PROPOSITIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 53

neglect of the expressly revealed will of God, and (in others) an assumed authority for making the approbation of human opinions and human inventions a term of communion, by introducing them into the constitution, faith, or worship of the church, are, and have been, the immediate, obvious, and universally acknowledged causes of all the corruptions and divisions that ever have taken place in the Church of God.

"PROPOSITION XII. That all that is necessary to the highest state of perfection and purity of the church upon earth is: first, that none be received as members but such as, having that due measure of Scriptural self-knowledge described above, do profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him in all things according to the Scriptures; nor, secondly, that any be retained in her communion longer than they continue to manifest the reality of their profession by their temper and conduct; thirdly, that her ministers, duly and Scripturally qualified, inculcate none other things than those very articles of faith and holiness expressly revealed and enjoined in the Word of God; lastly, that in all their administrations they keep close by the observance of all divine ordinances, after the example of the primitive church, without any additions whatsoever of human opinions or inventions of men.

"PROPOSITION XIII. Lastly, that if any circumstantials indispensably necessary to the observance of divine ordinances be not found upon the page of express revelation, such, and such only, as are absolutely necessary for this purpose should be adopted under the title of human expedients, without any pretense to a more sacred origin, so that any subsequent alteration or difference in the observance of these things might produce no contention nor division in the church."

This document in full, from beginning to end, exhibits

a beautiful spirit. It is an earnest appeal to evangelical believers to come together in aggressive Christian work, by a return in faith, in ordinance, and in life to the religion of Christ as described on the pages of the New Testament. The closing paragraph of the "Declaration and Address reads as follows:

May the Lord soon open the eyes of his people to see things in their true light, and excite them to come out of their wilderness condition, out of this Babel of confusion, leaning upon their Beloved, and embracing each other in him, holding fast 'the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.' This gracious unity and unanimity in Jesus would afford the best external evidence of their union with him, and of their joint interest in the Father's love. 'By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,' says he, 'if you have love one to another.' And, 'This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you.' And again, 'Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are,' even 'all that shall believe in me; that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast loved me. May the Lord hasten it in his time. Farewell.

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Peace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen."

The spirit manifested in the above quotations, a spirit of tenderness, gentleness, and affection, is exhaled by the entire document from beginning to end.

To guard against misunderstandings and consequent

THE PRACTICAL QUESTION.

55

misrepresentations, the "Declaration and Address" was followed by an explanation called an "Appendix." In the "Appendix" the following language is employed:

"We beg leave to assure our brethren that we have no intention to interfere, either directly or indirectly, with the peace and order of the settled churches by directing any ministerial assistance with which the Lord may please to favor us to make inroads upon such; or by endeavoring to erect churches out of churches, to distract and divide congregations." They express, however, a "desire to be instrumental in erecting as many churches as possible throughout the desolate places of God's heritage," on the one divine foundation, "being well persuaded that every such erection will not only in the issue prove an accession to the general cause" of Christian union on New Testament principles, "but will also, in the meantime, be a step toward" this grand consummation, "and, of course, will reap the first-fruits of that blissful harvest that will fill the face of the world with fruit."

Alexander Campbell said, in 1861, of this " Declaration and Address" that it "contains what may be called the embryo, or the rudiments, of a great and rapidly increasing community. It virtually contains the elements of a great movement of vital interest to every citizen of Christ's kingdom. The author of it, and those who concurred with him in the views and propositions developed in it, did not, indeed could not, comprehend all its influence and bearings upon the nominal and formal profession of what is grossly called 'Protestant Christendom.'

One of the first practical questions that came up as a result of the adoption by the Washington Association of the "Declaration and Address" related to the Scriptural subject of Christian baptism. Alexander Campbell says that on reading the proof-sheets of this now historic docu

ment immediately after his arrival in Washington, Pa., in the autumn of 1809, he remarked to its author:

"Then, sir, you must abandon and give up infant baptism and some other practices for which, it seems to me, you cannot produce an express precept or an express example in any book of the Christian Scriptures."

To which Thomas Campbell, after a pause, replied: "To the law and to the testimony we make our appeal. If not found therein we must, of course, abandon it. But," he added, "we could not unchurch ourselves now, and go out into the world and then turn back again and enter the church merely for the sake of form or decorum."

CHAPTER VI.

CONNECTION WITH THE BAPTISTS.

So large an amount of space has been given to the Christian Association of Washington, Pa., to the "Declaration and Address," and to the "Appendix," because of their importance in coming to a correct understanding as to the origin and aim of the Disciples of Christ. There is no other single document in existence which states so fully, so clearly, and so authoritatively the intention of the Disciples in the very beginning of their existence as the "Declaration and Address" with the accompanying "Appendix."

After two or three years Thomas Campbell became dissatisfied because the work for which the Christian Association had been organized did not progress as rapidly as he desired. His proposition looking toward a union of evangelical believers seemed in a large degree to have fallen on dull ears. The favorable responses to his kindly overtures were few. No societies were organized auxiliary to the society in Washington, as was contemplated. The association itself was gradually assuming a character different from that which was in the minds of its organizers. It was expressly stipulated in the “Declaration and Address" that "this society by no means considers itself a church, nor does at all assume to itself the power peculiar to such a society; nor do the members, as such, consider themselves as standing connected in that relation; nor as at all