My dear Son,

      UPON a serious reconsideration of the nature and object of the reformation, in which we have been so long and so earnestly laboring; also, of the condition and character of the people to whom it has been tendered, and of the ways and means that have been adopted for effecting it, I feel earnestly desirous to communicate, through your pages, the results of my reflections, for the benefit of all concerned. As to the nature and object of the proposed reformation, it is clearly and definitely expressed in the following proposition, viz.--"'The restoration of primitive apostolic christianity in letter and spirit--in principle and practice;"--and has been so stated from our commencement. And, of course, if there be room or reason for such a reformation, one might think that the proposal of it would not be offensive; for who, that seriously desires or values any thing, would not prefer rather to have it genuine than spurious? But, alas! however this may be in matters purely secular, it never has been so with mankind in matters of religion. For although it appears that man is so constituted that he cannot get along without religion of some kind; yet, it is not less apparent, that every thing of the kind that can be imagined, is preferred, and always has been, to that which is genuine. See the history of mankind, sacred and civil, from the commencement to the present day. Now this important matter of fact ought not, by any means, to be overlooked by any that would successfully advocate a genuine religious reformation. It will be found necessary both for directing their labors to the desired success, and also for supporting their minds under the unavoidable, though unprovoked discouragements, with which they will certainly meet. For when, in the spirit of the gospel, we duly consider the religious perversity of fallen depraved humanity, it will dispose us to pity, rather than to resentment; and, of course, will lead us to adopt, both as to matter and manner, a proper course of procedure, for the reformation and salvation of our poor, guilty, deceived fellow-creatures. So true is the maxim, "He that remembers himself will pity others." Thus Paul exhorts, see Tit. iii. 2--"Speak evil of no man; for we ourselves also were formerly foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us." Again to the Corinthians, see 1 Epis. chap. vi. 11. "Such were some of you; but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." And again, chap. iv. 7. "Who makes you to differ? And what have you that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast, as if you had not received it?" Even so Isaiah, chap. li. 1, 2. would have the followers after righteousness, in his day, to "look to the rock whence they were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence they were digged; even to Abraham their father, and to Sarah that bare them:" who, according to Joshua, chap. xxiv. 2, 15. were themselves educated idolators; and, for all that appears, would have lived and died so, but for the gracious interposition of God, who "called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him." Wherefore, as it is written, 1 Cor. i. 31. Let the man of religious attainments, the advocate of gospel reformation, "glory in the Lord," who has thus graciously called and distinguished him: and so, after the example of Paul, Rom. ix. 1--5. and x. 1. look back with deep-felt sympathy and tenderness upon those he has left behind. Thus will he be suitably disposed to act the part of a christian reformer, as to his manner of proceeding. And also, thus correctly understanding the habitual state of the human mind, with respect to pure and undefiled religion; and likewise the ignorance, partiality, and prejudice he has every where to encounter, he will be duly prepared, as a skilful advocate, to divide rightly the word of truth, so its to suitably answer every man, giving to each his portion, and so to avoid, as far as possible, every occasion of offence. [214]

