to a very high degree of doctrinal information, where- 
 as, the Church from the beginning did, and ever will, consist of 
 little children and young men as well as fathers. 
 
 8. "That as it is not necessary that persons should have a 
 particular knowledge or distinct apprehension of all divinely re- 
 vealed truths, in order to entitle them to a place in the church; 
 neither should they, for this purpose, be required to make a pro- 
 fession more extensive than their knowledge; but that on the con- 
 trary their having a due measure of scriptural self-knowledge re- 
 specting their lost and perishing condition by nature and prac- 
 tice, and of the way of salvation through Jesus Christ accom- 
 panied with profession of their faith in and obedience to him in 
 all things according to his word is all that is absolutely neces- 
 sary to qualfy them for admission into his church. 
 
 9. "That all that are enabled through grace to make such a 
 profession and to manifest the reality of it in their tempers and 
 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, objects of the same Divine love, 
 bought with the same price and joint-heirs of the same inherit- 
 ance. Whom God has thus joined together no man should dare 
 put asunder. 
 
 10. "The division among Christians is a horrid evil, fraught 
 
 — 50 — 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 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-scrip- 
 tural, as being strictly prohibited by his sovereign authority, a 
 a direct violation of his express command. It is anti-natural, as 
 it excites Christians to continue to hate and oppose one another 
 who are bound by the highest and most endearing obligations to 
 love each other as brethren, even as Christ hath loved them. In 
 a word, it is productive of confusion and every evil work. 
 
 11. "That (in some instances), a partial neglect of the ex- 
 pressly revealed will of God, and (in others) an assumed author, 
 ity for making the approbation of human opinions 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 universally acknowledged causes of 
 all the corruptions and divisions that ever have taken place in 
 the church of God. 
 
 12. "That all that is necessary to the highest state of perfec- 
 tion and purity of the Church upon earth is, first, that none be 
 received as members but such as, having that due measure of 
 scriptural self-knowledge described above, do profess their faith 
 in Christ and obedience to him in all things, according to the 
 Scriptures; nor, secondly, that any be retained in her communion 
 longer than they continue to manifest the reality of their pro- 
 fession by their temper and conduct. Thirdly, that her ministers, 
 duly and scripturally qualified, inculcate none other things than 
 those very articles of faith and holiness expressly revealed and 
 taught in the word of God. Lastly, that in all their adminis- 
 trations they keep close by the observance of all EHvine ordinan- 
 ces, after the example of the primitive church, exhibited in the 
 New Testament, without any additions whatsoever of human 
 opinions or inventions of men. 
 
 13. "Lastly. That if any circumstantials indispensably nec- 
 essary to the observance of Divine ordinances be not found upon 
 the page of express revelation, such, and such only, as are abso- 
 lutely necessary for this purpose, should be adopted under the 
 
 —51— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 title of human expedients, without any pretense to a more sacred 
 origin, so that any subsequent alteration or difference in the 
 observance of these things might produce no contention or divi- 
 sion in the church." 
 
 It is further explained in this address that there 
 is no desire to seek union by the sacrifice of truth. 
 
 'Union in Truth' is our motto." It was not sup- 
 posed for a moment, however, that all men could be 
 united in their opinions. '*But that all the mem- 
 bers should have the same identical views of all 
 divinely-revealed truths, or that there should be no 
 difference of opinion among them, appears to us 
 morally impossible, all things considered. Nor can 
 we conceive what desirable purpose such a unity of 
 sentiment would serve, except to render useless some 
 of those gracious, self-denying, and compassionate 
 precepts of mutual sympathy and forbearance which 
 the Word of God enjoins upon His people." Not 
 upon opinions, then, but upon the great fundamen- 
 tal truths and facts of the gospel does this far-seeing 
 reformer urge the unity of the people of God. 
 
 —52— 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 The Chief Actor. 
 
It often happens that the man who dis- 
 covers or announces first a new idea or 
 principle is not the one best adapted to 
 carry that idea or principle into practical 
 effect. It was so in the case of the current 
 reformation. While Thomas Campbell was 
 admirably fitted to see and announce the 
 great elementary principles underlying the 
 reformation, there was needed for the 
 times a man of a wider intellectual range, 
 more mental independence, and less disin- 
 clination to resort to conflict in defense of 
 these principles, and especially in their 
 faithful application to their own former 
 convictions and practices. His son, Alex- 
 ander, seemed to be endowed, trained and 
 equipped for such a work, and history tells 
 how fearlessly and faithfully he performed 
 his providential task. Happy the man who 
 could submit such a platform of religious 
 reform to the world and train a son who 
 would be capable of applying it to the liv- 
 ing questions of the age, 
 
 54 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Chief Actor. 
 
 While Thomas Campbell was a prime mover in 
 the Reformation of the nineteenth century, his son, 
 Alexander Campbell, became the chief actor and 
 the leading spirit. There is in this order of things 
 evidence of that divine and over-ruling Providence 
 which selects different men for different tasks in 
 carrying forward the purposes of God in the world. 
 No man living was better fitted by natural tempera- 
 ment, by training, by his religious environment, 
 first in the Old World, and then in the New, by his 
 humility of spirit, by his reverence for the Word of 
 God, and his ardent desire for the peace and unity 
 of the church, than was Thomas Campbell to be the 
 recipient of God's message for that day. To him it 
 was given to see the evils of division; to hear God's 
 call, in the condition and events of the times and in 
 his Word, for the unity of the church, and to per- 
 ceive and announce the great fundamental principles 
 by which this unity might be realized. But as it 
 was not given to David to build the temple of God, 
 on which he had set his heart, but only to prepare 
 
 --55— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 for it, while the great work itself was left to his son 
 Solomon, so while the vision of a united church was 
 given to Thomas Campbell, and the guiding princi- 
 ples by which this consummation was to be realized, 
 it was reser\^ed for his son, Alexander Campbell, to 
 apply these principles to the actual work of religious 
 reformation. For this latter work Alexander Camp- 
 bell possessed qualifications superior to those of his 
 father, or to any other man of his age and genera- 
 tion. 
 
 Alexander Campbell was born in the County of 
 Antrim, Ireland, September 12, 1788. On his 
 father's side, as we have seen, he was of the purest 
 Scottish blood, being related to Thomas Campbell, 
 the poet, and to the Campbells of Argyle, Scotland, 
 of which the Duke of Argyle, Sir Archibald Camp- 
 bell, was the head. From his mother's side he 
 received the blood of the French Huguenots, who 
 were refugees in Scotland from religious persecution. 
 From his earliest youth Alexander received the most 
 careful religious and literar\^ training. He formed 
 the habit, early in life, of memorizing select extracts 
 from the best authors, and especially from the Scrip- 
 tures, large portions of which he could recite from 
 memory. He pays this tribute to his mother: 
 
 She made a nearer approximation to the acknowledged beau 
 ideal of a Christian mother than any one of her sex with 
 whom I had the pleasure of forming a special acquaintance. 
 I can but gratefully say that to my mother, as well as to my 
 
 —56— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 father, I am indebted for having memorized in early life almost 
 all the writings of King Solomon — his Proverbs, his Ecclesiastes 
 and many of the Psalms of his father David. They have not 
 only been written on the tablet of my memory, but incorporated 
 with my modes of thinking and speaking. 
 
 With such religious training, it is not strange 
 that early in life he became deeply concerned about 
 his personal salvation. This is his own record of 
 his religious experience: 
 
 From the time that I could read the Scriptures, I became 
 convinced that Jesus was the Son of God. I was also fully per- 
 suaded that I was a sinner, and must obtain pardon through the 
 merits of Christ, or be lost forever. This caused me great dis- 
 tress of soul, and I had much exercise of mind under the awak- 
 enings of a guilty conscience. Finally, after much strugglings, 
 I was enabled to put my trust in the Saviour, and to feel my reli- 
 ance on him as the only Saviour of sinners. From the moment 
 I was able to feel this reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ, I 
 obtained and enjoyed peace of mind. It never entered my head 
 to investigate the subject of baptism or the doctrines of the 
 creed.* 
 
 Soon after this he became a member of his father's 
 church at Ahorey, and began to give special atten- 
 tion to theological studies and ecclesiastical history. 
 At the age of seventeen he became an assistant of 
 his father in an academy, so proficient had he 
 become in his studies. When Alexander was nine- 
 tee n years of age his father, on the advice of his 
 physician, which was strongly reinforced by the per- 
 
 *Memoir8, Page 48. 
 
 —57— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 suasion of his son, determined on a voyage across 
 the Atlantic, to seek a home for himself and his 
 family in the New World. Already the son had made 
 up his mind that he would emigrate to America when 
 he became of age, and naturally he was favorable 
 to the idea of his father going thither. Accordingly, 
 leaving his wife and the other younger members 
 of the family in charge of Alexander, Thomas Camp- 
 bell set sail on April 8, 1807, it being agreed that 
 the family was to follow if the father was pleased 
 with the country. Early in the following year Al- 
 exander received a letter from his father, urging 
 him to make all haste to bring the family to him, 
 where he was located in Washington, Pa. It was 
 not, however, until the first of October that the ship 
 *'Hibernia" actually hoisted sail and took its depar- 
 ture for its long voyage. It v/as then that one of those 
 strange events happened which often have so much 
 to do in molding one's future life and destiny. On 
 the night of October 7 the vessel was wrecked off 
 the coast of Scotland, the passengers being saved 
 after great peril, but with the loss of nearly all their 
 possessions. Alexander, by a strange premonition 
 in a dream, had seen the disaster of the ship early 
 in the evening, and had warned the family to be 
 ready for any emergency. Himself refusing to 
 undress that night, he w^as thereby the better pre- 
 pared to assist the family when the catastrophe 
 
 —58— 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 occurred. The following extract from Dr. Richard- 
 son's Memoirs will be of interest: 
 
 It was now that Alexander, having done all that was possible 
 for the present safety of his charge, abandoned himself to reflec- 
 tion as he sat on the stump of a broken mast, and in the near 
 prospect of death, felt, as never before, the vanity of the aims 
 and ambitions of human life. The world now seemed to him a 
 worthless void, and all its attractions a vain, delusive show. 
 Kingdoms, thrones and scepters could not, he thought, if 
 offered, excite one wish for their possession. The true objects 
 of human desire and the true purposes of man's creation now 
 appeared to him in all their excellence and glory. He thought 
 of his father's noble life, devoted to God and to the salvation 
 of his fellow-beings, and felt that such a calling, consecrated to 
 the elevation and everlasting happiness of mankind, was 
 indeed, the highest and most worthy sphere of action in which 
 any human being could engage. It was then, in that solemn 
 hour, that he gave himself up wholly to God, and resolved that, 
 if saved from the present peril, he would certainly spend his 
 entire life in the ministry of the gospel. It was at this moment 
 that he for the first time fully decided upon adopting the min- 
 istry as his profession.* 
 
 How often does it turn out that the frustration of 
 our plans and purposes is God's method of better fit- 
 ting us for our life-work. This shipwreck was a sad 
 disappointment to young Campbell and the family, 
 but it is not difficult to see, in the light of subsequent 
 events, how important an influence it exerted on the 
 life of the future reformer. The trip to America 
 that year was abandoned, in view of the lateness of 
 the season, and the family went to Glasgow, 
 
 ♦Memoirs, pp. 101, 102. 
 
 —59— 
 
The Story of a Ckntury. 
 
 Scotland, where Alexander desired to pursue 
 some studies in the university where his father 
 had been educated. He entered his classes on the 
 eighth of November, and being of an eminently 
 social disposition, formed an extensive acquaintance 
 among the numerous students who were there from 
 Ireland and Scotland. He found time to do a great 
 deal of reading in connection with his studies. 
 Alexander CampbelPs biographer says of his stay in 
 Glasgow that ''while it left his main purpose unal- 
 tered, it was destined to work an entire revolution in 
 his views and feelings in respect to the existing 
 denominations, and to disengage his sympathies 
 entirely from the Seceder denomination and every 
 other form of Presbyterianism." 
 
 This change seems to have been wrought chiefly 
 through his intimate acquaintance with Greville 
 Ewing, who took a special interest in Alexander, 
 and in the family. Through him he became ac- 
 quainted with the work of the Haldane brothers, of 
 distinguished Scottish ancestry, whose wealth and 
 religious zeal, together with certain ideas of relig- 
 ious reform which they held, made them conspicuous 
 characters in their time. Some of their views, it 
 appears, had deeply influenced the mind of Mr. 
 Campbell. The benefit derived by the young 
 reformer from his studies in the university in Greek, 
 logic and belles lettres, and in experimental philos- 
 
The: Story of a Ce:ntury. 
 
 ophy, together with the new religious ideas he had 
 gained from contact with other minds, in the work 
 of religious reform, was the added preparation which 
 was to better fit him for the work which awaited 
 him in the New World. It is a remarkable fact, 
 and one, too, which indicates a guiding providence, 
 that while the son was thus being disengaged from 
 his attachment to the Seceder Church in the Old 
 World, the father was undergoing the same experi- 
 ence, by a somewhat different process, in the New 
 world. Hence, it so happened that when Alexander 
 Campbell, with the other members of the family, 
 joined the father in the latter part of September, 
 1809, and the latter had related the occurrences 
 which had practically severed his connection with 
 the Seceder Church, he found his son in perfect 
 sympathy with his position. 
 
 —61— 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 APPI.ICATION OF Principles. 
 
Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not 
 disobedient unto tlie heavenly vision: but 
 declared both to them of Damascus first 
 and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the 
 country of Judsa, and also to the Gentiles, 
 that they should repent and turn to God, 
 doing works worthy of repentance. ' ' — '■ 
 Acts 26:19, 20. 
 
 ▼ ▼ ▼ 
 
 As it was in the case of Paul, so it has 
 been in, the case of every man who has 
 risen to greatness and to power in the 
 kingdom of God. He must follow the light 
 as God gives him to see the light, or for- 
 feit his moral standing with God and all 
 hope of future progress in the kingdom of 
 truth. Alexander Campbell was not diso- 
 bedient to the vision of truth and duty 
 as it came to him, and because he preferred 
 persecution and unpopularity to disobedi- 
 ence, God gave him a place of power among 
 men which shnll increase with the passing 
 years. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Application of Principles. 
 
 The first task which confronted Alexander Camp- 
 bell on his arrival at Washington, Pa., was the ex- 
 amination of the proof sheets of the Declaration and 
 Address which his father had previously prepared, 
 and which had been ordered to be printed and circu- 
 lated. As already intimated, his experience in the 
 Old World and his associations at Glasgow University 
 had served to dissatisfy him with the existing order 
 of things in the religious world, and to put him in an 
 attitude for independent thought and action. Read- 
 ing carefully the now historic document, he was 
 greatly impressed with the scriptural character and 
 far-reaching nature of the principles set forth in this 
 new declaration of independence. He at once de- 
 clared his hearty approval of the propositions con- 
 tained therein, but his mind was so constituted that 
 he could not stop with a mere approval of the general 
 principles of religious reform. He began at once to 
 inquire what were the implications of these principles 
 and what effect their application would have on ex- 
 
 (5) —65— 
 
The Story of a Cextury. 
 
 isting beliefs and practices, such as he and his father 
 and the church with which they had been identified 
 held as having divine sanction. 
 
 One of the first of these practices to pass under 
 review, in the light of the proposition that "nothing 
 should be required as a matter of faith or duty for 
 which a 'Thus saith the Lord' could not be produced 
 either in expressed terms or by approved precedent," 
 was infant baptism. A Presbyterian minister had 
 called his attention to the fact that this principle was 
 not sound, because "if followed out you must become 
 a Baptist." This startled the young reformer, and 
 he at once began a thorough investigation of the sub- 
 ject, securing all the works extant that he could 
 procure, in favor of infant baptism, and subjecting 
 their arguments to the test of New Testament teach- 
 ing. He made this honest investigation in the 
 earnest hope of finding justification for the practice. 
 The arguments in favor of the practice seemed to him 
 to be assumptions and fallacious reasonings. He 
 therefore threw them aside, and restorted to his Greek 
 New Testament, which afforded him no relief. 
 Thomas Campbell admitted the absence of scriptural 
 raithority for the practice, but argued that he could 
 "see no propriety, even if the scriptural evidence for 
 infant baptism be found deficient, in their unchurch- 
 ing or paganizing themselves, or in putting off Christ 
 merely for the sake of making a new profession, thus 
 
 —66— 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 going out of the church merely for the sake of com- 
 ing in again!" 
 
 In deference to his father's views Alexander dis- 
 missed the subject for the time, but after his marriage 
 and the birth of their first child, he was led to 
 take up once more, de novo^ the whole subject of 
 baptism in the light of the New Testament Scriptures 
 and the principles of religious reform which his fath- 
 er had enunciated and he had approved. Not to fol- 
 low here the process of his reasoning, the conclusion 
 reached was, that only believers in Christ were quali- 
 fied for Christian baptism, and that baptism in New 
 Testament usage, as well as in the very meaning of 
 the term, was immersion, involving burial in and 
 resurrection from the water, symbolizing Christ's 
 burial and resurrection from the dead, as well as the 
 believer's own death to sin and resurrection to new- 
 ness of life. Having reached this conviction he was 
 not the kind of man to remain long without bringing 
 his obedience into harmony with his convictions of 
 truth. He therefore arranged with a Baptist minis- 
 ter living near Washington to baptize him on a cer- 
 tain date, stipulating that he was to be required only 
 to confess his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the 
 prerequisite to baptism. Thomas Campbell notified 
 his son, as they were starting to the place appointed, 
 that he and his wife had decided also to be immersed. 
 A few others had reached the same decision, so that 
 
 —67— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 there were seven in all who, on that day, submitted 
 to New Testament baptism, as they understood it, 
 including Alexander Campbell and his wife, his fath- 
 er and mother and his sister.* 
 
 Only those who have passed through similar ex- 
 periences can realize what it must have cost these lead- 
 ers, after years of religious service in preaching the 
 gospel, and in teaching others, to take such a step as 
 this. Lying back behind this act were weeks and 
 months of earnest mental struggle to know the truth, 
 and to follow it whithersoever it would lead. It is not 
 difficult to imagine how loth both Thomas Campbell 
 and his son Alexander were to put up what might 
 seem a barrier to their cherished object, Christian 
 union. No doubt it was the fear of putting a hin- 
 drance in the way of this blessed consummation that 
 held them back, for a time, from taking the step 
 which their own consciences seemed to demand. 
 They came to see, however, that if immersion was 
 the New Testament ordinance which Christ had com- 
 manded, and which the apostles had practiced, they 
 themselves were not erecting any human barrier to 
 Christian union. In addition to that they had come 
 to see that it was not a mere question as to the form 
 
 *On a May daj' of the present year (1909) the author risited the spot on Buf- 
 falo Creek, about a mile above its junction with Brush Run, where this historic 
 event occurred. It was probably the first instauce in modern times of baptism 
 administered upon the simple confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the 
 Son of the living God. It was the dawning of a new era of religious freedom. 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 of baptism, but that their uew view of the ordinance, 
 including its design and proper subjects, affected 
 their whole conception of Christianity and of the 
 church. Accordingly, when it became evident that 
 their Christian Association must take the form and ful- 
 fill the functions of a church, and the congregation at 
 Brush Run was formed, only those were finally re- 
 ceived into its membership who were immersed be- 
 lievers. This has been the rule in all the churches 
 subsequently established. 
 
 Was this step in harmony with the principles laid 
 down in the Declaration and iVddress and with the 
 chief purpose which these reformers had in view — the 
 unity of Christians? This question need not be dis- 
 cussed here as to those who hold that New Testament 
 baptism does not involve immersion and is not limit- 
 ed to believers only. There are those, however, 
 who, admitting that this is the teaching of Christ and 
 his apostles, yet claim that to make this teaching a 
 standard of church membership is to violate the prin- 
 ciples laid down in the Declaration and Address, and 
 to put an obstacle in the way of Christian union. 
 This is not the place for any extended discussion of 
 this question. We may be sure that these men, who 
 were the chosen instruments of reform, gave careful 
 and prayerful thought to this question. All their pre- 
 dilections pointed in the direction of making the 
 
 question as to the form of baptism optional in the 
 
 —69— 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 church. Success in their cherished object, from all 
 human reasoning at least, pointed in the same di- 
 rection. And yet in spite of these facts they adopt- 
 ed the principle of restoring the simple New Testa- 
 ment faith and practice as the surest and only safe 
 way of restoring the ancient unity of the church. 
 
 It never occurred to them for a moment that only 
 those who would accept this progam were Christians, 
 and that all others were non-Christians, because they 
 knew by experience the mental struggles through 
 which one must pass in a radical change of his reli- 
 gious views. They had a profound respect for the 
 Christian character of many who differed from them. 
 They felt, however, that if it were their mission to 
 promote Christian union by a complete return to New 
 Testament faith and practice, and to illustrate in 
 their church life the very principles which they were 
 to teach, they had no authority or sanction for modi- 
 fying any divine requirement. They recognized the 
 fact that God has different kinds of work for various 
 kinds of workers, and that he would know how to 
 use, to his glory and to the good of men» churches 
 and organizations which would not enter into this 
 work of restoring New Testament teaching, and in 
 bringing to pass the realization of Christ's prayer 
 for unity. 
 
 If the success which God gives to those who are 
 seeking faithfully to carry out his purpose in the 
 
 —70— 
 
The Story of a Ckntury. 
 
 world may be cited as proof, are we not justified, by 
 the testimony of history, in concluding that these 
 pioneers were led by a wisdom more than human in 
 adopting the course which they themselves pursued 
 and commended to those who were to come after 
 them? 
 
 —71— 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 A Change of Leaders. 
 
Alexander Campbell is unquestionably 
 one of the most extraordinary men of our 
 time. Putting wholly out of view his ten- 
 ets, with which we have nothing to do, he 
 claims by his intrinsic qualities, as mani- 
 fested in his achievements, a place among 
 the foremost spirits of the age. His energy, 
 self-relian(Ce and self -fidelity, if we may use 
 the expression, are of the stamp that be- 
 longs only to the world's first leaders in 
 thought or action. His personal excellence 
 is certainly without a stain or a shadow. 
 His intellect, it is scarcely too much to say, 
 is among the clearest, richest and profound- 
 est ever vouchsafed to man. Indeed, it 
 seems to us, that in the faculty of abstract 
 thinking — in, so to say, the sphere of pure 
 thought — he has few, if any living rivals. 
 Every cultivated person of the slighest 
 metaphysical turn who has heard Alexander 
 Campbell in the pulpit, or in the social cir- 
 cle, must have been especially impressed by 
 the wonderful facility with which his facul- 
 ties move in the highest planes of thought. 
 Ultimate facts stand forth as boldly in his 
 consciousness as sensations do in that of 
 most other men. He grasps and handles the 
 liighest, sublimest and most comprehensive 
 principles as if they were the liveliest im- 
 pressions of the senses. No poet's soul is 
 more crowded with imagery than is his 
 with the ripest forms of thought. Surely 
 the life of a man thus excellent and gifted 
 is a part of the common treasure of so- 
 ciety. In his essential character he belongs 
 to no party, but to the world. — Geo. D. 
 Frentlce, in Louisville Journal, 
 
 —74— 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A Change of Leaders. 
 
 With the change of views on the subject of bap- 
 tism on the part of these reformers, there came also, 
 in the most natural way, without any formal declara- 
 tion, and certainly without the least friction, a 
 change in the relative positions of Alexander Camp- 
 bell and his father, Thomas Campbell. It now be- 
 came evident to all, and to none more than to 
 Thomas Campbell, that henceforth the duty of leader- 
 ship and of the defense of the principles they had 
 espoused, must devolve upon the younger of these 
 two reformers, who, both by natural endowment and 
 by the superior energy and strength which belonged 
 to his young manhood, was better fitted for this 
 position. The son never ceased to pay due deference 
 to the father and to consult him in all matters of in- 
 terest to the movement; but he recognized the fact 
 that Providence had laid on him the responsibility of 
 leadership, and he accepted it courageously, relying 
 humbly upon God for widsom and strength, and 
 calling no man master. 
 
 WHAT MANNER OF MAN. 
 
 The world, even the religious world, has yet to 
 become acquainted with the character, the remark- 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 able ability and high Christian ideals of Alexander 
 Campbell. It will not be out of place to submit just 
 here the testimony of a few competent judges as to the 
 quality of the man who now assumes the reins of 
 leadership in this Reformation of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury. In 1875, on commencement day of Bethany 
 College, Judge Jeremiah Black, of Pennsylvania, who 
 was Attorney-General of the United States under 
 Buchanan, unveiled a bust of Alexander Campbell, 
 and in his speech on the occasion paid him the fol- 
 lowing remarkable tribute 
 
 According to my apprehension, his career was most heroic. 
 In support of those truths which divine revelation had taught 
 him, he encountered the opposition of the whole world, to say 
 nothing of the flesh and the devil. Friends fled from his side 
 while enemies met him in front and hung upon his flank and 
 rear. The life of a Christian man worthy of his vocation, is a 
 battle at best. The similes with which Paul describes it are con- 
 stantly drawn from the struggles of the warrior and the athlete. 
 He of whom I speak contended valiantly for the faith once de- 
 livered to the saints, not only against the natural allies of Satan, 
 but against errors which seemed to be consecrated by the appro- 
 bation of good men; creeds, imbedded in prejudice; falsehood, 
 guarded by interests which the slightest disturbance infuriated. 
 It was a war "against principalities and powers and spiritual 
 wickedness in high places." 
 
 The little band of disciples that gathered around him at first, 
 and whom the world in derision called by his name, were as lit- 
 erally the sect "everywhere spoken against" as their predecessors 
 in primitive times. 
 
 To effect a great reformation under such circumstances; to 
 convince large numbers of men against their will; to organize the 
 
 —76— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 believers into a compact and powerful body; to conquer the re- 
 spect of the world; these are proofs of intellectual ability and 
 moral force with which only a few of the children of men have 
 been gifted. To these qualities were added an unfailing courage, 
 a fortitude that nothing could shake, a chivalrous sense of jus- 
 tice to his opponents and affection for his friends, second only to 
 his love for the cause to which he had devoted his life. What 
 higher claims can any man set up to the character of a hero? 
 
 When we estimate his talents and virtues by the practical 
 results of their exercise, we must remember that he wrought out 
 his success solely by appeals to the hearts, reason and con- 
 sciences of his fellow men. Others have made as deep a mark 
 upon the history of the race, but nearly all of them were backed 
 by political power, or aided by unworthy passions. It is easy to 
 account for their achievements without supposing them to possess 
 much strength of their own. Standing behind a steam engine, 
 even a weak man may make some progress in removing a moun- 
 tain, but he who scatters it abroad with his naked hands incon- 
 testibly belongs to the breed of the Titans. 
 
 When I speak thus of his merely human dimensions, I do 
 not undervalue the power of the gospel. But the qualities of 
 mind and heart which glorify truth, make the man illustrious in 
 his personal character. He was invincible by virtue of the divine 
 armor with which he was clothed; still, it is only just to say that 
 he filled it grandly, wore it always, and never sunk beneath its 
 weight. The weapon that glittered in his hand was the sword of 
 the Spirit; but without the sweep of that long arm its celestial 
 temper would not have been proved. 
 
 After crediting his coadjutors with their fnll share of the 
 common work, he is still without a rival to come near him. 
 Many of them were tall in their intellectual stature, but, look- 
 ing through the host, it is neither detraction nor flattery to say 
 that— 
 
 " He above the rest 
 In shape and stature proudly eminent 
 Stood like a tower." 
 
 —77— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 He was a thoroughly trained scholar, a life-long student, with in- 
 dustry to which mere idleness would have been pain. He never 
 unbent from mental exertion except in conversation. He was 
 indeed a most wonderful talker. No one, I think, ever joined 
 him in these social recreations without being instructed and de- 
 lighted. HipS pen was extremely prolific. His writings are so 
 voluminous that we can not but wonder how he found time to 
 accomplish the mere mechanical labor. 
 
