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I N T R O D U C T I O N.
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Every religious Reformation has brought before the public some great, pure, and unselfish men; men who loved the truth
not only more than lucre, but more than the praise of men, than place, than title, and we doubt not had they been put
to the test, more than life itself. Who doubts that the intrepid Luther would have sealed his testimony with his blood,
had the sacrifice been demanded, or that Wesley, who again and again serenely looked into the faces of the infuriated
throngs that raged and howled around him, would have died as calmly and nobly as Polycarp, if not as triumphantly as
he who said, "I am ready to be offered; I have fought the good fight?" There is equally good reason for believing that
many who are yet living, and especially the venerated dead who have been prominent in the great religious Reformation
of the present century, would not have counted their lives dear to themselves had they lived in an age when violent
death was the proof of fidelity. The true martyr spirit has been displayed by many whose blood never was shed, as
really as by those who have died at the stake, or whose life current stained the sands of the arena. Long lives of
patient toil, amid scoff and scorn, of glorious labor amid privation and neglect; of poverty while
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INTRODUCTION.
bearing to others the true riches, point out the men of whom the world was not worthy, and whom God will crown, as
truly and clearly as Stephen's early painful, triumphant death. The long trial proves the heart as well as the short,
sharp pang; and long endurance, as well as short fiery trial, makes the man of God perfect through suffering. It is
true that the reformer of our times has not to brave the anger of a Nero as did Paul, or of a Pope as did Luther; and
yet for a man of pure and elevated feelings, desiring the highest good of his race, the brand of heresy, religious
ostracism by complacent orthodoxy, and misrepresentation akin to that which attributed the kind deeds of the merciful
Christ to Satanic power, are neither easy nor pleasant to bear. The circle of Luther's and Wesley's influence is still
widening; both are now better known and appreciated than in their own times, or at any period since then; and though
the snows of few winters have rested on the grave of Walter Scott, his works are widely known and his memory fondly
cherished. As truly as Wesley and Luther he forsook all for Christ; a man of as pure life, of as brilliant genius, as
abundant in labors; as true a lover of God and man as they. "Though dead he still speaks;" and he will be one of the
remembered ones in all succeeding time.
But to understand his life and work, it is necessary to know something of the times in which he lived, and the
religious views then prevalent; a brief review of these, we doubt not, will demonstrate the necessity and magnitude of
the reformation in which he acted so distinguished a part. In addition to this, our very prosperity as a people affords
a strong reason for such a retrospect; for as the Israelites, who fed their flocks in the vale of Jordan, or sat under
the vines and fig-trees of the land which God had given to their fathers, knew nothing, save by tradition, of the
Egyptian
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yoke or the journey through the desert, so the Disciples of Christ of the present day, rejoicing in their religious
liberty and unexampled prosperity, know little of the conflict through which a generation, almost departed, has passed;
or the price which was paid for the spiritual freedom and blessings which they enjoy. Fifty years ago the people known
as Christians, or Disciples of Christ, were unknown. Here and there a few individuals in the various religious parties,
by a slow and painful process, had, in a measure, thrown off the yoke of creed and sect, and committed themselves to
the word of God as their sole guide in matters pertaining to the soul's welfare. In most cases, however, this was done
in utter ignorance of the fact that there were others in almost precisely the same condition with themselves; and,
without any sympathy, concert, or even acquaintance with one another, each one felt somewhat as did Elijah in the day
of Israel's apostasy, when he cried out, "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars, and I am
left alone."
