THE health of Thomas Campbell began to suffer some impairment from his excessive labors as preacher and teacher, and his physician recommended a sea voyage as a remedy.

      Many of his neighbors had gone, and more were going, to America, to seek homes. Some of his Seceder friends had emigrated to the New World. To take a journey to America, whether to see the country as a visitor or remain as an inhabitant, would not be going alone or entirely among strangers. He bade farewell to his Seceder congregation at Ahorey, and took letters of dismissal and testimonials from the church and the Presbytery of Market Hill. Leaving his family behind and the academy in charge of his son Alexander, he set sail April 8, [33] 1807, and arrived in Philadelphia thirty-five days later, where he found the Seceder synod in session. He presented his credentials, and was assigned to the Presbytery of Chartiers, in Western Pennsylvania.

      The Seceders lost none of their peculiarities by being transplanted to the New World. They brought their Old World "testimonies" with them and perpetuated their divisions in America as they had in Scotland and Ireland against the better feeling and judgment of many of their members. The Anti-Burghers were the first to establish churches in America, and when the Burghers arrived on the ground there was a disposition to go into the Anti-Burgher fellowship. There was even less reason for the division of Seceders into Burghers and Anti-Burghers or into New Lights and Old Lights, in America than in Ireland, for the divisions grew out of political conditions which were completely changed in this Country. Pennsylvania became the stronghold of [34] Secederism. The Anti-Burgher branch, being the stronger, absorbed the Burgher element in the stream of emigration from the Old World, and put itself under the oversight of the Associate (Anti-Burgher) Synod of Scotland. This body in America became more exclusive and conservative than the body in Scotland, and in 1796 passed "an act against occasional communion, which ever afterward remained the law of the church."

      Thomas Campbell had not been long at work among his New World Seceder brethren before he broke over the narrow boundaries of his denomination and violated one of its most cherished usages. It had decreed to have no fellowship with brethren of other Presbyterian parties, much less other denominations. But when Thomas Campbell went into the religiously desolate parts of his field, he invited his brethren of all Presbyterian parties who were without pastoral care and the sacraments of the [35] church, to join his Anti-Burgher members in communion service. Whether it was due more to the zeal of his ministerial brethren for the correct usages of Secederism or to their jealousy of his growing power and popularity, that they assumed a hostile attitude towards Mr. Campbell, is not clear; but it was not long before sufficient offense had been given to warrant them in openly proceeding against him before the Presbytery. He was charged with departure from the standard of Seceder faith and with violation of the rules and usages of the church. There is no record of the trial before the Presbytery, but judging from the contents of a letter written immediately after to the Synod, we may infer that he pleaded for larger liberty and fraternity than were allowed by the "testimony" of the church, and took his stand upon the authority and teachings of the Scriptures over against the authority of the "testimony." The Presbytery voted him deserving of [36] censure. He protested and appealed to the Synod.

      Mr. Campbell was desirous of continuing in fellowship with the Seceders and working harmoniously with them, but he was not willing to do so at the sacrifice of his Christian liberty and fraternity, or the primacy of the Scriptures as the law of his Christian conscience, and the rule of his faith and practice. By this time he had clearly grasped the principles by which he was to govern his own conduct in religious matters, and by which alone he believed the church of God could be brought to unity and purity. How long before this he had arrived at his position cannot be said. It first appeared in the letter to the Synod. The letter is too long to quote in full, but it is so important a piece of evidence in the development of Thomas Campbell's religious position, that it cannot be entirely omitted. He said: "Honored Brethren: Before you come to a final issue in the present business, let me [37] entreat you to pause a moment and seriously consider the following things: To refuse any one his just privilege, is it not to oppress and injure? In proportion to the magnitude and importance of the privilege withheld, is not the injustice in withholding it to be estimated? If so, how great the injustice, how highly aggravated the injury will appear, to thrust out from communion a Christian brother, a fellow-minister for saying and doing none other things than those which our Divine Lord and his Holy Apostles have taught and enjoined to be spoken and done by his ministering servants, and to be received and observed by all his people! Or have I, in any instance, proposed to say or do otherwise? If I have, I shall be heartily thankful to any brother that shall point it out, and upon his so doing, shall as heartily and thankfully relinquish it. Let none think that, by so saying, I entertain the vain presumption of being infallible. So far am I from this, [38] that I dare not venture to trust my own understanding so far as to take upon me to teach anything as a matter of faith or duty but what is already expressly taught, and enjoined by divine authority." "It is, therefore, because I have no confidence, either in my own infallibility or in that of others, that I absolutely refuse, as inadmissible and schismatic the introduction of human opinions and human inventions into the faith and worship of the church. Is it, therefore, because I plead the cause of the scriptural and Apostolic worship of the church, in opposition to the various errors and schisms which have so awfully corrupted and divided it, that the brethren of the Union should feet it difficult to admit me as their fellow laborer in that blessed work? I sincerely rejoice with them in what they have done in that way; but still, all is not yet done; and surely they can have no just objections to going farther. Nor do I presume to dictate to them or to [39] others as to how they should proceed for the glorious purpose of promoting the unity and purity of the church; but only beg leave, for my own part, to walk upon such sure and peaceable ground that I may have nothing to do with human controversy about the right or wrong side of any opinion whatsoever. By simply acquiescing in what is written, as quite sufficient for every purpose of faith and duty; and thereby to influence as many as possible to depart from human controversy, to betake themselves to the Scriptures, and in so doing, to the study and practice of faith, holiness and love."