 As a great preacher he will be remembered with unequal. 
 ed admiration by all who had the good fortune to hear him in 
 the prime of his life. The interest which he excited in a great 
 congregation can hardly be explained. From the first sentence 
 to the close every word was heard with rapt attention. 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 inconsistent with the 
 grand simplicity of his character. It was logic, explanation and 
 argument, so clear that everybody followed it without an effort, 
 and all felt that it was raising them to the level of a superior 
 mind. Prejudice melted away under the easy flow of his elocu_ 
 tion. The clinching fact was always in its proper place, and the 
 fine poetic illustration was ever at hand to shed its light on 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.* 
 
 The celebrated and gifted George D. Prentice 
 said in the L<ouisville Journal^ after hearing Mr. 
 Campbell preach: 
 
 Alexander Campbell is unquestionably one of the most extra- 
 ordinary men of our time. Putting wholly out of view his tenets, 
 with which we have nothing to do, he claims by his intrinsic 
 qualities, as manifested in his achievements, a p'.ace among the 
 foremost spirits of the age. His energy, self-reliance and self- 
 fidelity, if we may use the expression, are of the stamp that 
 belongs only to the world's first leaders in thought or action, 
 
 *I,ife of Jeremiah S. Black, pp. 72-76 
 
 —78— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 His personal excellence is certainly without a stain or a shadow, 
 His intellect, it is scarcely too much to say, is among the clearest, 
 richest and profoundest ever vouchsafed to man. Indeed, it 
 seems to us, that in the faculty of abstract thinking— in, so to 
 say, the sphere of pure thought — he has few if any living rivals. 
 Every cultivated person of the slightest metaphysical turn who 
 has heard Alexander Campbell in the pulpit, or in the social circle, 
 must have been especially impressed by the wonderful facility 
 with which his faculties move in the highest planes of thought. 
 Ultimate facts stand forth as boldly in his consciousness as sen- 
 sations do in that of most other men. He grasps and handles the 
 highest, sublimest and most comprehensive principles as if they 
 were the liveliest impressions of the senses. No poet's soul is 
 more crowded with imagery than is his 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 charac- 
 ter he? belongs to no party, but to the world.* 
 
 Ex-President Madison said of him: 
 
 I regard him as the ablest and most original expounder of 
 the Scriptures I have ever heard. 
 
 Dr. Heman Humphrey, then president of Am- 
 herst College, said of him: 
 
 He speaks like a master of assembles; as one who has entire 
 confidence in the mastery of his subject and his powers, and 
 who expects to carry conviction to the minds of his hearers with- 
 out any of the adventitious aids on which ordinary men find it 
 necessary to rely. 
 
 In his brochure on * 'Alexander Campbell as a 
 Preacher," A. Mcl^ean, president of the Foreign 
 
 ♦Ufe of Jeremiah S, Black, pp. 76-78 
 
 —79— 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 Christian Missionary Society, speaking of the ver- 
 satility of Mr. Campbell's genius, says: 
 
 Alexander Campbell was a many-sided man. He was an au- 
 thor and editor. Sixty volumes have his name on their title 
 pages. He founded a college and was its president for a quarter 
 of a century. He taught regularly all those years. He was a de- 
 fender of the faith as he held it. He had oral discussions lasting 
 for days with John Baptist Purcell, a Roman Catholic Bishop; 
 with Robert Owen, of Lanark, the Secularist; and with several 
 other of the strong men of their time. He had written discus- 
 sions with skeptics, Jews. Unitarians, Universalists, Baptists and 
 Pedobaptists. These discussions covered nearly all questions re- 
 lating to Christian doctrine and to church polity. Mr, Campbell 
 was a man of affairs. He married and raised a family. He was 
 the father of fourteen children. He managed a large business 
 and made money. He served the state that adopted him. He 
 was a member of the constitutional convention of Virginia. He 
 sat in council with ex-president Madison, with chief justice Mar- 
 shall, with Randolph of Roanoke, and with many other of the 
 illustrious men of the old commonwealth. Mr. Campbell was a 
 conversationatist worthy to rank with I,uther and Johnson and 
 Macaulay and Coleridge. 
 
 And yet this great reformer, with these transcen- 
 dent powers wholly consecrated to the work of re- 
 ligious reform, is often conceived by the ministry 
 and religious editors of to-day as a narrow partisan 
 holding some extreme theories about baptism! It is 
 no uncommon thing for public speakers and authors 
 of books, in enumerating the great preachers and the 
 great movements of the nineteenth century, to omit 
 even the slightest reference to this greatest reformer 
 
 —80— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 of the century, and the religious movement which he 
 inaugurated. But this is not exceptional. It is the 
 usual fate of great reformers, in every sphere of life, 
 to be compelled to wait until future times for their 
 vindication. 
 
 (6) 
 
 —81— 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 Learners of Christ. 
 
"It is now plain to every one that truth 
 is not given all at once, and in the nature 
 of the case can not be, but is slowly devel- 
 oped through long processes of thinking 
 as experience accumulates and knowledge 
 advances. Every church, therefore, needs 
 to be very hospitable to new truth from 
 whatever quarter it may come, whether 
 from science and from advancing history, 
 or from the criticism of history, secular and 
 religious, or from the developing moral na- 
 ture and insight of the religious communi- 
 ty. Of course, if any church is founded on 
 some petty whim or prejudice, or if any 
 church has staked its authority on obsolete 
 science or disproved history, such church 
 must object to freedom of thought, with 
 the sure result that sooner or later it will 
 be abandoned of God and man, unless it 
 bring forth fruits meet for repentance. But 
 all other churches, if they have faith in 
 God, must also have faith that truth will do 
 no harm and can not itself be finally harmed. 
 As Lowell has it, 'God's universe is fire- 
 proof and it is safe to strike a match.' " — 
 "Studies in Christianity,'* by Prof. Borden 
 ParJcer Bowne. 
 
 —84— 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Learners of Christ. 
 
 At this point it might be well to recall the steps 
 of progress which had, thus far, been made under 
 the leadership of Thomas and Alexander Campbell, 
 since the inauguration of their movement to pro- 
 mote Christian union. 
 
 1 . Their first step was to clearly appprehend the 
 evils of division among Christians, as contrary to 
 the mind of Christ and the teaching of the apostles, 
 and to feel the necessity of an earnest effort to 
 bring about that unity for which Jesus prayed. 
 
 2. They next saw that the desired unity could 
 not be brought about on any of the existing creeds 
 of Christendom, and they, therefore, urged that all 
 such creeds be rejected in so far as they have been 
 made standards of authority and bases of union. 
 This was not a repudiation of the doctrines of the 
 creeds, but of the use made of them in promot- 
 ing division. They rejected no evangelical doc- 
 trine of the creeds. 
 
 3. In repudiating human creeds as tests of fel- 
 lowship and terms of union and communion, they 
 
 —85— 
 
The Story of a Cextury. 
 
 fell back upon the Holy Scriptures as the only 
 infallible and authoritative rule of faith and practice, 
 and urged the strictest conformity to their teaching, 
 and especially to the New Testament, which is 
 designed for Christians as their guide in faith, doc- 
 trine and duty. 
 
 4. In turning to the Bible, and the Bible alone, 
 as their rule of faith and conduct, they discovered 
 what is the real object of Christian faith,. and what 
 was the original confession of faith — that it was not 
 doctrinal, but personal; not what but whom we 
 believe — namely, the confession of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ as the Son of God and Saviour.* This confes- 
 sion, they saw, included all that Christ was, and 
 taught, and commanded, being simple enough for a 
 child to make, centered as it is in a person, and yet 
 comprehensive enough for the wisest Christian phi- 
 losopher. 
 
 5. Having taken their place now at the feet of 
 Christ to learn of him, they saw that baptism was 
 an ordinance which he had instituted for believers 
 in him, who might thus express their faith in, and 
 surrender to him. By a fresh and original study of 
 the New Testament, they saw, by the very meaning 
 of the word in the original, and by the practice of 
 the apostles, and by the symbolic character of the 
 ordinance, that it involves immersion — a burial in 
 
 *Matt, 16, 13, 18. 
 
 —86— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 and resurrection from the water. This' necessary 
 union of faith with baptism, in order that the latter 
 might have any efficacy, they had come to see ren- 
 dered useless and harmful the practice of infant bap- 
 tism, and they had accordingly omitted it from their 
 program of reform. 
 
 It must be admitted by every candid reader that 
 these steps marked distinct progress in the work of 
 religious reform. None of these things were seen at 
 first to be involved in their declaration of principles, 
 the discarding of creeds and the acceptance of the 
 Bible alone as authoritative; but as they had come 
 to see what the teaching of Christ and his apostles 
 required of them, they had conformed their teaching 
 and practice thereto. Like Saul of Tarsus, who had 
 seen the vision of the glorified Christ, they were 
 * *not disobedient to the heavenly vision. " At no time 
 in the past, and not even at the point at which they 
 had now arrived, did they regard themselves as hav- 
 ing attained to a full knowledge of the truth. But 
 they were following after, if they might apprehend 
 that for which they had been apprehended by 
 Christ. It was this spirit that made them truly Dis- 
 ciples, that is. Learners of Christ. As the biog- 
 rapher of Mr. Campbell says: 
 
 During their course thus far, this band of reformers had rec- 
 ognized themselves to be, not a sect, with its truths and errors 
 equally stereotyped, and equally immutable, but a party of prog- 
 fess — as learners in the school of Christ, * 'Whereto they had 
 
 —87— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 attained" they endeavored "to walk by the same rule and to 
 mind the same things." In seeking for the "old paths" they had, 
 thus far, found each new truth to lead them to another still 
 more obvious as a single track often guides the traveler, lost in 
 the forest, to a pathway, which in turn conducts him to one still 
 wider and more easily pursued.* 
 
 There were further truths not as yet seen which 
 had yet to be learned, and even those we have men- 
 tioned above were to be apprehended in a much 
 clearer light, together with all the implications con- 
 tained in them. Had they been content to have 
 stereotyped the views to which they had then at- 
 tained, other reformers must necessarily have fol- 
 lowed them to carry on their uncompleted work. It 
 is equally true to-day of that same movement which 
 they inaugurated, that if it becomes content with its 
 past attainments in knowledge, and allows them to 
 become stereotyped, either in a written or unwritten 
 creed, refusing to keep an open mind for a larger 
 and fuller apprehension of God's unfolding truth, its 
 mission as a reformation will have ended and others 
 must take up the work and carry it on to comple- 
 tion. 
 
 But the steps above enumerated had separated 
 them from the Pedobaptist world, with which they 
 had hitherto been identified, and they were accused 
 of starting a new sector party, even while denouncing 
 the evils of division, and pleading for Christian 
 
 ♦Memoirs of Thomas Campbell, p. 404, 
 —88— 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 union. It is in evidence that they felt keenly this re- 
 proach, and sought, in every possible way, to avoid it. 
 
 Referring to this charge Mr. Campbell said: 
 
 Am I asked why I am not a party man? Or why I do not join 
 some party? I ask, in return, which party would the Apostle 
 Paul join if now on earth? Or, in other words, which party 
 would receive him.* 
 
 He further explains why he cannot be a party 
 man; that is, join any existing ecclesiastical organ- 
 ization, by saying that ^'the parties oppose reforma- 
 tion. They all pray for it, but they will not work 
 for it. None of them dare return to the original 
 standard." That one could be a Christian simply 
 without any prefix or affix and without acknowledg- 
 ing allegiance to any human creed or to any existing 
 ecclesiastical organization was something not readily 
 admitted, and by some not easily comprehended. 
 
 Notwithstanding these convictions, there were two 
 outstanding facts which were destined to influence 
 the course of these reformers. One of these was 
 their utter disinclination to add another to the exist- 
 ing independent religious bodies. The other was, 
 that the steps which they had now taken brought 
 them into close sympathy, on many points, with 
 another great religious body, namely, the Baptists. 
 Was there sufficient oneness of faith, and teaching, 
 
 ♦Memoirs of Thomas Campbell, p. 353, 
 
 — S9— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 and aim, between these reformers and the Baptists 
 to enable them to coalesce and work together for the 
 unity and purity of the church? History was yet to 
 answer that question. 
 
 —90— 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 Union With The Baptists. 
 
Looking at our past history, it is difficult 
 to say what would have been the fortunes 
 of A. Campbell's reformatory enterprise, 
 during its first two or three decades if it 
 had not found an admirably propitious field 
 among the Baptists, It certainly would 
 not have made the remarkable progress 
 which signalized its early history. This is 
 a fact all must not forget. The influence 
 of our connection with the Baptists on the 
 entire history of the reformation, is a sub- 
 ject worthy of our most appreciative study. 
 In this respect we owe much to the Bap- 
 tists, in spite of the sad fact that they 
 often became our most determined oppo- 
 nents, — Frof. C. L. Loos, in ' *Jleformation 
 of the Nineteenth Century,'' 
 
 —92— 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Union With The Baptists. 
 
 When it became known among tlie Baptists that 
 the church at Brush Run, under the leadership of 
 Thomas and Alexander Campbell, had adopted im- 
 mersion as the scriptural form of baptism, and that 
 they now held and taught that only penitent believ- 
 ers were proper subjects of baptism, and that their 
 views of church government were very similar to 
 those of Baptists, favoring the autonomy of each lo- 
 cal church, they quite naturally made overtures to 
 the Campbells to identify themselves with the Bap- 
 tist Association in whose bounds the church was lo- 
 cated. They regarded it as no small triumph for 
 Baptist principles that these two able and independ- 
 ent reformers, pursuing their investigations with the 
 single purpose of ascertaining what was the mind of 
 Christ concerning his church and its ordinances, had 
 reached conclusions for which the Baptists had stood 
 for so long a time. It is to their credit that they 
 made overtures for union, feeling that there was 
 enough held in common bet ween themselves and these 
 reformers to justify such union. The Campbells were 
 
 —93— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 disinclined at first to consider favorably the proposi- 
 tion looking to union for reasons previously stated, but 
 further acquaintance with the Baptist people, with 
 whom Alexander Campbell was better pleased than 
 with the ministers of that section, in that day, and 
 the strong desire to avoid a new and independent 
 movement, caused them to decide that, on certain 
 conditions, their church would become identified with 
 the Redstone Baptist Association. The question was 
 brought before the Brush Run church in the autumn 
 of 1813, and the church drew up a statement of its 
 religious position at that time, and expressed a will- 
 ingness to unite with the Association above mention- 
 ed on the simple condition that they be "allowed to 
 teach and preach whatever they learned from the 
 Holy Scriptures.*' It is evident from this condition 
 that neither the Campbells nor their followers at this 
 time regarded themselves as having learned all that 
 the Scriptures might require of them, and they in- 
 sisted on the liberty which they had hitherto exer- 
 cised, of conforming their teaching and practice to 
 any new truths which they might learn. 
 
 This document was presented to the Redstone As- 
 sociation, and after no little debate it was voted to 
 receive the Brush Run church on the conditions 
 stated. Thus was brought about the union of these 
 reformers with the Baptists, which was destined to 
 make an indelible mark in religious history. Not all 
 
 — 94r- 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 the Baptists were favorable to the union. Some of 
 the more conservative ministers feared that this 
 avowed purpose of the reformers of conforming their 
 teaching and practice to any new discoveries of truth 
 might be the means of introducing innovations among 
 the Baptists, which would be out of harmony with 
 their historic position. Even at that time Alexander 
 Campbell, the acknowledged leader of the reformers, 
 held views out of harmony with the teaching of the 
 Baptists of that day. These differences especially re- 
 lated ( I ) to the place and purpose of baptism in the 
 Christian system; (2) the administration of the 
 Lord's Supper; (3) the nature and means of regen- 
 eration; (4) the relation between the old and new 
 covenants, and, as summing up all of these, (5) the 
 recognition on the part of Mr. Campbell and those 
 who stood with him of the need of religious reform- 
 ation, and a much closer conformity to New Testa- 
 ment teaching, with the view of bringing about the 
 unity of a divided church. In addition to the fore- 
 going, the Baptists of the Redstone Association had 
 accepted the Philadelphia Confession of Faith as their 
 creed, which contained points of doctrine to which 
 Mr. Campbell could not subscribe. In spite of these 
 differences, Mr. Campbell regarded the Baptists as 
 more closely conformed to New Testament teaching 
 than any existing religious body, and freer in spirit 
 to adopt principles of reform than others, and no 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 doubt hoped that a closer contact with them would 
 tend to lessen their differences, and to advance the 
 principles of reform which he held to be important. 
 
 Now that Mr. Campbell was regarded as a Bap- 
 tist minister he had free access to Baptist churches 
 wherever he went, and he never failed to present his 
 ideas of religious reform. Proud of the new champion 
 of their cause, the Baptists selected Mr. Campbell to 
 conduct two debates for them, one with Mr. Walker 
 in 1820, and the other with Mr. Maccalla in 1823. 
 These debates gave Mr. Campbell a great opportunity 
 for bringing his views of the Scriptures to the atten- 
 tion of Baptists, many of whom were ready to accept 
 them. Nevertheless, the opposition which existed to 
 Mr. Campbell in the beginning of this union on the 
 part of a certain element, was intensified by a sermon 
 on the law, which he delivered at one of their associ- 
 ations, in which he contrasted the two covenants, 
 showing that Christians are not under law, but under 
 grace; not under Moses, but under Christ; not under 
 the old covenant, but under the new. So bitter be- 
 came the opposition that Mr. Campbell and the Brush 
 Run Church voluntarily withdrew from the Associa- 
 tion, and identified themselves with the Mahoning 
 Association in the Western Reserve, which proved 
 far more favorable to the reformation which Mr. 
 Campbell urged. This Association ultimately be- 
 came identified with the Reformatory movement of 
 
 —96— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 Mr. Campbell. And so it came about that at the end 
 of a period of about fifteen years this union between 
 the Baptists and the reformers ended, and henceforth 
 the churches identified with the Reformation were 
 regarded as independent of the Baptists and of any 
 other existing religious organization. 
 
 (7) 
 
 —97— 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 Mr. CampbklIv's Task Outunkd. 
 
How can we stand fast in the liberty 
 wherewith Christ has made us free, while 
 standing fast also in the unity wherewith 
 Christ hath made us one? Roman Catholicism 
 secured union of a kind, but it sacrificed 
 liberty. Protestantism secured liberty, but 
 at the sacrifice of union. Are these two 
 principles, then, essentially antagonistic, 
 the one to the other? Are they mutually 
 exclusive terms, so that they who enjoy the 
 one must do so at the sacrifice of the other? 
 This can not be, for Christ not only 
 taught both union and. liberty as princi- 
 ples of his kingdom, but he enjoined them 
 upon his followers. How can they be rec- 
 onciled? . . . Liberty in Christ and union 
 through loyalty to Christ — that is the har- 
 monization of these two principles of the 
 gospel. Loyalty to all that Christ has com- 
 manded — that gives us unity. Loyalty to 
 Christ only, and the rejection of all human 
 authority in religion — that gives us liberty. 
 — "Christian Union: A Historical Study,'* 
 ty J. E. Garrison, 
 
 —100— 
 
CHAPTER X, 
 
 Mr. Campbell's Task Outlined. 
 
 With the severance of ecclesiastical relations with 
 the Baptists, the religious movement inaugurated by 
 the Campbells entered a new phase of its existence 
 and came to that degree of self-consciousness as an 
 independent movement which enabled it to face its 
 own future. Perhaps at this point it would be appro- 
 priate to outline the work which Mr. Campbell con- 
 ceived as the task which Providence had set before 
 him. Roman Catholicism had accentuated unity and 
 sacrificed liberty, resulting in religious despotism. 
 Protestantism accentuated liberty and sacrificed unity, 
 resulting in division, or religious anarchy. How 
 can these two principles, both of w^hich seem to be 
 taught in the Scriptures, and to be vital to religion, 
 be harmonized and preserved in the church? Has 
 the church ever confronted a more important problem 
 in all its history than that? To the solution of this 
 problem Mr. Campbell devoted his superior talents, 
 his religious genius, his learning and his life-long 
 labors. We can not do better than to quote here 
 what seems to us an admirable statement of the 
 
 —101— 
 
The: Story of a Ce:ntury. 
 
 problem, from a work entitled ' 'Alexander Campbell's 
 Theology," in relation to the task which confronted 
 Protestantism at the beginning of the last century. 
 
 *'Thetaskof philosophy in the nineteenth cen- 
 tury may be described in the most general terms as 
 an attempt to transcend the individualism which 
 was developed by the eighteenth; i. e., to use it, to 
 control it, to pass beyond it to a unity which shall 
 embody but shall not crush it. 
 
 ''The problem of the religious world at the open- 
 ing of the nineteenth century was a similar one. 
 Protestant individualism had been fully developed on 
 the side of division and separation. That this could 
 not be endured as a permanent condition was evi- 
 denced by the many unsuccessful attempts to restore 
 unity. The conditions of the problem and the need 
 of a solution have now been brought clearly to light. 
 The need of the hour was for the discovery of a prin- 
 ciple of synthesis by which, without restricting the 
 liberty of any man, a practical and effective union of 
 religious forces might be obtained. The problem 
 was to transcend religious individualism by finding 
 a basis for religious solidarity. 
 
 "The whole history of Protestantism had been a 
 continual demonstration of the impossibility of unit- 
 ing on the basis of a complete theology, even a 
 professedly biblical theology. The exercise of the 
 right of private judgment is a guarantee that there 
 
Th^ Story of a Century. 
 
 will always be many differences of opinion as to what 
 the Bible teaches upon certain points of doctrine. 
 The attempt to reduce Christianity to its simplest 
 and purest form by emphasis upon the feeling of the 
 individual as the criterion of religion, had quickened 
 and enthused the church but had contributed little to 
 the solution of the problem of unity. Equally un- 
 successful, and far more disastrous, had been the 
 opposite attempt to get at the essentials of Chris- 
 tianity by a process of pure reason, based on a theory 
 of knowledge the foundation of which was the sense 
 perception of the individual. The significance of 
 Alexander Campbell's contribution to the question of 
 Christian union is that he took the matter up just at 
 this point, and proposed another principle of union. 
 The unity of the church is to be based, not upon a 
 complete system of biblical or dogmatic theology, nor 
 upon anything which is to be found within the indi- 
 vidual himself; but upon the authority of Christ and 
 the terms which he has laid down as the conditions 
 of salvation. 
 
 *'Mr. Campbell frequently spoke of his movement 
 as an attempt to secure union *upon the Bible', 
 but it was evident from the whole course of his 
 thought that this did not mean union upon his in- 
 terpretation of the teaching of the Bible upon every 
 point of Christian doctrine. The latter would have 
 been simply a reaffirmation of the old dictum that 
 
Thi: Story of a Century. 
 
 *tlie Bible and the Bible alone is the religion of 
 Protestants. ' It was rather Mr. Campbell's idea that 
 the Bible is to be taken as the authority for deter- 
 mining what is essential in Christianity. But the 
 whole Bible is not taken up with depicting original 
 and essential Christianity. Therefore the real basis 
 of unity is not the entire biblical teaching upon all 
 points, about many of which there would be dif- 
 ferences of interpretation, but the practice of the early 
 church under the guidance of the apostles, represent- 
 ing the authority of Christ. The question to be 
 answered is. What did the apostles, taught by Christ, 
 consider the essentials of a church? 
 
 *'This distinction between union on the Bible, in 
 in the sense of union on all the doctrines which each 
 individual conceives to be taught in the Bible, and 
 union on the Bible, in the sense of union on the bibli- 
 cal statements regarding the essentials of Chris- 
 tianity is an important one to bear in mind, as it helps 
 to define the position which ]\Ir. Campbell's theology 
 occupied in his general scheme of thought. His the- 
 ology was his interpretation of the teaching of 
 Scripture on a great many points, and it shows the 
 influence of some contemporary systems of theology 
 and philosophy. But he did not make his theology 
 his basis for union. For example, he conceived that 
 faith, repentance and baptism v/ere essentials of 
 Christianity, and were therefore included in the basis 
 
 — 104r— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 of union. But his interpretation of the nature of 
 faith, the manner in which the Holy Spirit operates 
 in conversion, and the design of baptism in the 
 scheme of redemption were parts of his theology 
 which he taught as truths but did not erect into tests 
 of fellowship. 
 
 While his whole movement was a revolt against 
 the results of eighteenth century individualism, as 
 manifested in the condition of Christendom as divided 
 into innumerable sects, Mr. Campbell revolted also 
 no less against its method, namely, the self-de- 
 pendence of the individual in matters of religion. 
 He concurred with the general movement of the 
 eighteenth century in desiring a reduction of Chris- 
 tianity to its essential elements, but he differed from 
 it in asserting that Christianity could never be re- 
 duced to its essential elements through the exercise 
 of the unaided human reason, or through dependence 
 upon the emotions of man. There must be neces- 
 sarily a return to authority for the establishment of 
 the essential basis of religion. The unity, therefore, 
 comes not from within, but from without. Given the 
 individual as defined according to I^ocke's philosophy, 
 and there can be v/ithin him no universal element to 
 serve as a basis of unity or as a means of attaining 
 such a basis. 
 
 "Stated in his own terms, then, Mr. Campbell's 
 movement would be defined as an attempt to unite 
 
 —105— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 Christendom by a restoration of the essential elements 
 of primitive Christianity as defined by the Scriptures. 
 He was strongly of the opinion that nobody before 
 had ever seriously attempted such a restoration on 
 such a basis. All previous sects and dissenting 
 bodies had been built on creeds and confessions with 
 only a nominal, or, if real, a short-lived return to the 
 authority of Scripture. He recognized the fact, it is 
 true, that there had been a few scattered individuals, 
 through the two centuries which preceded his work, 
 who had grasped this idea, but there had never yet 
 been any serious attempt to apply the principle to 
 the solution of the problem. *Not until within the 
 present generation,' says Mr. Campbell, 'did any 
 sect or party in Christendom unite and build upon 
 the Bible alone. Since that time the first effort 
 known to us, to abandon the whole controversy about 
 creeds and reformations and to restore primitive 
 Christianity, or to build alone upon the apostles and 
 prophets, Jesus Christ himself the chief Corner Stone, 
 has been made.' Attempts had been made, to be 
 sure, to deduct from the Scriptures complete systems 
 of theology, and to make these the bases of successive 
 reformations of the church. But his own movement 
 differed from these in seeking for the authoritatively 
 given conditions of salvation and making these alone, 
 as the essentials of Christianity, the basis for the 
 unity of the Church. There may be differences of 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 theory about the facts of the gospel, but the facts 
 themselves are sure. There may be differences of 
 interpretation in regard to many doctrines taught in 
 the Bible, but, when all prejudices and preconceived 
 opinions have been set aside, there is little room for 
 differences in regard to the few simple commands, 
 obedience to which was the only condition of en- 
 trance to the church in the days of the apostles. 
 
 * 'Stated in a word, Mr. Campbell's method of 
 effecting the reconciliation between the liberty of the 
 individual and the unity of the whole body, was a 
 return to authority for essentials and the admission 
 of individual differences in non-essentials."* 
 
 This problem, then, which Mr. Campbell set for 
 himself and for the movement he inaugurated, and 
 the solution which he proposed, is the key by which 
 alone we can enter into any proper understanding of 
 his own life-work, and of the results which have been 
 achieved by him, and by those who are seeking to 
 carry forward the work which he began. In the light 
 of this purpose and principle, we shall seek to epit- 
 omize the chief results of the Reformation which is 
 now approaching its first Centennial anniversary. 
 
 •"Alexander Campbell's Theology," by W. B Garrison, Ph. D., pp. 67-74. 
 —107— 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 Some of Mr. Campbell's Co-Laborers. 
 
