Second Great American Awakening - Cane Ridge
BOOK: Citizens of Zion: The Social Origins of Camp Meeting Revivalism by Ellen Eslinger Citizens of Zion does more than explain a particular instance of religious revivalism (Cane Ridge); it explores the creation of a new form of worship that enabled people to relate more comfortably to a changing society through an intense collective experience.
NOTE: This is a collection of rough notes:
The Second Awakening--Cane Ridge
We have noticed that the Roman Jews along with their ancestors were often completely irrational. Even as they were being judged and destroyed they believed that they could not be judged and must dominate the religious world. Therefore, Paul was forced in chapters 9-11 to show that God's predestination does not mean that He cannot reject those who reject the Word. Activities such as the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem eleminated the "doctrine" by supplying the "feeling."
The so-called "Second Great Awakening" repeated the methods and results of many manipulated people to cause them to do outrageous things and then call it "spiritual." The outcome was just like the other Awakenings--destructive except for those driven back to the Bible.
Our interest in the charismatic background of some churches begins with Barton W. Stone who used his inheritance to attend school at Caldwell's Academy in North Carolina. While there, the Presbyterian, James McGready, preached and converted most of the school. Stone had trouble with "the wrath of God" as a motive and said of McGready, "He left me without one encouraging word." This, of course, was his method to psychologically manipulate you into getting what you probably cannot have.
When he finished school he finally came to Cane Ridge, Kentucky. McGready arrived in Kentucky in 1796 and began preaching with "intense emotionalism" and "exercises" were the result.
"As soon as he arrived in Kentucky, McGready began preparing his congregation for a revival... Since he pastored three widely scattered congregations, he so timed the communions that members of each small congregation could travel to each one by horseback or wagon, thus creating the critical mass of people needed for a fervent revival." (Conkin, Paul K., Cane Ridge America's Pentecost, p. 57, U of Wisc press)
The frontier was rapidly retreating and Logan county was being populated by religious people. However, there were still many frontier people people who were outlaws. There was, therefore, a growing dominace of people needing to confirm their own lifestyle.
There were many factors which caused revivalism throughout the area but while the evidence in Kentucky is scarce Conkin notes that"The transition of a new century might have triggered a renewed concern about religion or inspired millenarian speculation."
Stone saw no effects from preaching Calvinism and wished for a magical plan to cause men and women to change their lives. He followed the McGready plan and produced the same results at Cane Ridge. The emotionalism--like all emotionalism--spread across the state and produced intense fear in many. It also created the greatest show on earth for most. This culminated at a great meeting at Cane Ridge where either a "few hundred" or "two thousand" people had the experience as a result of several men preaching at the same time in the area. If the charismatic or mental breakdown was proof of the direct operation of the Holy Spirit out of tens of thousands then the "mills of the gods grind exceedingly fine." Barton W. Stone and others would wonder why God was so sporadic.
The "unity" or civil treatment of other religions already existed in Kentucky and was not a product of revivalism. Indeed, Stone will say that this unity was destroyed. A great religious war broke out and continues where the church puts its focus on the "latest and greatest" of confrontational preachers and away from Christ.
"The Kentucky Revival. With the subsidence of the exciting aspects of the first Great Awakening the American church enjoyed surcease from extreme emotional outbreaks for approximately half a century.
Then the Great Awakening of the Middle West broke out at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and its nervous disorders and moter phenomena exceeded anything known in the country. This revival began in the Kentucky camp meetings, first launced by the Presbyterians but soon taken over and practically monopolized by the Methodists. The primitive frontier conditions then prevalent, the entire absence of emotional outlets and the consequent starving of the emotional natures of the frontier people, the lack of an adequate social life among the scattered settlements, and the low state of education and general culture combined to provide fertile soil for evangelism of the excitable kind.
See how the Shouting Methodists was introduced as an act of worship among the Christian Churches or Stoneites.
"James McGready, of terrible visage, thundering voice, and hell-fire orthodoxy, left North Carolina in 1796 upon receit of a letter written in blood and came to Logan County, Kentucky, called 'Rogues Harbor' because an actual majority of its citizenry was composed of criminals. Three years later the McGee brothers, William a Presbyterian, and John a Methodist, appeared on Red River. The famous Peter Cartwright, a Methodist, grew up in Logan County. Elder B. W. Stone, a Baptist-Campbellite, lived and preached in Bourbon County." (Clark, Elmer T., The Small Sects in America, p. 91, Abingdon)
In 1799 the McGees preached on Red River. "John thus relates what occurred":
"William felt such a power come over him that he quit his seat and sat down on the floor of the pulpit, I suppose not knowing what he did. A power which caused me to tremble was upon me. There was a solemn weeping all over the house. At length I rose up and exhorted them to let the Lord God Omnipotent reign in their hearts, and their souls should live. Many broke the silence. The women in the east end of the house shouted trememdously. I left the pulpit and went through the audience shouting and exhorting with all possible ecstasy and energy, and the floor was soon covered with the slain." (Clark, Elmer T., The Small Sects in America, p. 91, Abingdon)
Clark and others note that this was the beginning of a Pentecostial form of religion among the educationally and emotionally sterile people of the frontier which continues among some groups. However, he recognizes that Barton Stone did nothing more than provide the setting (but apparently never participated in) a movement which was more pronounced than most of the historical outbreaks-
"This was the beginning of one of the most remarkable religious movements of modern history; it typed religion in the Cumberland country for a century and is still remembered and still exerts an influence in Kentucky. Barton Stone came from Bourbon County to see what it was all about." (Clark, Elmer T., The Small Sects in America, p. 91, Abingdon)
When Stone came to Logan county he saw the exercises and reported that--
"Many, very many, fell down as men slain in battle, and continued for hours together in an apparently breathless and motionless state, sometimes for a few moments reviving and exhibiting symptoms of life by a deep groan or a pierching shriek or by a prayer for mercy fervently uttered. After lying there for hours... they would rise, shouting deliverance." Clark, Elmer T., The Small Sects in America, p. 91-92, Abingdon)
Because this was the vehicle which Stone needed to "convert" what seemed the unconvertable, he took the methods which are guaranteed to produce results back to Cane Ridge although it was probably Methodist and Baptists who were the "god manipulators." The exercises began there but the word spread and people gathered to see the event--
"At Cane Ridge occurred one of the most amazing religious outbreaks of American history. Thousands camped on the ground until the food gave out, and by day and night the preachers exhorted under rude brush arbors erected in the primeval forests. The frenzy to which persons were wrought almost surpasses belief, though fully attested by many eyewitnesses and careful investigators. They shouted, sobbed, leaped in the air, writhed on the ground, fell like dead men and lay insensible for considerable, and engaged in unusual bodily contortions...
The preparation for the great communion began on Saturday and nothing much happened. By the afternoon Conkin notes that the preaching was continual in the meeting house and in a tent. John Lyle preached from the tent and he was followed by Richard McNemar who promised a "true new gospel." Before dark the cries of sorrow filled the air.
"Even by Saturday evening tensions rose among the ministers. None were unalterable against the exercises. But some, like Lyle, believed it wrong for the ministers deliberately to stimulate such emotional extremes. He all but despised McNemar. Stone left him more puzzled. He was not a wild preacher, in fact not as inspirational or moving as Lyle himself. But he did nothing to restrain McNemar and Houston, would not command order, and would not have those in distress or on the floor carried from the meetinghouse. Such was the widespread distress, and the confusion, that by Saturday night even McNemar was worried." (Conkin, p. 89).
The scheduled communion began on Sunday within the meetinghouse. The most reliable count of those taking communion was from 800 to 1,000. While others took communion, only the Presbyterians presided. Conkin accepts the estimate of a core group of about 2,500 serious Christians which, he notes, would be a large gathering. However, the meeting was noised about and every "at loose ends" in the area swarmed to see the show.
"Outside, the groaning and falling continued. Some people experienced only weakened knees or a light head. Others fell but remained conscious or talkative; a few fell into a deep coma, with the symptoms of a grand mal seizure or a type of hysteria." (Conkin, p. 92)
"Sinners dropping down on every hand, shrieking, groaning, crying for mercy, convoluted; profesors of religion praying, agonizing, fainting, falliing down in distress, for sinners, or in raptures of joy! Some singing, some shouting, clapping their hands, hugging and even kissing, laughing; others talking to the distressed, to one another, or to opposers of the work, and all this at once--no spectacle can recite a stronger sensation. And with what is doing, the darkness of the night, the solemnity of the place, and of the occasion, and conscious guilt, all conspire to make terror thrill through every power of the soul, and rouse it to awful attention." (Letter quoted by Conkin, p. 93-94).
"Soon the sheer confusion practically subverted the outdoor preaching. Small groups joined in prayer or in loud hymn singing,
with singing the most enjoyable group activity and the one that often most affected an audience...
More conventional shouts and groans joined with a near babble of speech, some incoherent, some later distinguished as holy laughter or singing." (Conkin, p. 94).
Those who had the exercises thought that they enjoyed the gift of prophecy but the onlookers thought that they were possessed by demons. Some believed that they had been converted but other sincere Christians totally lost their sense of security about their own salvation. While the numbers seem to multiply with the telling, Stone estimated that between 500 and 1,000 were converted.
"When Lyle came by, he found Burke's audience in an ecstasy of singing and hand-shaking. Burke's new pulpit became the most tumultuous of four centers of activity, including also the tent, the meetinghouse, and a Negro assembly area, probably about 150 yards southeast of the church. Dozens of informal circles or organized or semi-organized prayer groups met at various camping sites." (Conkin, p. 96).
While by Monday most people had to leave and return to their farms, the news had spread and people kept coming until organized effort ceased on Thursday.
They do bear comparison to the ring shouts and dancing so often observed in black religious services, which were probably a survival of African religious practices. Indeed, black religion in the South may have had some influence on expected or sanctioned ways of giving bent to religious ecstasy at Cane Ridge. What the exercises revealed were religiously serious people who, in a powerfully suggestive environment, chose, or were forced, to reenact the drama of Jesus' passion and the ever-recurring drama of their own tortued quest for salvation. These mutually reinforcing dramas forced people toward experiential poles--on one hand the extreme of personal revulsion and self-doubt, on the other that of exaltation and joy." (Conkin, p. 104).
This is quite identical to the so-called "believer's baptism" in which Christ's must suffer and die in each believer before it is proper to baptism. That is, people are not freed from the Law of Moses but must experience it before they can be "broken" to permit Christ to die for them. As one of the "sacraments" this is not unlike the actual presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Unfortunately, this is not unlike many ancient pagan baptisms.
Some accounts lead us to believe that the exercises were a spontaneous affair breaking out in the small groups throughout the forest. However, McMaster has the affair beginning in the church building. This could not have involved many--
"At no time was the floor less than half covered. Some lay quiet, unable to move or speak. Some talked but could not move. Some beat the floor with their heads. Some shrieking in agnoy bounded about like live fish out of water. Many lay down and rolled over and over for hours at a time. Others rushed wildly about over the stumps and benches, and then plunged, shouthing 'Lost! Lost!' into the forest." (McMaster, History of the United States, II, 581).
One "body counter" said that three thousand, or one in six, were struck down. However, the previous quote says that "half the floor" was covered and at the same time many "rolled over and over." In a crowded building this is difficult to imagine. Isn't this just "preacher's count?" Even Stone claimed to see physical contortions which could never occur. No one person could count the outlying areas where something other than revival may have been taking place.
In the words of Karen Armstrong, "God was firmly committed to the project" and what the Word could not do God is supposed to have done supernaturally but, consistent with all outbreaks, the fire died out withing a few years. And..
"Once started at Cane Ridge, the revival spread like a forest fire; it brooked no opposition and swept unabated through Kentucky, Tennessee and adjoining states. The preachers rode far and wide, arbors were erected everywhere, and for fully five years the religious fervor raged unchecked." (Clark, Elmer T., The Small Sects in America, p. 91, Abingdon)
This short period is supported by the evidence that the Restoration Movement was not influenced to any great extent.
Stone and others explained the "barks" away by saying that it was just the expulsion of air as a result of the "jerks." However, there were other witnesses who saw the barks as genuine imitation of dogs--
"One of these was the 'holy laugh.' Another was the 'barks.' The votaries would fall upon 'all fours,' form groups, lope about and gather at the foot of a tree yelping, barking, and snapping like dogs; this exercise was called 'treeing the devil.'