This did not originate in a spirit of fancied superiority in knowledge or holiness; but having drunk deep into the
spirit of the Holy Scriptures, by making them their exclusive authority in religion, they could not but perceive that
there had been numerous and sad departures from their teachings, and that in following human reason and earthly guides,
vast multitudes had forsaken, or been led away from, the fountain of living water, and were vainly striving to quench
the thirst of their souls from cisterns, broken cisterns, that could hold no water. Looking into the word of God, they
saw the way of life clearly, simply, and beautifully set forth; looking over the religious world, they beheld darkness,
mystery, conflict, and contradiction everywhere. When they looked at the primitive church walking in the fear of
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God and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and being greatly multiplied; and then at the differences, discords, and
divisions of those claiming to be followers of the meek and lowly One, the contrast was sad and striking, and the
questions would rise unbidden: Are these the fruits of the teachings of him who came to save a lost world? Did he
intend that his followers should pursue such different paths? Did he not teach that a house divided against itself can
not stand? Is what we see right, and the word of God false? These questionings were sore trials to their faith; they
were not anxious to find their religious friends and neighbors wrong, and themselves right; on the contrary, the love
of souls led them to desire that the multitude should be found right; those whom they held most dear were attached to
the views they felt compelled to question; many learned and godly men had believed and taught them; the early friends
and guides of their youth had gone to the grave cherishing as true what they felt obliged to reject; nay, they had
themselves once held the same views without any question or misgiving; but now the clear and solemn teachings of the
word of God would rise before them and condemn so plainly much of the religious teaching and practice of the day, that
there was no other alternative but to say, "Let God be true though every man be found a liar," or to abandon their own
faith in God.
Their condition was one of perplexity; they saw the wrong, and yet scarcely trusted themselves to call that the only
true path which the Scriptures seemed to point out so clearly; their own souls had just struggled into the light, and
the first effect of that light was to dazzle and bewilder. They needed a leader who, like themselves, had once wandered
in the darkness of error, and, having longer enjoyed the bright beams of the sun of righteousness, could better
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express than themselves what they felt must be true. Such a leader was found in Alexander Campbell, who, through the
Christian Baptist, poured new light upon their path, and confirmed them in what they had long tremblingly believed.
But even he did not shake off the fetters of human tradition by a single effort, nor reach soul-freedom at a single
bound, but he yielded slowly and painfully whatever he found the word of God did not warrant, and step by step advanced
in the knowledge of the truth, until he reached that sublime determination, that he would commit himself to the word of
God as his sole guide in religion, and follow wherever that word should lead. To speak what he found in the word of God
faithfully and fearlessly, and to be silent where the word of God was silent, was thenceforth the rule in all his
efforts for the salvation of his race; and the blessings by which those efforts were attended, eternity alone will
disclose. The impression made by the first number of the Christian Baptist was deepened by each subsequent issue; the
Bible, where it circulated, ceased to be regarded as a sealed book, and was studied with a zeal and zest unknown before;
great numbers from the various religious parties embraced the new views which were set forth with such marked ability;
and among them many who proved to be earnest and efficient helpers; and the new movement assumed such proportions that
its opposers saw fit to give it a name; that name was Campbellism. Among those helpers and fellow-laborers, the first
place in zeal and ability must be awarded to Walter Scott. Up to the time of his connection with this movement, the
efforts of Alexander Campbell had been mainly directed against the errors prevalent among those professing godliness,
with a view to the promotion of union among them; but Scott perceived that in addition to the evils of partyism in the
Church,
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that there was an equal defect in the presentation of the gospel to the world, to the remedy of which he addressed
himself with signal ability and success. Making the apostles his model, he went before the world with the same plea,
urging upon his hearers the same message, in the same order, with the same conditions and promises, and inviting instant
compliance with its claims. The position of Campbell in taking the word of God as the only rule of faith and practice
necessarily led to the new and bold step taken by Scott; nor was he slow to second it in his public addresses, as well
as by his powerful pen. They were true yoke-fellows in the same glorious cause; and when with tongue and pen they
exposed long-cherished errors, and brought to light long-forgotten truths, many from the various religious parties were
ready for what they had to offer, and were attracted to them as particles of steel to the magnet; and even from the
world those who had well-nigh lost all faith in God through the false and contradictory views of religion which they
had heard, and the discords which prevailed among those who professed to be the followers of the Lord, came and embraced
and rejoiced in the truth; of which truth many of them became able and successful advocates and defenders.