Thomas Campbell, Alexander Campbell, 
 Walter Scott and E. Eichardson — what il- 
 lustrious names! How lofty they rise be- 
 fore us in, the history of our past, of the 
 heroic days of the mighty battle for the 
 faith, the doctrine and life of the primitive 
 church! How worthy their lives of our 
 reverence and love! — C. L. Loos, in Ee- 
 formation of the Nineteenth Century. 
 ▼ ▼ ▼ 
 
 Lives of great men all remind us 
 We can make our lives sublime, 
 And, departing, leave behind us 
 Footprints on the sands of time. 
 
 —Longfellow. 
 
 —110— 
 
Walter Scott. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Some of Mr. Campbei^l's Co-i.aborers. 
 
 We have already noted the important part taken 
 by Thomas Campbell in the initial steps of the Re- 
 formation, and of his special fitness for this work. 
 Until the end of his long life he continued to be an 
 adviser and helper of his son, who had become the 
 real leader of the movement. In addition to him there 
 came to Mr. CampbelPs side, other men who seem 
 to have been pre-eminently fitted for the parts which 
 they performed in carrying forward the work of re- 
 ligious reformation. It is proper, even in this outline 
 view of the Reformation, that a brief sketch be giv- 
 en of some of the chief men who, in an earlier period, 
 stood with Mr. Campbell in that Reformation which 
 he was leading, and who made their own special 
 contributions to it. 
 
 I. WALTER SCOTT. 
 
 In about the year 1818 there landed in New York 
 a young Scotch Presbyterian of good family and fine 
 education, named Walter Scott, who, like many an- 
 other aspiring young man, in the Old World, had 
 
 —111— 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 determined to seek his fortune in the New. He was 
 born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, October 31, 1796 
 He is described as a man of striking appearance. 
 He had received a fine classic education at the Uni- 
 versity of Edinburgh, and was a man of rich literary 
 culture and broad reading. He made the journey 
 from New York to Pittsburg on foot with some ac. 
 quaintances which he had formed in New York. At 
 Pittsburg he became acquainted with a countryman 
 of his, Mr. Forrester, who was a school teacher in 
 that city, and became his assistant in conducting the 
 school. During this time he formed the acquain- 
 tance of a Mr. Richardson, at whose home he 
 was wont to spend, occasionally, a pleasant social 
 evening, and thus became acquainted with his oldest 
 son, Robert Richardson, then thirteen years of age, 
 who was destined to perform an important part in 
 the Reformation. Under Mr. Forrester's teaching 
 Walter Scott had yielded his prejudice and former 
 convictions, and had been immersed, and soon suc- 
 ceeded Mr. Forrester in the management of the 
 school, in which young Robert Richardson now be- 
 came an earnest student. Walter Scott had a pro- 
 foundly religious nature, and the seed of the Word 
 which had fallen into his heart found rich soil. He 
 soon became wholly absorbed in the study of the 
 Bible and of religious problems. Dr. Richardson 
 says of him at this period: 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 Every moment that could be spared from necessary duties was 
 devoted to the Bible, which had become to him a new book, 
 opening up to his astonished mind a world of wonders, of which> 
 amidst the misty atmosphere of sectarianism, he hardly 
 dreamed. Especially was he enraptured with the simplicity of 
 the gospel, so different from the involved and complex theolog- 
 ical systems of the day . . . Possessing an extraordinary power of 
 analysis and classification, he was soon enabled to arrange the 
 Scripture teaching under its appropriate heads or subjects, and 
 to resolve the divine plan of redemption into its constituent ele- 
 ments. Having at the same time an ardent fancy, he saw in the 
 simple facts of the gospel and in its expressive ordinances a 
 power which he believed capable of breaking down all barriers 
 of religious partyism and carrying salvation to the end of the 
 earth. 
 
 Dr. Richardson further says of him: 
 
 Above all things, he seemed to be impressed with the Divine 
 glory of the Redeemer in all his personal and official relations. 
 In the exercise of his analytical power, he soon discovered that 
 the testimonies of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written 
 for one great, specific object, and that this was to prove the 
 proposition that Jesus is the Christy the son of God,'^ and 
 that this constitutes the central truth and the great essential 
 element of Christianity. He had thus, by a different process, 
 reached the same standpoint which Mr. Campbell had attained 
 in eliminating from the Christian faith everything that was for- 
 eign to its nature. Upon this theme Mr. Scott delighted to 
 dwell. . . . The beauty of the character of Christ seemed to be 
 the subject of his continual meditation and the model of his 
 daily life.* 
 
 Growing thin and pale from his arduous labors 
 and studies, he was invited by young Richardson, 
 
 =:vIen2oirs, page 507. 
 (S) 
 
 —113— 
 
^ ^ , Th^ Story of a Cejntury. 
 
 wbo was then his friend and companion as well as 
 his pupil, to walk out of an evening to his father's 
 garden in the vicinity of the city; **but his mind 
 could not be divorced, amid such recreations, from the 
 high theme which occupied him. Nature in all its 
 forms seemed to speak to him only of the Creator; 
 and although, gentle and affectionate as he was, he 
 sought ever to interest himself in the things that in- 
 terested others, his mind would constantly revert to 
 its ruling thought, and some incident in their ram- 
 ble, some casual remark in their conversation, would 
 at once open up the fountain of religious thought 
 that seemed to be ever seeking for an outlet.* 
 
 While Walter Scott was engaged in teaching and 
 preaching at Pittsburg, Mr. Campbell visited the 
 city and formed his acquaintance. Dr. Richardson 
 tells us that **they conceived for each other at once 
 the warmest personal esteem — an esteem which was 
 based, perhaps, less on those points of their respec- 
 tive characters upon which they agreed, than upon 
 those on which they differed.'* It is a fact, 
 often overlooked, that friendships and fellowships 
 often find their foundation and justification in mat- 
 ters of difference as well as in matters of likeness. 
 
 Dr. Richardson's description of the differences and 
 likenesses of the two men is so discriminating and 
 clear, and presents such an admirable picture of the 
 
 ♦Memoirs, p, 508. 
 
 —114— 
 
The Story of a Ckntury. 
 
 two great men who were destined to be co-laborers 
 in the same cause, that we can not do better than to 
 copy the same from his Memoirs: 
 
 Thus, while Mr Campbell was fearless, self-reliant and firm, 
 Mr. Scott was naturally timid, diffident and yielding; and, while 
 the former was calm, steady and prudent, the latter was excit- 
 able, 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 di- 
 rection. Both were nobly endowed with the powers of higher 
 reason — a delicate self-consciousness, a decided will and a clear 
 perception of truth. But, as it regards the other departments 
 of the inner nature, in Mr. Campbell the understanding predom. 
 iuated, in Mr. 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 extend- 
 ed views, and to group a multitude of particulars under a single 
 head or principle, that of the other was to analyze, to divide sub- 
 jects into their particulars and consider their dejtails. If the one 
 v/as disposed to trace analogies and evolve the remotest corre- 
 spondences of relations, the other delighted in comparisons and 
 sought for the resemblances of things. If the one pos- 
 sessed the inductive 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 regard- 
 ed differential or distinctive, they were singularly fitted to sup- 
 ply each other's wants and to form a rare and delightful com- 
 panionship. Nor were their differences in personal appearance 
 and physical constitution less striking or less susceptible of 
 agreeable contrast. For while 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 
 
 —115— 
 
The Story of a Centura. 
 
 strength. While the aspect of the one was ever lively and cheer- 
 ful even in repose, that of the other was abstracted, meditative, 
 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 lustrous, full of intelligence and 
 softness, and without 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. 
 
 Such were some of the prominent contrasts of these two em- 
 inent advocates of reformation, who were henceforth destined to 
 share each other's labors and trials, to promote each other's dis- 
 coveries of truth, and to emulate each other in their efforts to re- 
 store the pure primitive apostolic gospel to the world.* 
 
 Walter Scott, whose sketch v^e have just given, 
 might well be called our pioneer evangelist. With 
 the new light of the gospel which the Reformation 
 had given him, his soul became aflame with zeal to 
 preach this gospel to others in its simplicity, sub- 
 limity and pov/er. Like John the Baptist, he was *'a 
 bright and shining light" to many of the churches 
 where he preached. With his analytical mind he had 
 arranged the gospel into a simple order of facts, com- 
 mands and promises which the ordinary people could 
 easily understand. There were facts to be believed, 
 commands to be obeyed and promises to be enjoyed. 
 The gospel order, he held, was: (i) faith; (2) repent- 
 ance; (3) baptism; (4) remission of sins; (5) the 
 Holy Spirit. This analysis, while capable of becom- 
 
 *Memoirs pp. 510-513. 
 
 —116— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 ing a mechanical formula with certain minds, possess- 
 ed the advantage of being readily understood and 
 clearing away a vast amount of vagueness and mysti- 
 cism which had become associated with the subject of 
 conversion. The formulation of the gospel in this 
 order, together with a sublime emphasis upon the 
 personal glory, majesty and official authority of Jesus 
 Christ, who is the object of faith, may be said to be 
 Walter Scott's distinct contribution to the Reforma- 
 tion which he had so heartily espoused. He demon- 
 strated the practicability of his method of presenting 
 the gospel by his labors in the Western Reserve of 
 Ohio, and rendered most valuable service to the cause 
 in establishing the churches, especially of the Ma- 
 honing Association, in their attitude toward the Re- 
 formation. 
 
 II. ROBERT RICHARDSON. 
 
 It has already been noted that while teaching at 
 Pittsburg Walter Scott had, as a student, a boy nam- 
 ed Robert Richardson, to whom he became greatly 
 attached, and who in turn felt a great attachment for 
 his teacher. Under the careful instruction of Mr. 
 Scott, Robert Richardson, though reared as an Epis- 
 copalian, became convinced both of the truth and of 
 the value of the principles taught by the advocates of 
 the new Reformation. He had studied the Greek New 
 Testament under his beloved teacher, and had thus 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 familiarized himself with the original sources of 
 Christianity. He studied medicine, and became a 
 practicing physician in his young manhood. Being 
 fond of literature, he became the master of a fine lit- 
 erary style. While Walter Scott was carrying on his 
 evangelistic work on the Western Reserve, young Dr. 
 Richardson traveled one hundred and twenty miles 
 to tell his old teacher that he had come to the light 
 of the **ancient gospel," and to seek baptism at his 
 hands. The following characterization of him is 
 given by Prof. Charles I^ouis L^oos, who knew him 
 well: 
 
 Robert Richardson was endowed with much more than ordinary 
 intellectual gifts; and these he cultivated with great industry 
 from early youth to his mature years. He was also in the truest 
 sense of the word a man of intellectual and literary habits. He 
 had reached good attainments in the classical tongues, and 
 was well versed in French. His calling and mental inclinations 
 led him to the study of natural sciences; he was Professor of 
 hemistryand kindred sciences in Bethany College for nineteen 
 years. Nature was a field he explored with passionate delight. 
 He had a special predilection for the higher walks of literature. 
 I question whether any man among us ever reached higher excel- 
 lency in literary taste and culture than Dr. Richardson. Hi» 
 writings testify to this* 
 
 But Dr. Richardson's chief claim to distinction, ac- 
 cording to the same authority, was his devotion to 
 the Word of God and his unwearied study of that vol- 
 ume — not simply the proof texts that he wished to 
 
 • Reformation of the Nineteenth Century, pp. 76-77. 
 
 —118— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 use to prove certain doctrines, but the whole Bible. 
 He excelled as an expounder of the Scriptures and 
 had a clear understanding of the principles of the Re- 
 formation which he had accepted. What was more 
 than these accomplishments still, was his profound 
 piety. ^'He was thoroughly evangelical in his con- 
 ceptions of the Bible and of Christianity," as Prof. 
 hoos tells us, and as his writings prove. He combined 
 the practice of medicine with the preaching of the 
 gospel, and was also a constant writer. He went to 
 Bethany in 1835 to assist Mr. Campbell in his work 
 on the Millennial Harbinger^ a monthly periodical 
 which had succeeded the Christian Buptist, For 
 twenty years he was associated intimately with Mr. 
 Campbell, and his influence on the Reformation, as 
 the older men among us will testify, was most salutary. 
 His views of, and his teaching concerning, the Holy 
 Spirit, were, in some respects, in advance of his co- 
 laborers, and of the great majority of those who have 
 come after him. His work on the Holy Spirit, and 
 his Memoirs of Alexander Campbell, entitle him to 
 an honored place among the great men who gave 
 character, influence and direction to the Reforma- 
 tion of the nineteenth century. We are indebted 
 to the influence of such men as Dr. Richardson for 
 the fact that the Reformation has been held within 
 evangelical lines of thought, and saved from those 
 hurtful extremes into which some of its professed ad- 
 
 —119— 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 vocates, from time to time, have been led. It is a 
 matter for devout thanksgiving to us all that it can 
 be said of the four great leaders whom we have 
 sketched — Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Walter 
 Scott and Robert Richardson — that they were not only 
 soundly evangelical in thought, but deeply religious 
 in life. Prof. Charles I^ouis I^oos, referring to them, 
 says: 
 
 The sincere piety that adorned and glorified the lives of these 
 men, and so powerfully pervaded their teaching and preaching, 
 must be preserved as a sacred legacy to us and our Cause. For 
 nothing is more utterly false than that our fathers were mainly 
 concerned to lead men to correct views and to external obedience. 
 The reverse of this is true. They were eminently pious men 
 themselves, and in all their teaching strove to call men to godli- 
 ness and holiness of life.* 
 
 This testimony is from one now far past his four 
 score years, who knew these great men intimately in 
 their private and public life, and is a sufficient refuta- 
 tion of the false views which many opponents of the 
 Reformation have come to entertain concerning these 
 reformers. This fact ought to be an inspiration to 
 the younger men of the Reformation to hold up in 
 their lives and in their teaching the same high ideals 
 of personal piety, of evangelical faith, and of loyalty 
 to Jesus Christ, which are presented in the lives and 
 characters of these heroic men of the past. It argues 
 much for the future of our Cause that its primal im- 
 
 ♦Reformation of the Nineteenth Century, p. 81. 
 
 —120— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 pulse and shaping came from men who walked with 
 God' ^ and whose deepest motive and all-absorbing 
 passion was to glorify God, exalt his Son Jesus Christ, 
 bring about the unity for which he prayed, and thus 
 hasten the conversion of the world. 
 
 There will, perhaps, be no better place for us to 
 say a word concerning the unfortunate impression 
 which has gone out very widely, that one of the im- 
 portant things lacking in the religious movement in- 
 augurated by these men is its failure to emphasize 
 the spiritual side of Christianity, and that it has been 
 chiefly concerned with the external. If this be true, 
 to any extent, of certain advocates of the Reformation 
 in the later times, it is certainly not true of the noble 
 men who inaugurated the movement, nor is such a 
 position consistent with the principles of the move- 
 ment itself. Unfortunately, it is true of a certain type 
 of mind that it can readily see what is formal and ex- 
 ternal, but finds it exceedingly difficult to penetrate 
 beneath the outward and formal into the very heart 
 and soul which these outward forms and symbols are 
 intended to express. We have had such men among 
 us, and it is easy to understand how, through an em- 
 phasis of certain neglected truths, there came to be, 
 for a time, an ^z^^r-emphasis of such truths, with a 
 corresponding «;2^^r-emphasis of truths even more 
 vital. This error in time corrects itself, and the move- 
 ment is now in the process of this self-correction. 
 
Thb Story of a Century. 
 
 Nothing can be more important, at the present time, 
 than to give such proportion to our teaching as will 
 correct the evil impression that has gone forth con- 
 cerning our failure to apprehend and appreciate the 
 supremacy of the spiritual in Christianity. 
 
 —122— 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A Tributary r^IovEMEXT. 
 
As two streams, having independent 
 sources in tbe high mountain ranges, in flow- 
 ing onward to the sea, by the law of gravi- 
 tation, often meet and mingle their waters 
 in one river, broad enough and deep enough 
 to carry vessels of commerce on its bosom, 
 so the two independent religious movements 
 — the one inaugurated by the Campbells 
 and 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 un- 
 hindered by sectarian alms, forming a 
 mighty stream of reformatory influenioe, 
 whose effect has been felt in every part of 
 the church universal. 
 
 —124— 
 
Barton W. Stone. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A Tributary Movement. 
 
 As stated in an earlier part of this sketch there 
 were a number of independent movements in the 
 early part of the previous century, which had for 
 their common object a return to the simple faith and 
 practice of the' New Testament, with the view of 
 correcting existing errors in the religious world, and 
 thereby healing its divisions. The most important 
 of these tributary movements, and the one which ob- 
 tained the largest following, and which has exerted 
 most permanent influence on the current Reforma- 
 tion, is that associated with the name and labors 
 of 
 
 BARTON W. STONE. 
 
 This remarkable man, remarkable no less for his 
 deep piety than for his intellectual ability, was born 
 near Port-Tobacco, in the state of Maryland, Decem- 
 ber 24, 1772. His father dying when he was young, 
 his widowed mother moved with the family to what 
 was then the backwoods of Virginia, in 1799, during 
 the Revolutionary War. His boyhood was spent 
 amid the exciting scenes and events of the Revolu- 
 
 —125— 
 
The Story of a Cextury. 
 
 tion, and under the influence of the intense patriot- 
 ism which moved the people of the colonies at that 
 period. In early life he manifested an intense desire 
 for learning, preferring the company of books to 
 that of his young companions. He became familiar 
 with the Bible in the school which he attended. 
 Early in life, too, he manifested a deep interest in 
 religion, and sought to realize the religious expe- 
 rience which was common in those days. At that 
 time the war between the Methodists and Baptists 
 in that region was very bitter, and his mind vacillat- 
 ed between those two contending divisions of the 
 lyord's army. Their contentions discouraged him, 
 and he for a time "quit praying and gave himself up 
 to the youthful sports of the day." When he was 
 about sixteen years of age he went to what was then 
 a noted academy in Guilford, North Carolina, and 
 commenced the study of Latin grammar. He made 
 rapid progress in his studies, passing by a number of 
 classes in his zeal for securing an education. Dur- 
 ing his attendance at that institution James Mc- 
 Gready, an earnest revivalist of that period, visited 
 the region and preached. Young Stone heard him 
 and was deeply convicted of sin, and "resolved from 
 that hour to seek religion at the sacrifice of every 
 earthly good." In his Autobiography he says: 
 
 "According to the preaching, and the experience 
 of the pious in those days, I anticipated a long and 
 
 —126— 
 
Ths Story of a Century. 
 
 painful struggle before I should be prepared to come 
 to Christ, or, in the language then used, before I 
 should get religion. This anticipation was com- 
 pletely realized by me. For one year I was tossed 
 on the waves of uncertainty . . . laboring, praying, 
 and striving to obtain saving faith . . . sometimes 
 despondent, and almost despairing of ever getting 
 it.'^ This, of course was the result of the doctrine 
 then taught, that mankind were so totally depraved 
 that they could not believe, repent, nor obey the 
 gospel, without regeneration, and that regeneration 
 was an immediate work of the Spirit, by which faith 
 and repentance were wrought in the heart. 
 
 He continued to live a religious life, alternating 
 between hope and despair — hope, when he would 
 read in the Bible such texts as *'God is love,** but 
 despairing on hearing the hyper-Calvinism of that 
 day preached. He resolved, however, to devote 
 himself to the ministry, and began to study with the 
 view to equip himself for that work. He was con- 
 fused by such theological works of the time as 
 Witsius on the Trinity. He v/as very much discour- 
 aged at the outlook, and being in a distressed condi- 
 tion financially, he went to Georgia and secured a 
 position as a teacher in an academy near Washing 
 ton, conducted under the auspices of the Methodists. 
 After teaching at this institution for something more 
 than a year, he resigned and returned to North 
 
 —127— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 Carolina, with the view of entering the ministry of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the Orange Presbytery. 
 He received license to preach, and made an appoint- 
 ment in connection with another young candidate 
 for the ministry, but before the day came their hearts 
 failed them, and they left the neighborhood. Soon 
 after, however, he v/as induced to preach, and "was 
 enabled to speak with boldness and with profit to the 
 people." He now determined to go v/est, through 
 what was then a wilderness country infested by In- 
 dians, to Western Tennessee and Kentucky. After 
 preaching a while in the neighborhood of Caneridge 
 and Concord, he made a trip to Charleston, South 
 Carolina, for the purpose of soliciting funds for the 
 establishment of a college in Kentucky, under the 
 appointment of the Transylvania Presbytery. In 
 this trip to the south he caught a glimpse of slavery 
 which turned him against that institution, and 
 caused him eventually to free his slaves. 
 
 In the fall of 1798 he returned to Kentucky by 
 way of Virginia, where he visited his mother, and 
 accepted a call from the united congregations of 
 Caneridge and Concord. He accepted the call, and 
 the day was appointed for his ordination. When 
 the time arrived, however, he stumbled at some of 
 the doctrine taught in the Westminster Confession 
 and decided to postpone his ordination. Those who 
 were to conduct the service, however, took him aside 
 
 —128— 
 
Tnt Story of a Ckntury. 
 
 and labored to remove his objections. "They asked 
 me how far I was willing to receive the Confession. 
 I told them as far as I saw it consistent with the 
 Word of God. They concluded that was sufncient. 
 I went into Presbytery, and when the question was 
 proposed, 'Do you receive and adopt the Confession 
 of Faith as containing the system of doctrine taught 
 in the Bible?' I answered aloud, so that the whole 
 congregation might hear, *I do, as far as I see it con- 
 sistent with the word of God.' No objection being 
 made, I was ordained." 
 
 The following paragraph from his Autobiography 
 gives a graphic description of the state of his mind 
 at the time, and the type of theology then prevail- 
 ing: 
 
 About this time my mind was continually tossed on the waves 
 of speculative divinity, the all-engrossing theme of the religious 
 community at that period. Clashing, controversial opinions 
 were urged by the different sects with much Zealand bad feeling. 
 No surer sign of the low estate of true religion. I at that time 
 believed, and taught, that mankind were so totally depraved 
 that they could do nothing acceptable to God, till his Spirit, by 
 some physical, almighty and mysterious power had quickened, 
 enlightened, and regenerated the heart, and thus prepared the 
 sinner to believe in Jesus for salvation. I began plainly to see 
 that if God did not perform this regenerating work in all, it 
 must be because he chose to do it for some and not for others, 
 and that this depended on his own sovereign will and pleasure. 
 It then required no depth of intellect to see that the doctrine is 
 inseparably linked with unconditional election and reprobation, 
 as taught in the Westminster Confession of Faith. They are vir- 
 tually one; and this was the reason why I admitted the decree 
 (9) —129— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 of election and reprobation, having admitted the doctrine of 
 total depravity. They are inseparable. 
 
 Scores of objections would continually roll across my mind 
 against this system, These I imputed to the blasphemous sug- 
 gestions of Satan, and labored to repel them as Satanic tempta- 
 tions, and not honestly to meet them with scriptural arguments. 
 Often when I was addressing the listening multitudes on the 
 doctrine of total depravity, their inability to believe — and of the 
 necessity of the physical power of God to produce faith; and then 
 persuading the helpless to repent and believe the gospel, my 
 zeal in a moment would be chilled at the contradiction. How 
 can they believe? How can they repent? How can they do im- 
 possibilities? How can they be guilty in not doing them? Such 
 thoughts would almost stifle utterance, and were as mountains 
 pressing me down to the shades of death. I tried to rest in the 
 common salvo of that day, i. e., the distinction between natural 
 and moral ability and inability. The pulpits were continually 
 ringing with that doctrine; but to my mind it ceased to be a re- 
 lief; for by whatever name it be called, that inability was in the 
 sinner, and, therefore, he could not believe nor repent, but must 
 be damned. Wearied with the works and doctrines of men, and 
 distrustful of their influence, I made the Bible my constant com- 
 panion, I honestly, earnestly and prayerfully sought for the 
 truth, determined to buy it at the sacrifice of everything else.* 
 ♦Autobiography of Barton W. Stone, pp. 30-31. 
 
 —130— 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 From Darkness to Light — A Great Revivai 
 
The remembrance of that fateful gather- 
 ing [the Cane Eidge revival] lingers in 
 Kentucky after the lapse of a century. 
 Nothing was lacking to stir to its pro- 
 fondest depths the imagination and emotion 
 of this great throng of men, women and 
 children. It was at night that the most 
 terrible scenes were witnessed, when the 
 camp-fires blazed in a mighty circle around 
 the vast audience of pioneers bowed in de- 
 votion. Beyond was the blackness of the 
 primeval forests; above, the night wind and 
 the foliage and the stars. As the/darkness 
 deepened, the exhortations of the preachers 
 became more fervent and impassioned, their 
 picturesque prophecies of doom more lurid 
 and alarming, the volume of song burst all 
 bonds of guidance and control, and broke 
 again and again from the throats of the 
 people, while over all, at intervals, there 
 rang out the shout of ecstasy, the sob and 
 the groan. — ^'Primitive Traits in Religious 
 Revivals/' Fredericic Morgan Davenport, 
 p. 75. 
 
 —132— 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 From Darkness To Light — A Great Revival. 
 
 It was in the study of the Bible that Barton W. 
 Stone found relief from the mental perplexities 
 which were narrated in the previous chapter. In 
 his autobiography he says: 
 
 From this state of perplexity I was relieved by the precious 
 Word of God. From reading and meditating upon it, I became 
 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 in them to make 
 them believe, but because they neglected and received not 
 his testimony, given in the Word concerning his Son. "These 
 are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the 
 Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through his 
 
 name" This glimpse of faith — of truth, was the first divine 
 
 ray of light that ever led my distressed, perplexed mind from 
 the labyrinth of Calvinism, and error, in which I had so long 
 been bewildered. It was that which led me into rich pastures 
 of gospel liberty. I now saw plainly 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. 
 
 It was a time of profound religious apathy 
 when **not only the power of religion had dis- 
 
 —133— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 appeared, but also the very form of it was waning 
 
 fast away.'* About this time Mr. Stone heard of a 
 
 remarkable religious excitement in the south of 
 
 Kentucky and in Tennessee under the labors of 
 
 James McGready and other Presbyterian ministers, 
 
 and he decided to attend the meeting. 
 
 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 continued for hours together in an apparently 
 breathless and motionless state, sometimes for a few moments 
 reviving and exhibiting symptoms of life by a deep groan, 
 or piercing shriek, or by a prayer for mercy most fervently 
 uttered. After lying thus for hours they obtained deliverance 
 
 With astonishment did I hear men, women and children, 
 
 declaring the wonderful works of God, and the glorious myste- 
 ries of the gospel. 
 
 After remaining and witnessing such scenes for 
 several days his conclusion was that while there was 
 much fanaticism in the meeting there was also much 
 good. 
 
 That can not be a Satanic work which brings men to an hum- 
 ble confession and forsaking of sin, to solemn prayer, fervent 
 praise and thanksgiving, and to sincere and affectionate exhorta- 
 tion to sinners to repent and come to Jesus the Saviour. 
 
 He returned to his appointment at Caneridge 
 on Lord's day. Multitudes had assembled to hear 
 the news from the meeting he had attended. He 
 narrated the scenes he had witnessed, and preached 
 a sermon on Christ's commission, urging the univer- 
 sality of the gospel, and faith as the condition of sal- 
 
 —134— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 vation. **The congregation was affected with awful 
 solemnity, and many returned home weeping.** At 
 night he preached at Concord, when two little girls 
 **were struck down under the preaching of the 
 Word, and in every respect were exercised as those 
 were in the south of Kentucky." In a few days 
 he returned to Caneridge, where he found the effects 
 of his last sermon manifest in the deep religious 
 interest of the people. Among those who had found 
 the Lord was one Nathaniel Rogers, a prominent 
 man in the community, who, on seeing Mr. 
 Stone enter the churchyard ran to meet him, shout- 
 ing the praises of God, and they embraced each 
 other. The people left the church building, and 
 gathered around them and *4n less than twenty 
 minutes scores had fallen to the ground. Paleness, 
 trembling and anxiety appeared in all— some at- 
 tempted to fly from the scene panic-stricken, but 
 they either fell or returned immediately to the 
 crowd — as unable to get away. . . . The meet- 
 ing continued on that spot in the open air till late at 
 night, and many found peace in the L^ord.*' 
 
 **The effects of this meeting through the coun- 
 try,** says Mr. Stone, **were like fire in dry stubble 
 driven by a strong wind.** The meeting continued 
 five days. All seemed to unite in the work. Par- 
 ty spirit, abashed, slunk away.** Soon after this, 
 Mr. Stone, having married meanwhile, returned 
 
 —135— 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 to Caneridge to begin another meeting, "on Thurs- 
 day or Friday before the third Lord's day in August, 
 1801.'' 
 