"Most extreme and notable of all the paroxysms was the famous 'jerks.' This seizure was experienced by large numbers. The victim shook and jerked in every joint, the body was violently bent double, the head was thrown backward and forward and from side to side with great rapidity, the body would be thrown to the ground where it bounded about from place to place like a ball, or the feet would be affected and the victim would jump about like a frog. Perte Cartwright saw five hundred persons jerking at once, and Lorenzo Dow, in a meeting in Knoxville where the governor was present, gave the 'jerks' to one hundred and fifty." (Clark, Elmer T., The Small Sects in America, p. 92-93, Abingdon)
In one of Cartwright's revivals a man with a bottle of whisky tried to run away but "He halted among some saplings, took out his bottle of whiskey and swore he would drink the damned jerks to death. But he could not get the bottle to his mough, though he tried hard. At this he became greatly enraged, fetched a very violent jerk, snapped his neck, fell, and soon expired, with his mouth full of cursing and bitterness." (Clark, Elmer T., The Small Sects in America, p. 93, Abingdon)
Clark notes that "Of these unusual phenomena few have persisted save the glossolalia or gift of tongues. This exercise is still prevalent and is the distinguishing mark of several pentecostal sects."
"To persons holding such convictions a repetition of the phenomenon requires only an unstable nervous structure, an intense expectancy and longing, a high degree of suggestibility, and the proper setting for the operation of crowd psychology."
"The crowd is necessary. Masses of people must be swept by an emotional wave and the 'tongue talker' catches the contagion by suggestion from the group, though, of course, not all the company are similarly affected. It is a product of the revival technique and disappears even from those who have obtained it when the excitement of the revival dies down." (Clark, p. 94)
Contrary to Cane Ridge, the restoration movement which produced "churches of Christ" was a reaction against Calvinism and "experiences" which (1) rejected teaching the Bible as a way to produce faith and (2) demanded a supernatural sign of one's new superior, predestinated choice by God which could not be revoked--try as hard as you can but you cannot believe unless you are one of the chosen. And try as hard as you can and be as evil as you can you cannot do anything to force God to reject you. Some Jews believed this--"Abraham stands besides the gates of hell and prevents any Jew from entering however evil."
Stone's major contribution to Cane Ridge was probably his insistence that anyone can simply believe and as a direct result have the "sign" which only the predestinated had under Calvinism. This message was: "You can all have by faith or that which Calvin said that you could not have under any circumstances."
However, the need to feel predestinated still existed and it gave rise to violent outbreaks during the American Awakening in New England and the Second Great Awakening which had its most violent outbreak at Cane Ridge, Kentucky among Presbyterians and Calvinistic Baptists and Methodists who needed this supernatural sign. This same Bible-starved urge by sincere seekers always wants God to "come to me personally." However, God said that if "they will not listen to Jesus they will not listen to one resurrected from the dead." If we understand pagan and Jewish "arousal" worship at all we will hear God saying not to try to find Jesus through charismatic madness--He has "descended and given gifts" and has "ascended" with His work finished and adequate for the moment--reject the medicine and you reject the Physician.
Separating the Issues
We will note later that four very important things were taking place at Cane Ridge. First, Stone, perhaps urged on by free will groups, promoted the idea that anyone could hear, believe and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This was such a radical view especially among Calvinists that it created a great excitement. Second, in the beginning there was an apparent "outbreak" of unity and love which overwhelmend men like Stone. This and not the doctrinal implications was what Stone called "wonderful." Third, there was a genuine conviction of past sin which called for mourning or outward sorrow. Much of this involved a prayerful wish for children and friends who were tainted by frontier morality. Fourth, however, many people (perhaps those who were anticipating it) fell into the "exercises" which are not different from the experiences of pagans from the earliest recorded history. We cannot judge the motives or condition of the people but we can say that they were not different.
Motives Not Always Pure
We noted earlier that charismatic exercises occur when one feels subservient to a charismatic leader and there is a need to "comply" with his expectations. There is no need for the preacher to be educated but he must have the "musical preaching style" needed to bring on ecstasy. For instance, while Samuel Rogers was not charismatic he admits to only a third grade education.
Stone had learned something in Logan County which changed his preaching style without changing his message. This resulted in a repeat of the exercises. It is highly probably that the expectation along with the promise of salvation based on faith only amd opened the flood gate of emotion of a people long in subjection to Calvinism. First, however, you had to meet God at the mourning bench.
The "exercises" are often needed to prove that "my church is better than your church." It is, therefore as we will see from Stone and others, a method for improving one's status. Calvinists, for instance, believed that the "experiences" which happened in their churches was proof that Calvinism was the only "correct" doctrine. More free will Methodists saw the experiences as proof of a "double cure" as proof of their doctrine. Therefore, diametrically opposed theologies were validated by the Holy Spirit on the same night.
If outbreaks happened among non-Calvinists then Calvinists would surely protest. Mormons demanded that the same "exercises" proved that Mormonism was right. Holiness groups demand the same.
The evidence is that these experiences often result from men in competition trying to attract the largest "audience." This was the cause of trouble in Corinth. Paul would say that if the women do not "get carried away" in the short church assembly then he could almost guarantee that the services would be silent and teaching could take place. This was his guarantee because it was highly unusual that men involved themselves with musical attempts to arouse a god. This was such a firm conviction at one time that music was called "the effeminate art." Therefore, the senior, male, husband who was sober and could not become puffed up could lead the assembly without outbreaks which "did more harm than good."
However, there was always the rare opportunity for a male to be both in charge and charismatic. This meant that male leadership did not guarantee too much and the Corinthian carnage could break out like fire from hell--
"Lewis argued from the usual role of women in possession performances that this was due to their exclusion from authority in male-dominated society--i.e., spirit possession as a sex-war. Unfortunately, there are many societies where males are both dominant and possessed. Wilson, in replying to Lewis, attributes the phenomenon to conflict, tension and jealousy between members of the same sex." Montgomery, John Warwick (Editor), Demon Possession, p. 159 Bethany House Publishers
Stone would have denied this in the beginning, but the fruits of Cane Ridge--especially among the leaders--led him to believe that this was a cheap method of evangelism for those who picked up the strays.
Among the "exercisers," when the excitement died down; when they couldn't get past Duncan's Tavern on the way to the fields and forests; and when they didn't feel very "spiritual" the next Sunday, they felt that they had been deluded and turned in disgust from any form of church.
Rejection of Old Leadership
Scattered throughout the literature on charismatic outbreaks is the need to bypass organized forms of religion and seek a direct access to God. At Cane Ridge this may have been a positive result.
From the study of Babylonian religion there is a close association with astrology: they believed that you came down through the seven heavenly spheres with music and you must ascend back up to reach god.
While the charismatics often dance (in orbit) around their own leader, there is a not too subtle attempt to bypass him and reach their god. In discussing the female mediums of Ghana Parrinder notes that:
"These trance states last two or three hours and are preceded by passive or dull states in the mediums. When drums begin beating the medium may shake or jump, and then call out, sing or prophesy in another language or unintelligible words. Mediums in states of possession often perform actions that would be difficult for them normally, such as running at great speed, whirling round like dervishes, or tearing off their clothes, though they are never completely naked... The trance usually ends suddenly, with the medium falling to the ground, or throwing herself against a wall or into the arms of an assistant. She returns to her senses as though waking from deep sleep and may show surprise at her condition, but often she is tired and falls into real sleep." Parrinder, Geoffrey, Mysticism in the World's Religions, p. 81 Oxford University Press, NY
Among Islamic ecstatics it is said:
"the 'whirling dervishes' gyrate round their sheikh in a representation of the planets circling the sun...The dervishes whirl on their own axes and also in orbit, reciting inwardly the name of God: Allah, Allah, Allah.
With closed eyes they whirl, to the music of flutes, drums and strings, seeking union with the divine, till they cease and return to stillness."
"One of the principle reasons for the disfavour in which they were often held was the claim to direct experience of God, which meant by-passing established authority if not official religion itself. It was the age-old challenge of experience to orthodoxy." ( Parrinder, Geoffrey, Mysticism in the World's Religions, Oxford University Press, NY, p. 131).
Matt 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied (includes being a singing-instrumentalists) in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful (miracles) works?
"This relationship also explains why the expression for "making music" and "prophesying" was often identical in the ancient tongues. origen contra celsum 8.67. (Quasten, Johannes, Music and Worship in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, p. 39)
Matt 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Apochoreo (g672) ap-okh-o-reh'-o; from 575 and 5562; to go away: - depart.
That is, He sent them into EMPTY PLACES.
Among the phrases that can be repeated are laa ilahi illa llah "there is no god but God"; subhanu llah "Oh God Almighty"; al-hamdu li-llah, "praise be to God"; allahu akbar "God is greater"; astaghfiru llah "I ask for God's forgiveness", or simply allah "God". Dhikr can also involve music, where spiritual songs, hard to distinguish form ordinary songs, are used.
I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. Jer 15:17
Zaam (h2195) zah'-am; from 2194; strictly froth at the mouth, i. e. (fig.) fury (espec. of God's displeasure with sin): - angry, indignation, rage.
This last statement bears heavily upon the Second Awakening where the oppressive nature of Calvinism denied salvation to the non-elect and created such a heavy burden on the people that they sought experience over doctrine. If Methodists could not "experience" this second work of grace under the "dull sermons in church" the experiences at Cane Ridge allowed the masses to become part of the few who had been validated by God as predestinated to salvation. It was this "assurance" among some that they were saved and could not be lost that caused Cane Ridge to "do more harm than good."
Stress Test Could be Dangerous
Many writers note that these charismatic outbreaks almost never occur unless a skilled manipulator leads people believe and anticipate that they will happen. Therefore, a tiny "spark" can bring on "the fire from hell." This is why James connected faith to action and warned against the multiple speakers such as as Corinth which produced the charismatic outbreak. He also warned against Wesley's "perfectionism" as a way to outlaw any fire-storm of tongues--
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. James 3:1
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. James 3:2
Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. James 3:5
The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. James 3:6
When a fire becomes "detached" from its container (Paul would say spirit detached from mind) it can become very destructive. Therefore, he will demand that we always leave the "tongue" attached to the mind.
James knew that one of the dangers of charismatic worship seen in 1 Corinthians 12:1f is the possibility that one might be "the best tongue speaker" in Corinth but might be "cursing Jesus"--and nobody could tell! This was an effort to "speak out of both sides of their mouth." In one charismatic exercise we noted that--
"Mamma and Papa began shaking and writhing... Her jerking became more violent. She flung her arms towards the black north sky, and her head rolled violently on her shoulders as if her neck were broken. A scream ripped from her throat... curses and sacred words poured from her lips. She was possessed. The god (demon) had accepted her as an oracle... Papa presented Mamma with a bowl of warm blood from the sacrificial kid. She drank..." (Montgomery, John Warwick (Editor), Demon Possession, Bethany House Publishers, p. 167).
We noted above that it was not uncommon that people moved into the ecstatic state might even plead with Satan to come and take them.
James agrees with Paul in denouncing "everyone having a song" when not everyone is inspired. The result might be someone cursing Jesus and pretending to speak in tongues from God--
"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. James 3:9
Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. James 3:10
Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? James 3:11
The method for showing wisdom would not to be the most "charismatic" preacher at Cane Ridge. Rather, it would be to demonstrate a sober life with humility. The "spirit" of envy, selfish ambition and disorder is not from the "Spring" of the Holy Spirit and James continued--
"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. James 3:13
But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. James 3:14
"Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. James 3:15
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. James 3:16
True "mourning" would be concern for our "brothers." However, their mourning would be in direct imitation of Israel as warned by Amos--they should wail for the misery coming on them.
Specifically in warning against understanding the principle of "faith only" which was the only Cane Ridge doctrine, James warns that some tongues may be speaking for hell or for Satan himself--demon possession. This is why Paul demanded that "one speak" while "one or more judge" or verifies the inspired correctness of the one speaking.
It has often been noted that "speaking in tongues" and other charismatic acts almost always arise out of one dependant upon a charismatic leader who promotes and expects the "disciple" to prove his worth.
Therefore, the teacher with a "little" tongue had the power to "ignite a spark" which burned the whole "forest." It was deliberate and we repeat a quotation to show that James was not speaking about "gossiping" members but "fire-igniting" teachers--
"We see here a somewhat melancholy picture of the struggling self-assertion of rival claimants to attention...The glossolalia had probably been promoted by Syrian enthusiasts, perhaps of the Petrine party; the egotism of oratory and itch of teaching now described (Jas. iii. 2) may have been developed in the Apollonian party... The object is moral improvement, not idle self-display, not the ostentation of individual gifts." (Pulpit Commentary, 1 Cor., p. 459).
The danger of several "unaudited teachers" as opposed to "audited discoursers" is that he may have the power to ignite the fire and have the church consumed before his folly can be corrected--
"The observation of the writer justifies him in saying, nay requires him to say, that where these exercises were encouraged, and regarded as tokens of the divine presence, there they greatly prevailed.
But where they were looked upon as manifestations of enthusiasm, and fanaticism, and therefore, opposed, they did not prevail. So it was, as we have seen, in Scotland, in England, as well as in this Western Country. We have seen that no such disorders attending the preaching of the Apostles (with Pentecost as a sign). (Rogers, Stone Biography, p. 372).
