Insights into Restoration History: Barton W. Stone & Alexander Campbell

1. Restoration History Series • Brief introduction to Restoration History • Barton W. Stone • Alexander Campbell • Leaders, Colleges, and Organizational Questions

2. Brief Introduction to Restoration History Lesson April 2014

3. Why Study Restoration History? • Is often misunderstood • Is even more often incorrectly defined • Is more and more seen as a divergent view • Is an inspiring study: men willing to confront and battle, men loyal to conviction

4. Original Purpose • Restore original Christianity, primitive practice • Two pillars: Scripture and unity • Return to Scripture, strong concept of inspiration (rationalism, human understanding) • Build unity, time when division was deplored • Desire to increase morality • Desire to be independent, without creed, without authoritative overseeing group

5. Questions—then and now • Is it desirable and necessary? • Can it be done? • What means should be used to accomplish it? • Who wants it? (we live in a different time)

6. Not new questions—how answer? • Alexander Campbell answered with three principles • Distinguish faith and opinion • Faith = acceptance of facts AND trust • Opinion=cognition without sufficient evidence for faith, thus inconclusive; therefore, opinion should not be preached as dogma • The silence of Scripture • Importance of using proper biblical terminology

7. Pragmatic Questions • Is the plea valid? • What do you restore? • Not the externals, but the essence • What is the essence, what is incidental? • What is permanent, what is temporary? • What are appropriate boundaries of fellowship? Who decides? What MUST one do/believe?

8. Pragmatic Questions • How do you do it? • By rejecting human creeds and traditions, • Follow only the Bible • Is first century Christianity monolithic enough to be restored?

9. What is substance of Reformers’ plea? • Robert Richardson, Millennial Harbinger, 1854 • Proclaim the gospel • Emphasize morality • The Holy Spirit works in word and conversion • Bible is the source of faith

10. Frontier Issues (Frederick Turner Jackson) • Fostered spirit of individualism • Spirit of self-reliance • Frontier was democratic, voice of the people • Emotionalism • Pugnacious

11. Frontier Issues (William Warren Sweet) • Dominated by fear • Gullible people, superstition • Denigrated education and culture, ridiculed high theology • Self-reliance (applied to religion) • Promoted free will (Arminianism) • “Lay” preachers • Religion should be felt

12. Frontier Issues • Frontier religion was less formal • Preaching was more conversational • There are was questioning, debating • Emphasized the individual—you can respond to God • Restoration Plea fit well in this situation

13. Frontier Issues • Why Restoration Plea fit well • Message was strongly anti-clerical and anti-creedal • Debating was used, often to depend oneself • Conversational style of preaching • Simple organization

14. Frontier Issues • Why Restoration Plea fit well • Strongly individualistic (revivalism) • Immediate action was preached • The democratic spirit revolted against creeds • When people obeyed, had strong sense of security

15. Barton W. Stone April 2014

16. Barton W. Stone Revivalism—Focusing the Hope for the Future

17. Cane Ridge

18. Barton W. Stone & Cane Ridge Revivalism in early 19th century Presbyterian conflicts Converging interests

19. National Religious Development • Early 1800s • The Second Great Awakening • Revivals: Baptists and Methodists • Challenges to Calvinism • Revolt against increasing church controls

20. Barton W. Stone--Early History • Born Dec 24, 1772 • Remembered Revolutionary War • Stone was stirred; fervor wore off • Began studies to become lawyer, enrolled in Dr. David Caldwell’s “Log School” • Schools: classics and linguistics

21. Religious Milieu • Liberal Presbyterian: not as Calvinistic, more emotional • Calvinism: all credit to God • Revivalism: human response • Just thinking: where are we?

22. Personal Religious Development • Stone’s Conversion • At Caldwell’s school a great religious excitement stirred at the preaching ofJames M’Gready. • Sovereignty of God PLUS human response • Revivalism: something done only by God (waiting) or is human involvement possible/necessary?

