Our Roots
Our Roots! (from Wikipedia free encyclopedia) The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone-Campbell Movement) is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. The movement sought to restore the church and "the unification of all Christians in a single body patterned after the church of the New Testament. They do not consider themselves to be Protestants since they maintain that they stem directly from the first century church.
The Restoration Movement developed from several independent efforts to return to apostolic Christianity, but two groups, which independently developed similar approaches to the Christian faith, were particularly important to the development of the movement. The first, led by Barton W. Stone, began August 1, 1801 at Cane Ridge, Kentucky and called themselves simply "Christians". The second began in western Pennsylvania and Virginia (now West Virginia) and was led by Thomas Campbell and his son, Alexander Campbell; they used the name "Disciples of Christ". Both groups sought to restore the whole Christian church on the pattern set forth in the New Testament, and both believed that creeds kept Christianity divided. In 1832 they joined in fellowship with a handshake.
A number of slogans have been used in the Restoration Movement, which are intended to express some of the distinctive themes of the Movement. These include:
- Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent”
- “The church of Jesus Christ on earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one.”
- “We are Christians only, but not the only Christians.”
- “In essentials, unity; in opinions, liberty; in all things love.”
- “No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible, no law but love, no name but the divine.”
- “Call Bible things by Bible names.”
