Campbellites: Unity Through Dogma

Thomas Campbell arrived in New England in 1807. His intent, and that of his son Alexander who arrived shortly thereafter, was to unite U.S. Christians on a common platform of New Testament Christianity. They were strictly adherent to the text of the New Testament. In 1824, Alexander published a series of essays entitled "A Restoration of the Ancient Order of Things." The Campbell's preaching yielded few conversions until they adopted a doctrinal platform that consisted of 6 principles of conversion to Christ: Faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and continuation in the doing of good works until the end of one's life. Do these tenets look familiar? Many Latter-day Saints mistakenly believe that Joseph's adoption of these doctrines was novel. It was not. The Campbellite platform is the same as you will here preached in LDS meetings today. You may ask what Joseph restored? Not this doctrine, as it was already restored before he arrived at Kirtland. If these tenets were the saving doctrines, what need for Joseph Smith? What then did Joseph Smith restore?

Joseph once said that all significant differences between the LDS faith and other Christian religions "were contained in the gift of the Holy Ghost."¹ Campbell did not practice laying on of hands and held that all revelation had ceased and thus the only authority was the Bible. Smith preached continuing revelation and that God's never-ceasing word empowered as it actually had historically. In other words, God's word through revelation to the individual is what makes faith in Christ living. God's living² word is what makes salvation possible.

The genesis and substance of Campbell's movement was that of a unity based in doctrines as preached by leadership-unity in the philosophies of men mingled with scripture. Joseph Smith's movement was unified in the belief that God gave ongoing revelation to individuals. Campbell preached a connection of men to a man (or smaller set of men) who understood the words of scripture better than everyone else. Smith preached a connection of men to heaven, where those who had made a stronger connection gave hints to those who had not.³ Sameness is not God's unity. A military unit has sameness, but of what use is it? As soon as the causing force of their unity-unrighteous dominion of men who enforce unity down the barrel of a gun-leave their ranks, pandemonium sets in. In fact, in most cases, the subordinates frequently practice all sorts of unauthorized abominations behind the back of the leader-It's all good until you are caught. This is not God's unity. Joseph said he taught correct principles and let men govern themselves.⁴ God's unity is only achieved when men freely adopt the same fount of truth; when they choose to obey God.