Title: Restoration History Series
1Restoration History Series
- Brief introduction to Restoration History
- Barton W. Stone
- Alexander Campbell
- Leaders, Colleges, and Organizational Questions
2Brief Introduction to Restoration History Lesson
3Why 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
4Original 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
5Questionsthen 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)
6Not new questionshow answer?
- Alexander Campbell answered with three principles
- Distinguish faith and opinion
- Faith acceptance of facts AND trust
- Opinioncognition 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
7Pragmatic 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?
8Pragmatic 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?
9What 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
10Frontier Issues (Frederick Turner Jackson)
- Fostered spirit of individualism
- Spirit of self-reliance
- Frontier was democratic, voice of the people
- Emotionalism
- Pugnacious
11Frontier 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
12Frontier Issues
- Frontier religion was less formal
- Preaching was more conversational
- There are was questioning, debating
- Emphasized the individualyou can respond to God
- Restoration Plea fit well in this situation
13Frontier 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
14Frontier 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
15Barton W. Stone
16Barton W. Stone
- RevivalismFocusing the Hope for the Future
17Cane Ridge
18Barton W. Stone Cane Ridge
- Revivalism in early 19th century
- Presbyterian conflicts
- Converging interests
19National Religious Development
- Early 1800s
- The Second Great Awakening
- Revivals Baptists and Methodists
- Challenges to Calvinism
- Revolt against increasing church controls
20Barton 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 Caldwells Log School - Schools classics and linguistics
21Religious Milieu
- Liberal Presbyterian not as Calvinistic, more
emotional - Calvinism all credit to God
- Revivalism human response
- Just thinking where are we?
22Personal Religious Development
- Stones Conversion
- At Caldwells school a great religious excitement
stirred at the preaching ofJames MGready. - Sovereignty of God PLUS human response
- Revivalism something done only by God (waiting)
or is human involvement possible/necessary?
23Personal Religious Development
-
- Stone attended services to hear MGready 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)
24Call to Ministry
- Felt great desire to preach gospel but had no
divine call to do so. - 1793 left Caldwells 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
- Stones mother was Methodist now
25Call 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
26Call 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.
27(No Transcript)
28Cane Ridge
29Early 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 MGready revival
30Cane Ridge Church
- The revivals in Kentucky were led by MGready
- 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)
31Cane Ridge
32Cane 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.
33Cane 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.
34Conflicts 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
35Conflicts 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
36The 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
37Converging 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 OKelly
in 1793
38Converging 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
39A 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 Stones 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
40Joining 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
41Disciple 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 nameDisciples of Christ - Has priority chronologically, used in gospel
- Christian has connotation of Christian
connection, then going to Unitarianism
42Disciple 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
43Cane Ridge
44Cane Ridge
45(No Transcript)