      Now, upon a serious review of the past, according to the extent of my information, it appears, that the progress of the reformation has been much retarded for want of a competent knowledge, on the part of the advocates, respecting the thing precisely intended; and, of the actual condition and disposition of the people in relation to it. Of this deficiency the writer himself is deeply sensible; and, therefore, wishes not only to guard himself, but also to warn his fellow-laborers against it. He once thought the thing so plain, and so important, that no serious professor of any sect could refrain from embracing it, as soon its it was fairly proposed; not duly considering, that to be seriously religious, and to love and embrace true religion, are, indeed, things very different; as the history of all nations abundantly testifies. Thus we find the Athenians whom Paul addressed, Acts xvii. so very religious, that, to the many thousand gods of their country, they had added another called the unknown god, to whom they had also elected a splendid altar. But when Paul explained the true character, command, and appointment of him whom they ignorantly worshipped, they mocked and dismissed him. They were carnal, ignorant, and prejudiced; and, therefore, scornfully rejected the truth; choosing rather to worship an unknown God in their own ignorant way, than according to the true knowledge of his character. We find the Jews also, a very religious people, act the very same part: compare Isaiah's account of that people, ch. 1. with Paul's, Rom. x. and let these inspired teachers be our models. They spoke the word of the Lord faithfully, with a direct adaptation and reference to the actual condition of the people they addressed, that so they might produce the desired reformation. Let us go and do likewise. God has graciously put us into complete possession of the whole revelation, designed for the salvation of a perishing world--a world destroyed for the lack of knowledge. It becomes our duty, then, as faithful and wise stewards, to apply it suitably and faithfully. Always bearing in mind, that godly edification proceeds from faith--that faith consists in the knowledge and belief of the truth, and produces love, which is the end of the commandment--the fulfilling of the whole law--consequently, the grand design of all divine teaching: "from which, some having swerved, have turned aside to vain jangling; doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof come envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth:" from whom we are commanded to withdraw; 1 Tim. i. 6. and vi. 4, 5. "For the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle to all, apt to teach, patient; meekly instructing those that oppose them, if God peradventure will give them repentance, to the acknowledgment of the truth." 2 Tim. ii. 24, 25. Thus are we divinely instructed to proceed in the great and good work, in which we are providentially engaged--"that so speaking the truth in love, we may grow up into him in all things, who is the Head--till we all come in the unity of the faith, and in the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man,--to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Eph. iv. 13--15.--which never can be accomplished by any other means than the direct influence of the truth. Let us, therefore, confine ourselves to the all-important topics with which we are divinely furnished for this blissful purpose. Now these are precisely seven, viz.--The knowledge of God--of man--of sin--of the Saviour--of his salvation--of the means of enjoying it--and of its blissful effects and consequences. These are the grand doctrinal topics which the Scriptures were designed to teach, in the knowledge, belief, and practical influence of which alone, consists our present salvation. Yet, alas! how few diligently search and study them merely for these purposes! but rather abuse and misapply them to purposes for which they were never intended. Let us, however, as the professed advocates of a genuine scriptural reformation, insist upon the above topics, as expressly recorded in the divine testimony, carefully collecting and exhibiting the whole amount of information upon each, in its proper order and connexion, as above specified. Thus we shall profit ourselves--give a proper direction to the minds of our hearers--and, to use the words of the Apostle, 1 Tim. iv. 16. "in so doing we shall both save ourselves [215] and them that hear us." Whereas, were we to refute all the errors in Buck's Theological Dictionary by the common method of theological argumentation, we might, indeed, by so doing, make orthodox systematics; but not one real practical christian. And why? Because, in this way of arguing, the mind is turned away from itself, to sit as a judge in the case pending, so that the point at issue becomes an abstract truth, addressed purely to the understanding--not to the heart, as directly and immediately affecting the hearer himself; but merely to his judgment, to determine who is right. And, also, because that faith, the sole principle of pure christianity, and of all christian enjoyment, consists not in receiving the deductions of human reasoning, but only in the belief of the express testimony of God. Hence it often happens, that the purest orthodoxy, and practical christianity, are not always found united in the same person. Indeed, were it otherwise, they might be considered as cause and effect, inseparably connected. But the truth is, they are both effects of very different causes. For the proper and immediate cause of christianity, is the direct and immediate influence of the word--of a thus saith, or a thus doth the Lord: that is, the sayings and doings of the Lord immediately addressed to the understanding and heart of the hearer, with respect to himself; whereas the proper and immediate cause of orthodoxy, is the force of human reasoning upon the word, and not the word itself. If, then, we would produce theological orthodoxy, let us detect and expose the errors of every party that occurs, and thus furnish fuel for the fire of controversy which is the very element of partyism, without which it cannot exist. But if we would starve out partyism, and nourish christianity, let us preach the word in its proper order and connexion, for the express purpose for which it is given;--not, indeed, to make wise to disputation--but to salvation, thoroughly furnished to all good works. But here it may be asked, are we not to defend the truth against errorists, heretics, and schismatics of every name? We answer, Yes. But how? Surely not in the trite polemic way of the schools--after the sect-making examples of the last fifteen centuries; but by the direct exhibition of the injunctions and prohibitions of the divine testimony, in relation to all such things; which go to prohibit our having any thing to do with questions, strifes, and vain janglings, which have no tendency to godly edification; and do also positively command us to turn away from such, and to utterly reject them, if they will not be admonished. Now, our conscientious and dutiful compliance with these injunctions, on the one hand; and on the other, our constant practical exhibition of the all-sufficiency and alone sufficiency of the plain practical dictates of the Holy Scriptures, to perfect the conscience and character of every believing and obedient subject, will do more to destroy partyism, than the most improved polemic exposure of all the theological errors of the last fifteen hundred years. But did not our Lord and his Apostles deal much in controversy; and are we not commanded earnestly to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints? True; our Lord and his Apostles had to contend against the whole world, both Jews and Gentiles. The former, having a costly and splendid institution, divinely established, to which they were most zealously attached; the latter--an almost endless variety of superstitious idolatries, for which they were equally zealous. So that our divine Teacher and his holy Apostles had, in the face of this combined and violent opposition of all classes, ranks, and degrees of men, a full and fair opportunity to give a complete per contra exhibition of the constituent principles of our holy religion, so fairly and fully defined, as to leave no room for improvement. And, that they actually did so, and have left us a competent and authentic record of the full amount of their testimony with their proofs, is, at least, virtually acknowledged by all that embrace it. What contending, then, have we to do, but so to hold fast the testimony upon its own proper evidence, that none may be able to rob us of our title to the promised inheritance, either by fraud or force? Thus, "holding fast the faithful word, as we have been taught, that we may be able, by sound doctrine, to confute the gainsayers," Tit. i. 9. we shall be delivered from the pernicious janglings of endless [216] controversy. But, does not every age produce its own errors? True; but the truth is always one and the same, and stands always established upon its own proper evidence, which is as old as itself, with which it has stood intimately and inseparably connected from the beginning:--the divine testimony equally exhibiting both the truth and the proof; and, therefore, does not daily require new evidence.