But many difficulties attended this republication of the Ancient Gospel and return to the practice of the primitive
church which it is necessary to notice. The first of these was the religious teachings of that day in regard to what
was necessary in order to the conversion of a soul to God. In primitive times nothing was plainer, simpler, easier, to
be understood. An apostle delivered his message in a style and manner suited to the capacity of his hearers; those who
were convinced of the truth of what they heard, and showed their sincerity by an abandonment of their sins,
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and obeying the instructions which fell from his lips, were received into the favor of God and the fellowship of the
church. The instructions given to a nobleman, traveling in his chariot, by one of the primitive teachers of Christianity,
not occupying perhaps more than an hour or two, resulted in his conversion. An apostle found a company of pious women
assembled at a place of prayer by the river side not far from a pagan city; they had an acquaintance with the law of
Moses, but never had heard the glad news of the Messiah's corning, of his death for sin, and the glorious offer made
to all, both Jew and Gentile, through his gospel. This he made known; some of his hearers gladly received it, and
immediately entered into the enjoyment of the favor of God, through faith in, and obedience to, the Lord Jesus; and,
stranger still, in that same pagan city, a man brought up in idolatry was brought in contact with the apostle and his
fellow-laborer, and under their instructions, between the going down and the rising of the sun, he learned enough to
renounce idolatry, and to gladly and intelligently become a Christian.
Every-where during the ministry of the apostles, the conversion of sinners to God was brought about by the same
instrumentality: the preaching of the gospel--the simple scriptural statement of one case is the model for all. It is
said "many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized;" none of these elements were absent in any case of
conversion which took place under the labors of the apostles; and one of the chief of these, in reviewing his labors,
says: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth."
Forty or fifty years ago, instead of being guided by these plain scriptural teachings, and making the cases to which we
have referred models, the utmost
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most obscurity and confusion prevailed with regard to the way in which a sinner must come to God; so much so, indeed,
that it is doubtful whether any view could have been presented that would have been so generally rejected, as that a
sinner could be saved by reading and obeying the instructions contained in the New Testament. The most prevalent idea
with regard to this matter was, that the conversion of a sinner was an exercise of miraculous power on the part of God,
which the sinner could neither so control as to bring himself under its influence, nor resist when he was subjected to
it. A favorite mode of expressing this view was, that the sinner had no more power to turn to God than Lazarus had to
raise himself from the dead; and no more ability to resist the power of God when it came upon him, than the dead Lazarus
had to resist the call of the Son of God. No uniform view of the law of Christ, or of the power of his truth, seemed to
be present to the minds of preachers when addressing the people. Conversion was as much a mystery to them as to their
hearers; they might be converted instantaneously or after a long season; the most careless and indifferent might be made
to yield when they neither expected nor desired to do so; while others, sincere, earnest, weeping penitents, might seek
the same blessing, yet seek in vain; thus causing the inquiry to rise in many hearts, Why should God be favorable to
those who neglect and even resist his grace, and yet be deaf to the tears and beseechings of those who seek his face
sorrowing? The following scene, witnessed by the writer, not forty years since, will serve to illustrate the point before
us, and is by no means an exaggerated picture of the state of things at the time of which we write. A revival meeting was
in progress, and a large number of persons were at the altar of prayer, and the ministers and some of the leading members
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were giving the seekers, as they were termed, such instructions as it was thought their condition required; but all
their efforts seemed of no avail; the penitents were evidently willing to be saved, but the blessing they were seeking,
and which their spiritual guides taught them to expect, was denied. One of the ministers was called on to pray for the
mourners, and, after entreating heaven earnestly and fervently on their behalf, thus concluded his prayer: "O Lord! here
are sinners desiring to be converted; Lord, they can not convert themselves; O Lord, we can not convert them. No one, O
Lord, can convert them but thyself;" and then, changing his tone of voice, added: "and now, Lord, why do n't you do it?"
