THIS denomination of Christians, it is fair to say, object to the first cognomen at the head of this section. We use it because it is the name by which they are popularly known. The Rev. Alexander Campbell, who must be regarded as their founder, objects to denominating a church by any other name than one sanctioned by Scripture. They say they would prefer the term Christians, but do not wish to assume a designation which might seem to deny the appellation to others. They prefer to be called Disciples.

      After Mr. Campbell became a Baptist, he was for some time connected with the Associated Baptists in Western Pennsylvania, and was for a time clerk of the Old Redstone Association. Their professed aim is to bring Christianity back to its primitive simplicity. They reject all symbols of faith except the Bible, and object to all technicalities in theology. From taking exceptions to the word "Trinity," and perhaps for other reasons, they have been extensively regarded as Unitarians. It appears, however, from their chief book in theology, and from a tract setting forth their principles, that they clearly and unequivocally deny Unitarian doctrines. They have a college in Brooke County, Virginia. It has a full corps of officers, and is in a flourishing condition. The Millennial Harbinger is an octavo periodical, conducted by Mr. Campbell. Unlike the Associate Baptists, they invite Christians of all denominations to commune with them at the table of the Lord, which service they celebrate on every Lord's day.

      The following statement by one of their number, probably by Mr. Campbell himself, is a very explicit declaration of their object and their principles. [135]

      "The constitutional principle of this Christian association and its object are clearly expressed in the following resolution:--'That this society, formed for the sole purpose of promoting simple evangelical Christianity, shall, to the utmost of its power, countenance and support such ministers, and such only, as exhibit a manifest conformity to the original standard, in conversation and doctrine, in zeal and diligence; only such as reduce to practice the simple original form of Christianity, expressly exhibited upon the sacred page, without attempting to inculcate anything of human authority, of private opinion, or inventions of men, as having any place in the constitution, faith, or worship of the Christian church.'

      "But to contradistinguish this effort from some others almost contemporaneous with it, we would emphatically remark, that, whilst the remonstrants warred against human creeds, evidently because those creeds warred against their own private opinions and favorite dogmas, which they wished to substitute for those creeds,--this enterprise, so far as it was hostile to those creeds, warred against them, not because of their hostility to any private or favorite opinions which were desired to be substituted for them; but because those human institutions supplanted the Bible, made the Word of God of non-effect, were fatal to the intelligence, union, purity, holiness, and happiness of the disciples of Christ, and hostile to the salvation of the world. We had not at first, and we have not now, a favorite opinion or speculation, which we would offer as a substitute for any human creed or constitution in Christendom.

      "With various success, and with many of the opinions of the various sects imperceptibly carried with them from the denominations to which they once belonged, did the advocates of the Bible cause plead for the union of [135] Christians of every name on the broad basis of the apostles' teaching. But it was not until the year 1823, that a restoration of the original gospel and order of things began to be advocated in a periodical, edited by Alexander Campbell, of Bethany, Virginia, entitled 'The Christian Baptist.'

      "He and his father, Thomas Campbell, renounced the Presbyterian system, and were immersed in the year 1812. They and the congregation which they had formed, united with the Redstone Baptist Association; protesting against all human creeds as bonds of union, and professing subjection to the Bible alone. But in pressing upon the attention of that society and the public the all-sufficiency of the Sacred Scriptures for every thing necessary to the perfection of Christian character, whether in the private or social relations of life, in the church or in the world, they began to be opposed by a strong creed-party in that association. After some ten years' debating, and contending for the Bible alone and the apostles' doctrine, Alexander Campbell and the church to which he belonged, united with the Mahoning Association of Ohio--that association being more favorable to his views of reform.

      "In his debates on the subject and action of baptism with Mr. Walker, a seceding minister, in the year 1820, and with Mr. M'Calla, a Presbyterian minister, in 1823, his views of reformation began to be developed, and were very generally received by the Baptist society, as far as these works were read.

