- 10 hours ago
A biography about this 19th Century restoration pioneer.
Category
đź“š
LearningTranscript
00:00Hey, Shabbat Shalom, brothers and sisters. Welcome back. I thank you again for joining me today.
00:05Today I want to talk about an interesting man I just come across about a month and a half ago,
00:12read another book. I'll get into that later, of course. But his name is Alexander Campbell.
00:19And it's speculated, some people agree, don't agree, that he came up with the Christian group
00:27Disciples of Christ. Some people say he did. Another said, no, he don't. And we'll get into
00:36that, too, after I read his biography. I got a biography of him. I looked him up and everything.
00:41And anyways, let's just do it. Anyways, he was an Ulster Scott immigrant who became an ordained
00:54minister in the USA and joined his father, Thomas, as a leader of a reform effort that
01:01is historically known as the Restoration Movement and by the same as the Stone Campbell Movement.
01:12Now, this is a 19th century in the United States was really a pivotal time because a lot of groups
01:19started coming out just saying a lot of things because, you know, freedom of religion, of
01:27course. After the Revolutionary War and everything got settled and started going around like the
01:34Mormons, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses, there's Christian science, there's a bunch of
01:40them. And anyways, they all started coming up and had their own views and everything. But it's
01:48a restoration movement because a lot of these groups basically said when it comes to traditional
01:56Christians, even the Catholic Church, they didn't agree with it. They said they don't teach what's
02:01in the Bible, according to them. But anyways, I'll continue. It resulted in the development of
02:09non-denominational Christian churches, which stressed reliance on scripture and few essentials.
02:14So, sola scriptia. That's the scriptures. That's the final word if you go into scriptures. Not
02:22doctrine of man or anything like that. Okay, Campbell was influenced by similar efforts in Scotland,
02:30in particular by James and Robert Haldane, who emphasized their interpretation of Christianity
02:40as found in the New Testament. In 1832, the group of Reformers led by the Campbells merged with a
02:49similar movement that began under the leadership of Barton W. Stone in Kentucky. Their congregations
02:57identified as the Disciples of Christ or the Christian churches. Several church groups have some
03:05historical ties with the Campbells' efforts. And by the way, back then, other people that wasn't
03:13within the church labeled them as the Campbellites. And a lot of people even today don't like that
03:21word being called a Campbellite. But anyways, the three main groups are the Churches of Christ,
03:28the Christian Church Disciple of Christ, and the Independent Christian Churches and Churches of
03:34Christ. Additionally, there are the International Churches of Christ, the International Christian Church,
03:43the Churches of Christ in Australia, the Churches of Christ in Europe, and the Evangelical
03:51Christian Church of Canada. There's too many church names in the church is throwing me off.
03:57Campbell also founded Bethany College and what became Bethany. Back then, it was Virginia, but then
04:05later on, the Civil War broke off, became West Virginia, so it's Bethany, West Virginia. Alexander
04:11Campbell was born on September 12, 1788, near Balamania in the parish of Brochain, if I'm saying that
04:22correctly, County, Brochain County, Antrim, Ireland. His parents were Thomas and Jane Campbell, who were
04:30of Scott descent. Like his father, he was educated at the University of Glasgow, where he was greatly
04:37influenced by Scottish Enlightenment philosophy. He was also influenced by the English philosopher
04:43John Locke. In 1809, at the age of 21, Alexander immigrated to the U.S. with his mother and siblings
04:52from Scotland to join his father, of course, Thomas, who had immigrated there in 1807. They sailed from
05:01Scotland on to Latonia on August 3, 1809 and landed in New York City on September 29, then traveled
05:13overland to Philadelphia. They continued to western Pennsylvania, where the senior Campbell was serving
05:20as minister in Washington County on the frontier. Alexander was ordained by his father's brush-run church
05:29on January 1, 1812. The year before Campbell had married Margaret Brown on March 12, 1811. Margaret's
05:41father, John Brown, owned a significant amount of land in the Bethany, Virginia area, like I said, which
05:48is now West Virginia. The couple resided in what is now known as the Alexander Campbell Mansion
05:58near Bethany, and they had eight children. Their first child, a daughter, was born on March 13, 1812.
