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The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement

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The Churches of Christ, Christian Church and Disciples of Christ, ironically enough, all trace their origins back to the nineteenth century Christian reform and unity movement led by former Presbyterians Barton Warren Stone and the father and son team Thomas and Alexander Campbell. Known as the Stone-Campbell Movement, this tradition has a long and vaunted history, not just in the US, but around the world.

At last, a comprehensive, well-written, and readable encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Reformation is available. Long needed, this volume more than adequately meets its goal. The volume is edited by well-known, respected scholars of all three of the major branches of the Movement and written by scholars from within each of the segments, and contains a wealth of material on people, places and subjects relating to the Stone-Campbell Reformation.

Among the subjects, places and people treated are: Alexander and Thomas Campbell, Barton Stone, TB Larimore, FD Kershner, Moses Lard, Daniel Sommer, FD Srygley, Marshal Keeble, KC Moser; Silena Moore Holman; Foy Wallace, Jr.; RN Hogan; Caroline Neveille Pearre; a historical time-line for all three branches of the Movement; the historical attitudes towards restoration in the three branches of the Movement; historical attitudes toward women in the ministry among the three branches; women ministers such as Mary Stodgill and Jessie Colman Monser; attitudes on abortion and women's rights; attitudes on gay/lesbian rights in the Movement; Rice Haggard's influence on the Movement; the Scottish Haldanes and their influence on the thought of Campbell; the International Churches of Christ (Boston); the views on higher education among the three branches; colleges and universities of all three branches; founders of splinter movements and heresies such as Jesse Ferguson and John Thomas; the Movement's attitudes towards Shakers and Mormons; the Movemrent's attitude towards slavery and civil rights; Latino Disciples of Christ; missionary societies; Campbellian and Stoneite communion theology and eschatology; the Declaration and Address; the Stone-Campbell Movement in Great Britain, Russia, Australia and Canada; Hall L. Calhoun; David Oliphant; the Cane Ridge Revial's influence on Barton Stone; publishing houses of the three branches of the Movement; brotherhhod periodicals in the three branches; historical attitudes to missions and a history of missions; the movement's historical attitude towards creeds and confessions; devotional literature; Don DeWelt; etc.

In short, the volume contains articles on practically every facet of the churches comprising the Stone-Campbell Movement.

There are however, some seemingly glaring omissions; for example, from the Church of Christ branch alone one does not find articles on JN Armstrong; Yater Tant; the American Bible Union; or Thomas B. Warren and the Spiritual Sword. One choice made by the editors was to restrict articles only to deceased persons in order to avoid any kind of controversy. The reviewer is aware, however, that editorial choices must be made and are often difficult. Omissions are simply unavoidable.

Among other things, this volume adequately succeeds in pointing out just how diverse the traditions and churches comprising the Stone-Campbell Movement truly are.

All-in-all, the volume is a must-read for serious students of the Stone-Campbell Movement and mainstream American Protestantism in general. Eerdmans is to be commended for publishing such a work, and the editors and contributors commended for their herculean efforts at producing it. It should long serve its goal.

Unique, thorough, and well-written reference by distinguished scholars among Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Churches of Christ, and Christian Churches/Independent. Edited by three scholars, each of whom represents one of the groups--but edited collaboratively. Thumb-throughable, easy to read. Includes not just the obvious--places, people, institutions--but also well-written entries on beliefs, biblical interpretation, history. A great resource for anyone interested in the beliefs, polity, and history of the three branches of the Stone-Campbell movement.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE STONE-CAMPBELL MOVEMENT is a massive volume on the people, events, theology, and churches involved in the Restoration Movement. The work covers nearly every facet of the movement from the beginnings with Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone to the various sects in the Restoration Movement such as the United Church of Christ, the mainline Churches of Christ, the International Churches of Christ, the Disciples of Christ, and many more.

This work is an encyclopedia and thus is a reference book than a book you would enjoy reading from cover to cover in your bed at night. However, I found the articles to be interesting. Each subject is in its alphebetical order and I found the bibliography to be very helpful indeed. The writers are fair and balanced on each subject written. There were a few flaws I found with the work in that it couldn't cover every person I felt they could have nonetheless the authors are to be commended for their labours.

Overall this is a solid work. Those interested in reading on the Restoration Movement as a whole or simply want to know where the Movement stands on various theological issues will find this book very helpful. A good read for disciples of Christ.

This is a very good source on all aspects of the "Restoration" movement of Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone. Liberal, conservative, middle-of-the-road -- all will get something out of this.

This reference is a must have for anyone interested in the American Reformation (Restoration) Movement of the 19th century, involving Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, Walter Scott, et al. The churches which sprung from this movement are generally called "Church of Christ", "Christian Church", or "Disciples of Christ". The entries are thorough, understandable and well referenced, yet they don't overkill. Covers a broad range of related topics and people.

