Alexander Campbell

Alexander Campbell (born September 12, 1788, near Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland—died March 4, 1866, Bethany, West Virginia, U.S.) was an American clergyman, writer, and founder of the Disciples of Christ and Bethany College.

He was the son of Thomas Campbell (1763–1854), a Presbyterian minister who immigrated in 1807 to the United States, where he promoted his program for Christian unity. In 1809 Alexander and the remainder of the family also went to the United States. There he espoused his father’s program and emerged as the leader of a movement for religious reform. He began preaching without a salary in 1810 and soon settled in what is now Bethany, West Virginia. He and his followers accepted baptism by immersion in 1812 and joined the Baptists the next year, but tension on other issues led to their dissociation from the Baptists in 1830.

In 1832 his followers, known as Disciples of Christ, or Christians (nicknamed Campbellites), joined Kentucky “Christians,” followers of Barton W. Stone, to form the Disciples of Christ (Christian Church). Campbell presented a rationalistic and deliberative Christianity that was based on the New Testament and was opposed to both speculative theology and emotional revivalism. He exercised his leadership through preaching, addresses, and extensive debates with the Roman Catholic bishop of Cincinnati, John Purcell, the Welsh social reformer Robert Owen, and others.

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Disciples of Christ: Origins

Campbell founded (1823) and edited the Christian Baptist (later the Millennial Harbinger). Among some 60 volumes that he wrote or edited are The Living Oracles, a version of the New Testament first issued in 1826; The Christian System (1835), which summarized his theology; and a hymnal. He was also a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention in 1829. In 1840 he founded Bethany College and was its president until his death.