NOTEWORTHY conference was held in Warren, Ohio, at the home of Adamson Bentley in early November, 1827. Four prominent pioneers of our movement participated in an all-night session, viz.: A. Campbell, Walter Scott, A. Bentley and presumably Jacob Osborne. They were considering the primary elements of the gospel as presented by the apostles and recorded in the New Testament. Their aim was to discover the truth as to their scriptural order and rational sequence that they might so present them as to command the confidence of reasonable men.

      As they were emerging from the mysticism and confusion of popular religious teaching, they proceeded cautiously, examined the sure testimony that makes wise the open-minded and walked in the pure commandment that enlightens the eyes. As the gray dawn appeared Walter Scott shouted, "Eureka! I have found it!"

      It was the discovery of the ancient order of the gospel now familiar to all our preachers, but then hid away in sect theories and jargon. All present concurred in the correctness of the gospel order arranged by Scott. The exultant shout awakened a little girl^{1} in an adjoining room. Childlike, she quietly arose and peeped through the slightly open door and saw the four men as they were kneeling in fervent prayer for the blessing of God to attend them in the presentation of the simple gospel as they had been guided to the understanding of it.

      When these men arose from their knees while standing a few moments before seeking a brief morning rest, A. Campbell said: "If the Christian world could see the gospel as we now see it and would accept and preach it, the whole world would be evangelized before the close of a century."

      This incident shows that evangelization of the nations was the ultimate purpose of our pioneers. Their forceful plea for the oneness of all believers in Christ was the precedent, step toward final triumph. They sought to remove "a horrid evil," "the awful and distressing effects of our sad divisions."

      These big-hearted men could not cramp their sympathies nor limit their activities within the lines of any section of Christ's people. Hence creed walls must be broken down, partisan customs must be abandoned, and divisive dogmas must be repudiated or subordinated to the general good. They diligently studied the things that make for [41] peace and sought to remove the causes and occasions of strife and discord. They clearly saw that the evils of this world are so formidable that the combined forces that make for righteousness are necessary to overcome them. If they met the Anakim of sectarian hosts it was not from their own choice, but because of a necessity to remove stumbling blocks out of the way, so that the united army of the Lord might march onward to the conquest of the world for Christ.

      Their work, therefore, was both destructive and constructive, destructive of all hindrances to the peace and unity of the church of God and constructive as to all good things that tend to the edification and unification of the body of Christ and the advancement of the kingdom of God among men.

      Hence, the novel plea of our pioneers has in it elements that make heroes of faith. We could bring our illustrations of faith down to date and overmatch in number and heroic deeds the ancient list in the eleventh of Hebrews. But "time would fail" us to tell of the hosts of mighty men who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of liars, if not "lions," quenched the violence of fiery adversaries, escaped the edge of the sword and other less honorable carnal weapons; who out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in the fight of faith and turned to flight the armies of aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, though zealous for the traditions of their fathers.

      Faith makes heroes; unfaith does nothing, but, like conscience, "makes cowards of us all."

      Our pioneers stood with Luther and all the great reformers on the vital principle, "The just shall live by faith." With them faith is a hearty reliance upon the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, a heart-trust in Jesus as the Savior of sinners. All these great teachers saw in this ground principle of the gospel that faith is the germ out of which comes the life of the just man; that there is no drawback but unto perdition; that it brings into Christ and to the saving of the soul in the way of Christ's appointments, and that it moves men to seek and save the lost.

      This is "our faith," of which "Jesus is the author and the finisher." He is "the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the, last." (Rev. 22:13.) That was the text of the last sermon I heard preached by A. Campbell in 1862. In his inimitable style he held up the person of the Son of Mary and Son of God as the sum of all divine revelation, the Savior of all men, the object of our faith and the arbiter of our eternal destiny. Such faith is personal in object and subject. It comprehends all that is in Christ, does all that He requires with an honest purpose, receives all that He promises with joyfulness and enters into fellowship with Him to "fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ for His body's sake, which is the church." [42]

      Such faith has in it all the potency of the grace of God that brought salvation and appeared to all men. It moves by the overwhelming force of the concentrated gospel that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

      It wields this gospel which is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." It comes by "hearing the word of God." But how shall men hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach except they be sent?