23. Personal Religious Development • Stone attended services to hear M’Gready preach • “After a long struggle, he at length obtained peace of mind in a retired wood, to which he had resorted with his Bible” (Richardson, Memoirs)

24. Call to Ministry • Felt “great desire to preach gospel” but had no “divine call” to do so. • 1793: left Caldwell’s school, went to Georgia to teach in school of Hope Hall • 1796: Stone became a candidate for the ministry in the Orange Presbytery • Permission to preach, but not yet ordained • Stone’s mother was Methodist now

25. Call to Ministry • Stone went to Fort Nashboro • John Anderson told him of Cane Ridge (KY) where Robert Findlay was leaving • Stone went on preaching tour to Kentucky • Cane Ridge, Bourbon County, KY • So successful they asked him to stay. • Opened school, trained several

26. Call to Ministry • Needed to be ordained as licensing period was almost up • Had to seek ordination in a new presbytery. • Agreement with Westminster Creed: • “As far as I see it consistent with the word of God.”

28. Cane Ridge

29. Early Ministry • Stone was at Cane Ridge 1796-1800 • Went to raise money for Transylvania College in SC • Went back to KY with B. F. Hall • Hall had received a letter asking him to go to Logan County for a M’Gready revival

30. Cane Ridge Church • The revivals in Kentucky were led by M’Gready • Spring of 1801 • Camp meetings in Logan County. • “strange agitations...which had formerly occurred under the preaching of Whitefield and others” (as in First Great Awakening)

31. Cane Ridge

32. Cane Ridge Camp Meeting (1801) • Cane Ridge church “protracted meeting” for August of that year (1801) • More than 20,000 people attended, with some estimates as high as 30,000. • Presbyterians, Methodist and Baptists, with all preachers witnessing the “agitations” as a result of their preaching • More than 1,000 were “struck down” • Some “struck down” were “infidels.”

33. Cane Ridge Camp Meeting (1801) • People of all ages were “struck down as in battle, remaining for hours motionless, and then reviving in the agonies of remorse or in the ecstasies of spiritual joy.” • Stone believed these were work of God. • Similar things happened via his own preaching. • Interest in religion permeating the area, which led to other religious groups coming to the region.

34. Conflicts with the Presbyterians • In Lexington, the first synod was being formed • Leadership did not agree with Liberal Presbyterian thought, especially as taught at Cane Ridge • But the Cane Ridge group was in 1801-1802 added to Washington Presbytery • Transylvania Presbytery questioned this

35. Conflicts with the Presbyterians • So the Kentucky Synod heard the case in 1803, but Stone and his friends wrote before the hearing that they were leaving the Presbyterian system • Formed the Springfield Presbytery in fall 1803 • Established 6 congregations immediately • Had period conferences, evangelistic tool, did not settle much doctrinally

36. The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery • That the Bible is a sure guide • That the Bible is complete, authority, rule of faith and practice • That the source of division is from men, not from God • That human inventions and traditions can be laid aside • That men should unite on the Bible • That human creeds and inventions are unnecessary and harmful

37. Converging Interests • Rice Haggard, Methodist circuit rider from VA • Samuel Davies (d. 1761) of Princeton had been great orator • Read sermon of Grosvenor (Anglican) from 1728 on the name “Christian” • Davies preached similar sermon and printed it • Rice Haggard read Davies’ sermon, adapted it and began preaching it • Thus Rice Haggard suggested the name to O’Kelly in 1793

38. Converging Interests • In New England, Elias Jones and Abner Smith were using the name Christian • The “Christian Connection” was mostly a New England affair, although independent • By the 1830s there were 900 preachers in the Christian connection in New England • Did not see baptism as compulsory

39. A Continuing Story • Rice Haggard visited KY in March 1804 • Stone studied with Haggard and adopted the name “Christian” • Stone and baptism: a long story • 1810: Stone’s wife died, married a widow, moved to TN • Moved back to KY in 1816 to be school teacher and preacher • 1834: Illinois, Antioch church, common name

40. Joining Forces • Stone and John T. Johnson • Raccoon John Smith and Samuel Rodgers • December 1832 • AC was “unable to attend” • Union made without consent of AC • AC was unhappy about it • Too many differences • Forced to recognize it

41. Disciple vs. Christian • 1833: joint hymnbook, edited by Stone, Walter Scott, Campbell, and D. P. Henderson • Division over name of book, disciples vs. Christians • AC, Millennial Harbinger, 1839: advocates use of “proper name”—Disciples of Christ • Has priority chronologically, used in gospel • Christian has connotation of Christian connection, then going to Unitarianism

42. Disciple vs. Christian • Stone was hurt, wrote Campbell • Almost divisive wedge, even Walter Scott was upset with Campbell • But in Kentucky, Christian was retained with a lot of resentment against Campbell

43. Cane Ridge

44. Cane Ridge