      This extract shows sufficiently the sincerity of the purpose and spirit of Campbell in his conflict with his brethren. It also contains echoes and reminiscences of the sectarian conflicts surrounding him in Ireland, and reflects the teachings of such men as John Glas, the Haldanes, John Walker and Archibald McLean. There is nothing new in his appeal to the authority of Scripture, [40] except the emphasis upon it and use made of it. Reforming spirits in all ages of the church have made their appeal back to Scripture, from Vigilantius and Jovinian in the early church through Arnold of Brescia, William of Occam, John Wiclif and John Huss, to Martin Luther and John Calvin in the modern church. The authority of primitive Christianity appeared in the church first as a principle of purity; Luther applied it as a principle of liberty, as well as purity; Campbell conceived of it as a principle of unity, as well as liberty and purity. He believed that a return to primitive Christianity would make a united, as well as a pure and a free church. The crying need of the Protestant church was unity; but the path to that unity lay through her deliverance from a new bondage into which she had fallen, a bondage to creeds and theological formularies of the faith as conditions of union and communion among Christians. Here appears for the first time in the history [41] of the church the annunciation of the authority of Scripture as a principle of Christian unity. Here lay the remedy for the church's divisions and strifes in his time and all time. He announces it with all confidence and sincerity, as a principle which his own brethren who were trying him for heresy already accepted, and upon which the entire Protestant church was built. He was conscious only of recalling an old faith. It is self-evident, axiomatic, consentient with the mind of all Protestant Christendom. With him the appeal to Scripture was the end of controversy between him and his Seceder brethren. It was equivalent to an argumentum ad hominem, and against the more open and flagrant departures from plain Scripture precept and example would be successful.

      The result of the appeal to the Synod was to set aside the judgment of the Presbytery on the ground of the informalities of its procedure, and to release the protester from [42] the censure inflicted by the Presbytery; but it decided that there were sufficient grounds in his evasive and unsatisfactory answers to the charges to "infer censure." He submitted to the decision "as an act of deference to the judgment of the court," and that "he might not give offense to his brethren by manifesting a refractory spirit." He supposed this would settle the matter, and he would be enabled to go on in peace with his ministerial labors; but he was disappointed, for his enemies were all the more bitter in their hostility to him. Rather than try to continue his work in the atmosphere of suspicion and criticism, he deemed it his duty to sever his relations with the Seceders. He presented to the Synod a formal renunciation of its authority, and committed himself to the sympathy of the religious world.

      Many persons not only among the Seceders but members of other religious bodies who had heard him sympathized with him [43] and shared his views. He began to hold meetings whenever there were opportunities, in barns, groves, schoolhouses, and the houses of his Irish friends who had settled in Washington County, and soon a clearly defined group of persons acknowledged his leadership. They agreed to meet at the home of Abraham Altars, to consummate plans for the future, and agree upon a basis of cooperation. In an address on this occasion he gave utterance to a sentence which was destined to become a kind of watchword among those who came under his leadership: "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where they are silent, we are silent." He had scarcely finished speaking when one person present made the application of the principle to infant baptism, and concluded that the Scriptures nowhere speak of it. They, therefore, ought not to have anything to do with it. Mr. Campbell was not so easily convinced of this, and thought it ought to be treated as a matter [44] of forbearance. At a meeting held August 17, 1809, a committee of twenty-one was appointed, headed by Thomas Campbell, to draw up a program of action. They agreed to call themselves "The Christian Association of Washington." The results of the deliberation of this committee were the writing by Mr. Campbell and the adoption by the Association of what was called a Declaration and Address. It is the most important document in the entire history of the Disciples. It was forged out of the experiences and charged with the spirit of Thomas Campbell. It is free from bitterness or vindictiveness, but is passionate with the eloquence of one who had felt all the misery and meanness of sectarianism. Love and sorrow have conquered pride and revenge in his soul, and he pleads as a brother with his brethren.

