On the American frontier, reformers concluded that the divisions of Protestantism could be ended only by restoring the New Testament church whole: no creed but the Bible, no name but Christian. The movement itself divided, over instruments, societies, and later over the Latter Day Saint restoration that shared its impulse.
The parties
- Barton W. Stone, Thomas and Alexander Campbell, and the restoration plea
- The Presbyterian and Baptist bodies from which the restorationists separated
What was disputed
The sufficiency of the New Testament pattern for the church's faith and order.
Causes: doctrinal cultural
Key documents
- The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery (1804)
- Alexander Campbell, The Christian System (1835)
What it produced
Resolution attempts
- Occasional unity consultations among the Churches of Christ, the Disciples, and the independent Christian Churches
How each side understands it
The restorationist bodies read their founding as recovery, not schism; the bodies they left record departures. The Latter Day Saint movement's place inside or outside this family is itself contested, and the tree records the movement's self-identification.
It grew out of
- Protestant Reformation, 1517 and after
Sources
Primary
- Thomas Campbell, Declaration and Address (1809).
Secondary
- Richard T. Hughes, Reviving the Ancient Faith (1996).