Even those who defended Cane Ridge believed that some of the "exercises" might be hell-produced fire.
Works Best in Crowds
Throughout the record it is clear that most charismatic breakdowns occur only in groups. Nilsson compares Corinth to both pagan and modern epidemics which can be confused as true religion. He notes that there must be a deep personal need (known or subconscious) and peer pressure--
"In reality it was an epidemic of psychopathic religiosity which seized upon mankind, similar to that with which we are familiar in our modern faith healers and speakers with tongues, and in the sorcerers of the nature peoples.
It may not only serve as prophecy and purification,
but may also minister to the dormant longing which exists in every man, however humble his station, to enter into communion with the divine, to feel himself lifted up from the temporal into the spiritual.This form of ecstasy found its herald in the god who, with Apollo, impressed himself most strongly upon the religious feeling of the age--Dionysus. Not every man can be a miracle worker and a seer, but most are susceptible to ecstasy, especially as members of a great crowd, which draws the individual along with it and generates in him the sense of being filled with a higher divine power." (Martin, P. Nilsson, History of Greek Religion, p. 205).
Not Based on Biblical Preaching
The novel doctrine which made Cane Ridge possible was a small change from Calvinistic predestination and Methodist's need for "a double cure" to show that salvation is by faith only. The important ingredient was that anyone, and not just the predestinated, could gain faith from hearing and salvation would immediately result. Stone would have added the need for mourning as an outward sign of repentance while Baptists would demand further teaching and baptism in order to join their groups.
No person taught the principles which Paul outlined in Romans ten or the Great Commission mandate.
While crowds, loud music, shouting and hand waving have been important in the history of inducing charismatic ecstasy, among those properly "prepared" it can begin by the preacher simply telling a joke or telling the crowd to go mad or laugh.
In an era when non-biblical songs and instrumental music were rejected by almost every religious group, forms of singing were developed to accomplish the same thing. For instance, churches discovered that the pipe organ could be virtually replaced by organizing the group into a choir singing four part harmony with complex tonal arrangement. In the same way, the drum or singing can be replaced by an emotion-evoking "death bed story" followed by a "belly-laughing joke" with the sermon delivered with a sing-song, rhythmic beat.
In many cases pure Biblical preaching could stifle the effect. For instance, Stone said that preaching about baptism "chilled the audience." Therefore, as Paul warned, content was ignored and replaced with style.
"The Baptists had a peculiar appeal to the masses. Their preachers, usually with very slight education, knew their audiences and how to address them in language (with a musical cadence) which would hold their attention and bring conviction. They tended to be highly emotional." (Latourette, p. 1037).
In the late nineteenth century--
"'tongues' took place in the Holiness movement, despite the absence of any doctrinal foundation or teaching on glossolalia. The explanation of this lies in the fact that the movement, in its worship, which was characterized by high enthusiasm and often ecstasy,
stimulated unusual motor phenomena. Also in its theology it unwittingly invited glossolalic and other charismatic manifestations." (Unger, Merril F., NT teaching on Tongues, p. 8, Kregel).
In 1853 W. K. Pendelton wrote of the camp-meetings to show that success was not based on hearing the Word but of inducing a "nervous disease" which all history proves can easily be induced by the unscrupulous-
"Simply that it was a peculiar form of nervous disease, that was both epidemic and contagious. It came suddenly, as the destruction and the pestilence, both at noonday and in darkness--seized upon all classes and conditions, good and bad, old and young, male and female, bond and free, saint and sinner; affected them all with the same characteristic symptoms of bodily derangement--tarried for a season and then disappeared. Its effect on the mind, so far as it was peculiar, was simply excitement.
"No new truths were communicated,--no old errors corrected--nor miraculous utterances given; but simply an excitement, despondent or hopeful, gloomy or joyful, clear or confused, according to the convictions of the mind at the time of the attack and influence of circumstances during its continuance." (quoted by Randall, p. 373). Randall, Max Ward, The Great Awakings and the Restoration Movement, College Press
Method May Look like Madness
As a child this writer remembers slipping out at night and watching--from the edge of the forest--as groups "left the house" and went to the "groves" and built "booths" called "brush arbors." The spectacle was fantastic in the absence of TV but the horrors out did Hollywood. Eventually the sheriff was summoned when things got too much out of order. It was called "religion." But even in our innocency we heard about the adultery and knife fights.
A hundred and forty years earlier Barton W. Stone as an often self-supported Presbyterian preacher had witnessed some of the same "charismatic exercises" and set up a joint meeting with several churches at Cane Ridge. It involved several competing preachers with the expectation that something might happen.
"As early as 1794, a Methodist church in North Carolina held meetings in the forests for several days and nights" (Jennings, p. 27-28).
"The camp meeting was well introduced by the beginning of the next century. Excitement was intense. This was largely the result of impassioned preaching, earnest exhortation, loud prayers, and energetic singing. Bodily exercises, as dropping, jerking, and barking, often manifested themselves, but since they too often brought disrepute upon religion, they were frequently condemned by the better educated of all denominations." (Jenning, Walter W., Origin and Early History of the Disciples of Christ, p. 28, Standard).
Sheryl D. Vanderstel New Light Christians, probably the largest of the pre-Campbellite Christian groups, grew from a movement that originated in 1790s New England. Followers of Baptist minister Abner Jones chose to name themselves Christians to stress their non-denominational stance. The Bible was their only doctrine. Meanwhile, in the South, a similar movement began with Methodist circuit rider James O'Kelly who felt that the power of the bishop and the restrictions of the Methodist Doctrine were unchristian...
After the first meeting of the two groups at Stone's church in Georgetown, Kentucky in 1823, Stone often quoted Alexander Campbell in the Christian Messenger. Stone saw Alexander Campbell as a David destroying the Goliath of established churches and their doctrines. Campbell's theology grew from that of his father Thomas Campbell who had been a Presbyterian minister in Scotland. Throughout Alexander's childhood, Thomas withdrew more and more from the teachings of the Scots Presbyterians. A brilliant man with an equally gifted son, they immigrated to America and continued teaching and preaching their doctrine of anti-denominationalism.
Alexander began publishing a newspaper, the Christian Baptist, in 1823. Each issue preached against creeds, denominations, and especially against revivals and the demonstrative and emotion driven religion found there. Hoosiers were especially receptive to his message; independent Upland Southerners were democratic and strong-willed.
Weekly worship for Christian Disciples was a simple matter. No liturgical form was followed. Worship consisted of sermons and prayers with additional hymn singing. The Lord's Supper was an important part of worship. Baptism followed the guidelines of Christ's own baptism, that of adult immersion. Membership in the faith did not require a conversion experience or any examination. One only had to adhere to the tenet of Christ as Savior and Scriptures as the only doctrine.
But even hymn singing during worship caused a problem for some who considered hymns to contain religious doctrine and thus deserving of being excluded from worship.
Campbell felt strongly about the use of hymns in worship and sought to override the objections by compiling a book containing hymn texts appropriate to the Scriptural basis of the faith. His work was simply titled Hymn Book .
AND: Hoosier singing master Silas W. Leonard, also an elder in the church, compiled a book of texts and music for use in Christian churches entitled the Christian Psalmist.
The first congregation in Indianapolis organized as a Campbellite church was the Church of Christ in Indianapolis. Evangelist John O'Kane organized the church in June of 1833.
In 1872 the women began to organize societies and these led to further separation between the TWO SEPARATE groups as well as by conservatives within the Disciples or Christian churches.
The 1906 census recognized that the two groups had no basis for continuing any kind of non-organizational cooperation.
After Stone had witnessed the exercises in Logan County and the news spread through the "frontier telegraph" he returned to Cane Ridge and reported on the exercises. However, he preached: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned."
Understanding the overwhelming and oppressive influence of Calvinism one can see that the "good needs" that anyone can believe, be baptized and be saved might create a violent reaction. At first, the congregation had trouble believing Stone but when they did it did not create charismatic outbreaks. Rather, Stone on p. 36 says that they "were affected with awful solemnity, and many returned home weeping."
He next went to Concord where the Logan experiences occurred. He returned to Cane Ridge and found that many had turned to the Lord. He was met by Nathaniel Rogers who was shouting the praises of God and when the crowd "left the house" "In less than twenty minutes, scores had fallen to the ground--paleness, trembling, and anxiety appeared in all." Many tried to run from the scene but were panic stricken. Stone claimed to have just spoken to a critic and "he fell as a dead man" until he confessed. Some power.
The news spread like "fire in dry stubble driven by a strong wind" and it influenced the entire community. Another meeting was held at Concord and the "wonderful elements" which Stone held in his mind was unity among all denominations and a spirit of love (p. 37).
Stone married and returned to Cane ridge where another meeting had been planned. It began with and among Presbyterians but "Methodist and Baptist preachers aided in the work" and "all preached the same thing." This was "sameness" and it was "unity" for the moment but it was not restorationism. It was acceptance of the Methodist principle that anyone can believe and salvation is the result of faith and repentance. However, Calvinistic Methodists and Baptists, and free-will Methodists and newly-converted Stone all looked for a personal miracle or some proof that one had been saved.
The continuing result for Stone was that all were "convinced that Jesus was the Christ and bowed in submission to him."
While "speaking in tongues" does not readily appear at Cane Ridge, Stone witnessed people speaking "a language almost superhuman." Others were "speaking like angels to all around." Perhaps this is the "tongues of angels" which Paul speaks of.
After Cane Ridge, the Baptists claimed 3011 baptized in 1801 and all Baptists of Kentucky baptized 10,000 in that year. "None" were added by "exercises" but by teaching and baptism. The Methodists added some of "the perfected ones" but the Presbyterians accepted few because the method was rejected. Stone, therefore, was not the beneficiary of these exercises and neither were churches of Christ.
According to Jennings, eighteen Presbyterian ministers attended and there were about 828 church members out of from 10 to 30 thousand people who attended out of curiosity or because they had no better entertainment. Many people were serious but disputes broke out about the methods being used.
<>According to Stone, the "circumstances" almost demanded a charismatic outbreak.
However, the challenge had to be met with proof or no "converts" would be gathered. Later, at Paris there seems to be a contest between those who try to prevent the outbreaks and those who use the power of prayer when not allowed to preach. The "mourning" was clearly seen as proof of God's endorsement.
Part of the outbreak can be explained by "circumstances" of the small, intimate groups where one person could be the fire that ignited a much larger group and there could be a cell-to-cell contagion--
"They were commonly collected in small circles of ten or twelve, close adjoining another circle, and all engaged in singing... hymns; and then a minister steps upon a stump or log and begins an exhortation or sermon..."
It should be noted that some participated in charismatic practices which were defined by many as fanatic. However, many more were emotionally moved to mourning over their lives which demanded some repenting. Many of these were sincere but many were manipulated by being frightened out of their wits as the result of common frontier "evangelism."
Others began to be struck down and they were carried out of the area so that they could recover and--as facts come out--be collected by one of the proselyters (Campbell's views). Jennings notes that there were about 1000 such persons were so frightened that they were "crying for mercy" but this does not say how many went into a charismatic episode--
"On Sabbath night, I saw above 100 persons at once on the ground crying for mercy of all ages from 8 to 60 years.. The whole number brought to the ground under convictions about one thousand, not less."
"When a person is struck down he is carried by others out of the congregation, when some minister converses with and prays with him, afterwards a few gather around and sing a Hymn suitable to his case." (Jenning, Walter W., Origin and Early History of the Disciples of Christ, p. 29, Standard).
This, from what we can tell, would be viewed by Stone as proof of sorrow for sin but it does not explain how many did what he called "fanatic."
Goldschmidt notes that music is perhaps the most conservative culture traits. A profound social upheaval, a new population, a new set of mores, migration to a new territory can upset one's equilibrium. Observers noted that some who were involved in such an emotional breakdown was often near death and singing was one of the ways to bring the person back to reality by making contact with old values--
"... the primary effect of music is to give the listener a feeling of security, for it symbolizes the place where he was born, his earliest childhood satisfaction, and his work--any or all of these personality shaping experiences.
<>As soon as the familiar sound pattern is established, he is prepared to laugh, to weep, to dance, to fight, to worship, etc...
Apparently the character and the variety of the music matters less than its conformity to tradition, which produces a sensation of security. The work of composers in the folk world is, so far as I have observed, limited by this stylistic security-bringing framework." (Goldschmidt, Walter, Exploring the Ways of Mankind, p. 609, Holt, Rinehart and Winston)"One important contribution of the curing chants of good group relationships comes from the informal chat that goes on between the Singer and the patient and other members of the family.