While it is true that expressions like that with which he closed his prayer were uncommon, the feeling expressed in the
previous part of it with regard to the sinners' inability, and the inefficiency of human instrumentality, the feeling
that the conversion of sinners was to be effected by something beyond their own power was almost universal.
The thought that a man had the power to turn to God in obedience to the teaching of the Scriptures, or that ministers,
bearing in their hearts and on their tongues the divine message of mercy, had power to turn their fellow-men from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, by presenting the facts, motives, and conditions of the gospel,
would then have been as strange and startling as if it had been presented for the first time, instead of having been
the rule in all the conversions which took place under the ministry of the apostles. In their day no one was converted
until he heard the gospel preached, and those who heard the glad message, believed it, and obeyed the instructions given
by those whom Christ sent forth to convert the nations; were made free from sin, and happy in their
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INTRODUCTION.
obedience to the truth. Under their ministry, to hear, believe, and obey the gospel was to be converted. Conversion
consisted in having mind, heart, conduct, and state changed by a belief of, and obedience to, the truth; every man was
active in his own conversion, and was urged to be so by apostolic authority, in such language as, "Save yourselves
from this untoward generation." "Repent, and turn, that your sins may be blotted out." "Repent, and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins."
But at this time, man was regarded as passive in conversion; he was not required to do any thing; could do nothing;
the work was God's alone. How many are there who yet remember the state of things we have described; those who attended
for years the ministry of eminent preachers in the various denominations; who felt themselves to be sinners, but never
were able to learn, from what they heard, what they were to do to be saved; that was in the hands of God, and was as
much a matter of uncertainty as the next drouth or the next shower, and one over which they had as little control. It
was an age of marvels. God was expected to act as if he had revealed no plan of salvation, as if the great commission
were no longer in force; conversions were as various as the temperaments of different individuals: those of persons of
quick sensibilities and lively fancies were bright and clear, sometimes excelling even the most striking cases of a
miraculous age; while persons of calm, thoughtful habits were so far from reaching such raptures that they were almost
reduced to despair. Nor was this confined to one denomination or the more ignorant portion of the community, as the
following instance, by no means a rare one, will show. A very learned and pious bishop, who dated his conversion at the
time of
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which we write, gives the following remarkable account of it: "While in a retired place, praying, the witness of the
Spirit was vouchsafed to me. A voice spoke, saying, Thy sins which are many are forgiven thee. I looked up and around,
and every thing wore the garb of beauty."
This is a more wonderful case than any recorded in the sacred volume, surpassing even that of Saul of Tarsus, for even
in his case the Savior did not utter the words of pardon, but directed him to go to Damascus, where it should be told
him what he must do; and the instructions he received show that he was not released from any duty enjoined on the
humblest disciple. But in the case to which we have referred; the Spirit is made to utter the words of pardon, which
it is never represented as doing in the word of God. But at the time to which we refer, the wonderful was common; a
dream, a light, a voice, the creature of an exalted or excited fancy was deemed better evidence of the favor of God
than to obey the teachings of the Bible, or to imitate the example of those who were converted under the teaching of
the apostles themselves. In a word, a dim and mysterious speculative theology was dispensed from the pulpit, and
substituted for the plain and simple teaching of the word of God. Nay, the word of God was commonly spoken of as a dead
letter; nearly every thing was made to depend on an influence of the Spirit, separate and distinct from the written
Word; and the feelings, frames of mind, and the emotions were supposed to be the operations of the Holy Spirit on the
heart, even when these were often in direct opposition to the declarations of the Scriptures of truth. A man, for
instance, would admit that neither Moses nor Christ had said any thing with regard to infant baptism, that the Old and
New Testament were alike silent with regard to it, and yet prove it to be right, to his