 He writes: 
 
 The roads were literally crowded with wagons, carriages, 
 horsemen, footmen, moving to the solemn camp. The sight was 
 affecting. It was judged by military men on the ground that 
 there were between twenty and thirty thousand collected. Four 
 or five preachers were frequently speaking at the same time in 
 different parts of the encampment without confusion. Methodist 
 and Baptist preachers aided in the work and all appeared 
 cordially united in it — of one mind and one soul, and the salva- 
 tion of sinners seemed to be the great object of all. 
 
 This was the great Caneridge revival; a particular 
 description of which, Mr. Stone says, "would fill 
 a volume, and then the half would not be told. 
 The numbers converted will be known only in 
 eternity." This meeting continued six or seven 
 days and nights, and would have continued longer 
 but provisions for such a large multitude failed 
 in the neighborhood. The bodily agitations con- 
 nected with this meeting are described at some 
 length by Mr. Stone himself as the "falling ex- 
 ercise, the jerks, the dancing exercise, the barking 
 exercise, the laughing and singing exercise. " It is dif- 
 ficult to account for these strange manifestations, but 
 we are concerned chiefly now with the effects 
 of this revival. Associated with Mr. Stone were a 
 number of other ministers who were connected with 
 
 —136— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 the Presbyterian church, namely, Richard McNemar, 
 John Thompson, John Dunlavy and Robert Marshall. 
 David Purviance, who was a candidate for the 
 ministry, was of the same faith. The doctrine 
 which they preached at that time was *Hhat God 
 loved the world — the whole world, and sent his 
 Son to save them, on condition that they believed in 
 him; that the gospel was the means of salvation, but 
 that this means would never be effectual to this end, 
 until believed and obeyed by us; that God required 
 us to believe in his Son, and had given us sufficient 
 evidence in his Word to produce faith in us, if 
 attended to by us. . . . We urged upon the sinner to 
 believe now^ and receive salvation; that in vain they 
 look for the Spirit to be given them while they 
 remained in unbelief; they must believe before 
 the Spirit of salvation would be given them.'' This 
 does not seem to us of to-day a very startling 
 proclamation, but Mr. Stone says that *'When 
 we began first to preach these things, the people ap- 
 peared to have just awakened from the sleep of ages; 
 they seemed to see for the first time that they were 
 responsible beings, and that a refusal to use the 
 means appointed was a damning sin." 
 
 Soon after the revival ceased, the spirit of opposi- 
 tion broke out against these men, and Mr. Stone 
 soon saw, as did the Campbells, that his separa- 
 tion from his former ecclesiastical connection was 
 
 —137— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 necessary. He called his two congregations to- 
 gether and told them he could no longer conscien- 
 tiously preach to support the Presbyterian Church, 
 and that his labors should * 'henceforth be directed 
 to advance the Redeemer's kingdom irrespective of 
 party." He absolved them from all financial ob- 
 igation to him, and henceforth was a free man 
 in Christ. For a while Mr. Stone and his fellow- 
 laborers continued their work under the name of the 
 * 'Springfield Presbytery." In about one year, how- 
 ever, they became convinced that there was no 
 authority for such an eccelsiastical organization, and 
 wrote its "Last Will and Testament," consign- 
 ing its body to death, together with its name and 
 distinction, its power of making laws, etc. One 
 item of the will was as follows: "We will that 
 the people henceforth take the Bible as the only 
 sure guide to heaven, and as many as are offended 
 with other books, which stand in competition with 
 it, may cast them into the fire if they choose, for it 
 is better to enter into life having one book, than 
 having many to be cast into hell." 
 
 It is sad to add that of the six men who signed 
 this document, two were carried away by the delu- 
 sion of Shakerism, and two others subsequently 
 returned to the Preabyterian fold. Mr. Stone 
 continued faithful, however, passing through some 
 mental tribulation on the subject of the atonement, 
 
 —138— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 until he reached what he regarded as a satisfactory 
 view. The subject of baptism also now engaged 
 his attention, and he adds that *'some with himself 
 began to conclude that it was ordained for the 
 remission of sins, and ought to be administered 
 in the name of Jesus to all believing penitents." In 
 a great meeting at Concord, when mourners were 
 invited every day to collect before the stand, and 
 when brethren were praying daily for the same peo- 
 ple, and none seemed to be comforted, *'the words 
 of Peter at Pentecost," he says, "rolled through my 
 mind: ^Repent and be baptized for the remission of 
 sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
 Ghost.' " He arose and addressed these mourners 
 in the language of Peter, and urged them to comply. 
 "Into the spirit of the doctrine," he says, "I was 
 never fully led, till it was revived by Brother 
 Alexander Campbell, some years after." 
 
 —139— 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 Disciples and Christians Unite. 
 
Barton W. Stone "was criticised by some 
 of his brethren for uniting -with the move- 
 ment of Mr. Campbell, and a modern his- 
 torian has even denied that such a union 
 ■was ever formed!* In vindication of his 
 course in seeking fellowship and co-opera- 
 tion with Mr. Campbell he savs: 
 
 ^'But -what else could we do, the Bible 
 being our directory? Should we command 
 them to leave their foundation on which 
 we stood — the Bible alone — when they had 
 come upon the same? By what authority 
 should we command? Or should we have 
 left this foundation to them, and have built 
 another? Or sL-ould we have remained and 
 fought with them for the sole possession? 
 They held the name Christian as sacred as 
 we did, — they were equally averse from mak- 
 ing opinions the test of fellowship — and 
 equally solicitous for the salvation of souls. 
 This union, irrespective of reproach, I view 
 as the noblest act of my life. ' ' — Autobi- 
 ography, p. 79. 
 
 ♦"Centennial of Religious Journalism," pp. 325, 
 326. 
 
 —142— 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 Disciples and Christians Unite. 
 
 As Mr. Campbell had come in contact with the 
 Baptists in Pennsylvania in the progress of his work, 
 and had formed fraternal associations with them, so 
 Mr. Stone in his work in Kentucky had a similar ex- 
 perience with the people known as the "Separate 
 Baptists.'* At one of his appointments he found the 
 ''Separate Baptists" in their annual association, and 
 they agreed to worship together. He baptized a Pres- 
 byterian minister early in the meeting, which had 
 the effect of bringing the Baptists into closer sym- 
 pathy with him. He participated freely by invitation 
 in their deliberations: He says: 
 
 I exerted myself with meekness against sectarianism, formu- 
 laries and creeds, and labored to establish the scriptural union of 
 
 Christians and their scriptural name The result was, that 
 
 they agreed to cast away their formularies and creeds, and take 
 the Bible alone for their rule of faith and practice — to throw away 
 their name Baptist, and take the name Christian— to bury their 
 association and to become one with us in the great work of Chris- 
 tian union. They then marched up in a band to th« stand, shout- 
 ing the praise of Ood, and proclaiming aloud what they had done. 
 
 —143— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 We met them, and embraced each other with Christian love, by 
 which the union was cemented. I think the number of elders 
 that united was about twelve, After this the work gloriously 
 progressed, and multitudes were added to the Lord. 
 
 It was about the year 1824 that Mr. Campbell vis- 
 ited Kentucky on a preaching tour, when he and 
 Mr. Stone met for the first time. The following ac- 
 count, from Mr. Stone's own pen, of his impression 
 of Mr. Campbell, is of interest. In his autobiography 
 he says: 
 
 When Alexander Campbell, of Virginia, appeared, he caused a 
 great excitement on the subject of religion in Kentucky and other 
 states. "Some said» he is a good man, but other said, nay; for 
 he deceiveth the people." When he came into Kentucky, I heard 
 him often in public and in private. I was pleased with his man- 
 ner and matter. I saw no distinctive feature between the doc- 
 trine he preached and that which we had preached for many years, 
 except on baptism for remission of sins. Even this I had once 
 received and taught, as before stated, but had strangely let it go 
 from my mind, till Brother Campbell revived it afresh. I thought 
 then that he was not sufficiently explicit on the influences of the 
 Spirit, which led many honest Christians to think he denied 
 them. Had he been as explicit then as since, many honest souls 
 would have been still with us, and would have greatly aided the 
 good cause. In a few things I dissented from him, but was 
 agreed to disagree. 
 
 I will not say there are no faults in Brother Campbell; but that 
 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 
 from view forever. I am constrained and willingly constrained, to 
 acknowledge him the greatest promoter of this reformation of any 
 man living. The Lord reward him!* 
 
 • Autobiography, pp. 75-76. 
 
 —144— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 Referring again to the positions taken by Mr. Camp- 
 bell, he comments as follows: 
 
 These truths we had proclaimed and reiterated through the 
 length and breadth of the land, from the press and from the pul- 
 pit, many years before A. Campbell and his associates came upon 
 the stage as aids of the good cause. Their aid gave a new im- 
 petus to the Reformation which was in progress, especially 
 among the Baptists in Kentucky; and the doctrine spread and 
 greatly increased in the "West. The only distinguishing doctrine 
 between us and them was that they preached baptism for the re- 
 mission of sins to believing penitents. This doctrine had not 
 generally obtained amongst us, though some few had received it, 
 and practiced accordingly. They insisted also upon weekly com- 
 munion, which we had neglected. It was believed by many, and 
 feared by us, that they were not sufficiently explicit on the influ- 
 ences of the Spirit. Many unguarded things were spoken and 
 written by them on this subject calculated to excite the suspi- 
 cions and fears of the people, that no other influence was needed 
 than that in the written word; therefore to pray to God for help 
 was vain. The same thing had been objected to us long before, 
 and with plausibility, too; for we also had been unguarded in our 
 expressions. In private conversation with these brethren our 
 fears were removed, for our views were one.* 
 
 Among other Baptists in Kentucky who had receiv- 
 ed the teaching of Mr. Campbell and had become 
 zealous advocates of the Preformation, was John T. 
 Johnson, a man of fine character and great ability as 
 an evangelist in his day. He and Barton W. Stone 
 lived together in Georgetown and worshiped together. 
 These men became convinced that a union between 
 the people known in Kentucky as Christians, under 
 
 * Autobiography, p. 77. 
 
 (10) —145— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 the leadership of Mr. Stone, and those known as Re 
 formers, or Disciples of Christ, who had accepted the 
 teaching of Mr. Campbell, should be united. In 
 reference to this union Mr. Stone writes: 
 
 We plainly saw that we were ou the same foundation, in the 
 same spirit, an 1 preached the same gospel. We agreed to unite 
 our energies to effect a union between our different societies. 
 This was easily effected in Kentucky; and in order to confirm this 
 union, we became co-editors of the Christian Messe7igey„ This 
 union, I have no doubt, would have been as easily effected in 
 other states as in Kentucky, had there not been a few ignorant, 
 headstrong bigots on both sides, who were more influenced to re- 
 tain and augment their party, than to save the world by uniting 
 according to the prayer of Jesus. Some irresponsible zealots 
 among the Reformers, so-called, would publicly and zealously 
 contend against sinners praying, or that professors should pray 
 for them — they spurned the idea that preachers should pray that 
 God would assist tham in declaring his truth to the people— they 
 rejected from Christianity all who were not baptized for the re- 
 mission of sins, and who did not observe the weekly communion; 
 and many such doctrines they preached. The old Christians, 
 who were unacquainted with the preachers of informatioiJi amongst 
 us, would naturally conclude these to be doctrines of us all; and 
 they rose up in opposition to us all, representing our religion as 
 a spiritless, prayerless religion, and dangerous to the souls of men. 
 They ran to the opposite extreme in Ohio, and in the eastern 
 states. I blame not the Christians for opposing such doctrines, 
 but I do blame the more intelligent among them, that they did 
 not labor to allay those prejudices of the people by teaching them 
 the truth, and not to cherish them, as many of then did in their 
 periodicals, and public preaching.* 
 
 Mr. stone is right as to the reason why the union 
 
 which prevailed in Kentucky was not carried out in 
 
 ♦Autobiography, p. 78. 
 
 —146— 
 
I'he Story of a Ce^ntury. 
 
 other states. He is right, too, regarding the extreme 
 statements of some who were associated with the Dis- 
 ciples, or Reformers, as they were then called in Ken- 
 tucky, concerning prayer and the Holy Spirit. It 
 would be difficult to exaggerate the harm that has 
 come to our cause by the extreme position on these 
 questions by a few men. His rebuke of the old Chris- 
 tians for treating these extreme statements as if they 
 were the utterances of representative men, is also well 
 deserved. 
 
 Such is Barton W. Stone's account of the union 
 formed between the Christians and Disciples of Ken- 
 tucky. For giving his influence in favor of this 
 union he was severely criticized by his former breth- 
 ren, who failed to come with him into the union. 
 Referring to this he asks: 
 
 But what else could we do, the Bible being our directory? 
 Should we command them to leave their foundation on which 
 we stood — the Bible alone — when they had come upon the same? 
 By what authority should we command? Or should we have left 
 this foundation to them, and have built another? Or should we 
 have remained, and fought with them for the sole possession? 
 They held the name Christian as sacred as we did — they were 
 equally averse from making opinions the test of fellowship — and 
 equally solicitous for the salvation of souls. This union, irre- 
 sptctive of reproach, I view as the noblest act of my life.* 
 
 Doctrinally, the union did not influence greatly the 
 movement of which it became a part, except, per- 
 
 * Autobiography, p. 79. 
 
 —147— 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 haps, to put additional emphasis upon the subject of 
 prayer and the Holy Spirit, but it brought an acqui- 
 sition of men who proved of great value to the cause 
 of the Reformation, and a needed acquisition of evan- 
 gelistic zeal. The chief difference between the two 
 bodies in the beginning was the greater emphasis 
 which Mr. Campbell placed upon the divine nature 
 of Christ; but very soon Mr. Stone, and those who 
 stood with him, came into substantial agreement with 
 Mr. Campbell and his co-adjutors on this vital sub- 
 ject. Other matters of difference adjusted themselves 
 readily, proving the wisdom of those who advocated 
 the union. The influence of such men as Samuel and 
 John Rogers, J. A. Gano, T. M. Allen, Henry D. 
 and Francis R. Palmer, in addition to B. W. Stone, 
 himself, was a tremendous gain, and its effect was 
 felt widely through Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and 
 Missouri.* 
 
 *It is a well known historic fact that the men who introduced the Reforma- 
 tion into Missouri were Stoneites, who had learned the plea for union at the 
 feet of Mr. Stone. The first congregations established in the territory of Mis- 
 souri were of the same type. In about the year 1832, Mr. Campbell visited 
 Missouri and made a triumphal tour through the state, being heard by large 
 audiences wherever he preached. That visit had the effect of bringing the 
 preachers and churches of Missouri more fully to the position advocated by 
 Mr. Campbell and later accepted by Mr. Stone himself. 
 
 —148— 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 The Principi.es of Unity Vindicated. 
 
* ' It is this distinction "between sound- 
 ness in faith — a genuinely Christian atti- 
 tude of the soul to Christ, in virtue of which 
 Christ determines the spiritual life through- 
 out — and soundness in doctrine — the accept- 
 ance of .some established intellectual con- 
 struction of faitb, on which emphasis needs 
 to be laid. Soundness m faith is that on 
 which Christianity and the Church depend 
 for their very being ; but the construction of 
 Christian doctrine is one of the tasks at 
 which Christian intelligence must freely 
 labor, respecting, no doubt, but never 
 bound by, the efforts or attainments of the 
 past. 
 
 This, it may be said, is generally ad- 
 mitted, and in one sense this is true. It is 
 admitted by individuals * * * But 
 though individual Christians, and not only 
 those w^ho listen to the gospel but those 
 who preach it, are conscious of this distinc- 
 tion and accept its conjsequences, the 
 Churches can hardly be said to have done 
 so. They are Christian organizations, yet 
 they seem to be based on doctrinal state- 
 ments which most of their members have 
 realized are not the actual or the proper 
 basis of Christian life; and they not only 
 find it difficult to conceive any other basis, 
 but seem to suspect those who speak of an- 
 other of striking at the very heart of the 
 faith. This want of accord between the 
 intellectual attitude of the Churches acting 
 oollectively, and that of their individual 
 members, is the cause not only of discom- 
 fort and misunderstanding within, but of 
 much scandal and reproach without. It se- 
 riously discredits the Church in the eyes 
 of the world to which it wishes to appeal, 
 and it is urgent to ask whether there is any 
 remedy for it." — "Jesus and The Gospel," 
 hy James Denny, D. B. 
 
 —150— 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Principles of Unity Vindicated. 
 
 As has been seen from the foregoing, the union 
 between Mr. Campbell and the churches of the 
 Reformation with Mr. Stone and the churches 
 organized under his leadership in Kentucky, was 
 not based on perfect agreement in opinion on all 
 points of theology. Mr. Campbell was concerned to 
 know that Mr. Stone^s views concerning Christ were 
 essentially sound, and untainted with Unitarian 
 speculations. When he became convinced of this, 
 and saw that Mr. Stone was laboring for the same 
 object as himself, namely, the union of all Christians 
 through a return to simple New Testament Chris- 
 tianity, he favored the union. On the other hand, 
 when Mr. Stone saw that Mr. Campbell was plead- 
 ing for the same great end for which he had been 
 laboring, and had convinced himself that Mr. Camp- 
 bell's views concerning the Holy Spirit and the 
 place of prayer were essentially his own views, 
 he became an ardent advocate of the union. The 
 result was, as history shows, that the ministers 
 
 —151— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 connected with these hitherto distinct movements 
 were soon preaching precisely the same gospel, and 
 even what superficial differences had existed in the 
 beginning soon disappeared. 
 
 These principles of union were very simple, 
 namely, the surrender of party names and human 
 creeds, so far as they were considered authoritative, 
 or as bonds of union; the acceptance of the Bible as 
 an all-sufficient rule of faith and practice; Jesus Christ 
 as the Son of God — the only object of saving faith; 
 and the restoration of the ordinances to their orig- 
 inal form and significance. This would secure and 
 maintain the seven elements of unity mentioned by 
 Paul, namely. *^One body'' — the church of Christ; 
 "one Spirit" — the Spirit of Christ, or the Holy Spir- 
 it, to dwell in that body; *'one hope'' — the hope of 
 being made like Christ, and of living with Him for- 
 ever; **one Lord" — Jesus, the Christ, the only 
 Saviour of sinners; "one faith" — faith in that one 
 Lord; "one baptism" — which was into, and under 
 the authority of, Jesus Christ; one God and Father 
 of all — who is revealed by Jesus Christ. 
 
 It will be seen from the above that the central 
 truth in the whole plan of union, as well as in 
 the scheme of redemption, is Jesus Christ. Faith 
 in Him as the Divine Son of God was vital. Every- 
 thing else follows from that. Hence, when Mr. 
 Campbell received a proposition looking to union 
 
 —152— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 from some of the Christians'' of the East who were 
 Arian, and who were at the same time seeking union 
 with the Unitarians, he rejected the proposition 
 promptly. No compromise on this vital truth was 
 to be thought of. No union that could be brought 
 about on such a basis would meet the demands of 
 Christ's prayer for the oneness of His followers. 
 Mr. Campbell's own views on this subject grew in 
 clearness and in strength with increasing study 
 and experience. In his debate with Rev. L,. N. 
 Rice, of the Presbyterian Church, in discussing the 
 proposition on the subject of creeds, and defending 
 his basis of union against the charge of latitu- 
 dinarianism, he said: 
 
 We long since learned the lesson that 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, is 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 the object of our efforts to make men think alike on a 
 thousand themes. I^et them think as they like on any matters 
 of human opinion and upon "doctrines 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 opin- 
 ionism to cease or subside, you mi>st not call up and debate every 
 thing that men think or say. Voti may debate anything into 
 
 —153— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 consequence, or you may, by a dignified silence, waste it into ob- 
 livion.''— T>ebsiiQy p. 797. 
 
 We have italicized the foregoing sentence which 
 deserves to be written in gold. We doubt if Mr. 
 Campbell ever said a wiser thing. Mr. Rice urged 
 that this foundation was too broad and would lead to 
 confusion. Mr. Campbell again replied: 
 
 The gentleman complains that our foundation is too broad; too 
 liberal. It is indeed broad, liberal and strong. If it were not 
 so, it would not be a Christian foandation. Christianity is a lib- 
 eral institution. It was conceived in view of the ruin of 
 the world. God looked upon not the thousand millions 
 of one age, but the untold millions of all ages. And he looked 
 with the inconceivable compassion of a divine Father, rich 
 in mercy and plenteous iu redemption. * * * He bids all na- 
 tions, languages and tribes of men a hearty welcome to the rich 
 provisions of his bounteous table, made large enough and well 
 supplied with the richest provisions of his unwasting fullness. 
 Surely, then, that ought to be a large house on a broad founda- 
 tion that has iu it a table for saved men from every nation under 
 heaven. 
 
 He has commanded a simple story to be told, leveled to the ap- 
 prehension of all. It is expressed in plain, clear and forcible 
 terms. 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 
 great King. This is precisely our foundation. Strong or weak, 
 broad or narrow, it is commensurate with the Christian charac- 
 ter. It embraces all that believe in Jesus as the Christ, of 
 all nations, sects and parties, and makes them all one in Christ 
 Jesus.— Debate, p. 808. 
 
 —154— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 With this clear and scriptural conception of unity, 
 supplemented by an equally clear understanding of 
 the principles of New Testament evangelism, and 
 re-enforced and encouraged by the example of unity 
 above stated, it is no wonder that the Reformation 
 went forward now by leaps and bounds. Mr. Camp- 
 bell had, as early as 1813, begun a monthly publica- 
 tion known as the Christian Baptist^ in which he 
 struck herculean blows against existing abuses, and 
 in some instances, it must be confessed, carried his 
 warfare to an extreme, as he subsequently came to 
 see. The criticism against the clergy and mission- 
 ary organizations were, of course, not intended to be 
 in opposition to the preaching of the gospel, nor to 
 mission work at home .or abroad, but were intended 
 against abuses which no doubt existed. The dis- 
 crimination, however, was not made with sufficient 
 clearness, if, indeed, Mr. Campbell always drew this 
 distinction clearly in his own mind. The dissolu- 
 tion of the Mahoning Association, by Mr. Camp- 
 bell's co-laborers, though we believe against the 
 judgment of Mr. Campbell himself, and the some- 
 what similar action of Mr. Stone and his co-workers 
 in abandoning the Springfield Presbytery, as their 
 co-operation of churches was called for a while, 
 indicate a feeling of opposition against any formal 
 system of co-operation at that time. It would have 
 been wiser had these plans of co-operation been 
 
 —155— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 purged of any false methods or evil tendencies con- 
 nected with them and the co-operative organizations 
 continued. 
 
 The Christian Baptist^ the name of which was a 
 concession to Baptist sentiment, was changed to the 
 Millesimal Harbijiger in 1830, of which he contin- 
 ued the editor until 1863. He further added to his 
 labors and to his methods of propagating the prin- 
 ciples of the Reformation by founding Bethany Col- 
 lege, whose charter was granted in the year 1840. 
 Of this institution Mr. Campbell was president dur- 
 ing his lifetime, and a large number of ministers 
 who subsequently obtained a high reputation as 
 ministers and teachers, and who became pillars of 
 strength for the cause, were educated within its 
 halls, and at the feet of its great president. Besides 
 Mr. Campbell's labors as college president and as 
 preacher and teacher, he conducted several public 
 debates, on religious subjects, as with Walker in 
 1820; McCalla in 1823; Owen in 1829; Bishop 
 Purcell in 1837; N. L. Rice, 1843. ^ith no 
 
 small reluctance that he adopted this method of 
 defending the truth, but under the peculiar circum- 
 stances he came to believe that it was not only jus- 
 tifiable, but highly expedient. The custom, how- 
 ever, was largely abused later on, and with men of 
 smaller minds served to develop a party spirit and a 
 pugilistic method which proved a hindrance rather 
 
 —156— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 than a help to the cause. Its discontinuance is a 
 mark of genuine progress for which we can not be 
 too grateful. 
 
 —157— 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 Education and Organization. 
 
It was inevitable that the new life, grow- 
 ing out of the new ideas, principles and 
 methods of the reformation, should seek 
 to express and to propagate itself in suit- 
 able forms of organized and co-operative 
 effort. What movement has ever periaa- 
 nently influenced the life of mankind with- 
 out such organization? Hence the founet- 
 ing of colleges and the formation of mis- 
 sionary oganizations were essential to the 
 continuous life and growth of the move- 
 ment. That these have come into existence 
 as thev were needed, and are prospering 
 is the best proof the deepening and ex- 
 panding life of the reformation. 
 
 —160— 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Education axd Organization. 
 
 The founding of Bethany College by Alexander 
 Campbell in the year 1841 served two important pur- 
 poses: In the first place, a large number of men 
 were trained for the ministry within its walls, who 
 received the impress of Mr. Campbell's personality, 
 and who subsequently became important factors in 
 the development of the movement. To give a list of 
 the names of such men, to say nothing of those train- 
 ed for other walks of life, would indicate how greatly 
 our cause is indebted to Bethany College for its work 
 in the formative period of our movement. In the 
 second place, the founding of Bethany College gave 
 an impetus to religious education, and threw Mr. 
 Campbell's influence on the side of an educated 
 ministry. It is not surprising, therefore, that within 
 two decades following the establishment of Bethany 
 College, a large number of other institutions of learn- 
 ing in different parts of the country were founded, 
 some of them to fail for lack of support, others to be- 
 come permanent factors in the educational life of the 
 Reformation. 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 Bacon College had been established in Georgetown, 
 Ky. , in 1838. Transylvania University, now located 
 at Lexington, is its legitimate successor. The Bible 
 College was organized as a later feature of the insti- 
 tution. This university has exerted, and is still ex- 
 erting, a wide influence, in the way of Christian edu- 
 cation, and has contributed a large number of useful 
 men to our ministry. The Western Reserve Eclec- 
 tric institute at Hiram began its career in 1849, and 
 became Hiram College in 1867, and is reckoned among 
 the most useful of our institutions of learning. About 
 the same time Northwestern Christian University, 
 now known as Butler College, had its inception, the 
 charter being granted in 1850. It is located in In- 
 dianapolis, and is now one of our best endowed and 
 most efficient institutions of learning. Eureka Col- 
 lege was founded in 1855 at Eureka, 111., being the 
 outgrowth of the Walnut Grove Academy, and is to- 
 day prospering and doing an excellent work. Abing- 
 dan College was founded about the same time, at 
 Abingdon, 111., and after accomplishing great good 
 as a separate institution, subsequently became united 
 with Eureka College. Christian University, at Cau- 
 ton, Mo., was founded about this time, and though 
 hampered, as most of our inststutions have been, for 
 lack of proper endowment, has rendered, and is ren- 
 dering, important service, especially in the way of 
 preparing young men for the ministry. Oskaloosa 
 
 —162— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 College, in Iowa, had its origin in the same decade, 
 and, after filling a useful place for a number of years, 
 was merged into the wider educational foundation of 
 Drake University at Des Moines, which has become 
 one of our strongest educational centers. Cotner 
 University, at Bethany, Neb., Texas Christian Uni- 
 versity, at Waco, Oklahoma Christian University, at 
 Enid, Milligan College in Milligan, Tenn., Virginia 
 Christian College, at Lynchburg, Atlantic Christian 
 College, Wilson, N. C, Washington Christian Col- 
 lege, Washington D. C, and the School of Evangel- 
 ists at Kimberlin Heights, Tenn., are newer institu- 
 tions, which are showing signs of a vigorous life, and 
 attest the wide-spread interest felt in the cause of 
 education. 
 