Since the Singer is usually an intellectual, who often knows the habits and tendencies of his clientel in the manner as the family doctor in white society, it is very likely that, like the family doctor, he often gives sound practical advice...
The people have a more or less conscious realization that the ceremonies act as a cure, not only for physical and mental illness, but also for antisocial tendencies.
For example, the myth of the Mountain Top Way chant says: 'The ceremony cured Dsiliyi Neyani of all his strange feelings and notions..." One 'just completed a jail sentence for beating his wife and molesting his stepdaughter remarked: 'I am sure going to behave from now on. I am going to be changed--just like someone who has been sung over." (Goldschmidt, Walter, Exploring the Ways of Mankind, p.516-7, Holt, Rinehart and Winston)
From the experiences following Cane Ridge we learn that the Baptists especially were actively involved in collecting converts during and following the meeting. "Talking, praying with and singing to" has been a common evangelical tool to bond or enfold one into the group to establish continuity between the "new experience" and "joining the church." That is, if Goldschmidt is correct, it may form a bridge between one's old pre-ecstatic encounter and a new life: a "change of law is signalled by a change in music," if we believe Plato.
There were undoubtedly many who fell as a result of a conviction of sin. If so, it was a conviction which provided no immediate Biblical remedy. However, when the magic does not work the magician, from Ishtar priests downward, gets away with because he says "better luck next year."
"Together with the myths about witchcraft, they have the effect of plugging up certain holes in the ideological system. If chants don't work, the Navaho doesn't have to say, 'Well, that ceremonial is no good.' He is encouraged to say, in effect, 'I am certain that that chant is wonderfully powerful, but naturally you can't expect it to prevail against the evil strength of witches.' In this and in other ways, witchcraft conceptions supply a partial answer to some of the deepter uncertainties." (Goldschmidt, Walter, Exploring the Ways of Mankind, p.517, Holt, Rinehart and Winston).
In such a Calvinistic-like atmosphere the person cannot tell whether he is the doctor or the patient, the witch or the victim. If the Singer or Chanter doesn't succeed perhaps it is because you as Satan "are sitting on my chest." In these disenfranchised societies the manipulator gets away with it because--
"It is no accident that a high proportion of those who suddenly show symptoms of being bewitched (such as fainting or going into a semi-trance) at 'squaw dances' or other large gatherings are women or men who are somewhat neglected or who occupy low social status." (Goldschmidt, Walter, Exploring the Ways of Mankind, p. 518, Holt, Rinehart and Winston)
Therefore, while we cannot judge the sincerity of those who fell into some convulsive experience, we can say that they were not radically different from ancient and modern pagan experiences. Many of these elements find their parallel in Corinth where they might be "carried away by demons." Parrinder notes that--
"When a person is possessed he, or she, often falls to the ground as if dead. The body is carried away by attendants at the dance to the 'god-house' and there is brought back to life and trained for a new personality and new existence...During the formation the devotee learns texts and songs belonging to the god, practices ecstatic possession under the guidance of an elder, and often learns a new language, which is the traditional tongue of the cult... The hair is often cut in characteristic ways, and necklaces and other ornaments and clothing indicate to the outside world to which god the medium belongs." (Parrinder)
The people did not continue to meet at the "high place" in the "groves" but most returned to their "houses." It was there that the gathered converts would be trained for a new life and learn the rules of being a Baptist or Methodist. In the "perfectionists" or Holiness circles, the hair was not cut but most had a certain "identifiable" hair style and the "clothing" certainly indicated to the outside world to which group the person belonged--a holy person wears holy clothes.
Another writer confirms that the true "exercises" also fit the pattern of even non Christian groups: they are normally the result of anxiety created over a long period. What may have been genuine sorrow for sins and blessed relief at the free will preaching
However, the news spread and people became weary, things Stone called fanatic and others call unexpected and bizzarre began to happen--
"As the revival interest grew, and as the meeting became larger and longer, unexpected and bizarre manifestations, called 'exercises,' began to occur. They were considered visible manifestations of the direct action of the Holy Spirit... The commonest were the 'falling exercise' and the 'jerks.' The names are sufficiently explanatory. The barking exercise sometimes accompanied the jerks, and the dancing exercise grew out of them. There was also the running exercise. It was reported that those who came to scoff were not immune to these seizures. However, it was only the devout who ever experienced the laughing exercise." (Winfred E. Garrison and Alfred T. DeGroot, The Disciples of Christ, St. Louis: The Bethany Press, 1948, p. 99).
Charismatic outbreaks most often affect women and an expanded role for women is often the result. It is a scientific fact that men and women are different! Women tend to be right-brain dominated with a fine sense of music, flowers, and new drapes. Men, on the other hand tend to be more interested in organization and buildings. Girls still like dolls and boys like hammers. Young women are more likely to raise their hands to "make contact" with a favorite singer and far more likely to scream or even faint. Therefore, even an "ugly" man-child can become a hero with music and motion. It is a historical fact that music and charismatic acts are predominantly a right-brain manifestation. Just as suppressing the endorphins induced by music eliminates that "spiritual" feeling, suppressing the right side of the brain reduces or eliminates the musical "thrill" confused as proof of the Spirit.
Observers have noted that one way to gain power over an "inferior" person such as a woman, a black slave or even an Indian is to adopt their magical practices. This may be similar to a warrior eating the flesh and drinking the blood of a slain victim to gain their courage. That is, there is an urge to drain the inferior of the last vestiges of their possible superiority.
Many religious revivals of the frontier were intensely social events where people came to see and be seen, buy and sell, and often to find an eligible mate. The "squaw dance" was one such event where even "the shyest girl is induced to choose a man, and the dance goes on until morning."
"It is no accident that a high proportion of those who suddenly show symptoms of being bewitched (such as fainting or going into a semi-trance) at 'squaw dances' or other large gatherings are women or men who are somewhat neglected or who occupy low social status. In most of these cases it is probably not a matter of consciously capitalizing on the credence of their fellows in order to get the center of the stage for themselves. It is unlikely that Navahos often deliberately complain of the symptoms of witchcraft as a device for getting attention. The process normally takes place at an altogether unconscious level: those whose uneasiness goes beyond certain point have to do with something; and if they are believed to be at the mercy of witches they are likely to get help." (Goldschmidt, Walter, Exploring the Ways of Mankind, p. 518, Holt, Rinehart and Winston)
In the Old Testament, it was always foreign, pagan women who introduced charismatic worship but, in the end, it would be the righteous women of Israel who would suffer when the men (and male leadership) was taken over by Assyria as the "arrogant tongue speakers."
"Ezekiel was particularly aghast at the sun worship there and a Canaanite fertility cult, which he calls 'weeping for Tammuz. The Tammuz cult in the temple was being practiced by women, and it appears that they must bear their full share of responsibility for introducing heathen practices into Israel...
to the bad record of women may be added the activities of Solomon's wives who imported worship of the gods of Moab and Ammon, and of Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, who brought with her from Phoenicia the cult of the Tyrian Baal." (Heaton, E. W., Everyday Life in the Old Testament, p. 231-232, Scribners)
Tyre was called "the prostitute city" and the "song of the prostitute" demanded that you take up the harp and march out into the streets to seek customers. Even in Egypt Israel had been called a "prostitute" because she allowed the effeminate, charismatic, musical practices of pagan worship to dominate them.
Many pagan religions developed from female deities and goddesses. Therefore, it was common that women served as prophetess or priestess. In these religions there is a strong feminine characteristic which drives musical and ecstatic religion as a way to "arouse" the god and the worshipper to enable a "personal relationship."
Therefore, before describing the crazy-looking exercises in First Corinthians, chapter 14 Paul said in 11:17 that "your assemblies do more harm than good." Then he contrasted Christianity with paganism--
The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 1 Cor 14:32
For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
As in all the congregations (collective assembly) of the saints,
women should remain silent in the churches.
They are not allowed to speak,
but must be in submission, (i.e., in control)
as the Law says. 1 Cor 14:33-34
When the Corinthians had several dominant leaders over divisive parties they turned to charismatic rituals which according to chapter 10 could mean that they were practicing idolatry and "cursing Jesus" in chapter 12. Paul identifies a pagan form of prophesying in which women abandoned their home and went to the temple with bare head to participate in charismatic "prophesying." From the Old Testament raving prophets we know that they were involved in pagan ecstasy--
"The Hithpa'el of nb', in the ancient texts, refers to ecstasy and delirium rather than to the emission of a 'prophecy'." (de Vaux, p. 243).
From earlier and later practices we can determine what was happening in Corinth to make them see "insane" or "mad." Of course, some "unbelievers" would see these practices and identify the church as just another pagan gathering where men were usually involved in female worship or female prophetesses were bringing on ecstasy--
"This is how Apuleius describes the cortege of the Syrian goddess '...they began to howl all out of tune and hurl themselves hither and thither, as though they were mad. They made a thousand gestures with their feet and their heads; they would bend down their necks and spin round so that their hair flew out in a circle; they would bite their own flesh; finally, every one took his two-edged weapon and wounded his arms in divers places." (de Vaux, p. 242) de Vaux, Roland, The Bible and the Ancient Near East, Doubleday
David used a similar description of God bringing on His own judgment upon the pagan nations which afflicted Israel--
<>"Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. -- Psa 149:5
May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, -- Psa 149:6
to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, -- Psa 149:7
We noted earlier that David is not the worship leader but the prophet. And his prophecies were often turned inward to define the destruction of Israel as a result of their pagan-like worship which "did more harm than good." They were praising God for His destructiveness but God would destroy them when they rejected every offer of salvation.
Paul addressed one demon spirit directly and commanded it to come out of the girl. She was possessed by pneuma Puthona or a Phythian spirit. Unger explains that "In Greek mythology Python was the name of a legendary dragon that haunted the region of Pytho at the foot of Mt. Parnassus in Phocis... Pytho is accordingly the older name of Delphi." It was a divining demon according to Hesychius--
"The spiritist maid at Philippi is interesting, too, in illustrating the fact that 'the vehicles of manifestation resembling possession in the ancient world are almost exclusively women... Among the possessed prophetesses of historic times the most eminent is the Pythoness.' The Delphic seeress was originally a maid from the surrounding countryside. She was reputed to be filled with the god Apollo himself and his spirit. The god, as was believed, entered into the physical body, and the priestess' soul, loosed from her body, apprehended the divine revelations. What she uttered was spoken through her by the god (demon)."
Many of the ancient writers identify music as "the effeminate art" and identify the few males involved in charismatic rituals as effeminate--
"But further, if they see men weakening themselves to the effeminacy of women, some vociferating uselessly, others running about without cause, others... bruising themselves... contending in speaking without drawing breath, swelling out their cheeks with wind, and shouting out noisily empty vows, do they lift up their hands to heaven in their admiration." (Arnobius Against the Heathen, Ante-Nicene Fathers, VI, p. 531)
Lenski agrees that the Corinthian condemnation involves everything from 11:17 to the end of chapter 14. Women were involved in the style of "prophesying" which allowed the pagan prophetess to "throw off her veil." Therefore, they were regulated to guarantee that the "Jesus cursers" of 12:1f did not involve the entire assembly. From Old Testament evidence we know that when Israel fell into such outbreaks it was usually promoted by foreign women who had gained control over the Israelite religion.
Later, we will note that Stone confessed to being led far afield by mystic theology and he pointed out that much that happened was fanatical. There was often a close association between such worship and identifying God in some human form of sexuality--
"Mystics often speak of raptures, or being rapt, which derives from the same root as raped. But the difference is in the consent and willing abandon to love in which the soul is female and the divinity male. Both male and female mystics generally regard the soul as female, passive and receptive" (Parrinder, p. 170).
"There is no point at all in blinking at the fact that the raptures of the theistic mystic are closely akin to the transports of sexual union, the soul playing the part of the female and God appearing as the male." (Zaehner quoted by Parrinder, p. 170). Parrinder, Geoffrey, Mysticism in the World's Religions, Oxford University Press, NY
The strong evidence is that Paul's prohibitions were not formed in a vacuum but flowed from the erroneous practices which were actually taking place within the Corinthian assembly.
This evidence is so strong that Bruner asks the rhetorical question: "Did most of the trouble with tongues-speaking in Corinth come from women?"
He asks this question because Paul made a close association between the disorder which would come from pagan, feminine practices (primarily tongues and music) and the restrictions on public participation by women. By not having a mixed attempt to reveal God's Word the church could guard against charismatic outbreaks. However,
"People speak as if the divine authority of the prophetic word were somehow dependent on, or confirmed by, the fact that the prophets enjoyed visions... In the New Testament Paul lays down the principle that,
in true prophecy, self-consciousness, and self-command are never lost." (Vincent, Word Studies, p. 272).
