ALEXANDER CAMPBELL MEETS A GREAT DOCUMENT

It is a matter of record that Alexander Campbell, son of the author of the Declaration and Address, was greatly influenced by that document. It is what catapulted him into his life work of restoration. The following excerpts are from The Fool of God by Louis Cochran, published by Bethany Press, and reproduced here by permission from the publisher.

Though a novel, the account is based on historical fact, and we esteem these selections as among the best in the book and indicative of the impact of the essay upon Alexander Campbell. This will be a prelude to an article by Mr. Cochran on “Alexander Campbell and the Declaration and Address,” which we will place before our readers in the next issue.
We trust the reading will also encourage you to read The Fool of God, which my wife and I have recently read aloud together our second time. We find the experience wonderfully edifying.—the Editor

“While you and Tommie were out in the woods,” he said, turning to Alexander, “Mr. Sample brought over the proof sheets of the ‘Declaration and Address.’ Wife and the girls and I have been examining them. Now I’d like your opinion. I’ll excuse you from conducting school this afternoon so you can look them over.”

It was almost five o’clock and getting dark before Alexander, seated at the table in the upstairs bedroom which Father Thomas had set aside as a study, had finished the last of the fifty-six closely printed sheets. Normally a fast reader, he had found himself lingering over the pages, flavoring the meaning of the formalized Addisonian sentences; measuring their pronouncements against his own thinking. And as he read and pondered and read again, the conviction grew that this simple, unassuming Presbyterian clergy who was his father had come upon a vision—a vision born as much of the Holy Spirit as had been that of Martin Luther when he rose from his knees upon the scarred stairway in Rome. This document, the “Declaration and Address of the Christian Association of Washington,” as written by Thomas Campbell in a little attic room in the home of Nathan Welch, was no ordinary document. It was a Magna Charta, a religious declaration of independence.

And yet, he thought, the futility of it. How did this obscure little man in this remote part of the world hope to effect a revolution among the great, entrenched organized sects? How could he dream of success when so many reformers had failed? He thought of Robert and James Alexander Haldane, of Greville Ewing and Alexander Carson in distant Scotland—powerful, eloquent, famous men. Yet their teaching were little more than a disruptive influence; their followers already known as a separate sect.

He picked up the proofs and ruffled the pages. The three pages of the first part, the “Declaration,” set forth the reasons, purpose, and form of the organization of the Christian Association. The next part, the “Address,” covered eighteen pages, listing thirteen principles as a means for the unification at all branches of the Christian religion. The Appendix answered actual and anticipated criticism.

He closed his eyes for a moment and put his elbows on the cable, resting his chin in his open palms, a sympathy akin to pity in his heart for this father who had dared so greatly and against such odds. There were only strife and division in Zion, and a call for Christian unity would be interpreted only as the birth cry of another sect. He shuffled the pages again, reluctant to admit that he could not share the grandeur of the dream. Aimlessly now, probing his mind for answers he did not find, scanning the pages briefly, he came again to the thirteen propositions.

Proposition 1. That 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.

For a moment Alexander stared at the words. All obedient believers in Christ were Christian brothers to Father Thomas as they were to him. But that was revolutionary doctrine; it was anathema to the clergy; heresy which no established church would accept in America any more than in Scotland. But it was the truth, a truth that could break down all barriers between churches once it was accepted. He read on, as though fearful the words would fade before his eyes.