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own satisfaction, at least, by saying that the Holy Spirit had written on his heart, in letters of fire, that he ought
to have his children baptized. What a man felt was deemed better evidence than either the silence of Scripture or a
positive thus saith the Lord. Ministers, very generally claimed to be specially called, qualified, and sent to preach
the gospel, claimed to be "called of God, as was Aaron," although that language is used with reference to the Savior
himself; claimed to be embassadors of Christ, and yet often wonderfully mystified their hearers, who could not very
clearly understand why it was that men who claimed to be called and sent of God, and embassadors of Jesus Christ,
should present such different messages; and why one embassador should, by divine authority, be pulling down what another
embassador was endeavoring to build up. The credentials of this high office were sometimes as singular as the claims
were great; one minister, regarded as the foremost man in his denomination, placed great confidence in a dream he had
in regard to this matter. In his dream he was carried to Palestine, and, in a room full of people arrayed in the
costume of the Orientals, he saw one who seemed more than mortal; this personage singled the dreamer out from the rest
of the throng, approached him, and, in a voice of singular sweetness, said to him: "George B-------- feed my sheep;"
and he knew that it was the Savior of men that spoke. The claim to a special call, however, was maintained with the
greatest pertinacity by those who were distinguished by nothing save an utter unfitness for the sacred office; and the
oracles uttered by these unlettered ones were frequently of the most astounding nature. Professors of religion, as a
general rule, were much better acquainted with the tenets of their particular party than with the Bible. Conformity to
party views was the test of orthodoxy; and to deny the
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teachings of the Church Standards, whether Creed, Catechism, or Confession of Faith, even though the Bible were silent
in regard to such matters, was quite as heretical and dangerous as to deny the clearest and most explicit declarations
of Holy Writ. Many of the religious parties regarded each other as the Jews and Samaritans formerly did; and the union
of Christians, for which the Savior prayed with almost his dying breath, and when nearly in sight of the cross, was
regarded not only as unattainable, but even undesirable. In view of the state of things which then prevailed, we are
able now to place something like a proper estimate upon the work of those men by whose labors such a great and blessed
change has been effected--a change quite as deserving of the name of a reformation as that which was wrought by Luther
or Wesley.
Nay, the movement of which we write resulted in a change deeper and more radical than that effected by either Luther
or Wesley; and, without the least disparagement of these great and good men, we may say, with truth, that their work
was only preparatory to the reformation of the nineteenth century, which has carried out into practice, truths which
those earlier reformers only dimly and partially perceived. Luther's work in the main was a protest against the grosser
and more evident corruptions of the Church of Rome, and Wesley's a protest against the formalism, want of spirituality,
and lack of zeal for the welfare of the souls of men by which the State religion -- Episcopalianism -- was characterized.
The poverty and abundant labors of the apostles, contrasted with the wealth and ease of the higher orders of the clergy
of his day, stirred up his soul to an exhibition of zeal, self-denial, and labor truly apostolic; for no man ever
demonstrated better than he what should be the life of a preacher of the gospel -- not a life of lettered
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ease, droning out a few theological platitudes once or twice a week to a drowsy and listless auditory, and spending
the rest in the library, at the luxurious feast, or amid the coarser joys of the chase or the revel; but a life of
incessant toil, visiting the sick and in prison, teaching the ignorant, relieving the distressed, preaching in
churchyard, field, and moor, wherever opportunity offered; preaching especially to the poor, and showing how the servant
may imitate the example of the master by going about doing good. It is no part of our purpose to undervalue such lives
and labors as these; truth, purity, and goodness should be honored wherever they are found; and such men as Luther and
Wesley belong not to a sect or party, but to humanity, and we institute a comparison not between men, but principles,
when we say that the Reformation of our own times contemplates a greater work than the reforms of any preceding age.
