Division in the Restoration Movement

by Andy Sochor
via Unmasking Sophistry, Vol. 5, No. 1, January-March, 2025

As a reminder, when we talk about the Restoration Movement, we refer to the religious movement that began around the start of the nineteenth century in the United States and endeavored to restore the doctrines and practices of the first-century church as described in the New Testament. Thomas Campbell's statement ("Where the Bible speaks, we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent) became the unofficial motto of this movement that called upon people to leave the churches and creeds of men and unite together by following the New Testament as their only rule of faith and practice.

In the Restoration Movement, we discussed "The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery." This document explained why Barton W. Stone and the other co-signers were dissolving the newly-formed Springfield Presbytery. They saw the problems in the denomination they just left ( the Presbyterian Church) and, in essence, formed a new denomination. They realized that this did not solve the problem but only added to the division in the religious world. So they dissolved the Springfield Presbytery and encouraged all believers to leave the churches of men and unite upon the Bible alone.

Another document written early on in this movement was the "Declaration and Address." This was written by Thomas Campbell in 1809 as an attempt to "restore unity, peace, and purity to the whole Church of God" by "returning to and holding fast by the original standard; taking the Divine word alone for our rule." As Campbell explained, this meant rejecting "anything of human authority, of private opinion, or inventions of men, as having any place in the constitution, faith, or worship, of the Christian Church." He argued that we must be able to produce a "Thus saith the Lord, either in express terms, or by approved precedent" for anything we do pertaining to our "Christian faith and duty."

This movement grew through the efforts and influence of Stone, Campbell, and like-minded brethren as more believers adopted the Restoration plea. Unfortunately, the unity that characterized the beginning of the Restoration Movement did not last. Two major issues divided those who made up this movement - the missionary society and instrumental music in worship. Let us briefly discuss these issues.

The Missionary Society

After leaving the denominations of men, the only organization through which the men of the Restoration Movement could work together was the local church. Yet it would not remain this way among all of them. The move toward the missionary society began with "association" meetings. In 1828, there was an association meeting in Warren, Ohio. It "came together purely and simply as an assembly of Christians" (Amos S. Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, p. 103). Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Walter Scott, and others attended (ibid. p. 104). However, it became more than just an informal assembly when they selected Walter Scott as "the evangelist of the association" and sent him out with the commission to preach the gospel with the assistance of William Hayden (ibid. p. 109, 111-112).

These "associations" started as informal assemblies and evolved into formal organizations. Churches would send delegates to the society's meetings ( usually within a particular state). The society would decide upon a particular evangelistic work, commission the men involved in that work, and fund their efforts. This meant that churches were surrendering a degree of autonomy and decision-making power to the missionary society. This violated the New Testament teaching about local churches being autonomous (cf. I Peter 5:1-4). It also ignored that the local church is the only organization responsible for spreading the gospel (cf. I Timothy 3:15; I Thessalonians 18). Yet once this departure started, the problem would only grow larger.

After many brethren became accustomed to the concept of a missionary society at the state level, they eventually thought they needed something larger at the national level. Hence, the American Christian Missionary Society was formed in 1849. Alexander Campbell did not attend their first meeting but was elected President of the body.

Campbell defended the Missionary Society by arguing that "since God had not specified any means through which the church universal was to accomplish this work, that it was left to the church to devise an expedient means through which the universal church might work. Hence, a Missionary Society" (Donald Townsley, Church History, p. 74). However, the problem with his argument is that the universal church collectively was not given the task of evangelism. The local church was the only collectivity involved in preaching in the New Testament. The Missionary Society was a human institution founded, organized, directed, and funded by men who attempted to do the work the Lord expected the local church to do.

The apostle Paul was able to say that the gospel had been "proclaimed in all creation under heaven" (Colossians 1:23). This was accomplished in the first century without any "missionary society, only the work of local churches and individual Christians doing the work of evangelism. Yet brethren in the nineteenth century thought they had a "better way than this, and division resulted as they implemented it.

Instrumental Music

The first instance of a musical instrument being brought into the worship of the church among those associated with the Restoration Movement occurred in Midway, Kentucky, in 1859. The preacher at the congregation was L. L. Pinkerton. He stated that, at the time, he was the "only 'preacher' in Kentucky of our brotherhood who has publicly advocated the propriety of employing instrumental music ... and that the church of God in Midway is the only church that has yet made a decided effort to introduce it" [The Voice of the Pioneers on Instrumental Music and Societies, p. 161]. However, although he was the first, Pinkerton would not be the last to advocate for this. Like the formation of the missionary society, the introduction of instrumental music in worship constituted a departure from the pattern found in the New Testament. When the New Testament specified the local church as the organization through which Christians were to work to spread the gospel, that made other institutions (like the missionary society) unauthorized. In the same way, the New Testament specified singing as the type of music we are to offer in worship to God (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16), which makes other types of music (including instrumental music) unauthorized. Because of this similarity, brethren generally fell into one of two camps - (1) those who opposed the missionary society and instrumental music and 2) those who accepted both.

Division Was Inevitable

As these two groups developed, division was unavoidable. At the beginning of the movement, Thomas Campbell's Declaration and Address in 1809 called for the unity of believers upon the teachings of the New Testament. Eighty years later, in 1889, another document - An Address and Declaration - was read at a gathering in Sand Creek, Illinois. Six thousand were in attendance, and following a sermon from Daniel Sommer in which he condemned innovations in the church, this document was read, calling for separation. The address concluded that because their brethren refused to give up their unauthorized innovations like the missionary society, they "can not and will not regard them as brethren" [Address and Declaration, published in the Octographic Review, September 5, 1889].

In 1906, for the first time, the U.S. Census recognized the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and churches of Christ as two separate groups. The Disciples of Christ embraced the innovations of the missionary society and instrumental music; the churches of Christ rejected them. Yet this was just when the U.S. government recognized the division. In reality, the separation happened much earlier than that due to two competing and incompatible views about how to use the New Testament to find the pattern for the work and worship of the church.

Summary

We began this study by noticing that Jesus promised to build His church (Matthew 16:18). Those who are in His church are part of a kingdom "which will never be destroyed" (Daniel 2:44). When the Lord returns, He will "[hand] over the kingdom to the God and Father" (I Corinthians 15:24).

In the meantime, sin and error continue to threaten the church. Just as Paul warned in the first century about "the apostasy" that was coming (II Thessalonians 2:3), the cycle continues in which some (or many) fall away from the faith, and a remnant remains striving to be faithful to Christ who is the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22).

Let us be encouraged by those in the past who sought to follow the pattern revealed in the New Testament. Let us also learn from the failings of those who departed from this pattern. Let us strive to serve the Lord faithfully and unite with others who will do the same in all things.