Restoration Movement

The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790–1840) of the early 19th century. The pioneers of this movement were seeking to reform the church from within and sought "the unification of all Christians in a single body patterned after the church of the New Testament." The Restoration Movement developed from several independent strands of religious revival that idealized early Christianity. Two groups which independently developed similar approaches to the Christian faith were particularly important. The first, led by Barton W. Stone, began at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, and identified as "Christians". The second began in western Pennsylvania and Virginia (now West Virginia) and was led by Thomas Campbell and his son, Alexander Campbell, both educated in Scotland; they eventually used the name "Disciples of Christ". Both groups sought to restore the Christian church based on visible patterns outlined in the New Testament, and both believed that creeds kept Christianity divided. In 1832, they joined in fellowship with a handshake. Among other things, they were united in the belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; that Christians should observe the Lord's Supper on the first day of each week; and that baptism of adult believers was necessarily by immersion in water. Because the founders wanted to abandon all denominational labels, they used the biblical names for the followers of Jesus. Both groups promoted a return to the purposes of the 1st-century churches as described in the New Testament. One historian of the movement has argued that it was primarily a unity movement, with the restoration motif playing a subordinate role. The Restoration Movement has since been divided into multiple separate groups. The three...