      There being, then, but the one divine faith, and this one faith thus divinely established, what have we to do but to hold it fast upon its proper evidence; which no new attempts against it can possibly affect. Besides, as every such attempt goes to undermine the divine testimony, either as to its credibility or intelligibility, we have therefore but to appeal either to the internal or external evidence upon which we have received it, and which is always the same! But, alas for this generation! the word is generally received without distinctly knowing either the what or the why!! That, after all the enormous labor and expense for preparing and maintaining a learned ministry, there is not to be found, this day, throughout all the sects, a single teacher, nor yet a single congregation under the tuition of such, that ever attempted or intended to teach, or to learn, the Bible, as a book, for the purpose of its being understood as a whole; but rather as a text or proof book, for the purpose of teaching, and learning, a party system!!! But, after all, it may be asked, What should we do if personally attacked upon some principle of our christian profession? I answer, We should state and defend it by, and according to, the express testimony of the Holy Scriptures: that is, produce the divine declarations concerning it; and, if their meaning was disputed, then have recourse to the context, and to such other passages as went to determine the meaning of the phrases or terms in question. And having thus given the concurrent evidence of the divine testimony upon the subject, we have no more to say. And here, let it be observed, that if we teach nothing but the express declarations and dictates of the sacred oracles, and that directly for the practical purposes for which they are expressly given, we shall scarcely ever provoke controversy; and if, in so doing, it should ever happen, it will not be hard to settle it scripturally, as above directed. Indeed, how could it be otherwise? For what is there to offend any one, who believes the Scriptures, in calling his attention to their express declarations upon any of the seven topics above specified, in the knowledge and belief of which consists his present salvation? It is seldom in this way, but almost always by polemic teaching, that offence is given; and, of course, no good done. The writer can truly say so from his own experience during the last five years of his public labors--that, during said period, having, for the most part, confined himself to the scripture development of these all-important practical topics, according to the humble measure of his attainments, he has experienced no direct opposition to the matter of his teaching,--no, not even upon baptism itself; though, perhaps, no scripture term is more universally abused, both by Romanists, and Protestants of every sect, save one. Yet, its the highest ecclesiastical authorities, translators, critics, commentators, historians--indeed, almost all the standard authors, Catholic and Protestant, consentaneously testify that the term literally signifies immersion; that the ancient christians so understood it;--that many of the Romanists themselves down to the thirteenth century so practised;--and also the whole Eastern or Greek church always, from the beginning to the present day; the writer, assuming as his premises, this almost universal consent of high ecclesiastical authorities, together with the apostolic account of the circumstances and import of the ordinance, and the general concessions of almost all professors at this day, that immersion is baptism; feels, therefore, authorized and ready, upon every proper occasion, to denounce, without fear of contradiction, all, as wilful violators of the express law of Christ, who, in the face of such a cloud of witnesses, foment contentions and divisions, by teaching or practising otherwise. And, as for the requisite qualifications of the subjects, he considers it no distinct topic of argumentation at all, if the premises of the proposed reformation be admitted: namely--The all-sufficiency, and alone-sufficiency, [217] of the Holy Scriptures, without comment or paraphrase, to make the believer wise to salvation, thoroughly furnished to all good works. These premises admitted, there can only remain one thing to be ascertained respecting any article of faith or practice; that is, What says the Bible? But, if these premises are rejected, the consistent intelligent advocate neither can, nor will, argue any point whatever, till the divine rule of determination be fairly and fully admitted. Let this correct regular way of proceeding be but duly observed, and it will exclude a host of controversies; and conduce more to the reformation of the professing world, than did all the theological polemics since the days of Origen. These, indeed, could neither make nor edify christians; for nothing can do this, but the direct influence of the word, in its proper connexion, as has been already shown. Let us, therefore, "preach the word."

