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Home of Alexander Campbell, Bethany, WV

This photo is a recent picture of the home of Alexander Campbell.  Alexander and his father Thomas were leaders in the Restoration Movement.  The Restoration Movement was the largest religious movement in American history.  Thomas Campbell wrote the Declaration and Address, an important document in Restoration history.  In this document, Thomas Campbell demonstrates a passion for unity and a passion for truth.  You cannot have unity without truth!  Let me share a few quotes from this historical document.  In proposition one, Campbell wrote, “The Church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally and constitutionally one; consisting of all those in every place that profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him in all things according to the Scriptures, and that manifest the same by their tempers and conduct, and of none else; as none else can be truly and properly called Christians” (Declaration and Address, Hester pub., 23).  Campbell was opposed to division.  He wrote in proposition ten, “That division among the Christians is a horrid evil fraught with many evils.  It is antichristian, as it destroys the visible unity of the body of Christ; as if he were divided against himself, excluding and excommunicating a part of himself.  It is antiscriptural, as being strictly prohibited by his sovereign authority; a direct violation of his express command.  It is antinatural, as it excites Christians to contemn, to hate, and oppose one another, who are bound by the highest and most endearing obligations to love each other as brethren, even as Christ has loved them.  In a word, it is productive of confusion and of every evil work” (Declaration and Address, Hester pub., 26).  Finally, Campbell pleaded that to achieve unity, “nothing out to be inculcated upon Christians as articles of faith; nor required of them as terms of communion, but what is expressly taught and enjoined upon them in the word of God.  Nor ought anything to be admitted, as of Divine obligation, in their Church constitution and managements, but what is expressly enjoined by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles upon the New Testament Church; either in express terms or by approved precedent” (Proposition no. 3, Declaration and Address, Hester pub., 23, 24).  The New Testament is normative for God’s church.  Campbell called the New Testament “a perfect model…for the worship, discipline, and government of the Christian Church.” Campbell’s most famous quotation was made during the meeting when the Declaration and Address was adopted, “Let us  speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where it is silent.”
     This year is the 200th anniversary of the writing of the Declaration and Address.  It was adopted on September 7, 1809 by the Christian Association in Washington, PA.  This would be a good time to renew the important study of the subject of unity as taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles in the New Testament.