 In addition to these mixed schools there are a num- 
 ber of female colleges, such as Christian College, Co- 
 lumbia, Mo. ; William Woods College, Fulton, Mo. ; 
 Cnristian Female College, Camden Point, Mo. ; Ham- 
 ilton College, Lexington, Ky., and Campbell-Hager- 
 man College, in the same city. These are not all the 
 organized institutions of learning among us by any 
 means, but they serve to indicate the degree of inter- 
 est felt in the cause of education. Aside from these 
 separate institutions there have been organized in 
 connection with onr state universities such institu- 
 tions for Bible study as the Missouri Bible College, 
 Columbia, Mo. ; the Berkeley Bible Seminary, Ber- 
 
 —163— 
 
Thk Story of a Ckntury. 
 
 keley, Cal.; the Eugene Divinity School, Eugene, 
 Ore., besides Bible chairs maintained at Ann Arbor, 
 Mich. ; Charlottesville, Va. ; Kansas University, I^aw- 
 rence, Kan., and Texas University, Austin, in con- 
 nection with the State Universities, under the aus- 
 pices of our Christian Woman's Board of Missions. 
 In addition to these there are several institutions for 
 the education of the colored people, as the Southern 
 Christian Institute at Edwards, Miss.; Christian Bible 
 School, Louisville, and others at other places in the 
 South. 
 
 Many of our leading institutions of learning are 
 now receiving additional endowment, and there is 
 a general waking up among the Disciples to the ab- 
 solute necessity of increasing the efficiency of these 
 schools by increased endowment and equipment if 
 thev are to do adequately the work which we expect 
 of them. There remains much yet to be done in this 
 respect, but there is evidence of a new sense of re- 
 sponsibility on the part of our men of means for the 
 endowment of these institutions. 
 
 MISSIONARY SOCIETIES. 
 
 Although the brethren in their new-born zeal had 
 thought it necessary to dissolve the i\Iahoning Associ- 
 ation, a little experience scon taught them the neces- 
 sitv of some general organization for the purpose of 
 co-operation in Christian work. This question came 
 
 —164—^ 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 to the front in the fourth decade of the past century. 
 It is interesting to note that Alexander Campbell be- 
 came a leadinof advocate of such an oro^anization. 
 
 ^ 'To ask for a positive precept for everything in 
 the details of duties growing out of the various exi- 
 gencies of the Christian church and the world," he 
 said, would be quite as irrational and unscriptural as 
 to ask for an immutable wardrobe or a uniform stand- 
 ard of apparel for all persons and ages in the Christian 
 church. . . . In all things pertaining to public in- 
 terest, not of Christian faith, piety, or morality, the 
 church of Jesus Christ in its aggregate character is 
 left free and unshackled by any apostolic authority. 
 This is the great point which I assert as of capital 
 importance in any great conventional movement or co- 
 operation in advancing the public interests of a com- 
 mon salvation." This point is, indeed, of "capital 
 importance," in any co-operative movement seeking 
 to carry out Christ's purpose in the establishment of 
 the church. 
 
 It was the clear recognition of this point that en- 
 abled the representatives of the movement to meet 
 in Cincinnati in 1849, organize the American 
 
 Christian Missionary Society. This event was the 
 beginning of more systematic efforts at evangelization, 
 and the extension of the cause. Since then there have 
 grown up in the various states State Missionary So- 
 cieties having for their purpose the co-operation of 
 
 —165— 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 the churches within these states in evangelistic work 
 within their borders. In addition to these there came 
 into existence in due course of time the Foreign Chris- 
 tian Missionary Society, in 1875, the Christian 
 Woman's Board of Missions in 1874, whose names 
 define their character and purpose. These have all 
 become powerful and effective organizations, raising 
 and expending large sums of money each year for the 
 furtherance of the gospel at home and abroad. A later 
 organization was the National Benevolent Association 
 of the Christian Churches, which has for its purpose 
 the caring for the homeless and fatherless children, and 
 for the aged members of the church — a movement 
 which has gone forward with rapid strides, until it 
 has homes for orphans and for aged and infirm mem- 
 bers of the church in various cities and states of the 
 nation. A feature of our benevolent work also is the 
 Board of Ministerial Relief, which has for its special 
 object the care of the aged and dependent ministers 
 of the gospel, and their families. 
 
 These organizations have come into existence one 
 by one as the need for them has been felt, and they 
 have grown and prospered just to the extent that they 
 have ministered to the welfare of the cause. Every- 
 one of them marks progress, both in the wider and 
 clearer apprehension of our duties and responsibilities, 
 and in the knowledge of the most effective methods 
 of meeting these responsibilities. It scarcely needs to 
 
 —166— 
 
The: Story of a Cextury. 
 
 be said that none of these organizations possesses, or 
 claims, any authority over the churches. On the 
 contrary, they are the instruments of the churches for 
 carrying out their desires and purposes in respect to 
 education, missionary work, and benevolence. They 
 are voluntary co-operations seeking to express that 
 unity of faith and purpose which we have, and to 
 more effectively accomplish, by united effort, our 
 common ends and aims. 
 
 It is a strange perversion of the principles of loyalty 
 to the Scriptures as our rule of faith and practice, to 
 oppose such methods of co-operation as those men- 
 tioned above, because they are not specifically author- 
 ized in the Word of God. Such confusion results from 
 a failure to apprehend the distinction made by Mr. 
 Campbell in the quotation we have above given. Such 
 an interpretation of the Scriptures in relation to mis- 
 sionary organizations would, if applied rigidly else- 
 where, disorganize not only our co-operative efforts 
 in mission work, but it would destroy our colleges, 
 close all our Sunday-schools, stop all our printing 
 presses, put an end to all our newspaper publications 
 and bookmaking, and stop all progress, thus neces- 
 sitating a dismal failure of the church in carrying out 
 its sublime mission. And all this would be done in 
 the name of loyalty to the Scriptures! This mistake 
 can only be made by men who utterly fail to catch 
 |:he free, life-giving spirit of Christianity, and are in 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 bondage to tlie mere letter of Scripture. True loyal- 
 ty to the Word of God does, indeed, forbid any organ- 
 ization whose object and methods antagonize the 
 principles of the gospel; but it none the less imposes 
 the obligation to form such organizations, and adopt 
 such methods, as experience and reason teach are best 
 adapted to carrying out the great purposes and princi- 
 ples of the gospel in their application to human 
 needs. 
 
 — 16«— 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 Rapid Numerical Increase. 
 
And Peter said unto them, Eepent ye, 
 and be baptized every one of you in the 
 name of Jesus Christ unto the remission 
 of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of 
 the Holy Spirit— Acts 2:38. 
 
 They then that received his word were 
 baptized; and there were added unto them 
 in that day about three thousand souls. 
 —Acts 2:41. 
 
 But many of them that heard the word 
 believed ; and the number of the men came 
 to be about five thousand. Acts 4:4. 
 
 And the multitude of them that believed 
 were of one heart and one soul. — Acts 4:32. 
 
 And Philip went down to the city of Sa- 
 maria and proclaimed unto them the Christ. 
 . . . When they believed Philip preaching 
 good tidings concerning the kingdom of 
 God and the name of Jesus Christ, they 
 were baptized, both men and women. — ^Acts 
 8:5, 12. 
 
 For I am not ashamed of the gospel; for 
 it is the power of God unto salvation to 
 every one that believeth; to the Jew first, 
 and also to the Greek. — Eom. 1:16. 
 
 There is one body and one Spirit, even 
 as ye are called in one hope of your call- 
 ing: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one 
 God and Father of all, who is over all, and 
 through all, and in all. — Eph. 4:4-6. 
 
 —170— 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Rapid Numerical Increase. 
 
 In the incipient stage of the movement, while the 
 Reformation was feeling its way to definite and as- 
 sured grounds, the growth in numbers was very slow, 
 for opposition was bitter and party spirit prevented 
 an honest hearing. But when the movement had 
 found itself, and had outlined a definite program, and 
 had organized its forces, to some extent, for mission" 
 ary work and education, the growth in numbers was 
 very rapid. This feature has continued to be a char- 
 acteristic of the Reformation throughout its history. 
 This fact has often raised the question among our re- 
 ligious neighbors as to the cause, or causes, which 
 have contributed to this result. It may be well to 
 set down here what seems a sufficient answer to this 
 question from an internal point of view. 
 
 In the first place, there is much in the plea which 
 the Disciples have made that appeals both to the 
 judgment and to the conscience of men. Some of 
 the more prominent of these things are: (i) The 
 plea for Christian union as against the divided state 
 of Christendom, based on a return to New Testament 
 
 —171— 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 Christianity, involving the rejection of all human 
 creeds as tests of fellowship, and the acceptance of 
 the Bible alone as the rule of faith and practice; (2) 
 The surrendering of party names for the scriptural 
 names given to the followers of Christ and his church. 
 ( 3 ) The restoration of the New Testament confession 
 of faith, namely, the confession of faith in Jesus Christ 
 as the Son of God, as the only confession of faith pre- 
 requisite to baptism; (4) The restoration of the two 
 ordinances — baptism and the Lord's Supper — to their 
 original place and meaning; (5) The organization of 
 churches after the New Testament model, with local 
 bishops and deacons, each being independent in its 
 local affairs, and all equal, fraternal, and co-operative 
 in affairs of common interest; (6) The universality of 
 the provisions of the gospel for all men, as against 
 the hyper-Calvinism of that day, which excluded a 
 portion of the human race from its benefits; (7) The 
 ability of man to believe and obey the gospel without 
 the aid of a miracle to enable him to do so, as against 
 the doctrine of total hereditary depravity, which held 
 that man was wholly passive in the matter of his sal- 
 vation, and could not exercise faith until he was re- 
 generated by the Holy Spirit; (8) The distinction 
 between faith and opinions, in the former of which 
 there must be unity, and in the latter, liberty; (9) 
 The distinction between the old and new dispensa- 
 tions — the law and the gospel; Moses and Christ; 
 
 —172— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 and tlie appeal to the latter as the supreme arbiter in 
 all questions of faith and duty. 
 
 No thoughtful person can examine carefully and 
 without prejudice these positions without recognizing 
 their strength and their adaptation to the intelligence 
 and the plain, practical common sense of the common 
 people. The plea for union, though unpopular at 
 first, fell in with a growing tide of sentiment, which 
 it helped to create, and found an answering response 
 in the hearts of thousands, who have outgrown the 
 limitations of mere denominationalism. The teach- 
 ing concerning regeneration and conversion is vastly 
 more in harmony with modern psychology and with 
 the laws of human mind, as they are now understood, 
 than was the old teaching, which was at war with 
 reason and with Scripture. So that we should say 
 the strength of the position itself is reason for the 
 rapid growth of the movement. 
 
 In the second place, however, the emphasis which 
 has been laid upon evangelism has not only been a 
 characteristic feature of the Reformation, but a chief 
 cause of its rapid growth. But why should the Dis- 
 ciples have given this emphasis to evangelism? 
 Doubtless the very logic of the position they occupied 
 required it, and there was something in the very na- 
 ture of the doctrine held which impelled it. The ac- 
 centuation of human responsibility in conversion 
 logically implies the responsibility of the church to 
 
 —173— 
 
The; Story of a Century. 
 
 preacti the gospel to men, and urge its immediate ac- 
 ceptance upon them. And then there is something in 
 the possession of good news that impels one to desire 
 to tell it. The Disciples held a view of the gospel 
 and of the plan of human salvation that brought relief 
 and joy to thousands of despondent and despairing 
 souls, who were lost in the religious fog and mysti- 
 cism created by the older theology, and it was an un- 
 failing source of inspiration to those earlier preach- 
 ers, and, in a measure, to all their successors up to 
 the present time, to witness the glorious effects of 
 their preaching in clearing away confusion, doubt and 
 despair from the minds of honest seekers after truth, 
 and in bringing joy and hope into their lives. In this 
 fact we must find the explanation of why the earlier 
 preachers in this movement traveled far and wide, 
 without money and without price, preaching the Word 
 and bringing thousands into the new-found light of 
 the gospel. 
 
 This evangelistic zeal did not cease with the ear- 
 ly history of the movement. It has continued to this 
 day. Indeed, never in the history of this Reforma- 
 tion have there been so many large ingatherings into 
 the churches under the labors of evangelists as at the 
 present time. This fact in itself shows that the Dis- 
 ciples have found a method of reaching the hearts, 
 convincing the judgment, and persuading the will 
 of men, which others have not. We may admit 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 that this method has sometimes been abused; that 
 too much emphasis has sometimes been placed upon 
 mere numbers; that the outward has sometimes been 
 stressed at the expense of the spiritual; but if so, these 
 are faults of the evangelists, and not of the evangel- 
 ism which our representative men, including our 
 leading evangelists, would approve. The pugilistic 
 type of evangelism which was more or less justified 
 as a method of self-defense against the attacks of op- 
 ponents in the past, has largely given way to more 
 conciliatory methods, in which the gospel is preached 
 with more affirmative power and plainness, but with 
 less counter-attacks upon others who see it different- 
 ly. This improvement in the spirit of our evangel- 
 ism is one of the things which accounts for the in- 
 creasing numbers that are being won by our evangel- 
 ists. It gains a wider hearing and is far less offensive 
 to intelligent and cultivated people. 
 
 When all has been said that can justly be said in 
 the way of criticism against some methods of some 
 evangelists, it remains true that the secret of the 
 successful evangelism of the Disciples is to be found 
 iu their reliance upon the simple gospel of Jesus Christ 
 as the power of God to produce faith, and secure sal- 
 vation; their emphasis of human responsibility in 
 yielding to the claims of this gospel, and the clear 
 manner in which they are able to point out how the 
 sinner, who is seeking salvation, may find Christ, 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 who is seeking the sinner, and be able to rejoice in 
 the knowledge of remission of sins through a hearty 
 trust in Christ manifested in compliance with his 
 requirements. 
 
 But the Disciples have never depended solely upon 
 special evangelism to win men to Christ. Every 
 preacher and every pastor is an evangelist, and 
 nearly every sermon ends with a pressing personal 
 invitation to those present who have never yielded 
 themselves to the Lord Jesus, to do so at once, so 
 that many churches have conversions every Lord^s 
 day, and often even at prayer-meeting. 
 
 If anything needs to be added, however, to the 
 reasons we have given for our rapid growth in num- 
 bers, it may be found in the fact that the Reforma- 
 tion urged by the Disciples of Christ, having its origin, 
 as well as its chief field of operations, in this country, 
 has much of the same spirit of independence, of lib- 
 erty, and of union which characterizes the American 
 Republic. The movement has its declaration of in- 
 dependence from human authority in religion, its 
 plea for liberty of thought and freedom of action with- 
 in proper limits, its independence of local churches, 
 together with the union of all such churches in a 
 common body, its accentuation of the individual 
 rights of conscience, and exercise of private judg- 
 ment, its plan of blending liberty and loyalty to 
 gether so as to form the bond of union — all of which 
 
 —176— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 have their counterparts in our national life. This 
 fact makes it an easy matter for any of our evangel- 
 ists to go into a new and unoccupied field, and in a 
 very short time to gather the people together who 
 have been trainad in various forms of religious teach- 
 ing, and unite them together in a common church, 
 on a common basis of fellowship, in which there is 
 unity of faith, and the fullest liberty of opinion in all 
 matters not affecting the religious life and character. 
 
 These considerations, we think, sufficiently account 
 for the rapid growth of the movement in numbers, 
 which makes it now rank the fifth among Protestant 
 bodies in this country. 
 
 —177— 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Some Personal Factors In The Movement. 
 
'•'And what shall I more sar? For the 
 time will fail me to tell of all our Baraks, 
 Samsons, Jepthas, Davids, Samuels. Debo- 
 rahs, Sarahs. Marvs, Marthas, Phoebes, 
 Elizabeths, who through faith subdued king- 
 doms, wrought righteousness, obtained prom- 
 ises, stopped the mouthks of lions, quenched 
 the power of fire, escaped the edge of the 
 sword, from weakness were made strong, 
 wa^ed mightv in war, turned to flight ar- 
 mies of aliens. . . . Therefore, let us also, 
 seeing we are compassed about with so great 
 a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight 
 and the sin which doth so easily beset us, 
 and let us run with patience the race that 
 is set before us. looking unto Jesus, the 
 author and perfect-er of our faith." — 
 Adapted from Heb. 11:32-34; 12:1, 2. 
 
n. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ♦ 1 
 
 D. Pat Henderson. 
 Robert Graham. 
 Moses E. Lard. 
 
 L. L. Pinkerton. 
 Robert Millig-an. 
 L. B. Wilkes. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Some Personai. Factors in the Movement. 
 
 Personality is, of course, the vital force ia the car- 
 rying out of any great enterprise. We have already 
 mentioned some of the chief personal factors asso- 
 ciated with the beginning of the movement. There 
 is neither space, nor have we the data on hand, for 
 any adequate treatment of the leading men who came 
 after the first leaders, whose character and labors have 
 done so much, under God, to shape the course of our 
 religious movement. It has occurred to us, however, 
 that even such a bird's-eye view of the reformation 
 as we are attempting would not be complete with- 
 out the briefest mention of some of the men, past 
 and present, who have contributed, some in one way 
 and some in another, to the success of the work we 
 are seeking to accomplish. It will be impossible, of 
 course, to mention all the names, even of the dead, 
 whose work might well entitle them to favora- 
 ble mention in a larger work. Any omissions of 
 names which may occur to our readers can be 
 accounted for by this fact. 
 
 In both the second and third generations of 
 —181— 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 leaders, there occur such names as David S. Burnet, 
 able and accomplished preacher; L. L. Pinkertoii, 
 eloquent, poetic, pungent in pulpit and press; 
 Benjamin Franklin, at once editor and evangelist, 
 and a strong preacher of first principles; Isaac 
 Krrett, equally distinguished both as editor and 
 preacher, a princely man, of wide vision, of cath- 
 olic spirit, and of superb ability, who, by pen and 
 voice, helped mightily to bring the movement 
 through one of the great crises of its history; O. A. 
 Burgess, strong in the pulpit, resistless in logic, vic- 
 torious in discussion with unbelief; W. K. Pendle- 
 ton, an accomplished, scholarly teacher, writer and 
 preacher, who, as fellow-laborer and fellow-helper of 
 Alexander Campbell, both in Bethany College and 
 in The Harbinger^ rendered invaluable service to 
 the cause; J. S. I/amar, beautiful in character, 
 graceful as a writer, and strong as a preacher; 
 Alexander Procter, who, with a philosophic mind 
 and a poetic temperament that saw truth by intui- 
 tion, must be ranked among the great preachers and 
 fearless thinkers of the Reformation; he was as lova- 
 ble in character as he was great in intellect; G. W. 
 lyongan, largely a self-made man, who achieved a 
 most scholarly style as a writer, and who was also a 
 distinguished preacher and thinker in his day; 
 George Darsie, an almost ideal pastor and minister of 
 the word, who cherished a deep interest in all the 
 
 —182— 
 
Benjamin Franklin. 
 J. C. Reynolds. 
 J. S. Lamar. 
 
 Isaac Errett. 
 W. K. Pendleton. 
 B. W. Johnson. 
 
The Story of a Cdxtury. 
 
 enterprises of the brotherhood, and gave to them all 
 the weight of his influence; L. B. Wilkes, strong in 
 argument, mighty in word and doctrine, and a stal- 
 wart among stalwarts; John S. Sweeney, able 
 preacher and incomparable debater and defender of 
 the truth against its assailants; Dr. W. H. Hopson, 
 a Christian gentleman and a peerless pulpit orator; 
 Moses E. Lard, a gifted preacher and writer, un- 
 excelled in imagination and descriptive power; D. 
 P. Henderson, whose silvery voice and magnetic 
 personality made him a power in the pulpit, and a 
 man among men; J. C. Reynolds, who as preacher, 
 college professor and editor was ever the true Chris- 
 tian; Joseph King, whose heart burned with mis- 
 sionary enthusiasm, and who was one of the first ad- 
 vocates of foreign missionary work; Hugh Mc- 
 Diarmid, able assistant of Isaac Krrett in his ed- 
 itorial work; the scholarly W. H. Woolery, and 
 J. M. Trible, both of whom, as preachers, and as 
 teachers, in Bethany College, made an indelible im- 
 pression upon those with whom they came in con- 
 tact; A. I. Hobbs, strong in pulpit and in Bible 
 Chair, one of the manliest of men; A. M. 
 Atkinson, preacher and business man in one, 
 and founder of the Ministerial Relief fund, 
 to which he gave the last years of his life in loving 
 service; Timothy Coop, of England, a wealthy 
 manufacturer and a consecrated Christian, who gave 
 
 —183— 
 
The; Story of a Century. 
 
 liberally of his means and his time for the interests 
 of the kingdom; R. M. Bishop, who as President of 
 the American Christian Missionary Society, Governor 
 of Ohio, and a liberal supporter of all our missionary 
 interests, won the love and confidence of all his breth- 
 ren; Ovid Butler, philanthropist and founder of But- 
 ler College; John Darst, if not the father of Eureka 
 College, was its most liberal supporter for many 
 years; F. M. Drake, General in our Civil War, Gov- 
 ernor of Iowa, founder of Drake University, and lib- 
 eral patron of every good work among us; James A. 
 Garfield, President of Hiram, preacher, statesman. 
 General in the United States army, President of the 
 United States, and a Christian always. Jeremiah S. 
 Black, distinguished jurist, Attorney-General of the 
 United States and an ardent defender of the common 
 faith; B. A. Hinsdale, one of the early presidents of 
 Hiram College, scholar, teacher, and historian of his 
 friend, Garfield, and of his country; Robert Graham, 
 scholarly teacher, college president, graceful preacher 
 and an ideal Christian gentleman; Robert Milligan, 
 saintly in character, scholarly in attainments, who as a 
 college president and as author has left a holy impress 
 on the movement; B. W. Johnson, able preacher, au- 
 thor, editor and commentator; H. W. Everest, 
 preacher of fine ability, college president and author. 
 
 James Challen, consecrated Christian minister and 
 writer; J. M. Mathes, preacher and editor, ever 
 
 —184— 
 
R. M. Bishop. 
 Jeremiah S. Black. 
 Timothy Coop. 
 
 Francis M. Drake. 
 James A. Garfield. 
 A.M. Atkinson. 
 
The; Story of a Ce:ntury. 
 
 loyal to the truth and to his Master; Elijah Goodwin, 
 a minister of the grace of God, who won a worthy 
 name among the brethren; John O^Kane, a pioneer 
 preacher, prominent in the organization of our first 
 missionary society, and in the establishment of 
 Northwestern Christian University, now Butler 
 College; Thomas Munnell, preacher and writer, 
 excelling in the latter, but whose chief claim to the 
 loving remembrance of his brethren is his long and 
 patient service as Secretary of the American Chris- 
 tian Missionary Society; Robert Moffett, strong 
 preacher, able and efficient as Corresponding Secre- 
 tary, first in Ohio then of the A. C. M. S.; W. W. 
 and A. S. Hayden, who by song and sermon did 
 much to extend the Gospel. George Plattenburg, 
 strong in the pulpit, scholarly in his habits, and a 
 fearless advocate of the Reformation. But time 
 would fail me to tell of such heroes of the faith as John 
 ^'Raccoon'' Smith, John T. Johnson, T. M. Allen, 
 John A. Gano, Samuel Rogers, Jacob Creath, Sr. and 
 Junior, Henry Pitchard, D. R. Lucas, Jonas Hartzell, 
 N. A. McConnell, Joel Haden, and a host of others 
 whose names are written in heaven. 
 
 **These all died in faith, not having re- 
 ceived*' the fulfillment of their desire and prayer 
 for the unity of the people of God, but having seen 
 and greeted it from afar. 
 
 If we come down to the living men of the present 
 — 185— 
 
The Story of a Cextury. 
 
 time, where shall the line be drawn? Perhaps the 
 mention of a few of the older men, who have at- 
 tained their three score years and ten, or there- 
 abouts, and whose names have become more or less 
 conspicuous because of their ability and valuable serv- 
 ice to the cause, will not be regarded as discrim- 
 inating among brethren. No one can think of the 
 history of our cause as being complete, without the 
 mention of the names of C. L,. Loos, fellow-laborer 
 with Alexander Campbell at Bethany, and later 
 President of Kentucky University, and who only re- 
 cently, at an advanced age, has been relieved of his 
 duties as Professor in the same institution, has ren- 
 dered distinguished service as teacher, college ad- 
 ministrator, preacher of the gospel and writer for 
 our periodical literature; J. W. McGarvey, President 
 of the Bible College of Kentucky, now Transylvania, 
 University, author of several books, editor, writer 
 and preacher of the gospel, in all of which positions 
 he has made an indelible impression upon the stu- 
 dents he has taught and the cause he has loved and 
 served with such distinguished ability; T. P. Haley, 
 for a long period one of the most successful pastors 
 among us, whose power as a preacher and strength 
 as a thinker, seem to have increased with his age; 
 A. B. Jones, who, though practically retired for 
 several years, except for an occasional article in our 
 periodical papers, must be classed as one of the 
 
 —186— 
 
G. W. Longan. 
 Alexander Procter. 
 O. A. Burgess. 
 
 Winthrop H. Hopson. 
 A. I. Hobbs. 
 H. W. Everest. 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 strongest preachers and thinkers of his time; J, B. 
 Briney, who, as a writer and minister, is reckoned 
 rightly among the strong men of the Reformation; 
 W. T. Moore, who well past his three score years 
 and ten, is still strong and vigorous after more than 
 a half century of distinguished service as minister, 
 missionary in England, editor and author; D. R. 
 Dungan, an able minister, debater, author and Bible 
 teacher; L. L. Carpenter, who has dedicated more 
 churches than any man of his time, and whose whole 
 life has been fruitful in good works, and who refuses 
 to be shelved because of his age. H. S. Karl, grad- 
 uate of Bethany, evangelist in Australia and Eng- 
 land for many years, where he won many to Christ; 
 Jc W. Monser, preacher and writer and author of lit- 
 erary merit; F. M. Green, preacher, writer and cor- 
 responding secretary of the A. C. M. S., and faithful 
 in all; Jabez Hall, scholarly minister, Bible teacher 
 and trainer of young men; I. Bo Grubbs, college pro- 
 fessor, Bible teacher, and able writer and preacher, 
 whose influence has helped to mould many young 
 preachers; O. A. Bartholomew, faithful preacher and 
 pastor in many leading churches, now lingering in 
 the shadow of a serious affliction; W. W. Dowling, 
 veteran Sunday School Editor and pioneer in Sun- 
 day School literature, who for more than forty years 
 has devoted his life to that work. Perhaps v/e ought 
 
 to mention two of our white-haired young men who 
 
 —187— 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 liave not attained the age-limit we have mentioned, 
 but whose services to the cause, both as ministers 
 and authors, have been valuable — F. D. Power and 
 B. B. Tyler. 
 
 But we pause. Our space is exhausted, and there 
 arises before us a list of worthy names of men still 
 living, who have rendered conspicuous service to the 
 Reformation we plead, and whose names will be ad- 
 equately mentioned by some historian of the future. 
 We believe it is no partisan pride that leads us to 
 the conviction that no religious movement, since the 
 apostolic age, has developed, within the same length 
 of time, so large a number of men of unusual power 
 as preachers and writers, and who have devoted their 
 talents with more unselfish service to the cause they 
 love. It is in the nature of a great cause to breed 
 and foster great men. 
 
