What I Learned in Studying from Alexander Campbell

I was asked to contribute an article for Freed-Hardeman University’s journal Kingdom.  Ralph Gilmore is the editor and chose to focus on an article by Alexander Campbell called the “Kingdom of Heaven” written in 1834.  I was assigned the  “King” of the Kingdom.  Alexander Campbell, an early restoration leader, saw the kingdom of heaven as having five elements:  Constitution, King, Subjects, Laws, and Territory.  I look forward to this issue coming out later this year, where there will be an article on each five elements by different authors.

While it is fresh on my mind, I wanted to share some thoughts I had from my study.

1. Restoration leaders had a variety of beliefs.  Campbell believed in postmillennialism.  That is the idea that Christ would return after a 1,000 years of peace and prosperity on earth.   Barton Stone, Walter Scott, James Challen, Moses Lard, T.W. Brents, and James A. Harding were all classical premillennialists.  David Lipscomb, though to my knowledge, did not state a detailed position, but had some interesting, and by today’s standards non-typical views of the kingdom.
2. Maybe it was because of his postmillennial beliefs, optimistic spirit of the early 19th-century in America, or the stirring success of the restoration movement, but Campbell seemed to have tremendous optimism and faith in the going forth of the gospel.  He believed that Christ as King was triumphing through the gospel and going forth to all nations.  That peace and harmony would prevail across the nations and people from all nations would be subject to Christ.  He worked hard for restoration of primitive Christianity because he saw this as helping to usher in the millennial reign of Christ in his church on earth.  His view was not that Jesus would return to earth for the reign, but that the earth would experience a period of peace, prosperity, and unity through people obeying the gospel.  He strongly believed that people would come out of their denominations and human traditions and just follow the Bible.  While I do not agree with his postmillennial beliefs, I was struck with his faith and hope in the gospel.  I need more faith in the gospel going forth to all nations.  I need more hope and faith in King Jesus working and ruling in this world.  I need more faith in people coming to unity based on the Scripture.
3. We need to study and read these restoration leaders writings more.  It was my first time to read Campbell.  I think that is sad.  I have a Master of Divinity from a restoration movement school and I have never read Campbell.  I was struck with how easy it was to read for something written almost 200 years ago.  I appreciated his logic and explanation of Scripture.  It is not light devotional reading, it is serious study of God’s word, but it is not a heavy scholarly work either.  I used a book that focused on the writings of David Lipscomb and James Harding and was impressed by the knowledge that is available from their insights.  We need to remind ourselves in restoration churches our history and the writings of our spiritual fathers.

In the next post, I hope to share some lessons I learned for the church today from Campbell’s teachings regarding Christ as King.

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I have an ebook of 13 lessons on Church History you may be interested in reading or using for Bible class on the book page.  It is free! 

Sources Mentioned:

Campbell, Alexander.  “The Kingdom of Heaven.”  Millennial Harbinger Extra  VII.5 (1834):  388-444.

Hicks, John Mark, and Bobby Valentine.  Kingdom Come:  Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of David Lipscomb and James Harding.  Abilene, TX: Leafwood,  2006.