Category Archives: Restoration Movement

Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Landmarkism

Many of the second generation of the Restoration Movement misunderstood the Campbells. In particular, Moses Lard and Benjamin Franklin (great nephew of the Revolutionary War Benjamin Franklin) taught a much narrower doctrine of salvation (soterology), sometimes insisting on near-perfect doctrine … Continue reading

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Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: The Missionary Society

Late in his career, Alexander Campbell argued strenuously for a national missionary society. In many states, Restoration Movement churches had already organized societies (a 19th Century term for a nonprofit organization) to send out missionaries and to do other good … Continue reading

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Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Baptism, Primitivism, and Heresy, Part 2

This brings us to the famous Lunenburg letter correspondence. Some of Campbell’s early writing often seems to suggest that he considered baptism essential to salvation. And this was conventional wisdom within much of the Movement. However, Stone had never considered … Continue reading

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Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Baptism, Primitivism, and Heresy, Part 1

The Restoration Movement was not begun with baptism in mind. Indeed, Barton W. Stone, Thomas Campbell, and Alexander Campbell had all begun their ministries and had written some of their most famous documents long before baptism became an issue. You … Continue reading

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Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: “Raccoon” John Smith and the 1832 Unity Meeting

“Raccoon” John Smith Smith’s story is well told by June Baldwin Bork, In 1814, after much thought, John took his wife and four children to Alabama with dreams of settling and farming a large farm and eventually becoming a prosperous … Continue reading

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Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Barton W. Stone and Richard McNemar

We in the Churches of Christ often claim to be part of or heirs of the Restoration Movement, founded by Barton W. Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell. We like to recite various Restoration Movement slogans and give them very … Continue reading

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Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: The Social Gospel, Public Education, and the Fourth Great Awakening

Social Gospel As stated in the Wikipedia, In the late 19th century, many Americans were disgusted by the poverty level and the low quality of living in the slums. The social gospel movement provided a religious rationale for action to … Continue reading

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Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: The Social Gospel, Sunday School, and the Third Great Awakening

I never heard of the social gospel growing up or in college, even though I graduated from David Lipscomb College, where I had a daily Bible class and daily chapel. In fact, the first time I heard the term was … Continue reading

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Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Source Material

I’ve had a number of requests for source material on the Restoration Movement. The two best books — by far — are  by James Deforest Murch, Christians Only: A History of the Restoration Movement and Leroy Garrett’s The Stone-Campbell Movement: … Continue reading

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Backgrounds of the Restoration Movement: Manufacturing a Christian Protest

This is from Phil Cooke’s “The Change Revolution” — On June 2nd, a protest march was staged outside the Los Angeles Convention Center. It was Christians protesting the release of the new video game by Electronic Arts called Dante’s Inferno … Continue reading

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