Rethinking the Disciples
The central body of opinion among Disciples cherishes the watchwords “union” and “restoration,” about which the whole movement has developed. But it recognizes that changed conditions and widened horizons may require a reconsideration of the program of union and of the meaning of restoration. It is not the impatience of youth but the voice of experience that rejects a static and unchangeable system. J. H. Garrison was editor and editor emeritus of the Christian-Evangelist for sixty years. In the last contribution written with his own hand, published on April 11, 1929, being then in his eighty-eighth year, he wrote:
Are we Disciples, who started out a century ago to plead for Christian unity, losing our zeal for this holy cause, or are we losing confidence in ourselves as fit instruments of our Lord for promoting it? I think it would be a good move for the president of our international convention to appoint at once a committee to study and report on the question: What changes in the way of addition or subtraction are demanded among the Disciples to make their plea more efficient, either in its substance or in the manner of its presentation to the world?
The religious world today is very different from what it was a century ago. Science has given us a different conception of nature and of the universe. Biblical criticism has changed for most of us our view of the Bible, making it not a less but a more valuable book for the student of religion. This increase of light is evident in every department of knowledge. Is it possible that all these changes do not require any readjustment in the matter and method of a plea for unity inaugurated more than a century ago?
This suggestion bore fruit, a few years later, in the appointment of a Commission on Restudy of the Disciples of Christ. Since 1935, this commission has carried on a study of the past and the present with a view to finding what readjustments may profitably be made for the future. This is only one of many groups which are concerned that the Disciples shall not simply be “a great people,” as they sometimes proudly and truly claim that they are, but shall go forward to the fulfillment of their highest purposes. There is yet much light to break from God’s Word and from the teachings of their own experience.
INDEX
[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] X [Y] [Z]
A “Acceptance with God,” [23] Acheson, Thomas, [69] Adams, John, [19], [29] Africans brought to England, [24] Ahorey, [60] Ainslie, Peter, [150] Alabama, “Christian” churches in, [98] Allen, T., M., [101] Altars, Abraham, [66] Amend, William, [85] America in 19th century: characteristics of, [28]-31; churches in, [31]-36 American and Foreign Bible Society, [109] American Christian Bible Society, [108] American Christian Education Society, [143] American Christian Missionary Society, [111], [112], [122]-23, [124], [126], [143]; founded, [110]; ceases to function, [123] American Christian Review, [113], [122], [124] Ames, E. S., [138] Anabaptists, [18] Anglican Church, separation of Methodists from, [42]f. Anti-Burgher Presbyterians, [60] Antislavery societies, [36] Apology for renouncing the Jurisdiction of the Synod of Kentucky, An, [54] Apostolic Times, [124] Arkansas College, [115] Armenians, missions to, [128] Asbury, Francis, [41]-43 passim “Associate membership,” [138] Associated Free Agencies, [146] Association for the Promotion of Christian Unity, [150] Augsburg Confession, [19] Aulard, A., [19]