 Some of the men whose names I have mentioned 
 would be called conservative in their views, and 
 others liberal, but all of them, we believe, were and 
 are loyal to the truth as they have been able to see 
 it, and are equally entitled to the love and respect 
 of their brethren. It is through the action and in- 
 teraction of these two types of mind that truth makes 
 progress in the world. If liberalism is essential to 
 progress, conservatism is essential to insure that 
 progress shall be safe and sane. Both these ele- 
 ments have had, and will have, their work to do in 
 
 —188— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 the progress of this Reformation, and we must come 
 to regard them, not as antagonistic forces, but as co- 
 workers in the interest of truth. 
 
 There is a mighty host of young men in our ranks 
 to whom we are looking in hope and confidence that 
 they will prove worthy successors of the great men 
 whose names we have mentioned. That God may 
 grant them an abundance of His grace and truth for 
 their day and generation, is the earnest prayer of 
 those of us who realize that the days of our active 
 will soon be over. 
 
 —18^ 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 HiNDRENCKS WITHOUT. 
 
"A large majority of Christendom un- 
 questionably hold to some form of Bap- 
 tismal Eegeneration. . . . And yet it is not 
 very difficult to see how this heresy had 
 its origin. Whoever has read carefully the 
 Kew Testament, with the view of studying 
 the relation between baptism and the sin- 
 ner, will scarcely have failed to notice how 
 intimate this relation is. . . . By losing sight 
 of the proper antecedents of baptism, viz. : 
 faith and repentance, and by fixing atten- 
 tion mainly upon the ordinances which mark 
 the consummation of the sinner's return to 
 God, it was not a dif&cult thing to reach the 
 conclusion that baptism itself, ex opere 
 operato, effected a change of heart, or a 
 change from the love of sin to the love 
 of holiness; or, in other words, produced 
 "what is now regarded by evangelicals as 
 Eegeneration; and furthermore, it can 
 scarcely be doubted that there is ample rea- 
 son for regarding what was evolved in this 
 great transformation as a most pernicious 
 evil."— ''The Fundamental Error of Chris- 
 tendom, by W. T. Moore, LL. D. 
 
 —192— 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Hindrances Without. 
 
 In a preceding chapter we undertook to answer 
 the question which has been raised from without as 
 to the causes which have contributed most to the 
 rapid numerical increase of the Reformation urged 
 by the Disciples. Not less interesting, and perhaps 
 more profitable for us to consider, is the question 
 which we may well raise among ourselves — Why has 
 not the movement achieved greater success, both in 
 numbers and in influence, than it has within the cen- 
 tury which has elapsed since its inauguration? No 
 one, we believe, can study thoughtfully the princi- 
 ples and objects of this Reformation and their adap- 
 tation to the needs of the world, without feeling some 
 explanation is due as to why such a plea has not by 
 this time become thoroughly known, at least to the 
 Christian world, and has not achieved even greater 
 results in bringing about the union of God's people. 
 To answer this question may be a less gracious task 
 than the answer to the preceding question, but it is 
 certainly not less important to the future success of 
 the movement. 
 
 (13) —193— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 These hindrances may be classified as those with- 
 out, and those within. We may treat some of the 
 former class of hindrances under the title of hin- 
 drances without 
 
 I. EAPTISMAI. REGENERATION. 
 
 Every reformation in the history of the world has 
 had to battle with misconceptions as one of the chief 
 obstacles to its progress. Ours has been no excep- 
 tion to that rule. One of the most persistent, as it is 
 one of the most false, misconceptions of our position, 
 is that we believe in baptismal regeneration. True, 
 people who are ordinarily intelligent in religious mat- 
 ters in this country, and who are not blinded by 
 partisan feeling, know the falsity of such an accusa- 
 tion. But there are enough people, unfortunately, who 
 are willing to believe anything that is injurious con- 
 cerning another religious body, to keep alive a mis- 
 representation that would otherwise have died a natu- 
 ral death long ago. 
 
 It is sad to learn, too, that this false idea has been 
 transported, along with other errors, into the foreign 
 field. We are in receipt of a letter from Frank Gar- 
 rett, of Nanking, China, under date of March 25, in 
 which he says: 
 
 I find that we are, as a people, much misunderstood in China 
 and elsewhere. I have been surprised to find recently the extent 
 of this popular misunderstanding. I have the privilege of com- 
 
 —194— 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 ing into contact with many leading men here from other missions. 
 I find it a never-ending pleasure to present our position, and it is 
 well accepted as a rule. But the open acknowledgment of what 
 others say they have understood us to stand for is a cause of con- 
 stant surprise. The statement which I enclose, clipped from the 
 Year Book of the Baptists in Germany, shows what they think of 
 us. I am hearing 'baptismal regeneration' everywhere I go. Of 
 course, I disclaim any such teaching on the part of our people. 
 But I too often get the reply that I do not understand what many 
 of our preachers are teaching in America. 
 
 The statement from the Baptist Year Book, which 
 Mr. Garrett enclosed, is the following: 
 
 In these numbers the Disciples of Christ in America are not 
 counted. They practice immersion as we, but they teach that 
 baptism is necessary for salvation, a doctrine which the Amer- 
 ican Baptists, of course, reject. 
 
 The word **necessary'* is, of course, used here iu 
 the sense of essential; that is to say, there can be no 
 salvation without baptism — a position which the Dis- 
 ciples, equally with the Baptists, reject, for none of 
 us doubts the salvation of infants, nor of believers in 
 Christ who have had no opportunity of obeying Him 
 in baptism. On the other hand, neither Baptists nor 
 the Disciples of Christ will affirm the salvation of 
 any man who, knowing baptism to be a command of 
 Christ, and having opportunity to obey it, refuses to 
 yield obedience. There is no doubt a difference in 
 emphasis between the Baptists and Disciples on bap- 
 tism in its relation to discipleship, and the assurance 
 of forgiveness. The Disciples do emphasize the value 
 
 —195— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 of Christian baptism as a divine ordiuance, appointed 
 by Jesus Christ, by which penitent believers may for- 
 mally and publicly surrender themselves to the 
 leadership of Christ, and enter into his church, where 
 they may claim all the benefits and blessings which be- 
 long to the members of that body. This, as every intel- 
 ligent person knows, is directly antipodal to the doc- 
 trine of baptismal regeneration, which teaches that 
 this ordinance is the channel of grace by which re- 
 generation, in the sense of the impartation of new 
 life, is alone received. There are even some Protes- 
 tant Christians who hold to that view of baptism, but 
 the Disciples of Christ have always, through their 
 representative preachers and teachers, rejected it. 
 One of the most generally approved works among us is 
 that by Dr. W. T. Moore, on "The Fundamental 
 Error of Christendom," which is devoted to the over- 
 throw of baptismal regeneration. 
 
 In some of Mr. Campbell's writings he used the 
 word regeneration in the patristic sense, as synony- 
 mous with baptism, since baptism was, in their con- 
 ception the completion or formal consummation of the 
 new birth. It was, in our judgment, an unfortunate 
 use of the v^'ord, but Mr. Campbell never, for a mo- 
 ment, conceived of baptism as the means of tjnpart- 
 ing the new life. It was the formal bringing of one 
 who had been spiritually quickened through faith, 
 into a new state or set of relations. 
 
 —196— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 While some men among us have made extreme 
 statements, no doubt, on the relation of baptism to 
 salvation, there is not one of them that would not 
 distinctly repudiate the doctrine of baptismal regen- 
 eration. So far as we know, it has not a single 
 advocate, and never has had in our whole history. 
 The time has come, however, when we can not be 
 too guarded in our statements, so as to avoid this 
 false imputation. Our praiseworthy effort to lift the 
 ordinance of baptism out of the disrepute and neglect 
 into which it had fallen, and give it the place which 
 it held in New Testament evangelism, has subjected 
 us to the misrepresentation referred to, but we can 
 guard the sacredness and significance of the institu- 
 tion without giving any justification for the suspicion 
 of teaching baptismal regeneration. We could not 
 hold consistently, as we do, that baptism is the sym- 
 bolic representation of the sinner's death to sin, and 
 his resurrection to newness of life, if we did not also 
 hold, and teach, that a change of heart had previous- 
 ly taken place, through faith and repentance, thus 
 making possible the living of the new life which 
 baptism symbolizes. 
 
 We can not do better service to our Cause than to 
 make it plain to all who wish to know the truth, 
 that we have no sympathy with any theory that gives 
 any magical charm to baptism, in itself considered, or 
 that holds it to be an indispensable prerequisite, in 
 
 — 197-. 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 every case, to the reception of forgiveness and salva- 
 tion; and that, on the other hand, we do not stand 
 with those who would dishonor a divine institution 
 by teaching men that it is purely optional with them 
 whether they submit to it or not. Between these two 
 extremes the Disciples of Christ claim to stand on 
 solid New Testament ground. 
 
 II. EXCLUSIVENESS. 
 
 The impression has gained more or less prevalence 
 that the people known as Disciples of Christ, or 
 Christians, and whose churches are designated as 
 Churches of Christ, or Christian Churches, are exclu- 
 sive in their claims and pretensions; that they set 
 forth the claim that they are the only Christians, and 
 that their churches are the only churches of Christ. 
 Of course, no student of the movement could arrive 
 at such a conclusion, but popular impressions are 
 seldom based on a careful study of history or of facts. 
 The men who inaugurated this movement would have 
 been the last men in the world to have made such ex- 
 clusive claims. Theirs was an effort to restore the 
 church to its original unity on its original basis of 
 fellowship. This very aim excludes the idea of ex- 
 clusiveness. It has been, and is, an inclusive rather 
 than exclusive movement. 
 
 The superficial ground for the impression referred 
 to above is the use of the scriptural names for indivi- 
 
 —198— 
 
The Story of a Ce^^tury. 
 
 dual Christians and for individual churches rather 
 than party or denominational names. At the begin- 
 ning of this movement it was held to be a thing 
 without authority, as it was without precedent since 
 apostolic days, for any persons to claim to be mem- 
 bers of the Church of Christ without attaching them- 
 selves to some one of the existing denominations. 
 That any number of people could decline, on scrip- 
 tural grounds, to wear any denominational name, or 
 to subscribe to any denominational creed, and yet be 
 evangelical Christians, and be organized into church- 
 es of Christ, was supposed to be an impossible thing, 
 and those who assumed such right were regarded as 
 trespassers on the rights of denominationalisml 
 People never stopped to think that any other policy 
 by a people claiming to present a basis for Christian 
 union, would have been absurd. Suppose, for in- 
 stance, the advocates of this movement had chosen to 
 designate themselves as ''Campbellites," or *'Camp- 
 bellians," repeating the folly of those in the Corinth- 
 ian church, v/ho said, **I am of Paul," or am of 
 Apollos, ' ^ or * *I am of Cephas. " Is it likely that men 
 would have been easily persuaded to accept the name 
 of Mr. Campbell rather than that of lyUther, or Wes- 
 ley, or Calvin, or any other party name? And yet 
 tens of thousands have been willing to surrender their 
 party names for the * * name that is above every name, ' * 
 and which has the advantage of defining at once their 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 faith and their religion. No one but an ignoramus 
 could suppose that these men claimed to be the only 
 Christians, or else their plea for Christian union 
 would have been absurd. They simply aimed to do, 
 themselves, what they believed others must do in 
 order to realize Christ's prayer for unity. 
 
 The same principle applies in reference to the re- 
 jection of human creeds. It was evident that no 
 union of all Christians could ever be based on any 
 existing human creed. Some broader basis, there- 
 fore, must be found, on which to plead for unity. 
 This was found in the old creed of Simon Peter, on 
 which Jesus said he v/ould build His church — the 
 Christhood and divine Sonship of Jesus of Nazareth 
 — with the inspired Scriptures, and especially the 
 New Testament, as the rule of faith and practice. 
 The aim here again was to get on ground broad 
 enoueh to include all Christians. This is no char- 
 acteristic of exclusivism, but rather of catholicity. 
 Those who claim a monopoly of apostolic grace and 
 authority by virtue of some theory of tactual suc- 
 cession, are justly subject to the charge of exclusive- 
 ness, but not those who put themselves on the broad 
 basis of the New Testament and invite others to meet 
 them there. 
 
 We will not deny that there have been occasional 
 outcroppings of an exclusive spirit, here and there, 
 in our history, by men who have been lacking in 
 
 —200— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 breadth of vision, aud in a proper appreciation of 
 the catholic aim and spirit of our movement. It is 
 denied, however, that the principles of the move- 
 ment lend any support or sympathy to such a spirit. 
 That there s»hould have been opposition, on the part 
 of a few of our papers and people to certain forms 
 of co-operation with other Christian bodies, is a mat- 
 ter of regret, as it has given the semblance of truth- 
 fulness to the charge of exclusiveness. It is only 
 justice, however, to say that so far as the people 
 themselves are concerned this opposition has resulted 
 from misinformation, zealously inculcated, as to what 
 is involved in such co-operation. With a proper 
 understanding of the subject all opposition of this 
 kind is rapidly disappearing. Our position com- 
 mits us irrevocably to the widest catholicity of spirit 
 consistent with loyalty to Christ, and to all such co- 
 operation as looks to the more rapid advancement of 
 His kingdom. 
 
 —20] — 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 Hindrances Without. — ( Continued, ) 
 
I would not, sir, value at the price of a 
 single mill the religion of any man, as re- 
 spects the grand affair of eternal life, 
 whose religion is not begun, carried on and 
 completed by the personal agency of the 
 Holy Spirit. Nay, sir, I esteem it the pe- 
 culiar excellence and glory of our relig- 
 ion, that it is spiritual. 
 
 — Alexander Campbell. 
 ▼ ▼ ▼ 
 
 While, then, I repudiate, with all my 
 heart, the scholastic jargon of the Arian, 
 Unitarian and Trinitarian hypotheses, I 
 stand up before heaven and earth in de- 
 fense of the sacred style — in the fair, full 
 and perfect comprehension of all its words 
 and sentences, according to the canons of 
 a sound exegetical interpretation. 
 
 ^-Alexander Campbell. 
 
 —204— 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Hindrances Without. — ( Continued. ) 
 
 III. mere head faith." 
 
 One of the standing charges against the reformers, 
 particularly in the early history of the movement, 
 was that the faith which they required in order to 
 baptism, was *'a mere head faith;" an intellectual 
 conception not involving the affections of the heart. 
 This probably grew out of the efforts of the reform- 
 ers to clear away some of the mystification which 
 had accumulated about the subject of faith. The 
 advocates of this reformation have always held that 
 reason has its legitimate place in religion, and that 
 it is not an absent factor in the matter of faith; that 
 God does not require man, whom He has endowed with 
 reason, to believe any proposition that is contrary to 
 reason; that faith in Christ, just like belief or con- 
 fidence in any other man, or in any proposition, is a 
 matter of evidence. This was far from saying that 
 faith does not involve the heart, for the very nature 
 of Christian faith is such that it does involve man's 
 whole spiritual nature — his intellect, his reason, his 
 affections, his sensibilities, his will. 
 
The: Story of a Ckntury. 
 
 It is easy to see, however, how this new view of 
 faith would be regarded as making faith a matter 
 wholly of intellect. The prevailing idea was that 
 no man could believe, in the religious sense of the 
 word, until he was regenerated by the direct action 
 of the Holy Spirit. Faith, instead of being the 
 means by which the regenerative power of the 
 gospel is conveyed to the mind and heart, was 
 regarded as the act of the soul after its regeneration. 
 This view grew out of the doctrine of total hereditary 
 depravity, which, as then held, regarded man as 
 wholly unable to think a good thought, or to 
 perform a good deed, or to do anything toward his 
 own salvation. In that matter he was wholly 
 passive. This view the Disciples of Christ, past 
 and present, have antagonized, as contrary to the 
 teaching of Christ and of his apostles, and as whol- 
 ly injurious to the cause of Christianity. Human 
 responsibility has always been accentuated in their 
 teaching. The Gospel addresses itself to men as if 
 they were capable of believing it, receiving it, and 
 obeying it, and thereby enjoying it, and the respon- 
 sibility for not doing so must not be laid upon God 
 for withholding the enabling act of his omnipotence, 
 but upon man who refuses to accept the divine tes- 
 timony, and to yield obedience to the divine re- 
 quirements. 
 
 A counterchange of intellectualism might wel^ 
 —206— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 have been made by the Disciples against their 
 opponents who made the acceptance of human 
 formulations of doctrine a test of fellowship, rather 
 than a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ev- 
 ery one now understands that the faith which saves 
 and on which justification is predicated is not an in- 
 tellectual assent to certain theological propositions, 
 but the faith of the heart in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 which leads to a personal surrender to him and to 
 newness of life. Every person who is baptized by 
 the Disciples is required to confess that he believes 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ with his whole heart.'' 
 This is in harmony with Paul's statement, that 
 ''with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, 
 and with the mouth confession is made unto salva- 
 tion." It is a little strange that the only people 
 who have required this kind of confession in order to 
 baptism, should be charged with holding to a **mere 
 head faith." 
 
 In addition to what has been stated above, it may 
 be added that another reason why this conception 
 prevailed, was that emotionalism held so large a 
 place in the religious experiences of those days. 
 Instead of the scriptural confession of the faith in 
 the Lord Jesus as a condition of baptism, the can- 
 didate of those times was expected to relate some 
 marvelous psychological experience through which 
 he had passed, frequently, if not always, including 
 
 —207— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 the hearing of miraculous voices or the seeing of 
 miraculous sights. Some would tell of being lifted 
 instantaneously from the depths of despair to the 
 heights of holiest joy. One need not call in ques- 
 tion the reality of these experiences to those who re- 
 lated them, but to disregard them as necessary 
 evidence of conversion or of preparation for baptism, 
 was to antagonize the popular view, and thereby to 
 incur the charge of intellectualism. We are coming 
 to understand far more clearly than was understood 
 a century ago, that all men do not pass through, and 
 do not need to pass through, the same mental and 
 psychical process in their conversion, and that it is 
 not the process or method about which the Church 
 should be concerned, but the end reached, namely: 
 a condition where the believing and loving heart 
 desires to accept the Lord Jesus, and to seek, with 
 his aid, to live the Christian life. The faith that 
 moves to this desire and action is the evangelical 
 faith of the New Testament. 
 
 To this position the Disciples have always held, 
 and they hold it to-day. That is one reason why 
 they discard human creeds as tests of fellowship, and 
 adhere to the old-time confession of faith on which 
 Jesus said he would build his Church. 
 
 IV. COXCERXIXG JUSTIFICATIOX BY FAITH. 
 
 It is supposed by many good people that the 
 — 20S— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 position of the Disciples on the subject of baptism 
 in its relation to remission of sins is out of harmony 
 with the New Testament doctrine of justification by 
 faith as emphasized by lyUther in the Reformation of 
 the sixteenth century. If these same good people, 
 however, can harmonize Paul and Peter in Romans 
 5:1 and Acts 2:38, not to mention other passages, 
 they ought to have no difficulty in harmonizing our 
 teaching on the subject of baptism with the Pauline 
 doctrine of justification by faith, for the Disciples 
 have no doctrine of their own on that subject, but 
 simply aim to repeat the teaching of the New Tes- 
 tament. 
 
 What is the doctrine of justification by faith as 
 taught by Paul in the first century, and re-empha- 
 sized by Luther in the sixteenth century? In Paul's 
 teaching, especially in the Roman and Galatian let- 
 ters, this doctrine stands over against Jewish legal- 
 ism, or the idea of justification by works of the law. 
 Paul seems to have sought justification by this 
 method himself, first, and found it to be a failure. 
 He clearly teaches, in opposition to this view, that 
 salvation is by grace, and not by law, for *'by the 
 deeds of the law no man can be justified.'* It 
 would require perfect obedience to be justified by 
 law, but since all have sinned it follows that no one 
 can be justified by law. Justification by faith, then, 
 in Paul's view, was justification through Christ, in 
 
 (14) —209— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 whom alone we have redemption, even the forgive- 
 ness of our sins. The faith which justifies, accord- 
 ing to Paul, is a living faith that commits the soul 
 to Christ, for, after all, it is Christ that justifies and 
 saves through faith, and it is only the faith that 
 lays hold on him and biings the soul in right re- 
 lations to him that can justify or save. 
 
 Luther's doctrine of justification by faith, though 
 he was tempted to carry it to an extreme, was set 
 over against the Roman Catholic doctrine of works 
 of merit. The view that the soul could accumulate, 
 by works of supererogation, an extra supply of 
 merit that could be applied to cover one's own short- 
 comings, or those of another, was denounced by 
 Luther as in violation of Paul's doctrine of justifica- 
 tion by faith. Any doctrine that makes salvation 
 anything less than a matter of unmerited favor on 
 the part of God, is at war with the New Testament 
 doctrine of salvation by grace, through faith. 
 
 In what way does this doctrine contradict the 
 position that it is a penitent and obedient faith that 
 saves, and not a mere intellectual assent, or an emo- 
 tion of the heart, disconnected with the soul's posi- 
 tive acceptance of Christ? If we separate faith, re- 
 pentance and baptism, as three separate and distinct 
 acts, and think of repentance and baptism as some- 
 thing quite independent of faith, we do not think in 
 New Testament terms. Both repentance and bap- 
 
 —210— 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 tism are expressions of the soul's faith, and neither 
 of them is possible in the New Testament sense 
 without faith. True, there is a phase of repentance 
 which precedes and prepares the way for a genuine 
 faith, but there is a still deeper phase of repentance 
 that springs from faith in Christ, and which leads to 
 a changed life. Baptism is the divinely ordained 
 means by which the believing, penitent soul casts 
 itself on the mercy of God, seeking salvation by 
 grace. In other words, it is faith ^ appropriating 
 salvation by grace, and not baptism meriting salva- 
 tion by deeds of the law. 
 
 Dr. James Denney, in his **Jesus and the Gos- 
 pel," speaks of baptism as the act of men "when in 
 penitent faith they cast themselves upon the Son of 
 God uplifted on the cross. . . .In other words, when 
 they commit themselves to the love which, in the 
 Lamb of God, taketh away the sin of the world by 
 becoming a propitation for it.*' (P. 88.) It empha- 
 sizes the need of a thorough preparation of those 
 who come to baptism, lest they come with the 
 false view that there is any merit in the act itself, 
 or any magical power in it, or any other view, ex- 
 cept that in this solemn act of faith they are con- 
 secrating themselves to the service of Christ, and 
 claiming his promise of forgiveness and peace. 
 Such a view of baptism is wholly consistent with 
 Paul's doctrine of justification by faith. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 Hindrances Wi'tiiom,— -{Continued,) 
 
''This, it would seem, is Christianity re- 
 duced to its least common denominator. In 
 other words, it is the 'irreducible minimum* 
 withiout which you can njot have a church, 
 or Christianity in any visible or practicable 
 form. On this foundation of faith in Christ, 
 and of loyal obedience to him, has been 
 built the Church of the Lord Jesus, and on 
 that foundation it rests to-day. There are 
 a thousand things which may enter into 
 the enrichment of Christian life when we 
 have once built upon this foundation, but 
 these things are not to be added to the 
 foundation and made a part of the condi- 
 tions of entrance upon the Christian life." 
 — Christian Union: A Historical Study,** 
 ▼ ▼ ▼ 
 
 ' ' If the Divine word be not the stand 
 ard of a party, then are we not a party, 
 for we have adopted no other. If to main- 
 tain its alone-sufficiency be not a party 
 principle, then we are not a party. If to 
 justify this principle by our practice .in 
 making a rule of it, and of it alone, and 
 not of our own opinions, nor of those of 
 others, be not a party principle, then we 
 are not a party. If to propose and prac- 
 tice neither more nor less than it expressly 
 reveals and enjoins be not a partial busi- 
 ness, then we are not a party. These are 
 the very sentiments we have approved and 
 recommended, as a Society formed for the 
 express purpose of promoting Christian 
 unity in opposition to a party spirit." — 
 *' Declaration and Address," by Thomas 
 Campbell. 
 
 —214— 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Hindrances Without. — ( Continued. ) 
 
 V. CONCERNING CHRISTIAN UNION. 
 
 As Christian union has been an important item in 
 the contention of the Disciples from the beginning, 
 it has been an occasion of stumbling to many, 
 whose objections to it indicate the nature of the 
 misconceptions as to what it is. 
 
 I. ''''Yoit can not 77iake everybody tJiink alike,^^ 
 This has been a standing objection of many who 
 have supposed that Christian union means uniform- 
 ity of thought. The proposition is self-evidently 
 true, but it does not bear against Christian union. 
 The variety in nature is often referred to as illustra- 
 ting the truth that God likes variety better than 
 sameness. True again, but entirely without force as 
 an objection to Christian union. Indeed, it is an 
 argument in favor of such unity, for if the unity of 
 nature is not disturbed, but manifested by its varie- 
 ty, why should it be thought incredible that the 
 church can be one with variety of opinions and meth- 
 ods among its members. 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 Sects have been formed and justified on tlie prin- 
 ciple that those within the same fellowship must 
 think alike on all theological and ecclesiastical ques- 
 tions. Then when these divisions are formed in the 
 church, the union of Christians is opposed on the 
 ground that variety is the very spice of life, and that 
 even nature teaches us how unity is consistent with 
 the greatest variety! Very true; but why, then, 
 was the unity of the Church broken, its bonds of fel- 
 lowship severed, because of these differences of opin- 
 ion? In other words, why should not the principle 
 of unity in variety be applied against creating divis- 
 ions rather than against healing such divisions? 
 
 Intelligent Christians now have generally come to 
 see that the unity for which Jesus prayed is not 
 unity of opinions or of methods, but of faith and 
 spirit. To believe in the one I^ord, and to make 
 obedience to him the only test of fellowship, is con- 
 sistent with the largest liberty of opinions in all mat- 
 ters not affecting one's faith and character, and in 
 all methods of work not antagonistic to the moral 
 principles of the gospel. No one who has the mind 
 of Christ on this subject ever expects or desires to see 
 any ecclesiastical organization that would require 
 uniformity of opinion as a condition of fellowship. 
 
 2 . "/ am opposed to uniting all Christians in one 
 great ecclesiastical organization^ like the Roman 
 Catholic Churchy with the religious despotism which 
 
 —216— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 it would be sure to exercise over the local congregation 
 or the individual Christian y 
 
 Many a man has uttered this statement under the 
 supposition that he was opposing the kind of union 
 v/e are advocating. But of all people in the world 
 the Disciples are least inclined to put themselves in 
 ecclesiastical bondage. No, the union they favor is 
 a union of free, independent, co-operating local 
 churches, having "one Lord, one faith and one bap- 
 tism," and working together to advance the king- 
 dom of God. Whatever organization other than the 
 local self-governing church may exist, must be pure- 
 ly voluntary, and exercise no authority whatever 
 over such local churches. Their recommendations 
 must be only advisory, not compulsory, beyond the 
 compulsion of reason and fraternity. 
 
 To what extent, it may be asked, will this sort of 
 unity permit such organizations as the present existing 
 denominations for carrying on Christian work ? Only 
 so far as such organizations do not interfere with the 
 fellowship and unity of the body of Christ, nor with 
 that free co-operation in the work of Christ to which 
 his prayer for unity looks. This, it seems to us, in- 
 volves the practical reconstruction of Protestanism, 
 but such changes will come gradually, by the action 
 of the various bodies themselves, as they come into 
 fuller union with Christ, and are more and more im- 
 
 —217— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 bued with his spirit of humility, and his passion for 
 the salvation of men. 
 
 We need not concern ourselves unduly as to what 
 form Christian union will ultimately take. We may 
 leave that to the great Head of the Church to decide 
 what form His body is to have, while we concern 
 ourselves chiefly with following His word and 
 Spirit. 
 