      Still, however, it may possibly be objected, that, as it is for sectarian christians, and not for professed infidels, the reformation is primarily and principally intended; therefore, it becomes the duty of the public advocates to expose and refute sill their respective errors, which supplant and make void the truth; that, by so doing, they might convince and convert them. To this it may be replied, that although it is true that we must first convince, if we would convert; yet, in the case before us, there are two ways of doing this. The one is to proceed as proposed in the objection; the other is to show their irrelevancy. Now, if, according, to the old adage, "Of two evils we would choose the less," we will certainly prefer the latter: for, in the first place, it is much the easier; and in the second, it is much more profitable. For, if, in a congregation of honest conscientious sectarians, of only three or four sects, the speaker should proceed as proposed in the objection, he would scarcely get through in a year; and likely, after all his labor, not make a single convert out of each sect; and, consequently, neither edify himself nor them in the religion of the New Testament. Whereas, if he proceeded as suggested in the reply, by showing the utter irrelevancy of their peculiarities, whether true or false, as making no part of christianity; or, that if, perchance, any of them did, they could lose nothing by embracing the apostolic exhibition of it, pure and entire, as contained in the letter of the New Testament. And then proceed to show, by way of preface, the antiscriptural, antinatural, antichristian evils of sectarianism, without denouncing any sect, by attacking a single error. But, instead of so doing, next proceed to show, from the pages of the New Testament, a religion entirely of divine structure, presenting every thing that the diversified wants of poor, guilty, afflicted, perishing humanity could desire, or need, for its present spiritual and eternal felicity. 'Tis true, this could not be fully accomplished in one discourse. But what then? If it should require a dozen, it would be but a protracted feast of better and better still; far exceeding that of Ahasuerus, which lasted one hundred and four score days. This latter beginning with the birth of the Saviour, Matt. i. 21. and ending Rev. xxii. 20. with the blissful assurance of his glorious presence. A goodly three months work this, indeed, for the edification and comfort of both speaker and hearers. Not like the dry, dusty, indigestible polemics of sectarianism: which never did, nor could, fill the poor guilty soul with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. If, after all, any should still suppose, that, although controverting and refuting sectarian errors, is not calculated to make or edify christians, yet it may be necessary to extricate some upright conscientious persons from certain opinions, under the influence of which they are kept stationary. To this it may still be replied, that it is, for the most part, much easier to evince the irrelevancy, than the falsity of an opinion. Besides, there are many opinions true, that are irrelevant; and whether true or false, if irrelevant, the person is left in the undisturbed possession of them, without injury either to himself or the good cause; and this, we see, was the Apostle's method in such cases, even where he declares the opinions false: see Rom. 14th and 15th chs. Wherefore, we conclude, upon the whole, that apostolic precept and precedent should have the preference, as being the only safe and infallible rule of christian practice.

THOMAS CAMPBELL.       [218]

[The Millennial Harbinger (May 1836): 214-218.]

      Thomas Campbell's "To the Editor of the Millennial Harbinger" was first published in The Millennial Harbinger, Vol. 7, No. 5, May 1836. The electronic version of the letter has been produced from the College Press reprint (1976) of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. Alexander Campbell (Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, 1836), pp. 214-218.

      Pagination has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. I have let stand variations and inconsistencies in the author's (or editor's) use of italics, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling in the letter. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 214:    unfideled religion; [ undefiled religion;
 p. 215:    faithfuily, [ faithfully,
 p. 217:    proposed eformation [ proposed reformation
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 11 December 1997.
Updated 9 July 2003.