      The Christian Association thought of itself, not as a church or as a new religious denomination, but as a society for the [45] promotion of Christian union among all the denominations. Its members still held membership in the various churches of the region. They had no thought of being otherwise received by the various denominations than as kindly helpers in restoring their faith and order to the New Testament model. We cannot understand how they so mistook the disposition of the various denominations towards change and reconstruction as to suppose they would cordially or even quietly permit alterations in their faith and usages, except that the members of the Association had an unusually profound, if not naive, confidence in the magic of their principles. The Declaration sets forth the motives and purposes of the Association as follows: "Moreover, being well aware, from sad experience, of the heinous nature and pernicious tendency of religious controversy among Christians, tired and sick of the bitter jarrings and janglings of a party spirit, we would desire to be at rest; and, [46] were it possible, we would also desire to adopt and recommend such measures as would give rest to our brethren throughout all the churches: as would restore unity, peace and purity to the whole church of God." "Our desire, therefore, for ourselves and our brethren would be that rejecting human opinions and the inventions of men, as of any authority, or as having any place in the church of God, we might forever cease from further contentions about such things; returning to and holding fast by the original standard; taking the divine word alone for our guide; the Holy Spirit for our teacher and guide, to lead us 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 the Lord." Then follows a statement of the purpose and program of the Association: To form a religious association for [47] promoting simple and evangelical Christianity, under the name of the Christian Association of Washington; to contribute a certain sum to support a pure gospel ministry and supply the poor with the Scriptures; to encourage the formation of similar associations; to consider itself not a church, but as a church reformation society; to countenance only such ministers as adhere closely to the example and precept of Scripture in conduct and teaching; to entrust the management of the Association to a standing committee of twenty-one; to hold two meetings a year; to open each meeting with a sermon; and to look to the friends of genuine Christianity for the support of their work.

      This is followed by the Address with the following dedicatory heading: "To all that love our Lord Jesus Christ, in sincerity, throughout all the churches, the following Address is most respectfully submitted." After an arraignment of the evils of division [48] in Christendom and an indictment of sectarianism, he goes on to plead with his "dearly beloved brethren," of "all the churches of Christ," "to unite in the bonds of an entire Christian unity--Christ alone being the head, the centre, his word the rule; and explicit belief of, and manifest conformity to it in all things--the terms."

      There were certain "fundamental truths" of the nature of "first principles"--"truths demonstrably evident in the light of Scripture and right reason" which underlay the proposal for a union of Protestant Christians. These self-evident presuppositions he puts in the form of propositions as follows:

      "1. That the Church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally, 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 tempers and conduct, and of [49] none else; as none else can be truly and properly called Christians.

      "2. That although the Church of Christ upon earth 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 Christ Jesus 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 thing; and to be perfectly 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 them in the word of God. Nor ought anything to be admitted, as of Divine obligation, in their Church constitution and management, but what is expressly enjoined by the authority [50] of our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles upon the New Testament Church, either in express terms or by approved precedent.

      "4. That although the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are inseparably connected, making together but one perfect and entire revelation of the Divine will, for the edification and salvation of the Church, and therefore in that respect cannot be separated; yet as to what directly and properly belongs to their immediate object, the New Testament is as perfect a constitution 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, discipline, and government of the Old Testament Church, and the particular duties of its members.

      "5. That with respect to the commands and ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ, where the Scriptures are silent as to the express time or manner of performance, if any [51] 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 anything more be required of Christians in such cases, but only that they so observe these commands and ordinances as will evidently answer the declared and obvious end of their institution. Much less has any human authority power to impose new commands or ordinances upon the Church, which our Lord 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 Christians, that is not as old as the New Testament.

      "6. That although inferences 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 consciences of Christians farther than they perceive the connection, and evidently see that they are [52] so; 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 terms of communion, but do properly belong to the after and progressive edification of the Church. Hence, it is evident that no such deductions or inferential 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 prevailing errors, be highly expedient, and the more full and explicit for those purposes they be, the better; yet, as these must 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 communion; unless we suppose, what is contrary to fact, that none have a right to the communion of the Church, but such as possess a very clear and decisive judgment, or are come to a very high [53] degree of doctrinal information; whereas 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 revealed truths in order to entitle them to a place in the Church; neither should they, for this purpose, be required to make a profession more extensive than their knowledge; but that, on the contrary, their having a due measure of Scriptural self-knowledge; respecting their lost and perishing condition by nature and practice, and of the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, accompanied with a profession of their faith in and obedience to him, in all things, according to his word, is all that is absolutely necessary to qualify them for admission into his church.

      "9. That all are enabled through grace to make such a profession, and to manifest [54] 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 love, bought with the same price, and joint-heirs of the same inheritance. Whom God hath thus joined together no man should dare to put asunder.