      The responsibility for believing is upon the hearer. "For every one must give account of himself to God."

      The responsibility for the preaching is laid upon the disciples of our Lord. They must go personally and preach, or they must collectively send an equipped preacher and support him to do their work. Hence missions is inherent in the plea of the disciples. It accepts the responsibility laid upon the church by our Lord when He committed the making of disciples to His followers.

      The commission was a favorite theme from the first. Our pioneers well understood all this. They were believers in missions; in the mission of Jesus to the foreign field of this dark world; in the mission of the Holy Spirit to the apostles--in His work in the world and His presence with His disciples.

      They were our pioneer missionaries. Like the scattered disciples in the beginning of Christianity, they went everywhere preaching the word in the beginning of our restoration of primitive Christianity.

      Evangelization is the supreme imperative of our enthroned Lord. The commission of Christ to His chosen disciples is the nexus between the crowned Head in heaven and His body on earth. Through the apostleship the will of our King must come to every member of His body. That is the live wire along which the volitions of the Head are conveyed to all parts of His body, whether individual or congregational.

      Faith is the soul's contact with God, a willingness to do His will, to receive His truth and give it a fair chance in the individual and in the world.

      A non-missionary individual or congregation is out of harmony with God. Such person or church "may say I have faith," but James says, "I will show Thee my faith by my works." "Faith without works is dead, being alone." Professors without missionary works are as the body without the spirit. They have no part nor lot in this matter of salvation of the world, and the matter of their personal salvation is in constant uncertainty. They should hear the startling call to them: "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Our fathers had no "alone" in their views. The declared will of our Lord is this: "From whom even Christ the Head, the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure [43] of every part maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."

      This is organization and co-operation, for the increase of the body of Christ, the extension of the kingdom of Christ throughout the world.

      The apostle Paul recognizes the power of the individual life and then enjoins "that ye stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel."

      This demands association, consultation, mutual understanding and agreement, that is, PLAN.

      "Effectual working" is the express order to us from the headquarters of the Captain of our salvation. He is indifferent as to plans, provided they are "effectual." Concentration of wisdom, sanctified by holy purpose, is demanded to fitly join together the whole body and compact the congregational parts by such "joints." or joinings, as will supply effective working in the measure of the ability of every part.

      This was the conception of the great pioneer, A. Campbell, when he wrote, the following: "The church in a city, state, an empire, or a world of fallen humanity must have an organization that has the power of abstracting from the mass of mankind materials to promote its healthful growth as a community." "Since THE Christian church is not A Christian church, but comprehends all congregations of Christians, contemplated as one great, universal community or kingdom, the co-operation of churches in districts, states and nations is essential to the highest triumphs of the church of God in its grand mission on earth."

      "Therefore, counsel, conjoint purpose and concerted action in their aggregate mass of influence are the first grand instrumentalities to accomplish this end. This requires statistical knowledge, joint consultation, co-operation by executive boards, stated meetings for deliberation and special meetings on occasion to meet emergencies."

      This was the attitude of the pioneers toward missions. It could be nothing short of this full conception and fill "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ's body." These men were earliest students of the apostles' doctrine in both its evangelical and ecclesiastical departments. As with the apostles, their first work was the making of disciples, and they began in their home fields. It will be instructive to note carefully the pioneer plan of co-operating to make increase of the body beyond local congregations and the individual preaching of the word by scattered disciples.

      A. S. Hayden, in his "History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve," says:

      "All our past history proclaims the necessity of a combination of effort to advance the gospel. This cause originated in conventional effort. * * *

      "In August, 1827, ministers of the gospel assembled in New Lisbon selected all evangelist and sent him into the field. This action [44] gave us Walter Scott. In 1828 the churches were again represented by delegation in Warren. This convention chose and sent out Walter Scott and William Hayden. In 1829 the association repeated its work, sending into the evangelical field four men--Scott, Hayden, Bentley and Bosworth.