Contemplates, we say; we do not claim that all is done that needs to be done, and that must be done, before the church
of Christ shall appear before a scoffing world, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with
triumphant banners. We claim, however, that the right path has been entered upon, and the right principles discovered,
which, if persevered in and carried out to their legitimate issue, can not fail to promote the purity and spread of our
holy religion and the union of all who love our Common Lord. The Bible can not lead any faithful and earnest soul
astray who sincerely desires to come to the Savior; and as surely as that word is the sinner's best and safest guide,
so surely is it the only platform on which all true believers can stand. There can, then, be no misgivings as to the
correctness of our course when we point sinners to the Lamb of God in the very terms which the apostles employed for
that purpose, and
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when we propose the Bible in the place of any and all creeds as the basis of Christian union. The Reformation, then,
of which we speak, may, with greater propriety, be called a Restoration, or a return to primitive and original ground.
That such a course is possible is evident from the fact that the state of things to which we aim to return once
existed. And that such a course is best must be evident from the fact that the religion of Jesus Christ, as presented
in the New Testament, is as far beyond the power of man to change or improve as the laws of the material world; as
incapable of being improved as the air that we breathe, or heaven's own sunlight.
That such a view of things should ever have been lost sight of is indeed astonishing; but that all the confusion and
strife which has arisen in the religious world had its origin in a departure from the word of God, and substituting
human reason and expediency in its place, no one can, with truth, deny. How sad and wide this departure was may be
gathered from the history of those times. Men seemed to have forgotten that Christ himself is the Head of his own
church, its only rightful and true Lawgiver; that the Father gave him this position when he gave him all authority in
heaven and earth, and constituted him head over all things to the church, all of which was indicated when God broke
the silence of the transfiguration scene with the solemn and impressive words, "This is my beloved Son; hear ye him."
The fact that all this had been forgotten, and, in a great measure, departed from, as proved by the general prevalence
of creeds, and a corresponding ignorance of, and departure from, the Bible; the preferring of modern human names to
the scriptural ones, Disciple and Christian; the strifes, discords, and divisions which existed; the different and
conflicting views with regard to
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nearly every important element of faith and practice; all indicated that a Reformation, or return to original ground,
was needed; the times demanded it, and the men were not wanting to enter upon the work, which in their hands was attended
with such glorious and abundant success. And now that the Disciples have a name, an influence, and a history such as
makes them a power in the religious world, what we have said in regard to their views and aims may seem to be a needless
repetition of those things which are most surely believed among us, of which few among the hundreds, nay thousands, of
our churches, and the tens of thousands, nay hundreds of thousands, of their members are ignorant; but our purpose is to
show the many ten thousands of our brethren who have been gathered into the fold of Christ during the past twenty or
thirty years, that the scriptural views to which they have always been accustomed, and which they can hardly conceive
could ever have been lost sight of, were regarded, in the times to which we have referred, by the great majority of
religious people, as the greatest and worst of heresies; and by those who first had their attention arrested and hearts
won by them as having almost the freshness, and giving the joy of, a new revelation. We wish our brethren also to realize
something of the care, the toil, the anxieties, the persecutions and misrepresentations endured by such men as he whose
life we propose to lay before them; into whose labors so many have entered -- the great fight of afflictions through
which they passed in order to establish those views and principles which we wonder could ever have been a matter of
doubt, much less of bitter and violent opposition. Having, under the blessing of God, from feeble beginnings become a
multitude, we should never forget those great and godly men whose labors have brought to us such
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blessings, and whose example should ever lead us to guard well the precious trust they have committed to our hands. A
graceful, loving, and elaborate tribute has been made to the memory of Alexander Campbell, and one that shall long
endure to instruct and delight, by one whose pen adorns whatever it touches. Ten years and more have passed since his
life-long friend and devoted fellow-laborer fell asleep, and the tribute which all feel to be his due has not been
offered; that duty has fallen upon me, and did not my heart urge me on my hand would falter; and, therefore, if with
feebler powers than many others, yet at least with equal love I present the following humble offering to the memory of
Walter Scott.
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