I must confess that I am a contributor to this resource. It is a one volume dictionary/encyclopedia that offers insights, interpretations, history, biography, and definitions of things that matter to people who claim citizenship in the variegated movements that descend from the reforming impulses of Alexander Campbell, Thomas Campbell, and Barton Stone (with help from Walter Scott). As with any reference work there is unevenness in presentation. For instance, too many of the institutional histories in the dictionary were written by employees of those institutions. There is of course the matter of whether certain topics and individuals were omitted and whether some that were included were worthy of inclusion. These are normal criticisms of a reference work that covers such a vast array of material. However, most of the overarching articles dealing with key movements and personalities are well done and invaluable. There really is nothing like it with regard to this truly American movement within Protestantism.

This reference is called "The Encylopedia Of The Stone-Campbell Movement," but you've seen references to the Restoration Movement in other reviews. I had involvement with Independent Christian and Churches of Christ for over thirty-five years. I'm certain that the majority of members in these denominations - yes, they are denominations - don't really know much about "The Restoration Movement." If you are interested in knowing what the Restoration Movement was truly about then get Paul Conkin's book, "American Originals." You'll find that many groups came out of that particular movement, which actually began in the United Kingdom in the 18th century. The Christadelphians and the Mormons are two groups who came out of the Restoration Movement that was begun by Robert Haldane and "exported" to America by his son-in-law, Robert Sandeman. His followers were often called "Sandemanians." A preacher involved with the Stone-Campbell Movement, Sidney Rigdon, helped Joseph Smith begin the Mormon Church. Paul Conkin says that Rigdon wrote at least part of the Book of Mormon, and possibly all of it.

"The Restoration Movement" covered in this reference book is the one that deals with "restoring the ancient gospel with water baptism for the remission of sins." The "founders" of this movement, Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Barton Stone, and Walter Scott, were all ex-Presbyterians and each was seemingly motivated to be separate of Presbyterian hierarchy and establish autonomous congregations. They differed from the Presbyterians on water baptism and felt that the correct way to water baptize was by immersion and not just sprinkling or pouring water over a convert. The Campbells first established "Christian Baptist" congregations, and they were members of the Redstone Baptist Association. Years later, they joined with Barton Stone and Walter Scott. Scott, a Scotsman, was the one who said that the Church had gotten away from proclaiming water baptism as necessary for the remission of sins. In this reference book you'll find that Scott was a bit upset with how Alexander Campbell took that idea and ran with it as though it were his own. This is exactly what I appreciate about this book. This is written by "Restoration" historians, and I don't find white-washing but an accurate record, as far as all that is covered. Alexander Campbell's monthly publication called "The Millennial Harbinger" is mentioned. For twenty years Campell wrote about his beliefs, as did others who were in agreement with him, and how his group would bring about the Millennium and usher in the return of Christ. The term for that is Dominionism, and that is plain old heresy. But it is covered in the Encyclopedia. Campbell predicted that there would be no more wars, but this thing called the Civil War came along and that obviously showed the flaws in his beliefs. Alexander Campbell once owned slaves. I was surprised that this was told! Students of a college that he had begun, Bethany College, protested when they learned about this and set fire to most of the campus. One time Campbell returned to Scotland to preach and when the authorities there heard this they arrested him. Again, this is not white-washed but it is told. I've had Church of Christ folk call me a liar when I told them about this. Well, they all need to get this Encyclopedia and they can learn both the good and the bad. There are many fine Christian leaders who were associated with this particular Movement, be it called "Restoration Movement" or "Stone-Campbell Movement" and they often get left behind in the dust of those who were more interested in building a kingdom on Earth than adding to Christ's spiritual kingdom.

Church of Christ folk especially are greatly offended if you say anything negative about them and say that you are "attacking the Lord's Church." Actually, the Independent Christian Churches, which do use instrumental music as part of their worship services, are not so legalistic and don't claim to be the only true church, as do the Churches of Christ, although some of the Churches of Christ are becoming more evangelical and many of them are using musical instruments in worship services now. They don't claim this exclusivism. Even the primary founder of this Movement, Alexander Campbell, admitted that his group did not have a lock on salvation but that there were many other groups who were true Christians. He states this in the famous Lunenburg Letter.

If you have an interest in this Movement - you might like to study American church history - or you're in a Christian Church, Disciples of Christ congregation, or a Church of Christ and you've only heard about the Movement and have not studied it, this is a great one volume reference. If you want one book which covers a lot of history and background information, you need not look elsewhere. I do own this book.

The Encyclodedia of the Stone-Cambell Movement is a well-prepared, rich resource for reference and learning. Readied by a number of respected scholars, the volume covers the gamut of Stone-Campbell topics, concerns and people. It is a very readable, clear and welcome treasure-trove of helpful information about a great religious movement that still speaks to our era.

This book has a great many facts and informational notes about all things in Restoration Movement(RM)history. Although it's an Encyclopedia, it goes into some depth on explaining how things evolved in the 3 wings of the RM and you'll learn a lot about places that have been named for Saints of old and about those Saints of Old. It's a nice book for a Campbelliter to own.

If you truly are on your walk with Jesus. This book is of great inportance
of understanding of how & why Our Doctrin is what it is, and why the message must never change. THE KING IS COMING!