B Bacon College, [106], [114] Bader, Jesse, [153] Baltimore, Haldanean churches in, [84] [Baptism], [25], [26], [135]-39, [151]-52; Ainslie on, [150]; A. Campbell on, [79], [104]-5, [135]-36; A. Campbell debates on, [77]-79, [106]; design of, [79], [87]; in Brush Run Church, [74]-75; in China mission, [150]; in Christian Church, Ky., [56]-57; and opinion, [96]; Pinkerton on, [136]; the “one institution,” [104]; Stone on, [95]-96. See also [Immersion]; [Open membership] Baptists, [41]; A. Campbell’s relations with, [76]ff., [108]-9; Disciples’ differences from, [87]-88; English, [22]; Free Will, [45]; “General,” [35], [53]; in America in 1800, [34]-35; in Kentucky, [30], [81]ff.; in Rhode Island, [32]; in Virginia, [32]; “Kissing,” [83]-84; “New Testament,” [95], [97]; “Old Scotch,” [22]; “Particular,” [53]; and religious liberty, [37]-38; separation from, [87]ff., [90] Barclay, James T., [110]-11 Baxter, William, [85] Beardslee, J. O., [111] Bentley, Adamson, [87] Berea College, [115] Bethany College, [76], [107], [114], [147]; and slavery issue, [116]-17 Bethany, W. Va., [80] Bethel, Ky., [57] Bible distribution, cooperation in, [36] Bible, modern view of, [148]. See also [Higher criticism] “Bible chairs,” [128], [131] Bible College League, [151] Bible Society: American and Foreign, [109]; American Christian, [108] Blythe, James, [50] Boston: “Christian” church at, [46]; in 1800, [29]; Sandemanian churches in, [22] “Brethren,” [26] Brown University, [34] Brush Run Church, [73], [74]-75, [81], [135]; joins Redstone Association, [75] Bucer, Martin, [18] Buffaloe, [62], [80] Burgher Presbyterians, [60] Burnet, D. S., [106], [108] Burnham, F. W., [146] Butler University, [114], [147]
C Caldwell, David, [47]-49 passim Calendar committee, [143] California, beginnings in, [102] Calvin, [18], [121] Calvinism, [33], [44], [49], [54]f., [60], [88] Campbell, Alexander, [10]-14 passim, [18], [23], [27], [72], [87], [90], [98], [99], [113]; born, [60]; decides for ministry, [66]-67; at Glasgow, [67]; Breaks with Seceders, [68]; reaches America, [66], [68]; reads Declaration and Address, [68]; first sermon, [73]; licensed to preach, ordained, [74]; marries, acquires property, [76]; immersed, [74]-75; founds Christian Baptist, [80]-82; conducts boarding school, [77]; takes lead in reform, [76]ff.; preaches among Baptists, [76], [77]; first visit to Kentucky, [79]; debates Walker, [77]-79; debates Maccalla, [79]; founds church at Wellsburg, [81]; tours Kentucky in 1824, [82]; meets Scott, [84]; at Virginia Constitutional Convention, [88]-89; debates Owen, [89], [103]; founds Millennial Harbinger, [91]; meets Stone, [92]; publishes The Christian System, [103]; at his zenith, [102]ff.; debates Purcell, [105]; debates Rice, [105]-6; founds Bethany College, [107]; elected president of missionary society, [110]; tours Indiana in 1850, [112]; death, [122], [123]; early theological views, [67]f.; Ewing’s influence, [67]f.; Locke’s influence, [62]; no effective evangelist, [103]; on baptism, [77]-79, [104]-5, [106], [119], [135]-36; on church and state, [77]; on cooperation, [108]; on ecclesiastical order, [80]; on education, [107]; on missions, [108]-9, [122]; on slavery [88]-89, [116]-17; “rules of interpretation,” [134]; “Sermon on the Law,” [76]f., [78]; his views vs. Stone’s, [94]-98 Campbell, Thomas, [10]-14 passim, [18], [27], [34], [84], [103]; early life, [60]; migrates to America, [62]; charges against, [62]f.; breaks with Seceders, [63]ff.; Declaration and Address, [66], [68]; elder of Brush Run Church, [73]; is immersed, [74]-75; Declaration and Address, summary of, [66], [68], [69]ff., [135]; differences from Seceders, [64]f.; early views, [61]f.; on baptism, [74]-75; on causes of divisions, [71]; on clergy, [65]; on creeds, [64]-65, [71]; on “expedients,” [72]; on faith, [64], [65]; on unity, [70], [72] Campbell