April 16 – Simple, Frontier Faith
The New World was filled with contrasting movements and the church was no different. People were exploring the land and were exploring ways of life. As the church moved west, ideas moved with it. In the east, Calvanism was prominent with one of its great American leaders in Jonathan Edwards. Methodists took to the roads on their horses and moved west with the pioneers. Denominations were allowed to develop and so they did as people differed in their understanding of doctrine and theology.
But even during this time, there were those who were upset by the divisions within the church and tried to insist that it return to its New Testament roots. Thomas and Alexander Campbell both came from the Presbyterian Church in Scotland and when their teachings were radically different from the Presbyterians began their own church. Many of their teachings fell down along the lines of the Baptists, so they joined that affiliation. Alexander Campbell established a Baptist Seminary in Virginia and published a magazine for the denomination.
However, the beliefs that they carried with them were quite Calvinistic and Baptists were uncomfortable with some of them. While the Campbells saw the Biblical reasoning behind immersion baptism and away from infant baptism, they disagreed firmly with the purpose for baptism. Baptists taught that baptism was an affirmation of salvation, Campbell believed that it was a condition for forgiveness.
Because the Campbells also believed that doctrine coming from anything other than strict Biblical sources was not to be accepted, ideas and understanding of the Trinity were not allowed in its explanation.
They soon moved away from their Baptist affiliation and merged with Barton Stone of the Cane Ridge Revival movement, calling themselves either “Christians” or “Disciples of Christ.” They moved west with the pioneers and grew rapidly with their simple, straightforward Biblical message. They set formal religion aside and taught that a personal faith was necessary to be part of the Kingdom of God.
The New World was filled with contrasting movements and the church was no different. People were exploring the land and were exploring ways of life. As the church moved west, ideas moved with it. In the east, Calvanism was prominent with one of its great American leaders in Jonathan Edwards. Methodists took to the roads on their horses and moved west with the pioneers. Denominations were allowed to develop and so they did as people differed in their understanding of doctrine and theology.
But even during this time, there were those who were upset by the divisions within the church and tried to insist that it return to its New Testament roots. Thomas and Alexander Campbell both came from the Presbyterian Church in Scotland and when their teachings were radically different from the Presbyterians began their own church. Many of their teachings fell down along the lines of the Baptists, so they joined that affiliation. Alexander Campbell established a Baptist Seminary in Virginia and published a magazine for the denomination.
However, the beliefs that they carried with them were quite Calvinistic and Baptists were uncomfortable with some of them. While the Campbells saw the Biblical reasoning behind immersion baptism and away from infant baptism, they disagreed firmly with the purpose for baptism. Baptists taught that baptism was an affirmation of salvation, Campbell believed that it was a condition for forgiveness.
Because the Campbells also believed that doctrine coming from anything other than strict Biblical sources was not to be accepted, ideas and understanding of the Trinity were not allowed in its explanation.
They soon moved away from their Baptist affiliation and merged with Barton Stone of the Cane Ridge Revival movement, calling themselves either “Christians” or “Disciples of Christ.” They moved west with the pioneers and grew rapidly with their simple, straightforward Biblical message. They set formal religion aside and taught that a personal faith was necessary to be part of the Kingdom of God.
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