Members of the Lord’s church are sometimes erroneously referred to as “Campbellites.” What exactly is behind such appellation? It is a tiresome thing to have to respond, again and again, to the same misguided (and frequently dishonest) charges. But one is compelled, from time to time, to do so.<\/p>\n
First, Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) never started a church (or claimed such), even though reference works frequently refer to him as “founder” of the “Christian Churches” and “Churches of Christ.” It is a tragedy that the man who labored the bulk of his adult life with a view to encouraging others to abandon sectarianism should himself be accused of being the head and founder of the “Campbellite” church.<\/p>\n
The reformer utterly repudiated the designation. In 1826 Campbell wrote:<\/p>\n
“Some religious editors in Kentucky call those who are desirous of seeing the ancient order of things restored, “the Restorationers,” “the Campbellites”. . . This may go well with some; but all who fear God and keep his commands will pity and deplore the weakness and folly of those who either think to convince or to persuade by such means” (The Christian Baptist, Vol. IV, pp. 88-89).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In 1828 Mr. Campbell responded to the question: “What is Campbellism?” in the following fashion:<\/p>\n
“It is a nickname of reproach invented and adopted by those whose views, feelings and desires are all sectarian – who cannot conceive of Christianity in any other light than an ISM” (Christian Baptist, Vol. V, p. 270).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
lt is a matter of historical record that there were churches of Christ – both in Europe and in America – before Alexander Campbell had a clear concept of what primitive Christianity was all about. Leslie G. Thomas has documented New Testament churches in Scotland, England, and Ireland, dating between 1778 and 1810 (The Restoration Handbook, p. 73). Historical accounts reveal that the Old Philadelphia congregation of the Lord’s people, which was near Morrison, Tennessee, was organized in the year 1810. Alexander Campbell was not baptized until 1812, and he continued to he affiliated with the Baptists until the 1820s.<\/p>\n
Churches of Christ do not owe their origin to Campbell or any other human leader. The fact that some, therefore, delight in using the term “Campbellite” to refer to those who choose to be called simply “Christians,” rather than wearing humanly-devised titles, is more of a commentary upon their characters than anything else. Why is it that so many religionists have such a difficult time being comfortable with the name “Christian,” and that alone (cf. Acts 11:26; 26:28; I Peter 4:16)? The use of human titles is sinful (cf. I Corinthians 1:10ff).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Wayne Jackson Members of the Lord’s church are sometimes erroneously referred to as “Campbellites.” What exactly is behind such appellation? It is a tiresome thing to have to respond, again and again, to the same misguided (and frequently dishonest) charges. But one is compelled, from time to time, to do so. First, Alexander Campbell…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[726],"class_list":["post-23918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-church-history"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17984,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-alexander-campbell-establish-the-church-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":23918,"position":0},"title":"Did Alexander Campbell Establish the Church of Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bill J. Humble via The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 8, June 1952. A Preceptor reader from Texas has submitted a list of questions that request a statement of what Alexander Campbell actually did. Since members of the church are often asked such questions as \"The church of Christ began\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/Alexander-Campbell-200x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":38582,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-church-of-christ-in-1771\/","url_meta":{"origin":23918,"position":1},"title":"The Church of Christ in 1771","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton In a book titled, \"A History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia\" by Robert Baylor Semple, published in 1810 is a copy of this journal entry: \"Wednesday Morning -- Met and proceeded as follows: The church of Christ on Black Water, in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33111,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-legacy-of-campbells-error\/","url_meta":{"origin":23918,"position":2},"title":"The Legacy of Campbell’s Error","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Dewhirst Sentry Magazine, December 2000 Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a remarkable man, but he was just a man, subject to error even as the rest. for all of his great learning, teaching, and writing over many years, he was profoundly wrong in his understanding of one vital aspect\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/Alexander-Campbell-200x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4650,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pre-campbell-christianity\/","url_meta":{"origin":23918,"position":3},"title":"Pre-Campbell Christianity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 23, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Chumbley via\u00a0Gospel Gazette, Vol. 2, No. 8, p. 18, August 2000 The following is an excerpt from an article by Carroll Sites that has been found in a number of bulletins over the last few years: Many people identify churches of Christ as owing their roots to Alexander\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23916,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-dr-henry-halley-associated-with-the-churches-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":23918,"position":4},"title":"Was Dr. Henry Halley associated with the churches of Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day. I was reading\u00a0your excellent article on Alexander Campbell. Good job. I have a question? Was Dr. Henry Halley of the famous\u00a0Halley's Bible Handbook\u00a0ever associated with the churches of Christ? I read where he was once a student of J. W. McGarvey. I saw also where he was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84737,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/songs-of-the-saints-barton-w-stone-and-alexander-campbell\/","url_meta":{"origin":23918,"position":5},"title":"Songs of the Saints: Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wayne S. Walker Anyone who has studied the history of the call for religious reformation and restoration in this nation in the early 1800s will certainly recognize these two names. Barton Warren Stone was born on December 24, 1772, near Port Tobacco in Charles County, Maryland. The preaching of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23918\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}