/CHURCH AND STATE IN THE THOUGHT OF ALEXANDER CAMPBELl/ by MARK STEPHEN JOY B. A., Central Christian College, 1976 M. A., Eastern New Mexico University, 1983 A MASTER'S THESIS submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS Department of History KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 1985 Approved by: LD A11205 1,41354 JV HfS %, CONTENTS c . INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE: CHURCH- STATE RELATIONS IN AMERICA TO THE EVE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 10 CHAPTER TWO: ALEXANDER CAMPBELL AND THE RESTORATION MOVEMENT 37 CHAPTER THREE: ALEXANDER CAMPBELL'S VIEWS ON CHURCH- STATE ISSUES 69 CHAPTER FOUR: THE SOURCES OF ALEXANDER CAMPBELL'S THOUGHT ON CHURCH-STATE ISSUES Ill CONCLUSION 133 BIBLIOGRAPHY 140 INTRODUCTION The establishment of constitutional provisions prohibiting the establishment of religion, and guaranteeing the free exercise thereof, was one of the most significant developments in early American history. These first amendment provisions also imply a concept which was, in the eighteenth century, a uniquely American contribution to political theory: the separation of church and state. The incorporation of these principles into the Constitution was not an overnight accomplishment, nor did the passage of the First Amendment mean that the controversies over matters of religious liberty and the relationship of church and state were over. But these developments, coupled with the pluralism that has been a character- istic of American life from the very beginning of colonization, have contributed greatly to the creation of a distinctively American religious tradition. Many scholars have noted that two currents of thought were influential in bringing about the separation of church and state in America. On the one hand, there were the philosophical/political thinkers, who argued for such principles from an Enlightenment philosophical or "rights of man" political viewpoint. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison would be preeminent examples of these. On the other hand, there were those who argued for separation from a religious ideology— such as Roger Williams and Isaac Backus. 2 Although they use different terminology in describing the two groups, several prominent scholars have called attention to the contri- butions of both the religious thinkers and the philosophical/political thinkers to the development of the concept of church-state separation. In their classic work, Church and State in the United States , Anson Phelps Stokes and Leo Pfeffer note that it was "a combination of the ideals of the Enlightenment and the ideals of the Christian religion ." . that led to this situation in America. In another work, Pfeffer attributes the achievement of the separation of church and state to "an alliance between the theological orthodoxy of the Great Awakening, and 2 the deism and skepticism of the enlightenment." In a similar vein, Winthrop Hudson, one of the leading scholars in the field of American religious history, has noted that the various Protestant groups as well as the "religiously emancipated intellectuals," all played a part in the 3 struggle for the separation of church and state. Sidney Mead, a noted authority on religion in America, has argued that rationalists on the one hand, and "sectarian-pietists" on the other hand, worked together to bring about religious freedom and the separation of church and state. Though these rationalists and religionists fundamentally disagreed in many other areas, Mead sees them united on this issue: The struggles for religious freedom during the last quarter of the eighteenth century provided the kind of practical issue upon which the rationalist and sectarian-pietists could and did unite, Anson Phelps Stokes and Leo Pfeffer, Church and State in the United States , rev. one-vol. ed. (New York: Harper and Row, 1964), p. 39. 2 Leo Pfeffer, Church, State, and Freedom , rev. ed. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1964), p. 103. 3 Winthrop Hudson, The Great Tradition of the American Churches (New York: Harper and Row, 1953), pp. 60-61. in spite of underlying theological differences. The positive thrust for the separation of church and state and the making of all religious groups equal before the civil law came from the sectarian-pietists both within and without the right-wing churches, and from the rationalistic social and political leaders.^ Though both the religious leaders and the philosophical/political thinkers were agreed on the necessity of separation, they did not agree on why it was necessary. The Enlightenment thinkers did not believe in using the power of the state to coerce uniformity in areas that ought to be left to private judgment. Some also feared the power of the church, and argued for separation so that the church could not dominate the state. The sectarian, non-conformist religious thinkers approached the problem from almost precisely the opposite position. To them, genuine religion was a matter between an individual and his God; the state had no right to interfere in such sacred matters. The church had to be kept separate from the state, not only to prevent this kind of coercion by the state, but also in order to keep the church pure and uncontaminated by contact with the world. Using Williams and Jefferson as examples of the two different positions, Perry Miller, the noted scholar of the Puritans and colonial America, made this comparison: Williams was not, like Thomas Jefferson, a man to whom theology and divine grace had become stuff and nonsense; on the contrary he was pious with a fervor and passion that went beyond most of his contemporaries. So exalted was his conception of the spiritual life that he could not bear to have it polluted with earthly considerations. Williams evolved from an orthodox Puritan into the champion of religious liberty because he came to see spiritual truth as so rare, so elevated, so supernal a loveliness that it could not be chained to a worldly establishment and a vested interest. He was a libertarian because he contemned the 4 Sidney Mead, The Lively Experiment: The Shaping of Christianity in America (New York: Harper and Row, 1963), p. 43. Though Mead may have found evidence of individuals within the "Right-wing ," established churches who supported disestablishment and separation, generally the "left-wing" or nonconformists were much more likely to favor these ideas. ^ world, and he wanted to separate church and state so that the church would not be contaminated by the state; Thomas Jefferson loved the world and was dubious about the spirit, and he sought to separate church and state so that the state would not be contaminated by the church. These two currents of thought are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and no doubt the thinking of many individuals in America on church-state issues has been influenced by both. In this thesis, I intend to examine the thought of Alexander Campbell (1788-1866), the major early leader of the Restoration Movement in America, in regards to the rela- tionship of church and state. In particular, I will attempt to determine how Campbell relates to both the Enlightenment philosophical/political current of thought, and the religious current. Harold L. Lunger, a social ethicist at Brite Divinity School, and author of the most in-depth study of Campbell's political thought, has argued that Campbell represents a blending of these two currents of thought; Students of American democracy distinguish two main streams of influence; one, primarily philosophical and political, the natural rights philosophy of John Locke mediated through Madison and Jefferson; the other, essentially religious, the left-wing Protes- tant tradition mediated through the Baptists under the leadership of Roger Williams. Locke was himself deeply influenced by this left-wing Protestant movement. In general, Campbell represents an uneasy blending of these two streams. His understanding of the nature of the church, the relations between church and state, and the principles of Christian conduct is essentially that of left-wing Protestantism, while his views of the nature of the Perry Miller, "The Puritan State and Puritan Society," in his Errand into the Wilderness (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1956), p. 146. Though "Restoration" is a common motif throughout the history of Christianity, in this thesis the term "Restoration Movement" will refer only to the group that springs from the religious reform movement begun by Barton W. Stone, and by Thomas and Alexander Campbell in the early nineteenth century on the American frontier. Today this movement comprises three groups of churches: the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), independent Christian churches , and Churches of Christ. ? state and the forms and elements of government are those of Locke's natural rights philosophy. His political ethics repre- sent a merging of these two principles. g Sydney Ahlstrom, whose A Religious History of the American People has established itself as the standard work in its field, also recognized that Campbell was influenced both by Enlightenment thought and religious thought. Though he did not apply this to Campbell's church-state views specifically, he noted: But Campbell was not only a restorationist and a legalist; he was also a fervent exponent of eighteenth century rationalism, a disciple of John Locke and the Scottish philosophers. Natural law concepts figured prominently in his ethical thought. An intellectualist bent determined his understanding of faith as the mind's assent to credible testimony. .*