Barton W. Stone: Family Man

With Father's Day approaching, I would like to share John Rogers' description of Barton W. Stone as a devoted family man. Two hundred years ago, Mr. Stone was a leader among the early American Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. Mr. Rogers' description of his family life helps explain why so many disciples of Christ respected his leadership during his lifetime.

I have retained the original spelling in this excerpt:

"B.W. Stone possessed all the elements of a truly great and good man. In the domestic and private walks of life, where men act under least restraint--where they develope their true principles, there he shone with peculiar lustre, as the imbodiment of every private and domestic virtue. As a husband, he was kind, devoted, tender, obliging, faithful; as a father, he was fond and attentive; he lived to promote the happiness of his family. Never man loved the domestic circle more than he. He carefully brought up his children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; night and morning asking the divine blessing upon his family, and committing and commending himself and them to the care and protection of the Heavenly Father. His was truly a house of prayer--his a Joshua's resolution: 'As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.' The writer of this sketch was much about the house of the venerated Stone, for many, many years; and it affords him peculiar pleasure to say, he never heard him speak a harsh or unkind word to any member of his family; nor does he remember to have seen him angry, during an acquaintance of a quarter of a century. In patience he possessed his soul" (The Biography of Barton Warren Stone by B.W. Stone and John Rogers, p. 248).

Anabaptists and Campbellites

In my earlier post today, I wrote about taking a theological survey to determine which church I would fit into best. The top two on my survey were: "Anabaptist" and "Church of Christ/Campbellite." After some thought, I realized that those are unfamiliar terms in most circles. So I decided to describe those terms in this post.

Anabaptists are a group of believers who broke from the Roman Catholic Church in the early 1500s, during the Protestant Reformation. They wanted to return to the faith and ethics of the early Christians. They received the name Anabaptist (baptized again), because they did not accept the sprinkings that they had received as babies. They believed in and taught the necessity of believers' baptism. They were committed to the highest ethical ideals of the Bible.

The term Campbellite was a derogatory term attached to members of the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ during the 1800s, because of the influence of Alexander Campbell as a dynamic and thoughtful leader among the churches. Along with his father Thomas Campbell, Barton W. Stone, and Walter Scott, Mr. Campbell led a movement of people who wanted to restore the unity and the nondenominational structure of the early churches. Today few among the Churches of Christ and Christian Churches would likely be able to recognize his name, but he had a powerful influence on who we are.

I can see why the survey indicated that I think more like an Anabaptist and a member of the Church of Christ than the other groups mentioned. I do share their goal of living by the Spirit and intent of the Scriptures.

The Prince and the Kingdom

"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this" (Isaiah 9:6-7, NIV).

"Christ is the Prince of Peace,
the Church of Christ is the Kingdom of Peace" (Barton Warren Stone).