Alexander
Campbell (1788-1866)
A founder of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Son of Thomas Campbell, a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian minister of the Secession Church, Alexander Campbell was born in the country, Antrim, Ireland. After studying for a year at Glasgow University, in 1809 he migrated to America, where his father had gone in 1807. Joining the Christian Association of Washington (Pennsylvania), which his father had started, Campbell was ordained to its ministry in 1812, speedily sharing his father's leadership and spending the following years in intinerant preaching in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and Tennessee, making converts to his group, whose members called themselves "Disciples of Christ." He expounded his ideas in two monthly magazines, The Christian Baptist (1823-30) and its successor, The Millennial Harbinger (1830-64). In 1840 he founded Bethany College in West Virginia, serving as its president for over twenty years.
Campbell claimed to derive
his theology and churchmanship straight from the Bible, especially the NT, in
which the basic pattern of Christian faith and practice was displayed. Church
membership was based on personal confession of Jesus Christ as divine Savior
and baptism by immersion, this sacrament being not only an act of obedience to
Christ's command, but "a means of receiving a formal, distinct, and
specific absolution, or release from guilt." The local congregation was
the basic cell unit of Christianity, enjoying complete autonomy; but it was
expected to cooperate with other Christian groups, both locally and beyond. Two
classes of office-bearers were recognized: bishops or elders to give
congregational leadership in matters spiritual and deacons to handle temporal
concerns. The other Christian sacrament, the Lord's Supper, was observed
weekly, according to NT practice.
Campbell hoped that his NT-based churchmanship would promote unity
among Protestant evangelicals. But the only lasting merger he brought about was
with Barton W. Stone's group, which called themselves "Christians."
This union was begun in 1832 and completed during the next few years, though
Stone's eastern followers did not join. The resulting group, called the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), has become "The largest indigenous
body having its inception in America." Campbell's followers were earlier
called Campbellites.