In Corinth all of the people had a "song" or prayer or speech and they all wanted to blurt out their message at the same time in the "language" of ecstasy. In the same way, in one Old Testament model the "raving prophets" found out what the king wanted to be "revealed" and they all "sang in unison" (1 Ki. 22:12) so that they would all appear "inspired." They were "filled with the spirit" but it was a "lying spirit (22:23). However, Micaiah as the true prophet did not "prophesy" (sing) in unison with the raving prophets but spoke only what God wanted to be revealed. It is not possible, therefore, for God to speak to the gathering when everyone is trying to tell Him what He should have said--
"But the prophet, speaking under the influence of Yahweh's spirit, was able to interpret the meaning of events and to proclaim the will of God in concrete terms. This of course, was not possible so long as the prophetic group was acting or singing in unison. So more and more we see individuals standing out from the prophetic band, even breaking from it, in order to proclaim the word of God for a particular crisis." (Anderson, p. 231). Anderson, Bernhard W., Understanding the Old Testament, 3rd, Prentice-Hall, p
At Cane Ridge
"The exercises at times seemed to affect women and children disproportionately, but not always. At least two-thirds of those Lyle reported as down at Cane Ridge were women or girls, but this estimate may accurately represent only their numbers within the churches. Clearly, young people were disproportionately among those who believed themselves converted, but this circumstance stemmed from the fact that they were the largest component of people outside the church. One contextual factor--the number of people who went without food for a day or longer in the midst of heat and humidity--may have increased slightly the number who felt light-headed or even those who fainted." (Conkin, p. 104)
"Mystics often speak of raptures, or being rapt, which derives from the same root as raped. But the difference is in the consent and willing abandon to love in which the soul is female and the divinity male. Both male and female mystics generally regard the soul as female, passive and receptive" (Parrinder, p. 170).
"There is no point at all in blinking at the fact that the raptures of the theistic mystic are closely akin to the transports of sexual union, the soul playing the part of the female and God appearing as the male." (Zaehner quoted by Parrinder, p. 170).
"At times the exercises skirted the bounds of Presbyterian propriety--women fell in unladylike positions, legs and breasts might be scandalously exposed, people in comas might become incontinent, men and women occasionally fell off horses... At least at a distance some of the more frenzied dances bore an uncommon similarity to those in taverns; some bodily convulsions hinted at sexual congress. But it was clearly unfair to blame people for such appearances, as unfair as to indict those huge religious gatherings for the often scandalous behavior of spectators (largely involving drinking or coupling)." (Conkin, p. 113).
About the time the Stone and Campbell movement were uniting, a camp meeting was held in Cincinnati where "madness" was clearly a sign that Jesus was with them. Mrs. Trollope gives us more insight into the charismatic victimization of women--
"One young girl, apparently not more than fourteen, was supported in the arms of another some years older; her face was pale as death; her eyes wide open, and perfectly devoid of meaning; her chin and bosom wet with slaver; she had every appearance of idiotism. I saw a priest approach her, he took her delicate hand, 'Jesus is with her!' (Jenning, Walter W., Origin and Early History of the Disciples of Christ, p. 36, Standard)
Of the Corinthian parallel to Cane Ridge and in Cincinnati, the Pulpit Commentary identifies the slaver of the young girl as the foaming lip. He notes that--
"Maniac inspirations, the violent possession which threw sibyls and priestesses into contortions--the foaming lip and streaming hair and glazed or glaring eyes--have no place in the self-controlling dignity of Christian inspiration. Even Jewish prophets, in the paroxysm of emotion, might lie naked on the ground and rave (1 Sam. xix. 24); but the genuine inspiration in Christian ages never obliterates the self-consciousness or overpowers the reason. It abhors the hysteria and stimulation and frenzy which have sometimes disgraced revivalism and filled lunatic asylums." (Pulpit Commentary, 1 Cor., p. 460).
This has a parallel in the life of David who, when hearing the song which originally honored him now threatened his life. Saul had been sent an evil spirit from God while David played his music but now David has to run for his life. He went to Achish the king of Gath but the flattering song of the women turned to bore him like an angry bull--
"But the servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances: "'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands'?" 1 Sam 21:11
David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 1 Sam 21:12
So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman (epileptic note LXX), making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 1 Sam 21:13
Adam Clark states that the text says that "he changed his behaviour." That is, he literally "was turned into another man" just like Saul--
"Some imagine that David was so terrified at the danger to which he was now exposed, that he was thrown into a kind of frenzy, accompanied with epileptic fits." "It is worthy of remark, that the spittle falling upon the beard, i. e., slavering or frothing at the mouth, is a genuine concomitant of an epileptic fit." (p. 279).
The LXX says that David would be seen as an epileptic. Even if he acted the part of a lunatic to escape judgment Clark concludes--
"but if mocking be catching, according to the proverb, he who feigns himself to be mad may through the just judgment of God, become so. I dare not be the apologist of insincerity or lying." Later, Clark concluded: "He was undone as a wise man, he had a chance to escape as a madman; he tried, and the experiment succeeded." (p. 279)
Many of the pagan rituals--including music--was to "call a god into his temple" and we see this repeated in the contest between God and Jezebel's prophets on Mount Carmel. Therefore, the priest--long accustomed to a Babylonian form of religion--saw "madness" as proof that "Jesus was with her." However, less indoctrinated watchers would just see her--as in Corinth--as insane.
Mrs. Trollope noted that most of the possessed were young girls. They found their way to the mourner's bench which quickly ran its course--
"It is hardly necessary to say, that all who obeyed the call to themselves on the 'anxious benches' were women and by far the greater number, very young women."
"It is thus the ladies of Cincinnati amuse themselves; to attend the theater is forbidden; to play cards is unlawful... For myself, I confess that I think the coarsest comedy ever written would be a less detestable exhibition for the eyes of youth and innocence that such scenes" (revivals).
"Out of about thirty persons thus placed, perhaps half a dozen were men." (Jenning, Walter W., Origin and Early History of the Disciples of Christ, p. 37, Standard).
Mrs. Trollope then records the scene between a young man and a young women which does not bear repeating--
"Many of these wretched creatures were beautiful young females (p. 38). When the preacher embraced the lady something happened to 'tinge the pale cheek with red.' Had I been a man, I am sure I should have been guilty of some rash act of interference."
She reports that by breakfast time,
last night's "demoniac" was "simpering beside some swain, for whom the erstwhile enthusiast carefully provided hot coffee and eggs... but before our departure we learned that a very satisfactory collection had been made."
See some of Mrs. Trollope's comments here.
She described a preacher who spat tobacco juice and preached the same phrases over and over "for two hours in a drawling, nasal tone... He uttered the words of his text a hundred times." Jennings (p. 41) quotes A. B. Hart to say: "Revivalists like Finney and Nettleton preached the tortures of damned souls until people shrieked and dropped fainting in their pews." This is what happened to most of those at Cane Ridge.
Some Consequences of Cane Ridge
A true "church of Christ" did not need anything but the quiet teaching of the Word to grow. Therefore, all of the true restoration efforts immediately or gradually rejected the charismatic "exercises." For instance, some of the results was that they were--
Expanded Role for Women
Charismatic or musical worship is considered by many ancient and modern scholars to be almost impossible without a dominant role by women. Because they were the dominant "fruit" of revivals like Cane Ridge it was natural that they assume a greater role in the worship of the churches. Conkin notes that McNemar and Stone--
"Stopped ordaining ministers, condemned the ministerial elite in existing churches, abolised subscriptions or other contractural forms of payment for ministers, and demanded that called ministers live simple lives, without finery or worldly distinctions.
"They drastically expanded the role of lay people in their congregations and in many cases allowed new leadership roles for women, who made up a majority in their congregations." (Conkin, p. 132)
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Writers noted that this was Calvinistic which denied that "you" could hear the word and believe it if God had not predestinated you. The primary motive for leaving various denominations was the denial of the power of God to reach anyone on the face of the earth. There would have been little to recommend a new group if they were going to turn around and accept that which they believed was most destructive.
The "exercises," therefore, reinforced the primary movement away from the need for supernatural signs to prove what God had already guaranteed to those who believed. Because the "exercises" had no Biblical basis in the preaching, restoration leaders repudiated them--
"The reason the delusions made little progress among the disciples save only at Kirtland where the way for it was paved by the common stock principle (communism), is to be found in the cardinal principle everywhere taught and accepted among them that faith is founded upon testimony." (Hayden, Quoted by Jividen, p. 85). Jividen, Jimmy, Glossolalia from God or Man
We have tried to show that even Stone saw a clear difference between the mourning and the fanatic outbreaks. What Hayden calls delusions died out very quickly and even the mourning gave way to accepting Christ through baptism.
Encouraged Shakerism in Kentucky
Three of Stone's small band left their wives and joined the Shakers. It is significant that a primary "act of worship" of the celibate Shakers was a dance. At Shakertown one is likely to get the impression of a quiet, revolving dance with the "father" and "mother" in their private quarters looking down on the family. However, William Hasket in Shakerism Unmasked (1828) showed why the movement would attract those who had been at Cane Ridge and could not abide Stone's new focus upon the Word. Again, it was only the sisters who spoke in tongues as it probably was at Corinth and any pagan temple down the street--
"The sisters began to talk in 'unknown tongues.' Then commenced a scene of awful riot. Now was heard the loud shouts of the brethren, then the soft but hurried note of the sisters, whose gifts were the apostolic gift of tongues. These gently gestured their language, waved themselves backward and forward like a ship on the billows of a ceased storm, shook their heads, seized their garments, and then violently stamped on the floor. The exercise had lost its violence, and exertion grew faint; yet a continued din of frightful yells rendered the scene a scene of confusion, a scene of blasphemy, an awful scene. After, probably, three quarters of an hour had transpired, the members were called to order, and the meeting adjourned." (Hamilton, p. 83).
The outsider would assuredly see the "worship service" as madness and therefore "doing more harm than good."
The "spirit" of Cane Ridge led even leaders to Shakertown. Does the Holy Spirit want us to abandon our family and become monastic? If not, then the "fruit" of Cane Ridge is not worth eating. Many of those who went into Shakerism by being "set on fire" by Cane Ridge and its aftermath lived to regret it. When I visited Shakertown I couldn't find a single Shaker!
Samuel Rogers shows that the men who were with Stone at Cane Ridge continued to try to recruit preachers and others into the movement.
Adopted by Mormonism as Validation
This movement did not form the basis for Churches of Christ but the movement became the basis and "proof" for Mormonism. However, Stone saw two events which have special interest to the student of the Bible and history. In addition to the "breast singing"--
"Stone reports that some of the people became amazingly acrobatic, for they would stand in one place and jerk backward for forward with their head almost touching the ground."
However, we quoted de Vaux above to show that the "contortions and the head thrown back" were common practices of the "prophets" of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel. We also noted that it was common for possessed people to look like their necks were broken.
In addition, this and other "exercises" were repeated in Mormon circles. Therefore, what proves too much may prove nothing which we may adapt into the modern church services. One future disciple of Joseph Smith wrote of one such "exercise"--
"Hundreds fell to the ground senseless, the most elegantly dressed women in Kentucky lying in the mud alongside rugged trappers. Some were seized with the 'jerks,' their heads and limbs snapping back and forth and their bodies grotesquely distorted. Those who caught the 'barks' would crawl on all fours, growling and snapping like the camp dogs, fighting over garbage heaped behind tents... One preacher wrote to another: 'thousands of tongues with the sound of hallelujah seemed to run through infinite space; while hundreds of people lay prostrate on the ground crying for mercy. Oh! My dear brother, had you been there to have seen the convulsed limbs, the apparently lifeless bodies, you have been constrained to cry out as I was obliged to do, the gods are among the people." (Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History (New York: A.A. Knopf, 1945), p. 14).
"when people who swooned assumed a fetal position and rolled around like hoops. Another was the jerks, the most wild form of convulsions. Last was what he (McNemar) called barking. Under conviction, individuals seemed deliberately to debase themselves by assuming a doglike posture and growling and barking for hours. Several visitiors observed numerous people acting like dogs. Even McNemar deplored this most degrading behavior, and attributed it to a reluctance to dance in worship." (Conkin, p. 130).
This
was exactly what happened
when the musical, charismatic rituals of pagans declared "the gods
are among the people." Madness has always been the sign that a god is
at work because the "gods hate people and demand that they do the
god's work or they will hurt you."
Rising
up to PLAY as at Mount Sinai.