      "But in his 'Christian Baptist,' which began July 4, 1823, his views of the need of reformation were more fully exposed; and as these gained ground by the pleading of various ministers of the Baptist denomination, a party in opposition began to exert itself, and to oppose the spread of what they were pleased to call heterodoxy. [136] But not till after great numbers began to act upon these principles, was there any attempt towards separation. After the Mahoning Association appointed Walter Scott an evangelist, in 1827, and when great numbers began to be immersed into Christ under his labors, and new churches began to be erected by him and other laborers in the field, did the Baptist associations begin to declare non-fellowship with the brethren of the Reformation. Thus by constraint, not of choice, they were obliged to form societies out of those communities that split upon the ground of adherence to the Apostles' doctrine. The distinguishing characteristics of their views and practices are the following:--

      "They regard all the sects and parties of the Christian world as having, in greater or less degrees, departed from the simplicity of faith and manners of the first Christians. This defection they attribute to the great varieties of speculation and metaphysical dogmatism of the countless creeds, formularies, liturgies, and books of discipline adopted and inculcated as bonds of union and platforms of communion in all the parties which have sprung from the Lutheran Reformation. The effects of these synodical covenants, conventional articles of belief, and rules of ecclesiastical polity, has been the introduction of a new nomenclature, a human vocabulary of religious words, phrases, and technicalities, which has displaced the style of the living oracles, and affixed to the sacred diction ideas wholly unknown to the apostles of Christ.

      "To remedy and obviate these aberrations, they propose to ascertain from the Holy Scriptures, according to the commonly received and well established rules of interpretation, the ideas attached to the leading terms and sentences found in the Holy Scriptures, and then to use the words of the Holy Spirit in the apostolic acceptation of them. [137]

      "By thus expressing the ideas communicated by the Holy Spirit, in the terms and phrases learned from the apostles, and by avoiding the artificial and technical language of scholastic theology, they propose to restore a pure speech to the household of faith; and by accustoming the family of God to use the language and dialect of their heavenly Father, they expect to promote the sanctification of one another through the truth, and to terminate those discords and debates which have always originated from the words which man's wisdom teaches, and from a reverential regard and esteem for the style of the great masters of polemic divinity; believing that speaking the same things in the same style is the only certain way to thinking the same things.

      "They make a very marked difference between faith and opinion; between the testimony of God and the reasonings of men; the words of the Spirit and human inferences. Faith in the testimony of God and obedience to the commandments of Jesus are their bond of union; and not an agreement in any abstract views or opinions upon what is written or spoken by divine authority. Regarding all the opposing theories of religious sectaries as extremes begotten by each other, they cautiously avoid them, as equidistant from the simplicity and practical tendency of the promises and precepts, of the doctrine and facts, of the exhortations and precedents of the Christian institution. They look for unity of spirit and the bonds of peace in the practical acknowledgment of 'one faith, one Lord, one immersion, one hope, one body, one Spirit, one God and Father of all;' not in unity of opinions, nor in unity of forms, ceremonies, or modes of worship.

      "The Holy Scriptures of both Testaments they regard as containing revelations from God, and as all necessary to make the man of God perfect, and accomplished for [138] every good word and work: the New Testament, or the living oracles of Jesus Christ, they understand as containing the Christian religion; testimonies of the four evangelists they view as illustrating and proving the great proposition on which our religion rests, namely,--that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the only begotten and well-beloved Son of God, and the only Saviour of the world; the Acts of the Apostles as a divinely authorized narrative of the beginning and progress of the reign or kingdom of Jesus Christ, recording the full development of 'the gospel' by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, and the procedure of the apostles in setting up the Church of Christ on earth; the Epistles as carrying out and applying the doctrine of the apostles to the practice of individuals and churches, and as developing the tendencies of the gospel in the behavior of its professors, and all as forming a complete standard of faith and morals, adapted to the interval between the ascension of Christ, and his return with the kingdom which he has received from God.

      "Every one who sincerely believes the testimony which God gave of Jesus of Nazareth, saying, 'This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I delight,' or, in other words, believes what the evangelists and apostles have testified concerning him, from his conception to his coronation in heaven, as Lord of all, and who is willing to obey him in everything, they regard as a proper subject of immersion into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and no one else. They consider Christian baptism, after a public, sincere, and intelligent confession of the faith in Jesus, as necessary to admission to the privileges of the kingdom of the Messiah, and as a solemn pledge on the part of heaven, of the actual remission of all past sins, and of adoption into the family of God.