06:10His daughter's birth spurred Campbell to study the subject of baptism. He ultimately concluded that
06:16scripture did not support infant baptisms, kind of like maybe the Antibaptists of centuries back,
06:24you know, like the Mennonites, Hutterites, and the Amish. He came to believe that individuals had to
06:32choose conversion for themselves, and baptism was not appropriate until they did so. After the death
06:40of Margaret in 1827, Campbell married again the next year to Selina Huntington Bakewell on July 31, 1828.
06:51They had six children, and Alex was a very busy man. From 1815 to 1824, Campbell and his father kept
07:02the brush-run church affiliated with a local Baptist association. After disagreements over some issues,
07:10they allied with the Mahoning Baptist Association. Campbell's only formal political service was
07:17delegate at the Virginia Constitutional Convention in 1828 to 1830, held in Richmond.
07:27He met some of the leading politicians of the day and was invited to preach in several churches in the
07:34capital city. In 1840, Campbell founded Bethany College in Virginia, West Virginia. He believed that
07:43the clergy should be college-educated. Good idea. Many future leaders of the Disciples of Christ and
07:49Churches of Christ graduated from the college, although some latter congregations did not
07:56attach the same value to theological study and professional clergy. Campbell visited the UK in
08:041847. During the trip, he gave public lectures in England and Scotland. He went to Ireland to deliver funds
08:11that the U.S. Restoration Movement churches had raised for relief in the Great Famine while at Glasgow. He was
08:19challenged by James Robertson to a debate on the subject of slavery, which the American
08:26South was protected. And Campbell defended as a moral. He thought it was morally right that slavery
08:34was going in the United States, sadly. As a result of the fierce exchange, Robertson sued Campbell for libel.
08:43Campbell denied the charge, but he was arrested and imprisoned for 10 days. Campbell was released when the
08:51warrant warrant for his arrest was declared to be illegal. The case was ultimately tried and the jury decided in
08:58Campbell's favor. While in his 20s, Campbell wrote several more essays under the pseudonym
09:06Clarinda and published them in a local paper. In 1820, his debate with the Presbyterian John Walker was
09:15published, reminding him of the emphasis of writing and publishing. He bought a printing press and
09:23built a small print shop in 1823, establishing what to be proved to be a successful publishing operation.
09:34Campbell edited and published two journals. The first was the Christian Baptist, which he edited from 1823 to 1830.
09:42The second was the millennial Arbinger, which he began in 1830 and continued to edit until his death in 1866.
09:57He became less active in it during the 1850s. In both, he had advocated the reform of Christianity
10:04along the lines as it was practiced on the American frontier. He encouraged contributions by writers
10:12who thought differently from him, and the journals encouraged a lively dialogue about issues and the reform movement.
10:21Campbell expanded his printing operation in 1830 for the millennial
10:26Arbinger. The change from the Christian Baptist to the
10:33was prompted by several concerns. Differences of opinion were arising between Campbell and the Baptist,
10:42and in many cases, Baptist associations were expelling persons connected with the Campbell movement.
10:50He was concerned that the Christian Baptist, which he considered to be less appropriate than the biblical
10:57term disciples, was becoming the de facto name of the group. He also wanted the new journal to have a
11:06more positive tone promoting reform and preparing the world for the millennium and the second coming of
11:13Yeshua. Campbell wrote several books, including the Christian system. He also wrote hymns, including
11:21Upon the Banks of Jordan Stood. Campbell compiled and published a translation of the New Testament
11:28under the title The Living Oracles. Published in 1826, it was based on an 1818 translation by George
11:42Campbell, James McKnight, and Philip Doddridge, and included edits and extensive notes by Campbell.
11:52For a time, Campbell was wary of public debates. In June 1820, he debated with Reverend John Walker,
12:00a Baptist preacher at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, on baptism, and since then regularly participated in the debates.
12:10Some of them gained national and international attention after their transcripts were published.
12:15In 1823, he debated with the Reverend William L. McCullough, a Presbyterian minister, on infant baptism.
12:23In April 1829, with Robert Owen, Robert Owen, on socialism and Christianity, in January 1837,
12:42with Archbishop of Cincinnati, Ohio, John Baptist Purcell, on Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.
12:51In September 1843, he defended the Restoration Movement in a debate with Reverend Nathaniel L. Rice,
13:01who represented traditional Presbyterianism.
13:06Alexander passed away at the age of 77 years old on March 4, 1866, at Bethany, West Virginia.
13:14His widow died more than three decades later on June 28, 1897.
13:21His nephew, Archibald Campbell, 1833 to 1899, had already become an important abolitionist and Republican leader.
