Thomas Campbell and his son Alexander had witnessed the ill effects that division and denomination had brought to bear on the church. The Declaration and Address written by Thomas Campbell spells out many things but among them are his call to unity among Christians in the sects so that we would not be such a dim light to the world. It is an idealistic document but one that has many good points. If you have never read it; I recommend it to you and here is a short summary of some of the points.
Campbell made it clear that he had no illusions about everybody seeing the Bible alike. He described it as "morally impossible" that men should have identical views about divinely-revealed truths. The oneness he pled for, he insisted, was not a "unity of sentiment," but a oneness with a diversity of opinion that calls for mutual sympathy and forbearance. He observes that uniformity of doctrine, in those instances where it has been achieved for a time, has made no lasting contribution to unity. Even creeds, designed to achieve uniformity, have done nothing for the unity of Christians.
In response to the criticism that his position is too liberal or latitudinarian, Mr. Campbell acknowledged that it is surely God's intention that His people be of one heart and one mind and that there be substantial unity of sentiment. But it is unrealistic to expect perfection along these lines, for there will always be errors in the church. As he puts it: "We only take it for granted that such a state of perfection is neither intended nor attainable in this world, as will free the Church from all those weaknesses, mistakes, and mismanagements from which she will be completely exempted in heaven."
He places the question of unity directly before his readers: "What shall we do, then, to heal our divisions?"
To continue in the present practice is to perpetuate the divisions forever. His answer to the question is what our people have long proclaimed to the religious world: "Profess, inculcate, and practice neither more nor less, neither anything else nor otherwise than the Divine word expressly declares respecting the entire subject of faith and duty, and simply to rest in that, as the expression of our faith and rule of our practice."
If the churches will but have a "Thus saith the Lord" for all they believe and practice, he avowed, then unity can be a reality. This is being neither broad nor narrow, but only doing as the Lord subscribes. To walk by any other rule is to accept human authority, which is the cause of all the divisions.
This is the language with which most of us are familiar. The message is clear and unmistakable. If men will simply take the Bible, nothing more nor less, and be directed by what it expressly enjoins, and only that, we can heal our divisions.
Over a century and a half has passed since Mr. Campbell set forth these ideas, and while a great and noble people has arisen from his labors, the annoying fact remains that even his own followers are divided into a score of factions. His answer to the problem of division has solved nothing-neither in Christendom at large or in his own Movement.
Mr. Campbell's answer is too simple or it is simply wrong. He says, for instance: "They will all profess and practice the same thing, for the Bible exhibits but one and the self-same thing to all." How can we say this in the light of centuries of history? The simple truth is that good, honest, sincere men see the Bible differently, with or without creeds. Yet the embryo for a workable solution is present in the Declaration and Address, and it was left for Mr. Campbell's son, Alexander Campbell, to set forth a more workable solution. Mr. Campbell recognized that men are at different stages of maturity, that they are constitutionally different, and that it is "morally impossible" for them to see everything alike. Yet he supposed that men can see alike what the Bible expressly says. That is, the facts can be understood by all alike. But this too has its difficulty, for just how are the facts to be separated from the rest?