      "The Holy Spirit is promised only to those who believe [139] and obey the Saviour. No one is taught to expect the reception of that heavenly monitor and Comforter as a resident in his heart, till he obeys the gospel. Thus, while they proclaim faith and repentance, or faith and a change of heart, as preparatory to immersion, remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, they say to all penitents, or all those who believe and repent of their sins, as Peter said to the first audience addressed after the Holy Spirit was bestowed after the glorification of Jesus, 'Be immersed every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' They teach sinners that God commands all men everywhere to repent or turn to God; that the Holy Spirit strives with them to do so by the apostles and prophets; that God beseeches them to be reconciled through Jesus Christ, and that it is the duty of all men to believe the gospel and turn to God.

      "The immersed believers are congregated into societies according to their nearness to each other, and taught to meet every first day of the week in honor and commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus, and to attend to the Lord's Supper, which commemorates the death of the Son of God, to read and hear the living oracles, to teach and admonish one another, to unite in all prayer and praise, to contribute to the necessities of saints, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord.

      "Every congregation chooses its own overseers and deacons, who preside over and administer the affairs of the congregations; and every church, either from itself or in co-operation with others, sends out, as opportunity offers, one or more evangelists, or proclaimers of the word, to preach the word and to immerse those who believe, to gather congregations, and to extend the knowledge of salvation as far as their means extend. But every church regards these [140] evangelists as its servants, and therefore they have no control over any congregation, each church being subject to its own choice of presidents or elders, whom they have appointed. Perseverance in all the work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope, is inculcated by all the Disciples as essential to admission into the heavenly kingdom.

      "Such are the prominent outlines of the faith and practice of those who wish to be known as the disciples of Christ; but no society among them would agree to make the preceding items either a confession of faith or a standard of practice; but, for the information of those who wish an acquaintance with them, are willing to give at any time a reason for their faith, hope, and practice.

      "On the design of baptism, and the benefits resulting from this ordinance to the penitent believer through the blood of Christ, the Disciples have been greatly misunderstood. That the blood of Jesus is the only procuring cause of the remission of sins, is believed by every Disciple. Baptism, they teach, is designed to introduce the subjects of it into the participation of the blessings of the death and resurrection of Christ, who died for our sins, and rose again for our justification. But it has no abstract efficacy. Without previous faith in the blood of Christ, and deep and unfeigned repentance before God, neither immersion in water nor any other action can secure to us the blessings of peace and pardon. It can merit nothing. Still to the believing penitent it is the means of receiving a formal, distinct, and specific absolution, or release from guilt. Therefore none but those who have first believed in Christ and repented of their sins, and that have been intelligently immersed into his death, have the full and explicit testimony of God, assuring them of pardon. In reference to regeneration the Disciples teach that an individual who is [141] first begotten of God, whose heart is imbued with the word of God, is enabled to enjoy the life thus bestowed when immersed into Christ, as it gives him an introduction to the happiness and society of the pardoned and the spiritual. Baptism, succeeding faith and repentance, consummates regeneration. The new birth as a change of state, is a formal ingress of a penitent believer, a prior spiritual creation, into the family and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Formed for a new state by faith and repentance, he enjoys its heavenly adaptations the moment he enters the kingdom by being baptized in the name of Christ. The waters of baptism in connection with the death of Jesus, afford him as great an assurance of safety, as did their type, the waters of the Red Sea, to the redeemed Israelites, when they engulphed Pharaoh and his hosts. Thus are we taught that penitent believers are born the children of God by baptism--that salvation is connected with baptism when accompanied by faith--that remission of sins is to be enjoyed by baptism through the blood of Christ--that persons, having previously believed and repented, wash away their sins in baptism, calling on the name of the Lord--that they profess to be dead to sin and alive to God in the action of baptism--that believers put on Christ when baptized into Christ--that the church is cleansed by baptism and belief of the Word of God--that men are saved by baptism in connection with the renewing of the Holy Spirit--and that the answer of a good conscience is obtained in baptism through the resurrection of Christ.