      "On this concert of action the following observations deserve particular mention:

      "1. These evangelists were selected and sent out by the ministry of the church, acting in their delegated capacity.
      "2. This joint action was threefold:
            "(a) They selected ministers, or proclaimers, of the gospel.
            "(b) They appointed their fields of labor.
            "(c) They arranged for their compensation.
      "3. The churches felt bound by the action of their delegates. They received the evangelists and by contributions and other material ways they assisted and co-operated in their work."

      A. Campbell was the prime mover and the active leader in this scheme of associational effort. In 1830 the Mahoning Association was hastily dissolved. Of this action Campbell wrote, in 1849: "I confess I was alarmed at the hasty and impassioned manner in which the association was dissolved. With the exception of one obsolete preacher, the whole association, preachers and people, embraced the current reformation. I have before intimated my approval of the Baptist associational formulas, pruned of certain redundancies and encroachments upon faith, piety and humanity."

      "Reformation and annihilation are not with me now, as formerly, convertible or identical terms. We want occasional, if not stated, deliberative meetings on questions of expediency in adaptation to the ever-changing fortune and character of society." Mill. Har., 1849, p. 272.

      Near the close of his life William Hayden wrote: "I perceived within six months of the beginning of my labors the necessity of system in our operations, of which we had none--measures to call out and prepare fit men to preach and teach and to take care of the converts--measures to secure harmony of action among the preachers and for holding the ground already gained * * *. For twenty years I urged these things, but they found no encouragement, except by Jacob Osborne, who died in 1829."

      He was the prime mover in founding the Eclectic Institute, now Hiram College, by the delegated action of the churches in 1850--the first step in returning to the original pioneer plan of associational effort.

      The second step was the organization of the Ohio Christian Missionary Society in 1852. All the early preachers heartily favored this combination of talent, means and influence for the furtherance of the cause of Christ. Evangelization and education were close allies in their thought and practice. [45]

      Precisely the same plan of concerted action by churches was pursued in Kentucky. After the partial union of the Christians and Reformers in 1832 it was increased and consolidated by united conference and decision by the elders, deacons and messengers of the churches. They chose two evangelists, John Smith, Reformer, and John Rogers, Christian, and sent them to go through all the churches, and they were supported by the united contributions of the churches of both descriptions.

      The third beloved John T. Johnson was a prime mover in this action and acted as treasurer and distributor of the funds.

      He says: "We have been for co-operation and liberality in giving from the beginning. When we first started we formed a co-operation of several counties and engaged John Smith and John Rogers for three consecutive years, and they accomplished a mighty work. They were paid for their services, and more or less co-operations have existed since."^{2} "'Co-operation is the life of any cause, division is death.' Let us frown down any attempt to divide us, banish speculation and let not opinions be tests of fellowship."^{3}

      The last two years of their labors the two evangelists were sent into the general missionary field.

      During an annual meeting at Mount Carmel, in Bourbon County, Kentucky, in September, 1835, the preachers and unanimously agreed:

      "First. That there should be men employed to set the churches in order and to preach the gospel to those without the kingdom--men of intelligence and moral worth--efficient men, who could give themselves wholly to the work of an evangelist.

      "Second. That the most successful method of operating is for each evangelist to take a small district of country for the field of his operations, say one or two counties, and cultivate it well.

      "Third. That the most certain and satisfactory way of obtaining the means of support is by subscription"--that is, by pledges of some specific sum regularly--weekly, monthly or annually.

      "Fourth. That a meeting be held at Georgetown in November following to which a messenger should be sent by every congregation favorable to the project."^{4}

      Such convention was held at Georgetown, composed of messengers from four counties, and four gifted evangelists were appointed. By this arrangement it was thought to establish "a regular plan of operations" and "to make a fair experiment of the success and transforming power of the gospel when announced, sustained, illustrated and exemplified by such able and efficient evangelists and teachers." This was the wisdom of our pioneers in fitly joining together the congregational parts of the body of Christ by that which every joining supplies so as to secure the effectual working in the measure of every part. [46]

      This is, in fact, the restoration of the New Testament evangelist in the Church of Christ today and the ordinance of the Lord that they that preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Missions of all limitations or extensions of field can be sustained in this manner of joining congregations and individuals. So believed our pioneers and so they supported missions. Failure to work together in concerted action is apostasy from ourselves and disloyalty to the Head of the church. Efficient working together calls for men equipped by character and culture for leadership and for intelligent men and women in the ranks of our church membership. The pioneers knew this and as soon as it could be done with prudence and the means could be obtained, they established schools of high grade and colleges in which the Bible was recognized in its due place as an important part of a liberal education.