13:31See, Republican leader, abolitionists, Republicans get to drift.
13:35And as editor of the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, he helped found what became the state of West Virginia.
13:46Campbell's ties to Parley, well, that's a, here's another one I want to get at.
13:54He passed away, but how I found, found his name, I never even thought about Disciples of Christ or the
14:00Churches of Christ.
14:01But I did a book review about Joseph Smith, Rough Stone Rolling, and I guess they mentioned him in the
14:11historical records,
14:12the Mormon historical records and other records back then.
14:16But, uh, I'm going to read you a little bit about Campbell's, he didn't agree with Joseph Smith or the
14:23Mormons,
14:24but how they connected or came into contact was here.
14:29It's, uh, yeah, Campbell's ties to Parley Pratt, which Mormons would know these names.
14:34Parley Pratt became a Mormon, but he was, uh, he associated with the Campbell, the Campbellite movement is,
14:40sorry to say that, but he was, uh, involved in that.
14:46But then again, he got some, he got the Book of Mormon one time, read it, studied it, and went
14:52to his good buddy who had a,
14:53had a flock.
14:54I mean, this, uh, this guy here, Sidney Rigdon, another Mormon, uh, forefather, if you want to call him that.
15:02But he was, he had a bunch of, bunch of followers, but he was under Campbell's, and Alexander's a good
15:08personal friend and colleague of his.
15:11But Sidney read it, and he believed too, and him and his flock basically left the church and joined the
15:18Mormons.
15:19And he was a biblically intellectual guy, is what history says.
15:24But anyways, uh, that was a, that, the feud started with that.
15:30There's a big feud, words back and forth, something like that.
15:35Uh, and, uh, so that's how I, that came across that.
15:39But, you know, some, some say Campbell never founded the church, and it's been there before its arrival.
15:45Some people say, no, it goes back to the time of Jesus, the disciples, the apostles, whoever.
15:51And, uh, and also, another thing is, uh, uh, another thing, uh, I, I saw on, on some recent videos.
16:02I've been looking this up.
16:04They, uh, try to say that the disciples of Christ don't follow Alexander.
16:12Don't, don't follow him.
16:14And he has nothing, well, he did, but he don't.
16:16And the thing is, you know, if you look up, what do the disciples of Christ believe, the church, of
16:22course, you know, they, they don't believe, they don't believe in slavery, which he did, unfortunately.
16:28But then again, they also believe in same-sex marriages.
16:32And correct me if I'm wrong, but I look this up.
16:34Same-sex marriages and things like that.
16:37And I'm sure this guy would not think that was appropriate or tolerated in church, Christian church at all.
16:45But, uh, that's just me, you know.
16:47I mean, uh, uh, but yeah, they don't follow them.
16:51And, uh, I want to conclude this by, uh, I haven't got this book yet, but it popped up since
17:00I've been looking up Alexander Campbell and the church.
17:03And I was trying to get this ready, another thing come up and I'm interested in this book, but I'm
17:08going to get it for a while.
17:09And when I do, I'm going to read it, look at it and I'll do a book review, but it's
17:13a book.
17:14This book's called Alexander Campbell and Joseph Smith, 19th century restoration, this restoration, this book, whatever by Roseanne Benson.
17:24She wrote a book and I saw her video and she's explaining a little bit about it on, it was
17:29on YouTube and I was interested in that.
17:32And I'm probably going to end up getting that book eventually read it and let you guys know what I
17:37think.
17:37So, uh, if you guys know about this book, you get it before me, read it, let me know, put
17:42it in the comments below.
17:43Let me know what you think about it.
17:44Uh, I'll appreciate that.
17:46But anyways, I hope you enjoyed this and, uh, I really do thank you guys for watching my videos and,
17:54uh, there's more videos of whatever, whatever suits your needs.
17:58If you want to look up, uh, you know, uh, 10 commandments, look my channel.
18:03If you want to look up whatever church wise, anything, or I had, uh, have a unveiling the mysteries of
18:11a series.
18:12Look that up.
18:13They have some interesting things on there.
18:16But anyways, that's all I want to say right now.
18:19Please give me a big thumbs up.
18:22I need some more subscribers.
18:23Hit that notification bell.
18:25That's all I got to say right now.
18:26And I thank you guys again for joining me.
18:28Till we meet again, brothers.
18:30Peace out and shlom.
Comments