When
Israel rose up to PLAY at Mount Sinai stimulated by musical idolatry we
would have seen the revivalistic antics take place. God abandoned them
to worship the starry host. Later, when they had more
security,
one way to slow the take over of the nation was for Balak
to "to
proclaim an idolatrous feast in honor of their idol gods, and he would
persuade the Israelites to attend, that they might be delighted with
the music."
it was secretly arranged that Balaam should induce the Israelites to attend. He was regarded by them as a prophet of God, and hence had little difficulty in accomplishing his purpose. Great numbers of the people joined him in witnessing the festivities. They ventured upon the forbidden ground, and were entangled in the snare of Satan. Beguiled with music and dancing, and allured by the beauty of heathen vestals, they cast off their fealty to Jehovah. As they united in mirth and feasting, indulgence in wine beclouded their senses and broke down the barriers of self-control. Passion had full sway; and having defiled their consciences by lewdness, they were persuaded to bow down to idols. They offered sacrifice upon heathen altars and participated in the most degrading rites.
It was not long before the poison had spread, like a deadly infection, through the camp of Israel. Those who would have conquered their enemies in battle were overcome by the wiles of heathen women. The people seemed to be infatuated. The rulers and the leading men were among the first to transgress, and so many of the people were guilty that the apostasy became national. "Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor."
Notes:
What happens? The kingdom of priests- a holy-nation are seduced by Midianite women to worship Baal Peor, an idol whose main form of worship was to defecate before it. A tribal leader openly flaunts his relationship and twenty four thousand people die in a plague before Pinchas puts an end to the episode with one fell swoop.
"Baal Peor is one of the most revolting and disgusting forms of idol worship. The Gemara relates that those who worshipped Baal Peor would consume various laxatives and then proceed to relieve themselves before the idol. What attraction could such a disgusting form of idolatry contain for Israel?
"Seen in a deeper sense, Baal Peor represents the tearing down of all moral and religious restrictions and prohibitions. Idolaters, too, had their morals manifested by their deity, and by the mode of its worship. The worshippers of Baal Peor rebelled against these very strictures, proclaiming their complete lack of recognition of any system of values whatsoever. This iconoclasm and espousal of anarchy became their very god!
Sidney Rigdon's Influence
Sidney Rigdon could not create any interest in the Cane Ridge Theology among restoration churches except at Kirtland, Ohio where "the delusions" made progress among about half of the church--again division resulted.
However, he had already been rejected as a fanatic who would readily promote the "exercises." Alexander Campbell said of Rigdon in 1831:
"His instability I was induced to ascribe to a peculiar mental and corporeal malady, to which he has been subject for some years. Fits of melancholy succeeded by fits of enthusiasm accompanied by some kind of nervous spasms and swoonings which he has, since his defection, interpreted into the agency of the Holy Spirit, or the recovery of spiritual gifts, produced a versatility in his genius and deportment which has been increasing for some years." (Randall, p. 368)
His very "madness" caused people to believe that he was "tetched by God." In addition, he understood the charismatic preaching style very well. And even those considered quite outrageous can attract the curious.
When he got excited over Sidney's young daughter, Joseph Smith "had a vision" and used the ploy that God had instructed him to take her as a wife. If God agreed then who was she to resist his efforts. He locked her in a room but she couldn't be seduced. She "told" and created a stir which troubled Sidney that a "prophet" would do such a thing. The women were not fooled but saw this as attempted rape.
One Church which Failed
Sandra Tanner (a descendant of Brigham Young) and her husband, Jerald, in "Mormonism-Shadow or Reality" show that much of Mormonism sprang from the charismatic exercises of Cane Ridge and elsewhere. It took the name "The Church of Christ" but later added "of Latter Day Saints" to distinguish it from the growing restoration movement. For instance, Joseph Smith got his idea about an unpaid ministry from Alexander Campbell. Much of Mormonism is identified by the Tanners as a result of Joseph Smith competing with various charismatic groups which claimed to be "restoration movements." Much of the good was copied from Campbell and the mystical which surfaced during the camp meetings came out of Sydney Rigdon's mind and found its way into the Book of Mormon.
However, the church and its members still needed a "sign" to validate the doctrine and leadership. So-
Again, by being set up by the Cane Ridge and other episodes, at Kirtland, Ohio they saw angels, Satan as an angel of light, angelic beings on horses jumped through the ceiling, they received the sword of Laban, they chased balls over the forests, they could tell the quality of angels by the color of their hair, tell if you were a demon by your handshake, letters came down from heaven, they screamed like panthers, a huge man turned sumersaults, some kept Bowie knives under their pillows to keep Satan away, a steamboat well painted and filled with people who waved passed over the city, braying asses turned out to be Satan, Christ promised to come within 15 years, they wrestled with devils. A half-dozen girls swore on paper that they had seen the same angel and on and on.
You can never have such supernatural proof of your ministry that another cannot do better to prove that he, not you, is to be followed.
Kirtland became the site of the first Mormon temple. They continued to "one upmanship" the other groups and the "exercises" continued as long as they needed validation. We noted above that charismatics often see themselves as warriors who have just defeated the enemy. While his name may be "Satan" he is, at times, black slaves and inferior Indians. For men to prove their superiority over women they imitate the high-pitched form of female singing; to prove themselves superior to their slave brothers they adopt their charismatic rituals brought from Africa; and to prove themselves over the Indians (who were ancient Jews who came over in a boat with doors in the bottom) they adopted their languages--
"Many would have fits of speaking in all of the Indian dialects which none could understand. Again at the dead hour of the night, young men might be seen running over the fields and hills in pursuit, as they said, of balls of fire, lights, etc.) ( Jividen, Jimmy, Glossolalia from God or Man, p. 84).
"At Kirtland, Ohio, the place of the first temple, Brigham Young received the gift of tongues several weeks after his baptism while praying with some friends: 'The Spirit came on me, and I spoke in tongues, and we thought only of the day of Pentecost.' The Saints anxiously awaited the arrival and the verdict of their Prophet, Joseph Smith. When he came, he informed Young that his gift of tongues was the pure Adamic language.' Shortly thereafter, Smith himself received the gift." ( Hamilton, Michael P., The Charismatic Movement, Eerdmans, p. 87).
However, while claiming the ability to reveal God's word, Mormons--along with almost everyone else--denounced these "exercises" as extreme. However, they did not reject speaking in tongues because you cannot accept "latter day revelation" without promoting the experience. You cannot have "prophets" with out prophesies and apostles, music and madness.
"And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the interpretation of tongues; behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ." (Mormon 9:7-8a).
However, Hamilton, on page 88, recounts the story of a Mormon elder who published an account of their experience of glossolalia (the Cane Ridge phenomena continued).
"He accused some of the speakers in tongues with stopping at a 'gin shop' on their way to meeting and arriving 'beastly drunk with whisky.' He recalled that 'one would jump up, put forth his arm, stretch out his neck, shut his eyes, and at the top of his voice begin a series of disjointed utterances. When he had finished, he collapsed, and, at his last 'fiz,' another arose to interpret."
While alcohol was not a problem until after the period of revivalism, it would be totally unnatural if alcohol--the national drink of Bourbon county, Kentucky--did not provide some of the fuel for Cane Ridge among the "trappers" and other men of the frontier. Some observers note the alcohol and sex connection in these early revivals.
Barton W. Stone Questioned the Exercises
Barton W. Stone is periodically claimed to be the true "founder" of churches of Christ; and this form of charismatic "exercise" is claimed to be our "roots" which we have rejected and need to "replant" through an emotional revival. However, Stone did not continue to promote the experience and Campbell praised him while utterly condemning the Cane Ridge episode as some form of insanity. He could not approve of Stone if Stone promoted charismatic religion. While Stone never agreed with Campbell about many things, there would have been agreement about the exercises or one cannot imagine Campbell having anything to do with him.
It seems that Stone valued "unity and love" and was less concerned with doctrinal differences. However, as we will not later, it was the doctrinal differences which survived Cane Ridge after the fever of the exercises had burned itself out. His approval of the exercises, therefore, are based on what he saw as the initial (but never real) signs of the end of denominationalism.
In Stone's Autobiography, defends the initial unity and love but he speaks of the "core" of the experience by saying--
"That there were many eccentricities, and much fanaticism in this excitement, was acknowledge by its warmest advocates; indeed it would have been a wonder, if such things had not appeared, in the circumstances of that time. Yet the good effects were that... 'it silenced contention and promoted unity for a while; and these blessed effects (unity--not exercises) would have continued--but, but, but." (Biography, p. 42).
First, What does he define as fanaticism? We know that Stone was much too wise to get personally involved with this activity. Could he have agreed with "falling, jerks, barking, dancing, running, laughing"? Is this what he called eccentric and fanatic? He was clearly impressed with "singing from the belly" or some form other than with the voice. The intelligent ancients understood this as "ventriloquism."
Second, "This was acknowledged by its warmest advocates." Was he not a warm advocate? Indeed, he was not. We believe that the essentials Stone took from these meetings was unity and love even when he was puzzled over the meaning of the exercises.
Third, his conclusion is that the "eccentricities had to happen in the circumstances of the time." Would they not happen in a quiet church? No. Stone knew of the general principles which govern these activities. In addition, he had seen them put into action at other places and had introduced the method at Cane Ridge before the exercises got out of hand.
Fourth, the good effect was unity and not a new form of charismatic religion.
Fifth, the unity continued only "for a while." If this was the work of the Holy Spirit wouldn't He have promoted unity as a result? Stone will say that the unity among churches which existed before Cane Ridge was lost as a result of how the experience was used. Rogers used a similar expression which associated Stone with the exercises "in the beginning."
They held another "camp-meeting" at Paris where the "multitudes" assembled. It was opposed by the Calvinists who tried to get the people out of the tents and worship in a house at night to prevent the outbreaks. However, Stone admitted that less than half of the "multitude" could get into a house--small "multitude."
Some went to the house and some remained in the tents and "The consequence was, the meeting was divided, and the work greatly impeded." The preacher was extolled and Stone could not stand it even though he was bleeding from the lungs. He went to the place and when he was not allowed to preach he prayed. Very shortly "the house was filled with cries of distress" (p. 43). It was only then that he "pointed them the way of salvation." The mourning was all that survived as proof that one had faith.
After this spectacular event there were still only five men who came out of Presbyterianism as leaders with Stone--and all of these deserted him. They obviously were not "attracted" to Stone or his Bible teaching and he was forced to rebuild by going from "house to house" and "working with his own hands."
Most Lives Unchanged
Scholars note that alcoholism and general disorder was very rare prior to the so-called Revivalism. However, within a few short years these became an epidemic so that in addition to the Indians, you now had to watch out for the "brethren" quite often the young. We noted above that the Gnostics sought to be "included" so that they believed that they could no longer sin. The result was that they were worse off from the experience.
Stone was interested in "speculative" and "mystic" theology and believed that the experiences at Cane Ridge meant that people were really changed. When he found that the Presbyterians had not been impressed, the Baptists and Methodists had taken their "pick of the flock," and he had been deprived of his job, his pay, and his slaves this may mark the beginning of his extreme health problems.
As a sincere idealist he gave up his salary and his slaves and entered into farming even at night to pay his bills. He had to labor with his own hands and still try to prevent the immediate explosion of the unity. Promises were made about support but he found that promises "from afar" faded and were not honored when he came to the aid of the church. The people simply were not changed by the experience.
We noted above that the witness is almost universal: the charismatic exercises adopted from pagan religions was God's way of hardening those who did accept His Word. If 30,000 were there for the experience and Stone was left with about 10,000 as a result of preaching in about 1826 then Zechariah was still right--
"In the whole land," declares the LORD, "two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. Zec 13:8
The one third, the 10,000 or so, were indeed "refined by fire."
Preachers Promoted--Unity Destroyed
Before the "exercises" there was a general agreement among all denominations that unity and cooperation was a good thing. However, after the Cane Ridge and other "camp meetings" many of the converts became Baptists. Some became Methodists but fewer became Presbyterians. None of these denominations use the same "scheme" to make these people into church members.
David Rice noted that--
"All too quickly, Kentuckians fell into spiritual pride and began elevating other tests, such as joy and feeling and revelations from heaven. Thus as he (David Rice) ruefully lamented over and over again, they had had a revival and then somehow mismanaged it." (Conkin, pg. 143)
He listed several reasons for the failure of the revival: Too great reliance on feelings, emphasis on one ordinace over all others, too much or too little discipline, disputes between ministers and their churches, excess physical exercises, many new means and doctrines, millenarian prophecies, disorder, and immodest exhortions by women.
In the "Awakenings" which we have examined, after the "excitement" of everyone being accepted into mutual fellowship, the very men who promoted the "softening up" experiences--sometimes as competition about who could get the best effects--took the license to snatch all of the "at loose ends" from their new "brethren."
Because of the signs Stone might want to believe that all of those "new Pentecostans" would be "revived Christians" but he was to recognize his error shortly.
As he regained his health his "creed" (p. 45) was still "believe now and receive salvation." That is, the gift of the Spirit was contingent only on believing. This was "faith only" and does not agree with the Great Commission. However, absent the crowds, the magic did not work because it was not Scriptural. Even after a brush with baptism, he rejected it even in 1826.