      "10. That division among the Christians is a horrid evil, fraught with many evils. It is antichristian, 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 antiscriptural, as being strictly prohibited by his sovereign authority; a direct violation of his express command. It is antinatural, as it excites Christians to contemn, to hate, and oppose one another, who are bound by the highest and most endearing obligations [55] to love each other as brethren, even as Christ has loved them. In a word, it is productive of confusion and of very evil work.

      "11. That (in some instances) a partial neglect of the expressly revealed will of God, and (in others) an assumed authority 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 perfection and purity of the Church upon earth is, first, that none be received as members but such as having that due measure of self-knowledge described above, do profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him in all things according to the Scriptures; nor, secondly, [56] that any be retained in her communion longer than they continue to manifest the reality of their profession 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 enjoined in the word of God. Lastly, that in all their administrations they keep close by the observance of all Divine ordinances, 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 necessary to the observance of Divine ordinances be not found upon the page of express revelation, such, and such only, as are absolutely necessary for this purpose should be adopted under the title of human expedients, without any pretense to a more sacred origin, so that any subsequent alteration or difference in [57] the observance of these things might produce no contention nor division in the Church."

      The starting point in his plan of Christian union was the sufficiency of the New Testament as a rule of faith and practice for the Christian church. Acknowledging this, as all Protestants were supposed to do, the next step was to distinguish in the teaching of the New Testament between matters of faith and matters of opinion. The former belonged to the essential conditions of Christian union and communion, were few, easily understood by all, whether learned or unlearned, and were not subject to interpretation; the latter belonged to the realm of non-essentials, were many, were subject to interpretation and speculation, and should not be made terms of union and communion among Christians. The Scriptures were to be the guide in distinguishing matters of faith from matters of opinion; what they made a matter of faith, [58] and required for salvation, should be essential to communion; what they left as matter of opinion, could be safely left to the exercise of liberty. The realm of liberty was to be made larger--as large as the realm of opinions. Christians were not to be persecuted or denied fellowship on account of their opinions. They were to be bound only where the Scriptures bound them. There never could be unity in opinions, for they were many; there can be unity only in faith, for it is one. The Scriptures leave no doubt as to what is of faith. He felt that this was a sure path to agreement in faith and practice among Christians, that it would put an end to theological strifes and divisions, and that all agreeing, would finally unite in one organic body. In the Declaration and Address, he does not go beyond this formal program of action. At this time he has not settled, is indeed uncertain of the practical determination of, what things are matters of faith and what of opinion, and [59] does not settle the final form of the united church. It is yet an untried principle, but of its efficacy and ultimate success he has no doubt. The task of definition, application, and experiment lay before him, and was to raise many questions he had not thought of. Not until the organization of the first church, when they were called upon to fix the terms of Christian fellowship for those seeking entrance, did they begin to define what they understood as primitive Christianity and to distinguish between matters of faith and matters of opinion. Nothing but matters of faith, things essential to salvation, were to be made tests of fellowship.

      Here emerge two principles which Campbell designed should be cooperative and mutually corrective, the authority of primitive Christianity, and the obligation of Christian unity. The one was means, the other end, while both were equally binding. He did not anticipate that there would [60] be conditions where the principles would be mutually exclusive, and that a difference of emphasis would make them mutually destructive. Here lie the seeds of disagreement and controversy within the movement itself.

      Alexander Campbell, the son, arrived in America just as the Declaration and Address was coming from the press. There had been no communication as to what was transpiring in the religious convictions of each, but when they met and discussed the events and changes that had taken place in the two years of separation, they found that they had come to practically the same position. The father in America, the son in Scotland, each unknown to the other, had broken with Secederism. The son fell in heartily with the action of his father and the principles of the Declaration and Address. He had spent one of the two years of separation in study at the University of Glasgow, where his father had formerly studied, [61] and while there came more intimately under the influence of the new ideas and movements of the country. Here he met Greville Ewing, the Haldanes, and other religious leaders of the time who were pressing for larger liberty of Christian service under the rule of a stricter conformity to the Scriptures. The son had not been long in the Christian Association of Washington before his gifts of leadership were recognized and acknowledged, and he was called upon to make public defense of the Declaration and Address against the criticisms and objections of the various religious parties of the community. He had dedicated himself to the ministry at the time of the shipwreck of the family when they first attempted to cross the Atlantic to join the father in the fall of 1808, and were forced to postpone the voyage until the next season. In the meantime the family, for the benefit of the son had decided to spend the winter at the University of Glasgow. This resolution on [62] shipboard to give himself to the ministry came providentially to make him the defender and promoter of the new reformation. He quickly stepped before his father as the destined leader of the movement. From the moment of his first effort at public discourse he showed those marked powers of eloquence and argumentation which lifted him subsequently to the front rank of pulpit orators. [63]

[TDOC 33-63]