Articles
Back to the Bible
“Back to the Bible” in the 1800s:
[It can be enlightening and uplifting to us to see how earlier generations approached the issues of unity among Christians and restoring New Testament Christianity. In recent bulletins we looked at “The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery” from 1804 and in the “Plan for Unity 1832” saw some of the plea of “Raccoon”John Smith, who preached plainly and fervently among the Baptists for the union of Christians on the Bible. I hope that just a few more articles along this line will be of interest.]
In the early 1800s, religious fervor spread like wildfires in the rapidly expanding US, especially on the “western frontier”. During this time Barton W. Stone came to Kentucky, and he, along with many other Presbyterian preachers, began to call for the unity of Christians based on the Bible alone. They were not trying to start a new sect, but rather sought common ground on which to draw divided Christians together. To this end, they simply called themselves “Christians” and they renounced allegiance to the Westminster Confession of Faith, and withdrew themselves from the synods and councils of the Presbyterians [so the “Last Will and Testament” mentioned above.]
Stone held that Christian unity could only be achieved as people laid aside all divisive names and creeds and organizations. He also believed strongly that walking in godliness, being led by the Spirit of Christ, was the test of a true Christian [“by their fruits ye shall know them”]. He taught that love and harmony based on godly and holy living would lead men to hold their opinions and speculations on various doctrines as private, and not be made tests of fellowship. So there could be no real unity among people who were not partaking of Christ’s character. He later wrote in his Christian Messenger 7:316, October 1833:
“ How vain are all human attempts to unite a bundle of twigs together, so as to make them grow and bear fruit! They must first be united with the living stock, and receive its sap, and spirit, before they can ever be united with each other. So we must first be united with Christ, and receive his spirit, before we can ever be in spirit united with one another. The members of the body cannot live unless by union with the head – nor can members of the church live united, unless first united with Christ, the living head. His spirit is the bond of union. Men have devised many plans to unite Christians – all are vain. There is but one effectual plan, which is, that all be united with Christ, and walk in him. Zion must be purged from dead members, before she can shine in union and glory.”
Taking the words of Christ, “by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples”, he labored with the strong belief that unity among Christians was the fundamental requirement for the evangelizing of the world.
By 1830, tens of thousands had joined this effort, scattered through Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. It is very interesting that around the turn of the century, similar movements were developing in North Carolina and Virginia, based on the work of a Methodist preacher, James O’Kelly, and in Vermont and New Hampshire, following the lead of Abner Jones, who worked among the Baptists, and Elias Smith. Each of these groups began to call themselves Christians, renounced the creeds of the denominations, and held Christian character as the only test of fellowship. These different groups of Christians, over time, heard of the others, and they began to communicate, announce meetings, and extend invitations for preachers to visit. They had no delegates, no headquarters, and no formal organization. They referred to themselves as Christian churches, the Christian Connection, or the Christian Conference, though in many places they were labeled as “Stonites”, “New Lights”, and other derogatory names. Later some of these (but not all) would unite with the Reformers from among the Baptists, influenced by Alexander Campbell. In the next article we will look at Thomas and Alexander Campbell, and how their work for unity developed.
Larry Walker
May 2009
- Back_to_the_Bible_1800s_1.doc (63.49 kB)