The Presbyterians seemed to favor the new "openness" but Stone knew why--the new ecumenical movement was like some urges to unite--they were subterfuge in the interest of "sheep stealing." The Isaiah 28f model was used by Paul to explain speaking in tongues in Corinth. There, the Assyrians who were identified as "arrogant tongue speakers" wanted to "unite" with the Jews to bring them to "my house" where everyone could "hear tongues all of the time"--as slaves, of course.
We cannot say that the "fire was from hell" but it was nevertheless fire. Notice that Stone still identifies the denominations as "sects" and not as Biblical churches--
"At first, they were pleased to see the Methodists and Baptists so cordially uniting with us in worship, no doubt, hoping that they would become Presbyterians. But as soon as they saw these sects drawing away disciples after them, they raised the alarm... "
"The gauntlet was now thrown, and a fire was now kindled that threatened ruin to the great excitement (unity not exercises); it revived the dying spirit of partyism, and gave life and strength to the trembling infidels and lifeless professors. The sects were roused. The Methodists and Baptists,
who had so long lived in peace and harmony with the Presbyterians, and with one another,
now girded on their armor, and marched into the deathly field of controversy and war. These were times of distress."The spirit of partyism soon expelled the spirit of love and union--peace fled before discord and strife, and religion was stifled and banished in the unhallowed struggles for pre-eminence. Who shall be the greatest, seemed to be the spirit of the contest--the salvation of a ruined world was no longer the burden... peace was drowned by the din of war." (Biography, 45-46)
The Mourner's Bench Quit Working--rise of baptism
During one of his meetings at Concord the "Mourners were invited every day to collect before the stand, in order for prayers." However, none seemed to be comforted. When trying to understand why the "exercises" did not work in these situations the words of Peter came to Stone's mind: "Repent and be baptized." Peter, he surmised, would understand the need for baptism. Stone saw mourning and physical suffering as proof of the direct work of the Holy Spirit in bring about conversion. When one believed and got relief they were saved and only then--if you insisted--could you be baptized.
Stone, like many others, was torn between what he believed to be biblically correct (baptism) and the fact that the "masses" did not accept it. Therefore, if baptism is going to be an obstacle then just ignore it. However, we will see that he couldn't resist the temptation to bring it up and each time he did, the "damper" was put on the meeting.
However, others saw the effect when it was practiced: "The churches and preachers grew and were multiplied." Most of this work was by men who had branched away from true Stoneism and provided the tool which paved the way for true Restorationsim. We will see more evidence for this later.
The Shakers Claim Three
The Shakers provided a channel or outlet for the charismatics who found that the excitement died out as soon as the crowds left. Of the five men Stone could count on, Matthew Houston, Richard M'Nemar, and John Dunlavy "forsook the marriage state" (left their wives!) and joined the Shakers. The ranks of the "charismatics" thinned out and Stone had to work himself ill to recapture a few. John Dunlavy died in Indiana, raving in desperation for his folly in forsaking the truth for an old woman's fable (p. 63). Richard M'Nemar fell victim to a "Shaker revelation" which told them to take him to Lebanon, Ohio and set him down in the street and leave him there to die without health, friends or money (p. 64)--some spirit!
The men who defected to the Shakers were not missed specifically because they were "wild and fanatic; their hearts were puffed up before they were caught in the Shaker snare" (p. 126). These are the same words (wild and fanatic) used to describe many of the Cane Ridge participants. Earlier, we noted that Stone considered much of the experience at Cane Ridge as fanatic. This certainly explains why some went with the Shakers.
Stone was "stripped bare" and his only recourse was to "cleave to the Holy Scriptures." He had no allusions about promoting a true church-building revival with the "exercises."
The Presbyterians Reclaim Two
Robert Marshall and John Thompson believed that the "whole Bible" was just too much for people to grasp. Therefore, they proposed to write a creed with a few principles upon which everyone could agree--the Bible was for "the dispensation of Jesus." Many charismatics reject the Word unless it has been properly "discerned" by one with a gift.
Because Stone could not accept a creed for the new group, they deserted him and returned to the Presbyterians. Stone lamented: "I only was left, and they sought my life" (p. 67). The "exercises" did not drive these toward the restoration movement.
However, the urge to "organize" to control the movement often reared its ugly head.
Direct Experiences Didn't Revive Like the Word
Brother Campbell is hated because he forces us back to the Bible while father Stone is almost worshipped because he "gave us permission" to become charismatic and, therefore, (in their minds) more "spiritual than those old legalists." However, while modern promoters of excitement = worship claim Stone as father, it is important to see that he never believed that regeneration or revival occurred by a direct operation of the Spirit.
As he learned more Biblical doctrine Stone answered several questions to explain regeneration (or revival). He quoted John 3:3f to include baptism and said:
Ans. "To be born again, is to be renewed in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after the image of God. It may be further inquired, By what means does God effect this work in the soul? We answer, by, or with 'the word of truth'." (Stone Biography, p. 193)
"How is a sinner drawn unto God? Not by physical force, but by motive; God sets before the soul the strongest motives, eternal life... The sinner believing, is drawn to the Savior for pardon and life" (p. 215)
Obj. "The word is a dead letter; what advantage can there be, in a sinner's believing it?" Ans. "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. An unbeliever is no judge of the virtue and power of divine truth. The physician is the best judge of the quality of his own medicine. It would display the ignorance of the patient to object..." (p. 219)
Stone's Beliefs--Not the Basis for churches of Christ
One of the most outrageous statements any human could ever make appears in Restoration History by M. M. Davis, p. 150:
"In light of all this, it would seem that the distinguished honor of organizing the first churches since the great apostasy, with the Bible as their only rule of faith and practice, and with 'Christian' as the family name, belongs to these brave men, and that it occurred in Kentucky, in 1804, and that Cane Ridge was the first."
Davis makes one important point: the work of Cane Ridge was not the work of a restoration church. However, he consideres the church to have begun when Stone left the Presbyterians and began a new movement. However, we have noted that this was not any further away from Calvinism than was perhaps many of the Baptist groups.
Conkin notes that--
"This primitivism had great appeal among lay people and continued as a central motif of the later Restoraion churches. Otherwise, it is misleading to refer to these New Light churches as predecessoors of the later Christian-Disciples movement, for in so many ways, beginning with the explosive conversions and the physical exercises and the spiritual gifts, the first New Light churches were closer to later Pentecostals than to contemporary Disciples or the Churches of Christ." (Conkin, p. 132)
"Until 1820 the small Christian movement grew slowly, with its greatest strength in Ohio and Kentucky, but with a scattering of small congregations in Tennessee and Indiana.... He (Stone) early became a baptist but would not make proper baptism a condition of membership.
But by 1820 the movement was clearly baptist, and Stone was able to persuade several small Baptist associations to affiliate with Christian, no major doctrines, but only the issue of names, separated many freewill Baptists from Stone.By 1820, as Stone indulged in more doctrinal controversies with Presbyterian critics, he elaborated a rather consistent free-will, or complete atonement, profile of beliefs, with a unique conception of faith.
He used the word faith for simple belief in the gospel message." (Conkin, p. 146)
> Calvin believed that the Word of God worked during "the dispensation of Jesus" but it may not always work now. However, Stone believed the Bible and denied the Trinity for a very "Lockian" reason: he could not find the word "Trinity" in the Bible. There was some doubt that he believed that Christ preexisted as God.
Many modern Pentecostal groups insist that the total "God works as only one person at a time." Now, the total God is invested in The Holy Spirit and therefore they call this "the age of the Holy Spirit" and the book Acts of the Apostles the "Acts of the Holy Spirit."
> However, whatever Stone said in defense of the Holy Spirit, the literature shows that he did not promote "a direct operation of the Holy Spirit" in competition with Campbell who "denied the Holy Spirit." Both held much the same view and quoted the same Scriptures to prove that the Spirit works through the word and not through an "antenna." However, in the beginning it is said that--
"All the wildest excesses, plus open enthusiasm, blossomed in these congregations, making the label 'New Light' a synonym of excess, something close to the unfair label of Holy Roller in the twentieth century. Stone so reasonable in debate and so mild in manner, nonetheless presided over two of the wildest congregations in the greater Lexington area. (At Cane Ridge and Concord) A type of holy laughter suggestive of glossolalia survived there, perhaps alone, for a decade as a habitual even if involuntary part of worship."
"Only one clear innovation seemed to mark Cane Ridge--what Stone would later describe as holy laughter or singing, coming from deep within the body. This exercise, noted by a few of the eyewitnesses at Cane Ridge was suggestive of glossolalia and continued to be part of religious services at Cane Ridge and Concord for at least a decade." (Conkin, p. 113)
Of Lyle Conkin wrote
"As actor or performer, he could not resist a bit of self-congratulations when his sermons stimulated audience excitement, siezures, or--the supreme test--swooning.
Yet he could not suppress his bitterness, resentment, and anger when colleagues did not follow his rules, when they resorted to artificial means--shouting or crying in the pulpit, for example--to get the expected effects.
He came to detest McNemar, who played on the emotions of his audience, even stomping his way among listeners when it seemed necessary to set them off. He also became disillusioned with lay people, whose poor judgment allowed them to fall for tricks or who at times seemed to make the exercises the end of religion." (Conkin, p. 122-123)
"Lyle was not the first to urge caution and order.. Rice urged elders to sleep between men and women whenever they gathered, in the early morning hours, in the meetinghouses. He also tried to organize elders to monitor the grounds at night, to prevent the sexual liaisons or too much drinking
(hopeful distillers had already begun a routine of hauling loads of whiskey to such mass meetings). Even such mild precautions offended a few of the emerging New Lights." (Conkin, p. 123)
"More than any other minister, he (McNemar) precipitated what would soon be called the New Light or Christian movement. But no one waas more fervent, more hopeful, than McNemar, and no one preached more stirring and affecting sermons. In fact, he almost lost his senses in the next three years, so intoxicated was he with the revival." (Conkin, p. 124).
Conkin notes that Stone, Marshall, McNemar, Dunlavy, Worley, and Thompson declared themselves as Christian churches. However, he notes that they were common to the North Carolina Christians who preceded them.
In McNemar's congregation
"They engaged in mass confessions, prayer matches in which everyone prayed aloud at the same time, loud singing with hopping and skipping about, extemporaneous shouts or other voiced responses, and dancing. John Thompson, caught up in the frenzied hopes of the revival, made himself famous (or infamous) by dancing for over an hour around the tent at a great communion at Turtle Creek in 1804."
While some observers tried to minimize the degrading barking on all fours and fighting over the garbage at Cane Ridge, in later congregations Conkin observed that--
"when people who swooned assumed a fetal position and rolled around like hoops. Another was the jerks, the most wild form of convulsions. Last was what he (McNemar) called barking. Under conviction, individuals seemed deliberately to debase themselves by assuming a doglike posture and growling and barking for hours. Several visitiors observed numerous people acting like dogs. Even McNemar deplored this most degrading behavior, and attributed it to a reluctance to dance in worship." (Conkin, p. 130).
It is not clear why acting the part of the dog was important in some of these revivals. In the Bible Nebuchadnezzar was told by Daniel that--
You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. Dan 4:25
In the ancient world a "dog" might be a "male prostitute" who could be a professional "prophet." During the charismatic-like experience he made you believe that you had had an encounter with God. Josephus tells of a woman who had all-night (and free) sex with a fraud who claimed that he was the Egyptian Jackal god. According to Mrs. Trollope whom we have quoted similar practices continued among some of the early revivalists.
We noted above Hislop's description of the Yezidis who worshipped like the ancient Babylonians and performed many Caneridge-like acts. They also performed an animal act as sympathetic magic--
"The Yezidis, who have a robust faith in the devil, perform at the conclusion of one of their pilgrimage festivals a ceremony which may be supposed to keep that ravening wolf from the fold of the faithful. An old man is stripped and dressed in the skin of a goat, while a string of small bells is hung round his neck. Thus arraped, he crawls round the assembled pilgrims emitting sounds which are intended to mimic the bleating of a he-goat. The ceremony is believed to sanctify the assembly, but we may conjecture that it does so by encircling believers with a spiritual fence which the arch enemy is unable to surmount." (Frazer, James George, Folk-Lore in the Old Testament, Macmillian, p. 433, 1923)
GREGORY NAZIANZEN. The goat and Pan then are called Mendes in Egyptian. There happened in that district in my time that following portent: a goat had intercourse with a woman openly. That came to be displayed to human beings. Heredotus
We noted above that superiority over the Indians of the frontier was one of the motives for imitating some of their practices. Among the early Pueblo Indians, the most important performers were women who rang bells, chanted hymns and pranced around the peach trees. The motive was to "scare away the witches who were supposed to live among the trees fattening on the lucious fruit." Perhaps those who took on the role of barking dogs really could see something up the trees.
