Memoirs of Elder Thomas Campbell (with an index to his

Memoirs of Elder Thomas Campbell (with an index to his writings)

Thomas Campbell (1763-1854) was a passionate â€œadvocate of unityâ€ among the followers of Jesus Christ, decrying the imposition of doctrinal interpretations upon others as a condition to Christian fellowship.

At a relatively young age Campbell left the Anglican Church of his father and joined the Seceder Presbyterian Church. Although a school teacher by trade, Thomas decided to devote himself to the preaching of the gospel. Ordained around 1798, he accepted a call to pastor a church in Ahorey, not far from the town of Armagh, in Ireland.

Upon his arrival in the United States, around the middle of May, 1807, Campbell settled in Washington, Pennsylvania, where he served churches under the Chartiers Presbytery, within the Associate Synod of North America. Finding himself unable to work within the sectarian confines of the Presbyterian church, Campbell organized what he called The Christian Association of Washington (Pennsylvania). In 1809, that Association produced a document, authored by Campbell, which changed the course of Christianity in 19th century America â€” the Declaration and Address â€” in which Campbell declares that the church is â€œessentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one,â€ an assertion that points to the heart of his understanding of the nature of the community of faith.

Campbell believed that all who have been accepted by Christ have been united in one body and are brothers and sisters â€” regardless of whether they recognize each other as such. Christian unity, to paraphrase Campbell, is a fact which the members of the body of Christ are called to demonstrate through their acceptance of each other by the same criteria God used to accept each of them into His family, and by their love for one another in evidence of their spiritual kinship with Him.

In an Appendix to this volume, we have included a list of over seventy contributions by Thomas Campbell to the Christian Baptist and the Millennial Harbinger, journals edited by his son, Alexander.

It is our hope that making this volume available to a later generation of readers will hasten the realization of a visibly unified community of faith, living in mutual acceptance, overlooking differences in doctrinal interpretation, each esteeming the other more highly than himself â€” demonstrating in this manner their kinship to Him whose nature has been poured out into their hearts where He personally resides. Then the world might find credible the idea that these are truly disciples of Jesus and that He was, in fact, the embodiment of that infinite Reality that fills all things in every way.
Country USA
Manufacturer Stone-Campbell e-Prints
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2013-05-31
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Stone-Campbell e-Prints
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2013-05-31
Format	Kindle eBook

Memoirs of Elder Thomas Campbell (with an index to his writings)

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