 3. You want everybody to come to you.'' On 
 the contrary, we neither want nor expect everybody 
 to come to us. If we were already perfect, both in 
 knowledge and practice, we would not invite every- 
 body to come'to us. But, like Paul, we are com- 
 pelled to say: *'We are not perfect; we have not yet 
 apprehended that for which we have been apprehend- 
 ed by Christ Jesus.'* What we do wish concerning 
 all our brethren of every name and creed is that they 
 and we may get into closer fellowship with Christ — 
 with his purposes and plans. He is the goal toward 
 which all must steer their course. Any union that 
 answers his prayer and is to meet with his approval, 
 must be in him. 
 
 This fact has not been sufficiently appreciated. 
 Any agreement among ourselves on a platform of our 
 own making would not be Christian union. It is 
 this fact that has led the Disciples to emphasize the 
 necessity of returning to the original basis of union 
 and to its high ideals of Christian life. This we 
 
 —218— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 have sought to do ourselves, and yet how imper- 
 fectly we have done so in actual practice, no one can 
 realize more keenly than we ourselves. But, like 
 Paul again, ''we press on toward the mark for the 
 prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.'* 
 We believe we have made some progress, and in so 
 far as we have already attained, we expect our breth- 
 ren to walk by the same rule. 
 
 The old theory of Christian union by the absorp- 
 tion of all other religious bodies by one single body 
 is utterly abandoned by most Protestant Christians. 
 Here and there may be heard a belated voice, say- 
 ing, *'The way to have Christian union is for all the 
 rest of you to join us." But intelligent Christians 
 no longer expect or desire to see union come about 
 in that way. As a substitute for that impractica- 
 ble dream is the gradual approximation of all 
 Christian bodies to the mind of Christ as 
 revealed in the New Testament, "until we all come 
 to the unity of the 'faith and of the knowledge of 
 the Son of God.'' That process is going on before 
 us, if we have eyes to see. Many of us have had a 
 different view as to how union will come, but God 
 is showing us "a more excellent way," and we are 
 coming to his way. 
 
 The plan of our Episcopal brethren to bring us all 
 into one fold by our recognition of *'the historic 
 episcopate," is a vain delusion, however worthy the 
 
 —219— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 desire which prompts it. Unity which is in out- 
 ward form, or which consists in the acknowledg- 
 ment of the same theory of church government, is 
 not the unity for which Jesus prayed, which is 
 inward, spiritual and vital. But while this union is 
 inward and vital, it is bound to manifest- itself in 
 such conformity to the divine will, in all matters of 
 faith and practice, as will manifest the unity of be- 
 lievers to the world. It does not, however, involve 
 uniformity in thought, or in methods of organiza- 
 tion and government. 
 
 This does not mean that we are to be indifferent 
 to what God requires us to believe and do. Nor 
 does it mean that we are to regard *'one church as 
 good as another.'' It means simply that we all 
 recognize our limitations and seek steadfastly to 
 know our Master's will and do it — each being loyal 
 to his own convictions of truth, and encouraging 
 others to do the same. But how can we ever unite 
 if each is loyal to his own convictions? By God 
 sending the conviction of essential truth into all 
 honest souls seeking the truth, and by making it 
 plain to us that we are to receive each other without 
 regard to differences of opinion concerning matters 
 not vital to faith. This process of growth is now 
 going steadily on, and as a result of it we are hav- 
 ing more practical Christian union to-day than 
 Protestants have ever known. 
 
Th^ Story of a Ce:ntury. 
 
 No, it is not by one religious body coming to 
 another, however correct that other body may be in 
 its' position, but by all coming closer to Christ and 
 into more vital union with him, that his prayer for 
 the oneness of his followers is to be fulfilled — "even 
 as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that 
 they may be one in us, that the world may be- 
 lieve.'* 
 
 —221— 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 Hindrances Within. 
 
''God did not reveal himself to man 4n 
 many parts and in many ways,' just be- 
 cause be was sovereign, and chose to do 
 so, but because in man's nature there was 
 a necessity which demand it, and to which 
 God's method was adjusted with careful 
 adaptation and infinite skill." — G. W. 
 Longan, Christian Quarterly, Vol. VI., 1874. 
 ▼ ▼ ▼ 
 
 As in revelation, so has it been in the 
 deepening apprehension of the revelation 
 by the church. "First the blade, then the 
 ear, then the full corn in the ear," is the 
 law of progress ia the kingdom. 
 
 —224— 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Hindrances Within. 
 
 After all, however, the chief obstacles to the prog- 
 ress of any movement are not misconceptions and 
 misrepresentations of those without, but the errors in 
 judgment and practice of those within the move- 
 ment. 
 
 In mentioning some ot these hindering causes 
 within we would not create the impression that this 
 is an unusual experience with religious movements 
 or reformations of any kind. It was true of Chris- 
 tianity itself. Indeed, no cause is so liable to be 
 misapprehended and misrepresented by its friends as 
 one having the highest ideals and aims and the purest 
 principles. True and important as are the principles 
 of the Reformation which we plead, they have been 
 entrusted to * 'earthen vessels," and their advocacy 
 and defence have been in the hands of men ''of like 
 passions," and like limitations as other men. Re- 
 formations within the church, like the gospel net 
 itself, gather in all kinds of men, both good and bad, 
 and the various types and degrees of intelligence and 
 
 (15) —225— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 culture. That some of these would misconceive the 
 spirit and principles of the movement was inevitable; 
 that now and then there should arise men who would 
 seek on some pretense or other to draw away follow- 
 ers after themselves was to have been expected from 
 the whole history of Christianity. These facts, how- 
 ever, constitute no valid plea against Christianity or 
 against the reformations within the church which they 
 have sought topurify ; they simply indicate the weak- 
 ness and perversity of our poor human nature. 
 
 I. LOPSIDENBSS. 
 
 One of the great dangers which beset all reformers 
 and reformations, is the tendency to become hobby- 
 ists; that is, to emphasize certain truths at the 
 expense of others. It is a well-known law of the 
 human mind that it tends to magnify unduly anything 
 on which it exclusively dwells. For this reason re- 
 formers in calling attention to neglected truths and 
 doctrines are liable to overstress them to the neglect 
 of the great fundamental truths which they hold in 
 common with others. That this mistake has been 
 made by many of the advocates of the current reform- 
 ation can hardly be denied by any candid student of 
 our history. The Bible of every hobbyist is thum- 
 worn at certain proof texts, while the remainder is 
 practically unused. The lopsidedness of this sort of 
 teaching and preaching becomes apparent, sooner or 
 
 —226— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 later, and honest and capable men seek to correct the 
 error and to present the truth in its true proportions 
 and to preach a full-orbed gospel. This process of 
 self-correction has been going on among the Disciples 
 for a generation or more, but we are still suffering in 
 reputation from impressions made by an earlier 
 phase of the movement. 
 
 1 1 . ABUSE Olf OUR MOTTO. 
 
 We have already reverted, in an earlier chapter, 
 to the saying of Thomas Campbell — ''Where the 
 Scriptures speak we speak; where the Scriptures are 
 silent we are silent" — as having been misconceived 
 and abused by men of another generation. Used in 
 the sense in which its author intended it, it was a 
 potent instrument of religious reform. It meant loy- 
 alty to everything which Christ has required of us, 
 and freedom from every human yoke which men 
 would place upon their fellows. In other words, it 
 meant submission to divine authority, and freedom 
 from mere human authority. The abuse of it by 
 opponents of missionary societies, instrumental 
 music in the worship, and other expedients not spe- 
 cifically authorized in the Scriptures, has been a 
 hindrance to the progress of the Reformation. Just 
 as the spirit of legalism threatened to strangle Chris- 
 tianity in its very cradle, so it made a determined 
 assault upon the Reformation as interpreted by its 
 
 —227— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 more liberal defenders. How far human ambition 
 has linked itself with this misconception of our posi- 
 tion, to accomplish its purpose by inciting division, 
 it is difficult to say, but it is charitable to suppose 
 that there has been an honest misinterpretation of 
 that fundamental principle of the movement, which 
 makes the Holy Scriptures its inspired rule of faith 
 and practice. This error possesses the virtue at least 
 of being self-destructive, since it can not propagate 
 itself without violating its own principle. 
 
 III. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER CHRISTIANS. 
 
 We suppose every religious movement in Christen- 
 dom has had connected with it at least some men 
 who have regarded such movement as constituting, 
 if not the whole church, at least the one "true 
 church." Some have gone so far as to doubt the sal- 
 vation of any one disconnected with their own com- 
 munion. Narrowness of vision, or what we may call 
 the sectarian spirit, has cursed and hampered every re- 
 ligious movement within the church, no matter how 
 broad and generous its original aims may have been. 
 Our own movement has been no exception to the rule. 
 In Mr. Campbell's own day he had his critics who 
 charged him with too great liberality as regards other 
 religious people, and who felt that he was compro- 
 mising the plea he was making by admitting the 
 Christian character of those not connected with his 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 movement. To one of these critics lie replied as 
 follows: 
 
 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. 
 
 I can not, therefore, make any one duty the standard of Chris 
 tian state or character, not even immersion into the name of the 
 Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and in my heart re- 
 gard all that have been sprinkled in infancy without their own 
 knowledge and consent as aliens of Christ and the well-grounded 
 hope of heaven. — (Mill, Harbinger, Vol. for 1737, p. 411.) 
 
 Mr. Campbell did not regard the truths stated in 
 the foregoing extract, and often expressed by him in 
 other terms, as reasons for departing from what he 
 believed to be the New Testament conditions of 
 church membership, which, he says "after a long and 
 close deliberation" he believed to be "an usurpation 
 of the legislative authority vested in the holy apos- 
 tles, and of dangerous tendency in the administration 
 of the Reign of Heaven." It did, however, furnish 
 ground for regarding his religious neighbors with 
 charity and brotherly esteem, and of co-operating 
 with them in every good word and work, where it 
 was possible to do so without compromising any 
 truth or principle. In his great heart there was room 
 for a generous appreciation of all that was true and 
 Christlike in other religious bodies. 
 
 There have always been those associated with the 
 religious movement of the Disciples who have not 
 
 —229-- 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 shared Mr. Campbell's larger ideas of fellowship. 
 Perhaps no single question has caused more discus- 
 sion in the newspapers of the Disciples than the re- 
 lation of the reformatory movement and the churches 
 it embraces to other religious bodies. The fact 
 that the Reformation is a movement within the one 
 church of Jesus Christ on earth to promote its unity 
 by the restoration of simple New Testament Chris- 
 tianity as the basis of fellowship and ground of union, 
 ought to make clear our relations to other Christians 
 who are avowedly seeking to follow Christ as they 
 understand Him. We are not to regard such bodies 
 of Christians as enemies, but as allies in the common 
 cause of bringing this world under the dominion of 
 Jesus Christ. This Reformation has a message that, 
 it is believed, if heeded, will bring about a more per- 
 fect union between all the followers of Christ by which 
 they can have more perfect co-operation in advanc- 
 ing Christ's kingdom. Meanwhile it is desirable that 
 all these bodies having a common object, but differing 
 somewhat in their points of view, and in their 
 methods, should co-operate as far as practicable in 
 advancing their common interests, both because 
 they can accomplish, by united effort, many things 
 which can not be accomplished by separate action, 
 and because such co-operation is the best method of 
 promoting that mutual acquaintanceship and appre- 
 ciation which is essential to more perfect union. 
 
 —230— 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Hindrances Within. — {Continued.') 
 
''I said at the beginning, I say at the 
 close, of my notice of the Evangelical Al- 
 liance, that I thank God and take courage 
 at every effort, however imperfect it may 
 be, to open the eyes of the community to the 
 impotency and wickedness of schism, and 
 to impress upon the conscientious and be- 
 nevolent portion of the Christian profession 
 the excellency, the beauty and the neces- 
 sity of co-operation in the cause of Christ 
 as pre-requisite to the diffusion of Chris- 
 tianity throughout the nations of the earth. 
 
 "The Eeformation for which we plead 
 grew out of a conviction of the enormous 
 evils of schism and partyism, and the first 
 article ever printed by any of the co-oper- 
 ants in the present effort was upon the sub- 
 ject of the necessity, practicability and ex- 
 cellency of Christian union and communion, 
 in order to the purification and extension 
 of the Christian profession." — Alexander 
 Campbell, 
 
 —232— 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Hindrances Within. — ( Continued, ) 
 
 IV. AN II.I.UMINATING CHAPTER. 
 The discussion among the Disciples in recent 
 years on the subject of federation furnishes an illu- 
 minating chapter on the process of getting out of the 
 narrow provincialism, into which many had uncon- 
 sciously fallen, into the wider vision of their rela- 
 tionship to other Christians, and of their respon- 
 sibility, as a Christian union movement, in helping 
 bring to some practical realization that earnest de- 
 sire for Christian union and fellowship which 
 is so marked a feature of our time. There 
 has been no desire or purpose on the part of the 
 advocates of the plan of co-operation known as 
 
 federation to compromise any principle of the Re- 
 formation. On the contrary, it is their deep convic- 
 tion that our failure to enter in heartily with such a 
 co-operative movement would be the practical re- 
 pudiation of the chief thing for which we are con- 
 tending. It is not surprising, therefore, that most 
 of the leaders of the movement and the great body 
 
 —233— 
 
The; Story of a Century. 
 
 of the membership, have hailed with joy this ad- 
 vance step on the part of Evangelical Protestants 
 toward the realization of Christ's prayer for unity. 
 Indeed, what opposition there has been to the move- 
 ment, in so far as it has been sincere, has grown out 
 of a misapprehension of its spirit and aim. This 
 spirit is so consonant with the spirit which animated 
 the leaders of this Reformation in the beginning, 
 that to understand it is to be in sympathy with it. 
 It is highly probable that in working out this prob- 
 lem some mistakes will be made which will require 
 correction, for we are entering upon new ground and 
 must learn by experience. It is quite sure, how- 
 ever, that the church, so far as as Protestantism is 
 concerned, has opened a new chapter in its history 
 and has entered upon a new era of progress, looking 
 toward the unification of its divided forces. What- 
 ever changes may be made in the methods of co-op- 
 eration proposed, one thing is certain, and that is 
 that these great Protestant evangelical bodies will 
 never return to that state of mutual hostility out of 
 which they have grown, but will continue to seek 
 the fuller realization of Christ's prayer for unity. 
 
 V. A SEVERE TEST. 
 One of the most fundamental principles of the 
 Reformation — the distinction between faith and 
 opinion, with unity in the former and liberty in the 
 latter — has been the hardest one to live up to. Men 
 
 —234— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 love their opinions tenaciously, and the temptation 
 is often strong to make other people think as we do 
 on pain of incurring our disfellowship. The rise 
 in modern times of the historical criticism of the 
 Bible has made a severe test in all religious bodies 
 of the principle of Christian liberty, and among the 
 Disciples it has furnished, perhaps, the severest test 
 which has so far arisen to its basic principle of unity 
 already stated. That such historical investigation 
 of the Bible should come, was, of course, inevitable, 
 and that its outcome will be to the great advantage 
 of Christianity, few robust believers in the Bible 
 doubt. Ivike all new movements, however, this 
 critical movement has been misjudged and misun- 
 derstood. The very word criticism has conveyed to 
 many honest minds the idea of fault-finding, and 
 critics were supposed to be a class of people who 
 took delight in finding fault w4th the Bible and 
 pointing out its imperfections! Moreover, it must 
 be admitted that some of the critics and their crit- 
 icisms have served to confirm this superficial view of 
 criticism. It can readily be understood that a 
 people who stand so thoroughly committed to the 
 authority of the Scriptures as the Disciples of Christ 
 would not regard lightly any movement whose object 
 and effect were thought to undermine the Bible. 
 This much at least is to their credit. But, admit- 
 ting the legitimacy of the historical and literary 
 
 —235— 
 
The: Story of a Ce:ntury. 
 
 criticism of the Bible, as all thinking people now do 
 the question still arises as to how far men may go, 
 within the limits of Christian liberty, in accepting 
 conclusions concerning the Bible which have not 
 hitherto been received. ' This question has disturbed 
 every religious body in Christendom. It has led to 
 heresy trials, to the dismissal of college professors, 
 and to a vast amount of heated discussion in the 
 religious periodicals of the various religious bodies. 
 This question would seem to be easily answered by 
 applying to it our accepted principle of requiring 
 unity in faith, and liberty in matters of opinions 
 There is, as we all know, a class of rationalistic or 
 destructive critics, who start out with the presup- 
 position that every miraculous event recorded in the 
 Bible is unhistorical, because miracles do not occur, 
 and that every recorded event or utterance of Jesus, 
 or concerning Jesus, by his apostles, that would 
 assign him a unique place among the children 
 of men, such as "the only begotten Son of 
 God," and the Saviour of the world is un- 
 trustworthy, because such a character there 
 could not have been in the natural order of history, 
 and the natural order of history is the only order 
 which these critics admit to be possible. The 
 trouble with these men is not primarily their crit- 
 icism, but their lack of faith. Moralists they may 
 be, but Christians in any New Testament sense they 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 can not be, for they do not believe in Christ, as the 
 apostles and the first Christians believed in Him, 
 nor do they accept Christ's own view of His person 
 and mission. Their radical conclusions, which are 
 at war with all Christian history, are not to be con- 
 founded with legitimate Biblical criticism. 
 
 There is another class of critics, who are profound 
 believers in the unique character of the Biblical 
 literature, and in the divine character of Jesus Christ 
 who is revealed therein. They differ among them- 
 selves on certain historical questions concerning the 
 dates and authorship of books, but they hold in com- 
 mon the lyordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of 
 the sacred writings. It ought not to be difficult for 
 a religious movement like that advocated by the Dis- 
 ciples to admit fullest liberty in Biblical criticism 
 within the limits just mentioned. It is perfectly 
 legitimate, of course, for any Disciple to question the 
 correctness of any conclusion touching the date 
 or nature, or authorship of any of the books of 
 the Bible, but to make such opinions and conclu- 
 sions a bar to fellowship, is clearly to depart from 
 the basis of unity which we have proposed. Of 
 course it may be said, and often is said, that if a 
 certain conclusion concerning an Old Testament 
 book be accepted, it antagonizes what Christ has 
 said in the New Testament, and is, therefore, 
 disloyalty to him. So long, however, as those hold- 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 ing such view concerning any Old Testament book 
 hold also to their faith in Jesus Christ, and manifest 
 their loyalty to him in their faith and service, we 
 have no right to pronounce them infidel, or to 
 exclude them from our fellowship, because we do not 
 know how they harmonize their views of the Old 
 Testament Scriptures with their faith in the Lord- 
 ship of Jesus Christ. At this point some have erred, 
 and their error has been a hindrance to our unity 
 and our progress. The author of this historical 
 sketch, while freely admitting the legitimacy and 
 the value of historical criticism, is himself naturally 
 a conservative as to the conclusions and results 
 of such criticism; but he believes profoundly that 
 the failure of our leaders to recognize the Christian 
 character and standing of men among us who accept 
 conclusions within the limitations above indicated, 
 would prove disastrous to our plea for unity. We 
 do not anticipate, however, that any such policy 
 will prevail. If our religious movement does not 
 mean liberty to think freely on all the great ques- 
 tions of the Bible and of Christianity, within the 
 limitations of loyal faith, it means nothing, and our 
 existence is without justification. The whole diffi- 
 culty here, as we have already intimated, is the 
 difficulty of living up to our own high standard. If 
 any one thinks that loyalty to Christ requires him to 
 exact other terms of fellowship of his brethren than 
 
 —238— 
 
Th^ Story of a Century. 
 
 faith in Jesus Christ and loyalty to him, he has a 
 right to make his creed and to advocate it. But he 
 has no right to do so in the name of the Reforma- 
 tion, which bases its right to be, and its plea for 
 unity, on the very principle he has repudiated. 
 
 VI. THE CHIEF OBSTACI.E. 
 
 Of course, the chief hindrance to the progress of 
 the movement, as it is the chief hindrance to the 
 progress of every true and righteous cause, is the 
 failure of its advocates to exemplify more perfectly 
 the principles which they teach. As those seeking 
 to restore New Testament Christianity, the advo- 
 cates of this Reformation are under the most solemn 
 obligations to manifest the spirit and temper of 
 Christ, and to make their daily conduct comport 
 with his teaching. The New Testament inculcates 
 the most liberal Christian giving. We have not 
 always given as the Lord has prospered us. It re- 
 quires unity and co-operation in every good work. 
 Many of our churches and individual members, and 
 even ministers, have stood aloof from the co-opera- 
 tive movements of the brotherhood. It inculcates a 
 brotherly love that prevails over mere differences of 
 opinion, while we have often quarreled with each 
 other over such differences. It requires a faith that 
 subordinates all material interests to the kingdom of 
 God and its righteousness; but, alas, the kingdom of 
 
 —239— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 God has often been allowed to languish for support 
 while we have been intent on material gain. In 
 a word, like most other religionists, we have often 
 given more emphasis to sound doctrine than to 
 sound living, and we have too often been more 
 zealous for soundness in faith than soundness in 
 charity, which is greater than faith 
 
 —240— 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 The Remedy. 
 
''It is faith which makes a Christian; 
 and when the Christian attitude of the 
 SOU- to Christ is found, it must be free to 
 raise its own problems and to work out 
 its own solutions. This is the point at 
 which 'broad' churchism is in the right 
 against an evangelical Christianity which 
 has not learned to distinguish between its 
 faith — in which it is unassailable — and 
 inherited forms of doctrine which have 
 been unreflectingly identified with it. 
 Natural as such identification may be, and 
 painful as it may be to separate in thought 
 things which have coalesced in strong and 
 sacred feelings there is nothing more cer- 
 tain than that the distinction must be rec- 
 ognized if evangelical Christians are to 
 maintain their intellectual integrity, and 
 preach the Gospel in a world which is in- 
 tellectually free. We are bound to Christ, 
 and would see all men so bound; but we 
 must leave it to Cnrist to establish his 
 ascendency over men in His own way — by 
 the power of what He is and of what He 
 has done — and not seek to secure it be- 
 forehand by the imposition of chains of our 
 forging." — Jesus and the Gospel,'^ hy 
 James Denney, D. D. 
 
 242 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 The Remedy. 
 
 We have been indicating some of the things which 
 have hindered greater progress in our Reformatory 
 movement in the past. Others might be mentioned, 
 but these will suffice to explain why a cause that has 
 so much to commend it, that makes such a strong 
 appeal to the enlightened conscience and judgment 
 of men, has not made even more rapid advance than 
 it has made within the century of its existence. It 
 is most encouraging, however, to know that so far as 
 our own faults are concerned, we have within our 
 reach the remedy for the weaknesses which, to some 
 extent, have marred our work in the past. These 
 mistakes have grown out of our youth and inexperi- 
 ence. The remedy for these is growth, and already 
 many of the impediments which have retarded the 
 wheels of our progress have been eliminated by the 
 simple law of growth, or spiritual development. 
 There is every reason, therefore, for believing that 
 other errors which may remain will be disposed of in 
 the same way. 
 
 We said above that we have in our possession the 
 remedy for past mistakes. What we mean is, that 
 
 _243— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 there is inherent in the very fundamental principles 
 of the movement which we advocate, the law of pro- 
 gressive development. In committing ourselves to a 
 Person as our divine L<eader, and not to a formulated 
 and crystallized creed, we have committed ourselves 
 to the law of progress. We may go into permanent 
 camp on a fixed human creed, but with Christ as our 
 creed we must **followon to know the lyord." We 
 can not follow Christ as I^eader without growing in 
 the knowledge of Christ, and, therefore in the know- 
 ledge of his religion, and therefore in the power of 
 spiritual discernment. The liberty to think, and to 
 reach our convictions of duty for ourselves is not more 
 inherent in the plea we are making than the obliga- 
 tion to grow both in grace and in the knowledge of 
 the truth. It has been a commonplace among us 
 from the beginning, that Christian life has its periods 
 of infancy, youth-time and of mature manhood, just 
 as the physical life passes through these stages of 
 development. What is true of the individual is true 
 of a religious movement as a whole, which must em- 
 body the sum-total of the intellectual and spiritual 
 development of its several parts. If we fail to recog- 
 nize the law of spiritual growth as applicable to 
 religious movements as well as to the individual, v/e 
 might well grow pessimistic as to the future. 
 
 Our own history, without going further back in the 
 history of the church, will be sufficient to show us 
 
 —244— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 that a reformatory movement is subject to the same 
 law of growth as the individual. What were living 
 and vital questions at one period have ceased to be 
 such in another period. These questions were out- 
 grown. Their solution was reached, and the move- 
 ment passed on to meet with new problems, which, 
 in their turn, have been settled and relegated to the 
 past. What could not have been accomplished at 
 one period in our history, because we were not ready 
 for it, has been readily accomplished at a later period, 
 because we were prepared for that particular task. 
 It is amusing but even more instructive, to look back 
 and see that obstacles which seemed to rise mountain 
 high in our path were but pebbles, after all, and that 
 clouds, which at one time, to our untrained vision, 
 seemed to permanently eclipse the sun, were but va- 
 pors and mists of the earth, which have been dissolved 
 and have passed out of existence. No doubt other 
 obstacles will appear in our path, and other clouds 
 will arise and cause the hearts of some to tremble for 
 fear, but we shall either go around the obstacle, or 
 move it out of the way, and in due time the clouds will 
 be dispersed and leave the bright shining of the sun. 
 
 After all, is this not just what we might have antic- 
 ipated if we had only believed Christ's word, "I,o, 
 I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world?" 
 If he is leading us on to a larger, richer, and better 
 life, and to nobler and higher achievements, will he 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 not enable us to meet the difficulties which arise in 
 the path of our progress? There is no insuperable 
 difficulty to those who are following the moral and 
 spiritual leadership of Jesus Christ, and whose sole 
 mission is to do His will on earth as it is done in 
 heaven. We shall find in Him the solution of all the 
 new questions that may arise, and the power to ad- 
 just ourselves to the changing conditions of the world , 
 with the passing years. It is not by cowardly refusing 
 to go forward, for fear of difficulties and dangers, that 
 we are to realize our mission, but in heroically follow- 
 ing Him, and in his strength combating whatever 
 foes may arise to impede oui progress. The advo- 
 cates of a fixed human creed may go into permanent 
 camp and fortify themselves to defend their position; 
 but those who make the Living Christ their only 
 creed are bound to follow Him into whatever new 
 fields of service or wider ranges of thought He may 
 lead. 
 
 In other words, open-mindedness to the truth, the 
 willingness to receive new truth, the humility that 
 recognizes the limitations of our knowledge, the 
 eaoferness to know all that God would teach us — this 
 is the remedy for all our imperfections and errors in 
 judgment, as it is the prophecy of an ever-bright- 
 ening career of usefulness for any man or movement 
 striving to reach the higher ideals. A continuous 
 reformation, adjusting itself to the varying conditions 
 
 —246— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 and needs of the world, ours must be, or it must de- 
 cay and cease to be a Reformation at all, becoming 
 a monument rather than a movement. We need not 
 to be seriously disturbed over this or that mistake, 
 for **to err is human"; but we may well be alarmed 
 at any tendency to shut our. eyes and close our hearts 
 to the increasing light which God is shedding upon 
 His work and upon His Word. Nothing else, except 
 downright moral failure, is so fatal to the fortunes of 
 a religious reformation as the tendency to crystallize 
 its convictions of truth into a fixed and unchanging 
 creed, and the refusal to follow the truth as God gives 
 us to see the truth. 
 
