HIS denomination arose from separate and unpreconcerted movements in three of the leading denominations of the United States. The adherents to the present churches, in order to distinguish their denominational name from that usually applied to followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, pronounce the i in the first syllable long, as if the word were written Chrystians.

      The first movement took place in North Carolina, where the Rev. James O'Kelly, and several other Methodist ministers of that State and of Virginia, urged a change in the form of church government, favoring the congregational system, and that the New Testament be declared their only creed and discipline. Failing to attain their object, Mr. O'Kelly, several other ministers, and quite a considerable number of members withdrew from the Methodist Church, Dec. 25, 1793, and formed a new church under the name of the "Republican Methodists." In the following year they decided to be known as "Christians" only, and to acknowledge no head over the church but Jesus Christ, and no creed nor discipline but the Holy Bible.

      The second movement occurred in Vermont. The Rev. Abner Jones, of Hartland, then a member of a regular Baptist church, received peculiar impressions concerning [626] sectarian names and human creeds. The first he regarded as an evil, because they were so many badges of distinct separation among the followers of Christ. The second, he contended, served as so many lines or walls of separation to keep the disciples of Christ apart. He contended that sectarian names and human creeds should be abandoned, and that true piety alone, and not the externals of it, should be made the only test of Christian fellowship and communion. He began preaching his sentiments at once, and with such zeal that, in September, 1800, he had a little church of twenty-five members gathered about him in Lyndon, Vt.

      The third movement occurred in Kentucky, and was an outgrowth of the remarkable revival of religion that was experienced in the Presbyterian churches in Kentucky and Tennessee during the years 1800 and 1801. Several Presbyterians, who had heartily entered into the revival work, broke off from the Calvinistic creed and preached the gospel of free salvation. This led the Synod of Kentucky to interfere, whereupon the Rev. Barton W. Stone, an eloquent minister of that State, and four other ministers withdrew from the synod, and organized themselves and their followers into the "Springfield Presbytery," which name was changed in 1803 to that of Christians.

GENERAL BELIEF.

      1. That God is the rightful arbiter of the universe, the source and fountain of all good.
      2. That all men have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
      3. That with God there is forgiveness; but that sincere repentance and reformation are indispensable to the forgiveness of sins.
      4. That man is constituted a free moral agent, and made capable of obeying the gospel.
      5. That through the agency of the Holy Spirit, souls, in the use of means, are converted, regenerated, and made new creatures.
      6. That Christ was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification; that through his example, doctrine, death, resurrection, and intercession, he has made salvation possible to every one, and is the only Saviour of lost sinners.
      7. That Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances to be observed [627] by all true believers; and that baptism is the immersing of the candidate in water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
      8. That a life of watchfulness and prayer only will keep Christians from falling, enable them to live in a justified state, and ultimately secure to them the crown of eternal life.
      9. That there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
      10. That God has ordained Jesus Christ judge of the quick and dead at the last day; and at the judgment, the wicked will go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal.

      In the Christian Connexion, as these organizations are called when spoken of as a distinct religious denomination, churches are independent bodies, duly authorized to govern themselves and transact their own affairs. They have a large number of associations called conferences. Each conference meets annually, sometimes more frequently, and is composed of ministers and messengers from churches within its bounds. At such conferences candidates for the ministry are examined, received, and commended. Once a year, in conference, the character and standing of each minister is examined, to the end that purity in the ministry may be carefully maintained.

      Soon after the discovery was made of the existence of three distinct organizations in as many parts of the country, holding the same general belief, a fourth movement occurred, resulting in a union of the bodies. This continued until the Civil War, when the slavery and sectional questions caused a separation, and the establishment of a Southern branch.

      In 1890 the Christian Church, North, had 1,281 organizations, 962 churches, 218 halls, 90,718 members, and church property valued at $1,637,202. There were 75 annual conferences, covering in whole or in part 24 States, and the Church had the largest membership in Ohio, 25,952. The Christian Church, South, was confined to the States of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, and had 143 organizations, 135 churches, 8 halls, 13,004 members, and church property valued at $137,000. The total strength of the Church was 1,424 organizations and 103,722 members, with 1,097 churches, 226 halls, and church property valued at $1,774,202. [628]

[RLL 626-628]

      The electronic version of "Belief and History of 'The Christians.'" was first published in Rays of Light from All Lands: The Bible and Beliefs of Mankind, ed. E. C. Towne, A. J. Canfield, and George Hagar (New York: Gay Brothers and Company, 1895), pp. 626-628.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. In the printed text the "General Belief" section is set in smaller type; in the electronic edition, it has been set off as a block quotation. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained.

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

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

Created 31 December 1998.