Institute, [149] “Campbellites,” [83], [103] Camp meetings: See [Revivalism] Cane Ridge, Ky., [50], [51], [55]; meeting at, [50]ff. “Catechetical exhibition,” [72], [80] Cave, Robert L., [136]-37 Centennial Convention, [140], [144] Chicago, University of, [132], [134], [147] Children’s Day, [129] Chillingworth, William, [19] China, missions in, [129], [150], [151] Chinese Nestorians, [18] Christmas Conference, [42] “Christian,” name adopted, [56] Christian, [126] Christian Association of Washington, [66], [69]-70, [73] [Christian Baptist], [72], [79], [80]-82, [90], [101], [120], [122]; compared with Christian Messenger, [94]-98; publication ends, [91]; and Scott, [84] Christian Board of Publication, [145] Christian Century, [127], [138], [149]-150 “Christian” Churches, [13], [41]ff.; in Kentucky and the west, [47]-59, [82], [92]-99; in New England, [44]-47, [99]; in Virginia and North Carolina, [41]-44, [99]; views of Stone’s, [94]-98; union with Disciples, [92], [98]-99 Christian College, [115] [Christian-Evangelist], [126]-27, [135], [137], [145], [155] Christian Messenger, [58], [59], [92]ff., [99]; compared with Christian Baptist and Millennial Harbinger, [94]-98 Christian Monitor, [72] Christian Oracle, [127] Christian Publishing Company, [126], [145] Christian Quarterly, [124] Christian Record, [113] Christian Restoration Association, [146], [151] Christian Standard, [123], [124], [127], [133], [135], [139], [140], [146], [151] Christian System, The, [103]-4 Christian Woman’s Board of Missions, [128], [146] Church, S. H., [139] [Church and state], [20]; in America, [28]; separation of, [36], [37], [39]-40, [77] Church Extension, Board of, [126], [129], [146] “Church of Christ,” [26] “Churches of Christ,” [12], [25]f.; British, [27] Clarksville, Tex., [102] Clay, Henry, [106] Clergy: See [Ministry] Close communion, [26], [119]-120. See also [Open membership] Coke, Dr., [42] College of the Bible, [151] [Colleges], [114]-15; founded, [106]f.; improvement of, [146]f.; number of, in 1897, [131] Columbia, Mo., [115] Commentary on Acts, [137] Commission on Restudy of the Disciples of Christ, [156] Committee on Cooperation in Latin America, [153] Community of goods, [26] Concord, Ky., [50] Congregationalist, [46] Congregationalists, [19], [32]-33 Congresses of the Disciples, [133], [148] Conservative group (antimissionary society), [12] Conservative reaction, 1909-45, [150]ff. Constitutional Convention, [37] Controversy, period of, [119]ff. Cooperation, [11], [36], [100] Cotner College, [147] Craig, W. B., [138] Craighead, Thomas, [50] Cramblet, T. A., [147] Creath, Jacob, Sr., and Jr., [83] Creeds, [64], [65], [71], [80], [94], [119], [120]-21 Crockett, David, [102] Cross, Alexander, [111] Cumberland district, [50] Cumberland Presbyterians, [52], [55]
D Danbury, Conn., [22] Danville, Ky., [50] Davies, Samuel, [49] Declaration and Address, [14], [61], [66], [68], [103], [141]; summary of, [69]-73; “brought down to date,” [124] Deer Creek, Ohio, conference of “Christians,” [58] Delegate convention, [144]-45 Denominationalism as normal, [17] Denver, [138] Design of baptism: See under [Baptism] Disciples: beginnings as separate body, [87], [90]; early growth, [90]-91; growth 1830-44, [99]ff. (see also [Statistics]); general views, [94]-97; name, [11]-12, [95]; organization for cooperation, [100]; periodicals of, [91] (see also [Periodicals]); rethinking, [155]-56; separation from Baptists, [87]-88; union with “Christian” Churches, [91], [98]-99 Disciples Divinity House, [132], [134], [147] “Dissenters,” [15]; in New England, [32] Divisions, causes of, [71] Drake Conference, [155] Drake University, [115], [147] D’Spain, Lynn, [102] Dunlavy, John, [54], [56]