Birth of a Reformation or The Life and Labors of Daniel S. Warner By A. L. Byers “It shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.” )$,7+38%/,6+,1*+286( 'LJLWDOO\3XEOLVKHGE\ 7+(*263(/7587+ ZZZFKXUFKRIJRGHYHQLQJOLJKWFRP To the Generations Following Publisher’s Preface Year 1966 This volume, a reprint of the book originally published in 1921 and out of print for many years, is in response to a long felt need that this biography of D. S. Warner, along with a brief mention of a few of his associate ministers and Gospel workers, should be available to the readers of the present generation and those to follow, should the Lord extend time. The original book is herewith reproduced without al- teration or change, except a very few minor omissions, and accounts of events and conditions existing after the period of Bro. Warner’s life. The reader should bear in mind that Bro. Warner’s com- ing out of sectism was a gradual process over a period of time leading to the climactic step, and any improper or questionable action on his part while involved in sects was merely a result of his lack of clear light and understanding of God’s Word. After the light broke through, he himself renounced these practices. In 1878 D. S. Warner wrote: “The Lord...gave me a new commission to join holiness and all truth together and build up the apostolic church of the living God.” Bro. Warner and his associates, discerning the impos- sibility of the true church existing within the framework of denominationalism, declared their freedom from the “sin of sectism and division” and instituted the “evening light” restoration movement in the latter part of the nine- teenth century in direct fulfillment of Bible prophecy. See Zechariah 14:7. These vital Bible truths, especially on the line of holiness and the nature of the church, which those reformers proclaimed, are imperative today in preserving the church after the apostolic pattern. Many reformations have come to the religious world since the decline of the apostolic church from its pristine glory of the first century. Yet the nineteenth century reform is more complete, radical and fundamental than any previous 6 movement. A historian has penned this significant obser- vation: “No sooner had D.S. Warner and others begun to preach as men had not preached for time out of mind than men saw in their message the grandest truths the mind of man is capable of receiving. They saw the church built up by Christ, led and organized by the Holy Spirit, the names of whose members are in the Lamb’s book of life, which takes the Scriptures as its only discipline, and fellowships every blood-bought soul. Here is real Christian unity. “Dispised and rejected in ‘religious’ circles, these men preached more real Bible truth in one sermon than one would expect in months of the ordinary kind. They preached profound truths; and it created a furor wherever they went. Thousands received Scriptural light. Many joyfully embraced the great truths they heard and spared neither pains nor money to spread the message everywhere.” In his book, The Cleansing of the Sanctuary, Bro. Warner wrote thus on the subject of exclusiveness: “Christ is an exclusive Christ; there is none beside Him. The faith that He gave us is an exclusive faith; no other saves the soul. The truth of God is exclusive in its nature; everything contrary to it is false. The kingdom of Christ is exclusive. It is a stone that breaks everything else to pieces. The one church that Jesus founded and named, and which is His own body, is also exclusive, for there is only one body in Christ.” During the reign of pagan persecution the rulers offered to stop the bloody martyrdom and allow the Chris- tians to worship God in freedom, if they would confess that the pagan idols were also real gods. This they could not do, but chose rather to die. And on this very point of exclusive- ness is the present offense of the cross. People would not seriously object to God’s ministers setting forth the church as contained in the Scriptures, if we would recognize their earth-born institutions as being also God’s churches. But this we cannot do and be honest before God, and faithful to His Word. There is but one household of faith. Christ does not have a plurality of wives. He has but one bride, and she has no sisters. Thus saith her husband, ‘My dove, my 7 undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother...’ Song of Solomon 6:9. “Three score and ten” years ago Bro. Warner’s earthly career in the service of the Master was ended, yet God in His infinite plan has perserved a holy remnant through the intervening years which has retained and maintained those precious original reformation truths. The two wit- nesses (Revelation 11:11)—the Word and the Spirit—have resumed their rightful positions as Governors of the church in this “evening time” of the Gospel day. Jesus Christ will find His Church “without spot or wrinkle” when He comes again for His Bride. —THE PUBLISHERS May, 1966 7KLV UHIRUPDWWHG YHUVLRQ RI %LUWK RI WKH 5HIRUPDWLRQ ZDV SUHVHUYHGIURPWKHDUFKLYHVRIWKH)DLWK3XEOLVKLQJ+RXVH ³7+((',725 8 Author’s Preface Year 1921 A quarter century has elapsed since the passing of D. S. Warner from the scenes of his earthly activity, and full forty years have gone since the beginning of the great reform of which his labors constituted so large a part. While there are many still living whose personal knowledge of him and his ministry will suffice to them for an encouraging testimony of Christian attainment and of God’s marvelous use of human instrumentality when permitted to have His way, the time has come when the absence of any published account of this re- markable man begins to be felt. The rising generation and the generations that follow should have access to a study of such an example of Christian devotion and usefulness, as well as of God’s faithfulness to one who will fully trust Him. When it was announced that a biography was contemplated, the proposition at once met with hearty approval and encouragement. That due to the lapse of years there should be some difficulty in securing the necessary data with reference to his early life is of course consequential. His brothers and sisters are all deceased. A nephew and a niece and some of his earlier acquaintances were interviewed, and correspondence was had with other relatives and acquaintances. The most valu- able acquisition, however, was the use of his diaries, kindly granted by his son, D. Sidney Warner, now living in Canton, Ohio. These diaries do not cover all of his early ministerial career, but the quotations from them will reveal the Chris- tian character of the man as well as show considerable of his itinerancy and of the facts of his life. As to the source of information respecting the latter period of his ministry, when his work took the character of a reform, recourse has been had to the files of the periodicals he edited and also to the personal recollections of some who were pioneers with him in the movement. Of these may be mentioned as giv- ing particular information Mrs. Allie R. (Fisher) Allen, Lansing, Mich.; William N. Smith, North Star, Mich.; David Leininger, Akron, Ind.; Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Howard, Nappanee, Ind.; Mrs. Anna J. Slagle, Bucyrus, Ohio; Mr. and Mrs. B. E. Warren, Springfield, Ohio; and Mrs. Frankie Warner, Anderson, Ind. It was my privilege to have a personal acquaintance with D. S. Warner and to be more or less closely associated 9 with him during the last five years of his life. To one who never knew him personally no printed account can afford an adequate conception of what it was to come in contact with this wonderful ambassador of God, whose presence wrought conviction in the unregenerate, and inspired confidence and courage in the hearts of believers. The divine manifestations in his preaching, his prayers, and his ministrations can not be told. Many very striking instances of physical healing which we have not space to speak of attended his ministry; but that these pages may reveal, if in no other light than the historical, that here is an example of true consecration, devo- tion, courage, diligence, humility, faith, patience, kindness, self-denial, and the Christian graces generally, that is worthy of being followed, is the earnest hope of THE AUTHOR, ANDREW L. BYERS $QGUHZ/%\HUV$XWKRURIWKLVERRN 10 CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ................................................... 15 A glance over Christian era—Early church divinely governed—Spiritual decline—A false church—Reforma- tions—Sixteenth century reformation—Human rule— Characteristics of true church—A final reformation— Evil of sects—Protestantism in Revelation—Wondrous times upon us—God’s call to his people—D. S. Warner a reformer—The correct attitude—Counterfeit move- ments. II. ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE .............................. 34 Emigration westward—Settlement in Ohio—David Warner family—Born a weakling—Paternal and ma- ternal influences—Tributes to mother—Location in Crawford County—A chosen vessel —His boyhood character—Removal to Williams County—A school teacher. III. CONVERSION, COLLEGE, AND CALLING ........... 44 The question of religion—A Catholic and Lutheran community—Tries to be an infidel—Conviction by the Spirit—Attends dances—Conversion—Attends Oberlin College—Preparation for ministry. IV. CHURCH OF GOD (WINEBRENNERIAN) ........... 51 The Scriptural name—Winebrenner’s view of the church—Organization of Elderships—Growth and extent westward—Winebrenner’s failure.