      "As the Disciples endeavor to call Bible things by Bible names, they have repudiated all words and phrases in respect to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, not sanctioned by divine usage. Never employing such terms as 'trinity,' 'eternal generation,' 'eternal filiation,' 'eternally begotten,' 'eternal procession,' 'co-essential and consubstantial,' [142] and all others of the same category, they have sometimes been denominated, but most unjustly so, Unitarians. They believe that Christ is absolutely divine, infinitely above any super-human or even super-angelic being. They believe Christ to be 'God' in nature, and not in office only, or because he is invested with divine prerogatives, as Moses is said to have been made 'a god unto Pharaoh,' and as the magistrates of Israel are called 'gods,' as being engaged in administering divine laws."

      As this denomination are not bound together by public bodies in any such manner as to secure by published minutes correct statistical tables, there is much uncertainty in respect to their numbers. Their increase, however, has been rapid, and their numbers are great. Mr. Campbell computes them at more than 200,000. Benedict, in his History of the Baptists, says they have 1600 churches, 1000 ministers, and 200,000 communicants.

[RDW 134-143]

      Vincent L. Milner's "Campbellite Baptists, or Disciples" was published in his Religious Denominations of the World (Philadelphia, PA: J. W. Bradley, 1860), pp. 134-143. The electronic text has been produced from a copy of the book held by St. Vincent College Library.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 134:    Millenial [ Millennial
 p. 143:    'a god unto Pharaoh," [ 'a god unto Pharaoh,'
 

      A copy of the tract concerning the Disciples reprinted by Milner has not been located; however, it is a revision of the article "Disciples of Christ," written by Alexander Campbell for the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, ed. J. Newton Brown (Brattleboro', VT: Brattleboro' Typographic Company, 1838), pp. 462-464. Differences between the encyclopedia article and the tract in Milner's book are as follows:

      The encyclopedia article does not include the first two paragraphs quoted in the Milner article ("The constitutional principle . . ." and "But to contradistinguish . . ."); instead, it begins with the two paragraphs (omitted by Milner) as follow:

      DISCIPLES OF CHRIST,^* (sometimes called CAMPBELLITES, or REFORMERS.) As is usual in similar cases, the brethren who united under the name of Disciples of Christ, or Christians, are nicknamed after those who have been prominent in gathering them together: they choose, however, to be recognised by the above simple and unassuming name.

      The rise of this society, if we only look back to the drawing of the lines of demarkation between it and other professors, is of recent origin. About the commencement of the present century, the Bible alone, without any human addition in the form of creeds or confessions of faith, began to be plead and preached by many distinguished ministers of different denominations, both in Europe and America.

      The encyclopedia article does not include the two paragraphs quoted at the end of Milner's reprinting of the tract ("On the design of baptism . . ." and "As the Disciple endeavor . . ."); instead it concludes with the following paragraph (not quoted by Milner).

      The views of reformation in faith and practice of "the Disciples of Christ" may be seen at great length, by those desiring a more particular acquaintance, in The Christian Baptist and Millennial Harbinger, edited by Alexander Campbell, of Bethany, Brooke county, Virginia; also in the Evangelist, published by Walter Scott, Carthage, Ohio; and the Christian Messenger, published by Barton W. Stone and J. T. Johnson, Georgetown, Kentucky. The Christian Baptist and Millennial Harbinger, being the first publication of these sentiments, contains a history of this reformation, as well as a full development of all things from the beginning.

      The differences in the text as first published in the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1838) and the revised text reprinted in Religious Denominations of the World are as follows:

 DOC-ERK / RDW-DOC   Encyclopedia Article [ Reprinted Tract
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 463 / p. 136:    original gospel [ original gospel
                     order of things [ order of things
                     to be plead [ to be advocated
                     The Christian Baptist. [ 'The Christian 
                        Baptist.'
                     They, and [ They and
                     the congregations [ the congregation
                     Redstone Baptist association; [ Redstone Baptist
                        Association;
                     alone. This union took place in the year 1813. [
                        alone.
                     sacred Scriptures [ Sacred Scriptures
                     Mahoning association, [ Mahoning Association
                     in the Western Reserve of Ohio, [ of Ohio--
                     Presbyterian minister, of Kentucky, [ Presbyterian
                        minister,
                     in the year 1823, [ in 1823,
                     developed [ developed,
                     his Christian Baptist. [ his 'Christian 
                        Baptist.'
        / p. 137:    Mahoning association [ Mahoning Association
                     Mr. Walter Scott [ Walter Scott
                     in the year 1827, [ in 1827,
                     of the reformation. [ of the Reformation.
                     apostles' doctrine. [ Apostles' doctrine.
                     Within the last seven years they have increased with
                        the most unprecedented rapidity; and during the
                        present year (1833,) not much less than ten
                        thousand have joined the standard of reformation.
                        They probably at this time, in the United States
                        alone, amount to at least one hundred thousand.
                        The distinguishing [ The distinguishing
                     the following: [ the following:--
                     first Christians, and as forming what the apostle
                        Paul calls "the apostasy." [ first Christians.
                     Lutheran reformation. [ Lutheran Reformation.
                     from the holy Scriptures, [ from the Holy Scriptures,
                     commonly-received and [ commonly received and
                     well-established rules [ well established rules
                     in the holy Scriptures, [ in the Holy Scriptures,
        / p. 138:    by the Holy Spirit [ by the Holy Spirit,
                     the heavenly Father, [ their heavenly Father,
                     same style, [ same style
                     commandments of Jesus, [ commandments of Jesus
                     the bond of union; [ their bond of union;
                     Hence all the speculations, questions, debates of
                        words, and abstract reasonings found in human
                        creeds, have no place in their religious
                        fellowship. Regarding Calvinism and Arminianism,
                        Trinitarianism and Unitarianism, and all the
                        opposing [ Regarding all the opposing
                     sectaries, [ sectaries
                     as extremes [ as extremes
                     equi-distant [ equidistant
                     ¶ They look [ They look
                     one faith, [ 'one faith,
                     of all; [ of all;'
                     The holy Scriptures [ The Holy Scriptures
        / p. 139:    word and work; [ word and work:
                     the testimonies of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
                        [ testimonies of the four evangelists
                     rests-- [ rests,
                     viz. [ namely,--
                     that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the
                        only-begotten and well-beloved Son of God, and the
                        only Saviour of the world; [ that Jesus of
                        Nazareth is the Messiah, the only begotten and
                        well-beloved Son of God, and the only Saviour of
                        the world;
                     the gospel [ 'the gospel'
                     church of Christ [ Church of Christ
                     Epistles are as [ Epistles as
                     individuals and congregations, [ individuals and
                        churches,
                     behaviour [ behavior
                     professors; [ professors,
                     standard of Christian faith [ standard of faith
                     and morals; [ and morals,
                     ascension of Christ [ ascension of Christ,
                     from God; the Apocalypse, or Revelation of Jesus
                        Christ to John in Patmos, as a figurative and
                        prospective view of all the fortunes of
                        Christianity, from its date to the return of the
                        Saviour. [ from God.
                     "This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I delight;"
                        [ 'This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I delight,'
                     Evangelists and Apostles [ evangelists and apostles
                     in heaven [ in heaven,
                     Lord of all; [ Lord of all,
                     every thing, [ everything,
                     immersion, and no one else. [ immersion into the name
                        of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
                        Spirit, and no one else.
                     consider immersion into the name of the Father, Son,
                        and Holy Spirit, [ consider Christian baptism,
                     part of Heaven, [ part of heaven,
        / p. 140:    heavenly Monitor [ heavenly monitor
                     resident in his heart [ resident in his heart,
                     ¶ Thus while they [ Thus, while they
                     remission, [ remission of sins,
 p. 464 /            "Be immersed, [ 'Be immersed,
                     gift of the Holy Spirit." [ gift of the Holy Spirit.'
                     commands all men [ commands all men
                     every where [ everywhere
                     to reform [ to repent
                     turn to God, [ turn to God;
                     apostles and prophets, [ apostles and prophets;
                     and to turn to God. [ and turn to God.
                     propinquity [ nearness
                     the first day of every week [ every first day of the
                        week
                     to break the loaf [ to attend to the Lord's Supper,
                     salvation where it is necessary, as far as
                        [ salvation as far as
        / p. 141:    each congregation [ each church
                     presidents or elders [ presidents or elders,
                     all the disciples, [ all the Disciples,
                     faith and practices [ faith and practice
                     known as Disciples [ known as disciples
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
373 Wilson Street
Derry, PA 15627-9770
724.694.8602
stefanik@westol.com

Created 20 December 1998.