 But let us make no mistake here. The progress of 
 which we speak, and which has in it the remedy for 
 the evils which afflict our own religious movement 
 and the church universal, is not the result of mere 
 intellectual development, or the product of the unaided 
 human mind working out the great questions which 
 may arise. On the contrary, real progress in spiritual 
 growth can only come through a deeper and truer 
 knowledge of Jesus Christ, and this knowledge comes 
 only through the presence of the indwelling Spirit of 
 God in the church and in the hearts of all true believ- 
 ers. Jesus said, have yet many things to say unto 
 you, but ye can not bear them now. Howbeit, when 
 he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you 
 into all the truth. ... He shall glorify me; for He 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you." 
 (John 16:12-14.) Here is the true secret of all real 
 progress in Christianity. Jesus was not able to com 
 municate all the truth to his disciples which he saw 
 they would need in the coming days, because they 
 were not able at the time to receive it. Here is a 
 clear recognition of the law of growth. He promised, 
 however, to send His Spirit to dwell in his followers, 
 and to communicate to them an ever-deepening 
 knowledge of his glory. It was through this better 
 knowledge of Christ that they were to be able to meet 
 all the difficult questions of their time, just as it is 
 through a better knowledge of Christ that we shall 
 be able to meet all the questions that may arise in 
 our day. It is not in the wisdom of this world to 
 lead the church into the true path of progress. Only 
 Jesus Christ himself can do that, and he does it by 
 his personal presence, as the Holy Spirit, in the 
 church. 
 
 Much that is called progress is mere change, — a 
 change from the old to the new, and may be away 
 from the truth instead of hito larger truth. All true 
 progress is toward Christ and not away from Him — 
 toward a better knowledge of His will and a more 
 faithful observance of it. 
 
 Is it not plain from these considerations that it is 
 only in loyally following Jesus Christ, and in. seeking 
 
 —248— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that we shall con 
 tinue to make that safe and sane progress which will 
 enable us to adapt our methods, and our message, to 
 the needs of each age, and to keep the **unity of the 
 Spirit in the bond of peace?'* A deeper spiritual life, 
 a more vital union with Jesus Christ, and the spirit- 
 ual growth which is the necessary result of such a 
 union — this is the remedy for all our spiritual ills, 
 and the pledge of a triumphant future. 
 
 —249— 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 Some Things Accomplished. 
 
The work of inau^ratlng and carrying 
 forward a religious reformation is among 
 the most difficult of enterprises in which 
 men engage. The very fact that a reforma- 
 tion is necessary implies antagonism to 
 existing theories and practices, many of 
 which by long usage have come to be re- 
 garded as sacred. That an attempt to cor- 
 rect abuses and errors in the Church should 
 itself be misconceived and misrepresented 
 is inevitable, as human nature is constituted. 
 So that not only is the natural inertia in 
 religious matters to be overcome, but deter- 
 mined opposition, often sincere and some- 
 times unscrupulous. Besides, there are the 
 mistakes of untrained and ill-informed ad- 
 vocates which for a time form a serious 
 hindrance to a new movement. That the 
 Eeformation urged by the Disciples should 
 have gained the strength and influence which 
 it has to-day, in spite of these facts, is the 
 strongest evidence that it possesses inherent 
 elements of power, and is indeed one of 
 the great providential movements within 
 the Church, which owes its existence to the 
 immanent Spirit of God working in loyal 
 hearts for the extension of Christ's king- 
 dom in the world, 
 
 -—252— 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Some Things Accomplished. 
 
 A hundred years is a short period in the life of a 
 great religious movement. In this brief period, how- 
 ever, it is believed that some things worth while 
 have been accomplished, and a brief resume of this 
 will be in order here. 
 
 I. The Reformation of the nineteenth century 
 has found itself. This is no small achievement. It 
 is one thing to see clearly and declare boldly a few 
 general guiding principles which ought to be applied 
 to the work of religious reform. It is quite another, 
 and far more difficult, undertaking to practically ap- 
 ply these principles to actual conditions and to ex- 
 isting problems in the religious world. Of course, 
 the leaders in this movement did not at first compre- 
 hend all that was involved in the principles set forth 
 in the Declaration and Address. It takes time even 
 for the greatest minds to free themselves from the do- 
 minion of erroneous conclusions and prejudices of 
 earlier years so as to be free to see the truth, to re- 
 ceive it and to adjust it to whatever convictions of 
 truth have been previously received. In saying that 
 
 —253— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 our religious movement has fozmd itself^ it is not 
 meant that it has mastered all religious truth, but 
 simply that it has come to see what is involved in its 
 avowed principles, so far as existing conditions are 
 concerned. It has learned, among other things, that 
 it came not to destroy previous reformations, but to 
 fulfill them; that it is not to be an Ishmaelite, whose 
 hand is against the hand of every other man, but a 
 brother and fellow- helper of all who love the lyord 
 Jesus, and are seeking to know the truth which He 
 ivas and which He taught; that it has not attained 
 to perfection of knowledge or practice, but having 
 been called of God to witness to certain great truths 
 and principles, vital to the needs of its time, it would 
 bear this message in love and humility, being a fel- 
 low-student with all other lovers of truth in seeking 
 a deeper and wider knowledge of the kingdom of 
 God. It has found its true relationship with other 
 followers of Christ, and has come to see that its mis- 
 sion can only be fulfilled in fellowship and co-opera- 
 tion with other religious bodies, in so far as this is 
 practicable under existing conditions. 
 
 2. It has made clear to itself, and to many others, 
 that its message of Christian union is the great truth 
 for the time that needs emphasis, and that such 
 union can only be realized by a return to Jesus Christ 
 as the sole foundation of our faith, and of obedience 
 to his simple requirements as the sole test of Chris- 
 
 —254— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 tian fellowship. That much credit is due it for the 
 great emphasis that is being given to-day to the sub- 
 ject of Christian union and of co-operation, no can- 
 did and intelligent mind will deny. 
 
 3. It has demonstrated the practicability of main- 
 taining existence and progress as a religious move- 
 ment without a written or authoritative rule of faith 
 and practice, other than the New Testament, and 
 without any other creed or confession of faith than 
 that on which Jesus said he would build his church 
 — the Christhood and divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, 
 — and without the use of other than scriptural 
 names and designations which are applicable to all 
 believers in Christ. 
 
 4. It has demonstrated not only the practicability, 
 but the vast superiority of the New Testament method 
 of evangelism, by returning to the practice of meth- 
 ods followed by the apostles both in preaching Christ 
 and proclaiming terms of reconciliation with him. 
 
 5. It has done much to magnify the Word of 
 God, and to promote Bible study, by its emphasis on 
 the Holy Scriptures as the sole authority in religion. 
 
 6. It has restored the two ordinances — baptism 
 and the Lord's Supper — to their original and right- 
 ful place in the church, and given them a new beauty 
 and significance ahogether consistent with the most 
 spiritual conception of Christianity. 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 7. It has demonstrated the practicability of pro- 
 moting co-operation among local churches in mis- 
 sionary work, both at home and abroad, by the co- 
 hesive power of a common faith and a common love, 
 without the binding authority of a human creed. 
 
 8. It has harmonized the principle of loyalty to 
 Christ with the greatest freedom of thought and in- 
 vestigation, by distinguishing between faith and 
 opinion, and has thus demonstrated the practica- 
 bility of Christian union without the sacrifice of 
 either loyalty or liberty, but by marrying them in a 
 happy union. Honoring as it does the name and 
 memory of Mr. Campbell, because of his ability 
 and of his consecration to a great providential mis- 
 sion it yet refuses to take his name, or to make his 
 teaching the standard of their faith or practice, 
 accepting the words of Jesus, "One is your Master 
 and all ye are brethren. 
 
 So much in the way of what might be called doc- 
 trinal achievement and progress. Looking now in 
 the direction of visible and tangible results achieved, 
 we may mention the following: 
 
 I. On the basis of fellowship indicated in the 
 foregoing, and by the force of the plea for religious 
 reform which it has made, more than a million and 
 a quarter of adherents have been won to its cause, 
 existing in 11,647 free and independent churches 
 
 —256— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 with 8,904 Sunday-schools, 6,877 ministers, with 
 church property valued at nearly $30,000,000. 
 
 2. It has established and has in successful opera- 
 tion, twenty-seven colleges, universities and schools 
 of lower grade, with more than a thousand minis- 
 terial students, with property valued at four million 
 dollars and endowment near two million. 
 
 3. It has organized missionary societies for work 
 at home and abroad, which last year raised and dis- 
 bursed for missions $1,056,293. Besides this there 
 were raised: 
 
 For Educational buildings and endowment $311,984 
 
 For National Benevolent work 132,30 
 
 For Ministerial Relief 12,550 
 
 It is supporting foreign missions in Africa, China, 
 India, Japan, England, Cuba, the Hawaiian Islands, 
 the Philippine Islands, Porto Rico, Tibet, Scandi- 
 navia, Jamaica and South America, and has erected 
 and is supporting colleges, orphanages and hospitals 
 in most of these countries. It is only in later years, 
 after its many local problems had been solved, that 
 the missionary spirit has had opportunity to develop, 
 and in this time it has grown rapadly , but we have not 
 yet reached anything like the limit of our possibili- 
 ties in missionary work. Both the American Chris- 
 tian Missionary Society, organized in 1849, 
 Foreign Christian Missionary Society, organized in 
 (17) —257— 
 
Thh Story of a Century. 
 
 1875, growing in strength and usefulness every 
 year. 
 
 4. In the Christian Woman's Board of Missions, 
 an organization for both home and foreign work, 
 which is managed exclusively by the women of our 
 churches, an opportunity has been offered to our 
 women to promote their own spiritual development 
 while co-operating for the redemption of the world. 
 Perhaps no more successful missionary organization 
 exists than that of our Christian women. The Jun- 
 iors are a part of their work, and a generation is 
 being trained up for larger missionary service. 
 
 5. The Board of Church Extension, for assisting 
 weak churches in erecting suitable houses of wor- 
 ship, has become the right hand of our missionary 
 work, and is aiming to reach the sum of one million 
 dollars in resources by the Centennial. 
 
 6. The National Benevolent Association, coming 
 into existence later than the others, has outstripped 
 them all in the rapidity of its growth. It has or- 
 phanages and homes for the aged and poor in many 
 states, and last year raised over $120,000 for its work. 
 
 7. In Christian Endeavor, in inter-denomina- 
 tional Bible school work, in the Young Men's and 
 Young Women's Christian Associations and in co- 
 operation with other religious bodies through the 
 *' Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in 
 
 —258— 
 
The Story of a Century- 
 
 America,*' this movement has demonstrated its 
 catholicity of spirit, its zeal for unity, and its will- 
 ingness to avail itself of every opportunity of mani- 
 festing its sympathy with every good word and work. 
 
 8. The Brotherhood Movement, which recently 
 has been revived among the churches of the Ref- 
 ormation is rallying our men both for work in the 
 local churches, and massing their strength for wider 
 and more aggressive movements. 
 
 These are some of the things which it is possible 
 to mention among the visible achievements that are 
 susceptible of tabulation; but no one but God him- 
 self knows the unseen influences which have gone 
 forth through all these agencies for the world's bet- 
 terment, for the quickening of religious faith and 
 life, for the unification of the body of Christ, and for 
 the complete triumph of Christianity in the world. 
 
 —259— 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Some Unfinished Tasks. 
 
Not that I have already obtained, or am 
 already made perfect : but I press on if so 
 be that I may lay hold on that for which 
 also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. 
 Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid 
 hold; but one thing 1 do, forgetting the 
 things which are behind, and stretching for- 
 ward to the things which are before, 1 
 press on toward the goal unto the prize of 
 the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. — 
 Philippians 3 :lz-14. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Some Unfinished Tasks. 
 
 When any religious movement reaches the conclu- 
 sion that it has mastered all truth and has accom- 
 plished the work it was intended to accomplish, its 
 mission, of course, is ended. Happily no such feel- 
 ing exists, at least among the representative men of 
 this current Reformation. It is destined always to 
 remain a current and not a past Reformation. Its 
 principles make this a necessity. What are some of 
 the unfinished tasks which loom up into view as we 
 are closing the first century of our history, and look- 
 ing out into the new century before us? 
 
 I. One of the most important and immediately 
 pressing of these unfinished tasks is to permeate the 
 whole mass of our membership with the leaven of 
 truth and of life wherewith the best element among 
 us is already leavened. In other words, it is to bring 
 up the whole lagging column into line with our best 
 and most representative ministers and members, 
 churches and institutions. No religious body can 
 afford to disregard those who are bringing up the 
 rear, and who, by reason of education, temperament, 
 
 —263— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 or environment, are unable to make as rapid progress 
 as others. We must seek to imbue all our churches 
 and ministers with the same enthusiasm for missions, 
 for education, and for benevolence, which now ani- 
 mates our very best members, ministers and churches. 
 We have already a large number of our churches and 
 a large proportion of our members enlisted in some 
 form of co-operative work for the advancement of the 
 kingdom, but we must feel and say, with our Mas- 
 ter, that there are other sheep and other flocks which 
 are not of this co-operative fold, and they, too, must 
 be brought into blessed co-operative union so that 
 -there shall be one flock and one Shepherd in relation 
 to all our national enterprises. This will require time, 
 tact, patience and long-suffering, but we must never 
 despair of accomplishing it, at least in so far as those 
 are concerned who have really felt the power and 
 inspiration of the new life in Christ. What we are doing 
 to-day is but a tithe of what we might accomplish if 
 all our ministers and churches were in line with 
 those who are enlisted in this work of advancing the 
 kingdom of God. The possibilities of any religious 
 movement are seen in the lives and labors of its best 
 men. What these have become and are doing, others 
 can become and accomplish in the same spirit, and 
 under the same great Leader. 
 
 2. "We know in part, and we prophesy in part." 
 There are many great and vital parts in God's Word 
 
 —264— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 which we apprehend as yet only vaguely, and many 
 of the old truths which are familiar to us are des- 
 tined to assume new meanings, and new value as we 
 grow up to a clearer and deeper apprehension of 
 them. There is no perfect theology. We must "fol- 
 low on to know the I^ord. ' ' We must not close our 
 eyes nor our hearts to the new truths which he may 
 show us, nor to the new and more satisfactory views 
 of old truths which come with our enlarged Christian 
 experience. This progress in the knowledge of truth 
 will involve a change of emphasis which we must 
 not fail to make if we are to keep step with the great 
 providential movements of God in the world. There 
 is more to be expected from a deeper knowledge of 
 the old truths, probably, than from any entirely new 
 truths that may come into view. A profounder knowl- 
 edge of God in Christ Jesus; a deeper apprehension 
 of his love as shown in the incarnation, and in the 
 cross, a clearer grasp of the amazing possibilities 
 opened up to the believer through the resurrection of 
 Christ from the dead; a more vivid realization of our 
 obligations to him, and hence a more loyal submis- 
 sion to his will in all things, all of which is made 
 possible by the possession of the divine Spirit — these 
 are the chief sources of power and of progress in the 
 coming days. 
 
 3. In order to the completion of the two unfin- 
 shed tasks mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs, it 
 
 —265— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 is absolutely essential that another unfinished task 
 receive our immediate, earnest attention. We refer 
 to the adequate endowment and equipment of our 
 institutions of learning, not alone for the sake of an 
 educated ministry, which is vastly important, but for 
 the sake of an educated membership in all the pro- 
 fessions of life. Any reformation that proposes to be 
 continuous in its adjustment to the needs of the world, 
 and in its grasp of new situations, is bound to lay 
 great emphasis upon Christian education as an essen- 
 tial condition of carrying out such a program. This 
 fact is so obvious that the mere mention of it here 
 would seem to be sufficient. 
 
 4. Not the least of our unfinished tasks is to make 
 practical application of the knowledge which we 
 have already attained, in our own Christian living 
 and to the needs of the world about us. The supreme 
 apologetic for the new times, and for the coming 
 days, is the life that reflects the image of Jesus 
 Christ, and that makes practical application of his 
 teaching to all the relationships of life. The religious 
 body that can give the best exemplification of the 
 life of Jesus Christ in what it is doing for alleviating 
 human suffering and sorrow, for bringing about better 
 conditions of life for the poor and the neglected, and 
 that bears in its body the wounds of self-sacrifice 
 received in the service of humanity, is the one whose 
 
 —266— 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 credentials will be undisputed in our time, and, as 
 we believe, in tlie coming times. Hitherto tbe Ref- 
 ormation, during its first century's existence has 
 been largely engaged in correcting abuses and errors 
 in the religious world, both in doctrine and in prac- 
 tice, and in finding and explaining to others its basis 
 of unity and fellowship in Christian service. In this 
 second century it remains for us to apply this Chris- 
 tianity of Christ in the solution of all the problems 
 that affect the welfare of mankind. It is for the 
 church, and especially for those who claim to be re- 
 formers within the church, and restorers of Christ's 
 own gospel and methods, to become the leaders in all 
 moral and social reforms which look to the better- 
 ment of the world. It must make manifest the truth 
 that Christianity is for the whole man, and is a reg- 
 ulative force in all the relationships of human life — 
 personal, social, domestic, political, commercial — as 
 well as in those which we think of as religious in 
 contrast with the secular. 
 
 5. In reference to Christian life itself, we are com- 
 pelled to say, with the apostle, that we are not 
 perfect. There is a deeper Christian experience than 
 we have yet known. There are heights of Christian 
 joy and vision to which we have not yet attained- 
 The deepening of the religious life in all our mem. 
 bers is one of the great unfinished tasks that lie before 
 us. We shall never attain our ideal, but if we are 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 conscious of our imperfections, and can say with Paul 
 that with singleness of aim we "press toward the 
 mark," we shall make vastly more progress than to 
 rest in a state of contentment with our spiritual 
 attainments. Nothing is more certain than that this 
 need is recognized in these last years as never before, 
 and this note is being sounded in our pulpits as never 
 before. The solution of many of our problems is to 
 be found in our spiritual growth and development. 
 This spiritual development can come only through 
 Bible study, prayer and actual service for Christ, in 
 carrying on his work in the world. 
 
 6. In common with all other Christians we have 
 before us the unfinished task of converting the world. 
 And what a gigantic task that is! The majority of 
 the human race abides yet in pagan darkness. But the 
 old ancient barriers of exclusion ere being removed 
 between nations, and inter-commerce, rapid inter- 
 communication, and the mingling of peoples of all 
 nations have done much to bring the whole world 
 into close neighborhood, and to make it possible for 
 Christianity to measure strength with the pagan 
 religions, and to enter upon its mighty conquest. 
 We must never lose sight of our responsibility, along 
 with other believers in Christ, to carry the light and 
 blessing of Christianity to the nations and peoples 
 that knov/ not Christ, and are strangers to the bless- 
 ings of the Gospel. 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 7. The movement has not yet realized the dream 
 of its fathers in bringing about the unity of the people 
 of God. It must never turn aside from this unfin- 
 ished task. It is not laboring alone to-day, as in the 
 beginning, but other mighty advocates have come 
 upon the field to plead the same gracious cause. 
 There is danger that this fact, instead of encourag- 
 ing us to press on with the good work, may cause 
 many to turn aside because the work is no longer 
 distinctly our own; and because, perchance, the union 
 for which we have long prayed and labored is not 
 coming in the precise way we had anticipated. 
 Jesus was crucified by those who were expecting the 
 Messiah, but who did not accept him as the Messiah, 
 because he did not come in the way in which they 
 had expected he would come. I,et us beware that 
 we do not crucify him afresh by refusing our appre- 
 ciation of, and co-operation with, all movements 
 which are honestly seeking to bring the divided 
 forces of Christ into closer fellowship with each other 
 and into more effective co-operation in his service. 
 
 These are great and difficult tasks which are yet 
 to be completed, but we doubt not that under the 
 leadership of Him whom alone we acknowledge as 
 Lord and Christ, and who has been our help in the 
 past, we shall be able to come off more than con- 
 querors in carrying out the mission which he has 
 given to us in the world. 
 
 —269— 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 The Outlook. 
 
"Tn spite, however, of all their respon- 
 sibilities and obligations to the past — in 
 spite of the duty incumbent on *them to 
 conserve its intellectual as well as its moral 
 attainments — the pressure put upon the 
 churches, both from without and from with- 
 in, to recognize the claims of intellectual 
 liberty, is rapidly becoming irresistible- 
 Christian people, who are consciously at one 
 in their attitude to Christ and in their sense 
 of obligation to Him, see that they are kept 
 in different communions, and incapacitated 
 from co-operation in work and worship, be- 
 cause they have inherited different theolog- 
 ical traditions to which they are assumed to 
 be bound. Without entering into any dis- 
 cussion of what these theological traditions 
 — call them creeds, confessions, testimonies, 
 or whatever else — are worth, they feel in 
 their souls that they are not bound to them, 
 and ought not to be, with the same kind of 
 bond which secures their allegiance to 
 Christ. For the sake of getting nearer to 
 those who share this allegiance, and co- 
 operating with them in the service of the 
 Lord who holds their hearts, they contem- 
 plate with more equanimity the slackening 
 or dissolution of the bonds which attach 
 them to the theology, or, if we prefer to 
 call it so, the Christian thought of the 
 past." — "Jesus and the Gospel,'^ hy James 
 Denney, D, JJ^ 
 
 —272— 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The Outlook. 
 
 Such is the origin, history and achievements of 
 the restoration movement of the Campbells, very 
 briefly and inadequately stated. If it be a providen- 
 tial movement, we may rest assured that it is only 
 in the beginnings of its history, and that vastly 
 greater things are to be accomplished in the coming 
 years than have yet been realized. But just what 
 particular form its activities will assume, no human 
 mind can forecast. As the Lutheran reformation of 
 the sixteenth century is represented in the common 
 Protestantism of our day, so it is not unlikely, indeed, 
 it is extremely probable, that the Campbellian re- 
 formation of the nineteenth century is to be repre- 
 sented more and more in the future in the great 
 Protestant evangelical bodies of Christendom. Even 
 now, it is to be estimated less as a distinct move- 
 ment than as a permeating influence which has more 
 or less affected the religious thought and life of our 
 times. 
 
 What is the outlook, at the close of a century, of 
 this religious movement as regards the realization of 
 (18) —273— 
 
The Story of a Ckntury. 
 
 its dream of a united Churcli? Some facts standout 
 with such distinctness in the present religious situa- 
 tion that only the blind can fail to see them. Let 
 us mention a few of these facts as forming the basis 
 of the present outlook: 
 
 1. The] old antagonisms and the bitter party- 
 spirit; which at one time prevailed between different 
 religious bodies, have largely ceased to exist. The 
 walls of separation between the different Protestant 
 bodies are much less formidable than they used to 
 be, and people pass from one to another with a free- 
 dom that was once unknown. 
 
 2. This new feeling of fraternity among all the 
 followers of our Lord Jesus Christ is the result, not 
 of indifference to religious truth, as some assert, but 
 to a growing unity of thought and feeling touching 
 the great fundamental and essential truths of Chris- 
 tianity. The freedom of intercourse, and of inter- 
 communication, and of interdenominational fellow- 
 ship and co-operation, which has been on the in- 
 crease for many years, has produced this growing 
 unity of faith and feeling. There has also been great 
 progress in the distinction between matters which 
 are vital and essential in the religious faith, and 
 those which are incidental and non-essential. 
 
 3. There is manifest to-day a dissatisfaction 
 and discontent in the religious world with its pres- 
 ent condition, and a desire for something better, 
 
 —274— 
 
The: Story of a Century. 
 
 which are prophetic of future changes. Very few, 
 if any, well-informed people feel that the church is 
 to-day in a normal condition, and prepared to do the 
 work which Christ expects it to do. All thoughtful 
 men seem to recognize the fact that it is now in a 
 transition state, passing from the older Protestant- 
 ism of mutual antagonisms to the newer Catholicism, 
 in which both liberty and unity are to be conserved, 
 and Christian fellowship shall be coextensive with 
 Christian discipleship, and in which the erstwhile 
 hostile tribes of Protestantism shall become allies, 
 making common cause for the advancement of the 
 kingdom of God, and its triumph in the world. 
 
 4. Christ is coming to his own in these last 
 days. As Principal Fairbairn pointed out, a few 
 years ago, there is a ^'new feeling'' for Christ in our 
 day. This *'new feeling" grows out of a clearer rec- 
 ognition of his rightful place, both in theology and 
 in the church. It is this new feeling for Christ, this 
 clearer recognition of his divine authority and sole 
 leadership, that holds the key to the future. He is 
 to solve all of our problems for us, and he is to lead 
 us out of our divisions, strifes and rivalries, into unity 
 and co-operation for the salvation of the world. There 
 is no other fact that gives the church so bright an 
 outlook as this growing ascendency of Christ in the 
 thought and life of men. 
 
 —275— 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 5. The growing unity of the world, brought 
 about by the means of rapid intercommunication be- 
 tv^een nations, is bringing Christianity into contact 
 with the various heathen religions as never before. 
 The v;orld, spanned by railroads and steamships, and 
 bound together by submarine cables, is too small to 
 be occupied very long jointly by heathenism and 
 Christianity. The contest is now on. One or the 
 other must go down in the struggle, and all history 
 teaches that Christianity is to be the triumphant 
 force. But when the ethnic religions have gone 
 down before Christianity, the age-long foe of religion, 
 godlessness, will remain, and then comes the great 
 conflict between the forces of righteousness under 
 Christ and the forces of evil under Satan. We are 
 now in the beginnings of this great conflict. It is 
 the nascent consciousness of this fact that is drawing 
 Christians of different names and creeds together in 
 preparation for the mighty struggle. Antagonistic 
 religions can not coexist in the same civilization. 
 Christianity affects too profoundly the very structure 
 of our political, social, commercial and domestic life 
 to permit it to dwell in peace with the ethnic relig- 
 ions, or with atheism, which is the negation of the 
 claims of all religion. It alone possesses those ele- 
 ments of universality which fit it for a universal re- 
 ligion, and it is prepared to welcome any contest 
 
 —276— 
 
Thk Story of a Century. 
 
 that will enable it to measure strength with oppos- 
 ing religions. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The religious movement whose history we have 
 briefly sketched, falls into beautiful harmony with 
 these tendencies, and has itself been a factor in bring- 
 ing them about. What the times demand, what the 
 world needs, what the exigencies of the coming con- 
 flict call for, is a church united under the sole lead- 
 ership of Jesus Christ, clearly distinguishing between 
 the fundamentals and the incidentals of Christianity, 
 and uniting its strength in a common warfare against 
 opposing forces. To bring the church into this con- 
 dition of unity and of preparation for the great con- 
 flict, has been the steadfast purpose of the reforma- 
 tion of the nineteenth century. With the tenden- 
 cies of the age such as we have described, such a 
 movement, if true to its aim and to the spirit of its 
 founders, and especially if true to Him whom alone 
 they acknowledge as Leader, must, in the very na- 
 ture of things, have before it a triumphant career. 
 If it please God that more and more in the future 
 the things for which we have stood as a religious 
 movement shall be taken up by others until our own 
 plea shall have become less distinctive than it once 
 was, let us have the grace and humility to rejoice at 
 this fact, and count it a sufficient honor to have been 
 pioneers in a cause so worthy as to have enlisted the 
 
The Story of a Century. 
 
 sympathies and commanded the approval and co- 
 operation of all true and faithful followers of our L^ord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 What the second century will reveal as to the fu- 
 ture of this Reformation and of the Church universal, 
 none but God can foresee. We can not doubt, how- 
 ever, that under God's guidance and blessing, it is 
 to go forward with increasing power and usefulness. 
 It is ours to serve God and our generation according 
 to the best light we have, and to transmit to those 
 who shall come after us the task of carrying forward 
 toward completion the great work whose beginnings 
 only we have been able to see. In a little while we 
 shall assemble in a national convention at Pittsburg, 
 to celebrate the completion of the first century of our 
 history. I^t us pray that it may also be the begin- 
 ning of a second century that shall be marked by a 
 greater consecration and devotion to Him who loved 
 the Church and gave himself for it, and who prayed 
 for its unity in Him. To His name be glory and 
 honor and dominion, both now and evermore! 
 
 —278— 
 
Date Due 
 
 
 
 
 
 fE 17 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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