      Hence, as in Ohio, so in Kentucky, early attention was given to founding educational institutions. Bacon College originated in the fall of 1836. J. T. Johnson was its fast friend from its first establishment and Walter Scott, who had moved to Carthage, Ohio, in 1834, was the first president of the college. John Rogers says: "It is certain that if Bacon College had never been, Kentucky University would not be." In 1858 John B. Bowman, a graduate of Bacon College, "of independent fortune," succeeded in having his alma mater incorporated in the older Transylvania University under the name Kentucky University, which is "an offshoot or outgrowth of Bacon College." It has recently resumed the older name of Transylvania University, chartered in 1798, and holds the priority among our colleges--"the oldest institution of higher learning west of the Alleghenies."

      It is a monument of the wisdom of our pioneers of that State in devoting their energies and their fortunes to make it "one of the best institutions in the world." It is fulfilling its mission of qualifying teachers, preachers and missionaries for large service in the kingdom of Christ.

      The founding of Bethany College in Virginia in 1841 by A. Campbell, its president for nearly twenty-five years, is well known to all Disciples and its large usefulness in equipping young people, male and female, for efficient work in the various departments of Christian service is worthy of generous recognition in increased endowment. All our numerous educational institutions with like purpose in blessing mankind with a liberal and Christian education attest the deep insight, largeness of vision and practical wisdom of our heroic pioneers.

      Our missionary societies were organized in accordance with apostolic precedent for meeting emergencies when they arise and performing duties of the hour in the combination of the forces at command. The vast outreach of the vision of our fathers comprehended the restoration of the original simplicity and power of the gospel message, the association of local churches for sending out the light and truth, the preparation of messengers to bear the glad tidings to all [47] nations and of pastors and teachers for the home congregations, and the union of individuals and churches for the establishment of missions at home and abroad for healing the sick, caring for orphans, the needy infirm and for preaching to and teaching all who can be brought within range of saving influences.

      It is interesting to note that as our great pioneers were working out their wonderful program for Christian union as a condition precedent to world evangelization, God was laying the burden of "the duty and importance of personally attempting a mission to the heathen" on the hearts and consciences of young men in Williams College and other Eastern institutions. Four of them, Adoniram Judson and three Samuels, Mills, Newell and Nott, petitioned "their reverend fathers, convened in general association at Bradford, Massachusetts," to advise and direct them in the matter to which they had given "serious and prayerful consideration," and devoted their lives "whenever God, in His providence, shall open the way." This body met June 10, 1810.

      The response to this petition was the formation of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the first missionary organization in America. Its first meeting was at Farmington, Connecticut, in September, 1810. The board was incorporated June, 1812, the same year and month in which the Campbells were immersed, and their first missionaries had left for Calcutta on February 19, 1812.

      Thus while these fathers of our restoration movement were defining and defending the principles which would give to the world the restored primitive message God was leading men of other denominations of believers in Christ into the practical acceptance of the supreme imperative of the Head of the church.

      This demonstration of the correctness of the plea for union and missions has done more to do away with wrong theories of conversion and other divisive opinions and inventions than all the debates of the century over sectarian differences.

      Now, after eighty years, the religious world is coming to see and accept the gospel in all essential features as the pioneers saw and preached it in 1827. In the coming years there may be accomplished what A. Campbell saw in his hopeful vision and the whole world be evangelized before the close of the century.

      If those who have been drawn together in this restoration movement are true to the ground principles and catholic spirit of the pioneers, firmly grasp the full meaning and breadth of the religious fellowship which they held and join the allied forces of the one all-conquering army of the hosts of the Lord in overcoming the evils of this world, the Disciples of Christ will be recognized by other Christian bodies as having had a leading place in bringing about that glorious consummation when "the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ." [48]

[CA 41-48]