Declaration Address Of The Christian Association Of Washington County Pennsylvania

Author : Thomas Acheson
Publisher : Valley Vista Publishing Company
ISBN 13 : 9781087973807
Total Pages : 88 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (738 download)

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Download or read book Declaration & Address written by Thomas Acheson and published by Valley Vista Publishing Company. This book was released on 2021-07-23 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas Campbell, the author of this pamphlet, did not come suddenly or unnaturally to the place that must be allowed him in the history of the nineteenth century; nor was it a painless process. He was born in county Down, Ireland, February 1st, 1763, of Scotch ancestry of course. Though his father had renounced Romanism for the Church of England he long forbade his eldest son to become a minister of the Anti-Burgher Seceder Presbyterians. His training included complete courses in Glasgow University and Divinity Hall. After his probation he was nine years minister at Ahorey. More and more his heart cried out against divisions in the family of God. In 1804 at the Synod in Belfast and in 1805 at the joint meeting in Lurgan he led the movement for uniting the two bodies of Seceders. In 1806 he was sent to the General Synod in Glas- gow to plead the same cause. The reunion was effected in 1820. In 1807 he removed to America and began preaching at once in Western Pennsylvania, then a sparsely settled region of the frontier. It is impossible for those living in these happier times to realize the bitterness of the sectarian strife which he found, or the spiritual destitution, moral decay and infidel arrogance that had grown out of this fresh crucifixion of the Christ. The vigor, originality, scripturalness and brotherliness of his preaching drew many hearers. New friends constantly vied with the steadfast affection of those who had known him in Ireland. Suddenly, to his amazement, the Presbytery of Chartiers censured him for admitting other Presbyterians than Seceders to a communion service held for scattered families on the Allegheny River above Pittsburgh. On appeal the Synod removed the censure but charged him to beware of further offense. Under persistent persecution he withdrew from the Synod's jurisdiction and continued to preach independently until the events herein set forth. He brought to the supreme task of his life--the writing of this document--incorruptible faith, unconquerable hope and inexhaustible love; the fulness of learning, the poise of reflection and the ripeness of experience. With entire and unconscious effacement of self he sought the glory of Christ and the happiness of mankind. Thomas Campbell not only discovered the necessity and the basis of Christian union but he possessed the spirit of it. In the conviction that he was only a hundred years ahead of his age his message is sent forth anew. May He who is the Truth again add His blessing.