Of McNemar Conkin says that--
"He most valued the ecstatic visions that he claimed for many of his people when the soul left the body, often during a swoon, and they were caught up into the heavens. The sights glimpsed were holy, unspeakable. In their rapture, people communed with departed relatives, glimpsed the Holy City, and delighted in the smell of heavenly fragrances. For McNemar, such visions presaged the imminent return of Jesus to earth and the beginning of some type of millenial kingdom." (Conkin, p. 131)
The excitement was so high that something big was about to happen. Jesus had to come. Conkin notes: "Actually, three Shaker missionaries came from New York and very quickly persuaded McNemar to join them in a millenarian church."
> Stone rejected the conventional understanding of the "Atonement" believing that God does not change in the slightest. If man is saved, therefore, it will be because man understands the gospel and turns on his own toward God. This is why some of the groups leaned toward perfectionism or "total sanctification" where even "mild" sin proved that you were not saved. Just yesterday, heard of a lady who believed she could not sin--she had the "sign."
Of Christ Stone believed that--
"His death did not appease God's wrath but instead opened the way to salvation, and was a lesson in the type of obedience and holiness that is required for salvation. Thus, instead of the orthodox emphasis on the imputed righteousness of the Christ, which alone can reconcile people to God,
Stone emphasized the real righteousness of Christians who follow the example of Jesus in suffering and sacrifice." (Conkin, p. 134).
> Stone also had trouble with the "substance" of God. This led some to believe that the movement promoted Arianism or Unitarianism. This led them to feel uneasy about trying to "unite" with the movement. It is significant that the Arians were the first to use "antiphonal singing" as they loudly marched through the streets on the way to their meeting place. The songs were out of their "own spirit" and were used to teach the error concerning the nature of the body of Christ.
"Although frequently accused of being a unitarian, and at times even willing to use such a label for himself, Stone was in reality much closer to the ancient Arians. The orthodox Trinity formula makes the Christ one in substance with the Father and thus in all respects a god. The Arians subordinated the Christ to the Father as a begotten son, but affirmed his preexistence and special divinity. Stone found such a subordinationist position most reasonable and most consistent with scripture and thus adopted." (Conkin, p. 132)
> The problem between the groups, as it is even today, is a "jealousy existing among some of our brethren in regard to whom credit is due in commencing the present Reformation, father Stone or brother Campbell."
> The "Stone churches" practiced, but denied the need for baptism and therefore included the unimmersed. It is consistent, therefore, that those who want an "experience" religion want to include everyone who has believed whether they have obeyed God or not. Stone denounced baptism even as late as 1826 according to B. F. Hall.
> The Stone movement did not initially practice a weekly Lord's Supper.
> The Stone movement initially held to the "weeping and mourning" method of evangelism although Stone found out early that teaching the "facts" got more results.
Most readers do not reject Stone and support Campbell because Stone emphasized the Holy Spirit. Rather, many of his beliefs simply did not find a home among many restoration churches in the South.
Stone Rejected Fanaticism
John Rogers includes Stone's Autobiography and comments further by including important Stone documents and personal witnesses of his life. Some of the documents are written by people who knew Stone and were at important events like Cane Ridge. They tell us, better than Stone's short Autobiography, what he believed and when he believed it by what he did.
Rogers makes it clear that Stone was connected with these "strange exercises" only in his "early history." He also explains why Stone is believed by some historians to have hindered the restoration movement among some groups--
"As the bodily agitations which have appeared in association with Christianity, in various periods of the history of the church, have been the subject of much speculation; and as the early history of B. W. Stone is intimately connected with these strange exercises, as they appeared in this western country in the beginning of the present century, I have concluded to devote a chapter to this subject. I am the more disposed to do this, because the facts in the case have been misrepresented; and especially because an effort has been made to cast odium upon the reformation efforts of B. W. Stone, on account of their connection with these strange developments as if they were new things under the sun, and were to be regarded as the legitimate offspring of what his opposers considered the wild vagaries of B. W. Stone and his co-adjutors." (Stone Biography, p. 348)
The best understanding of Stone's view is his denial that he depended on anything but the Word. David Purviance, who was intimately connected with Stone, wrote--
"I admit that some enthusiasm and even fanaticism did prevail. But as respects that, brother Stone was clear. He was faithful, zealous, and spiritual; yet sober and temperate, holding fast the faithful word. Some talked of extraordinary views and spiritual illuminations. I mentioned that matter to Stone--
"He replied--'I cannot rely on any teaching from God, otherwise than through his word.'" (Biography, p. 122).
Campbell is charged with being more a disciple of John Locke than of Jesus because Locke believed that anyone (not just the clergy) could hear the word, believe it and obey it. If God wants us to know, he would say, it will come through the human senses and is understood by one's reasoning power. To believe otherwise is to deny that God has the intention or power to deliver His message in a written form. Calvin, on the other hand, said that you cannot understand the written message well enough to obey God--this is "the age of the Spirit you know."
However, If Campbell is really a heretic then Stone is not far behind. On page 202f of the Biography Stone clearly believed that the gospel revealed in the Scripture is the only reviving or regenerating power which God has ordained. He taught that--
"It (the Scriptures) is the voice of his Spirit now, and holds all things." (Biography 204)
John Rogers admits that Stone "had been led far into the fields of speculation on the Trinity, the Son of God, and kindred questions of a very unprofitable, nay, of a very injurious character." (Bio. p. 329). However, if Rogers understood the Stone mind at all he would warn against accusing father Stone of encouraging the exercises. However, the apostolic gift meant to some that they had a direct connection with God and Rogers tells of one man who was "guided" to go into a far city to preach but couldn't find his horse--
"The writer has known pious men, under the influence of this fanatical spirit, (which always grows up in the midst of these exercises), to start on a long journey to preach, from what they regarded, as a special impulse of the Spirit--to go into the woods and get upon their knees, when they had lost their horses, and ask God to stop them, and direct them, so that they might find them--and even to attempt the working of miracles." (Stone Biography, p. 375).
Not all witnesses saw the same things at Cane Ridge (nor made the same count). By calling the readers back to the day of Pentecost Rogers tells us of some other "exercises" which may have also occurred at Cane Ridge but not because of Stone's teaching or conduct. Rather, they were a product of run-amuck Calvinism (in Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists) which had existed long before either of these groups--
"No intimation of their beating themselves against the ground, tearing it up with their hands--running against a wall--praying to the devil, and calling upon him to dash out their brains--to take them to hell--no such ravings and evidences of mental derangement, or the most pitiable fanaticism as these. Nor did they fall into trances, or ecstasies, exclaiming, 'He's come!'... 'I've got Christ."
"Until it can be shown then, that dancing, jerking, falling, screaming, shouting, clapping the hands, singing, praying, preaching, beating one's self against the ground, praying to the devil;--we repeat, until it can be shown that all these, going on at once, can be reconciled with decency and good order, these scriptures sternly frown upon, and utterly forbid all such extravagancies." (Stone Biography, p. 374)
After giving a brief history of the exercises and urging us not to blame them on Stone's peculiar character, Rogers recorded the warning--
"... need we wonder at the exhibition of this spirit in the wildest forms of fanaticism among the more ignorant on camp-meeting occasions and others, where such spirit is encouraged and sought after?"
"In view then of the fanatical, bitter, and censorious spirit which associates itself with these bodily agitations, and is highly promotive of them, the writer is decidedly opposed to them." (Rogers, Stone Biography, p. 383).
Rogers compares Cane Ridge to the earlier "Awakening" and quotes Hodge to say--
"We have seen that enthusiasm and fanaticism, in their wildest shapes, have attended them--that jealousy, envy, hatred, evil surmisings, bitter revilings, heart-burnings, unholy schism and strifes, have followed close in their train--that spiritual pride, censoriousness, a Pharisaic disposition, and a spirit that trusts too much in suggestions, impulses, and consequently, that underrates the word of God, is always associated with them." (Stone Biography, p. 384).
The "exercises" gave critics the "handle" they needed to discredit any legitimate, Bible-based restoration by Stone. Davis will show later that in fact Campbell joining with Stone may have crippled the restoration movement especially among Baptists. If this is true, then the unity which Stone saw with the Baptists was fleeting. They might hold a joint meeting but they had no intention of accepting what was rumored to be Stone's theology and the belief that he was "the guilty party" of Stone Ridge.
Speaking against one critic, Rogers notes that if Stone was responsible then he had no right to head a restoration--
"He speaks of... falling, rolling, jerking, barking, growling, snapping the teeth, foaming, rushing out on all-fours, roaming round, personating dogs--shouting, screaming, shrieking, groaning, singing, clapping of hands, praying, preaching, jumping, dancing, &c...."
And that as a matter of course, if Mr. Stone's peculiar views gave rise to such fearful extravagancies, his reformation is little worth." (Stone Biography, p. 402)
He continues to show that the Baptist had no reason to despise Stone for allowing the exercises to "get loose" because they had long existed and had occurred among Baptists long before Stone.
Rogers often "called off the dogs" trying to attack and destroy Stone by men associating him with the Cane Ridge and other revivals. He always does this by showing that there is nothing in Christianity which encourages the outbreaks but they are a common "human dilemma." As Wesley would say: "Alas! poor human nature."
"They are not confined to those persons, whose subsequent conduct proves them to be subjects of the grace of God; but to say the least, are quite as frequently experienced by those who know nothing of true religion. Instead therefore of being referred to those feelings which are peculiar to the people of God, they may safely be referred to those which are common to them and to unrenewed men. Besides, such effects are not peculiar to what we call revivals of religion; they have prevailed in seasons of general excitement in all ages, and in all parts of the world, among pagans, papists, and every sect of fanatics which have ever disgraced the Christian church." (Stone biography, p. 362)
Stone's Final Assessment of the Exercises
Stone's views of the exercises seemed to shift from time to time. Or possibly we have trouble understanding what he approved and disapproved. For instance, his autobiography can be misunderstood as a support for exercises at the end of his career. However, because almost everyone else took such a dim view of the experience--especially as seen by 20-20 rear vision--he felt the need to defend, at some level, the results of his early career.
However, he seemed to have already moved from the defensive to the offensive by 1831 and clearly did so by 1833. Therefore, while he did not make any "final statements" in 1833, he did seem to articulate his final assessment. Perhaps, if asked he would have said much earlier that the thing which survived the revival was the teaching of the Word but not the exercises nor the mourner's bench. We will see later, that others had to abandon the bench on behalf of the movement.
In Stone's autobiography he was unaware of any record of the early Revivals which were by enemies and those who scorned them (including Campbell). Therefore, for the record, he repeats some of what he saw (others saw different effects). From our limited research we do not hear any future restorationist who participated or knew of the fanatical parts of the exercises defending them. On the other hand, many record their condemnation. All the world seemed to be scorners but Stone knew that they occurred within the context of a revival which had lasting value.
Stone's only defense for what he knew to be unbiblical was that religion had sunk so low that "nothing common could have arrested the attention of the world." We noted earlier that many Calvinists believed that God's Word cannot get the job done without some form of fanatical upset of equilibrium. If, therefore, there is a perceived need for revival, the "new path" is to return to Calvinistic, charismatic religion as the tool of change rather than hear Jesus saying that "My word is spirit and life."
However, while the world certainly took note of these revivals, most turned to the Word and denounced them and built great churches based on teaching the previously untaught Word.
Next, notice that on page 39 of his autobiography he makes a difference between the excitement and the bodily agitations or exercises attending it.
Elsewhere, Stone will condone the excitement and either question or condemn the attending fanaticism.
It is difficult to determine Stone's views of the extremes at these revivals. However, his comments about the "wonderful things that appeared in the great excitement in the beginning of this century" are included with things he considered fanatical (p. 42). We have already noted that the lasting and valuable things which he stressed was the momentary unity and love of everyone being able to worship together. The love and unity, however, could and did continue only while it was believed that people could be converted to the same doctrine.
Doctrine (teaching), to the consternation of idealists, is always the platform on which unity is built. The belief that others will become doctrinally neutral if only we judge them ok as we are ok is surely the most simple minded "doctrine" ever hatched out of our idealistic minds. Others, including Stone, found that the denominations were not squemish about asserting their doctrines when the "honeymoon" was over.
For instance, the enabling doctrine of Stone (on an intellectual level) was that "he that believeth and changes" shall be saved. However, when the excitement was over the Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians remembered that they had different "doctrines" about baptism. Even Stone could not "unite" totally with those who believed that it was even a desirable subject for teaching. And certainly, there was to be no unity between the Methodists and Baptist leaders and the "future" Stone who would move gradually toward what we know as the restoration of the church.
He began this chapter by separating the revival and the attending exercises, now he separates them once again by writing--
"Thus have I given a brief account of the wonderful things that appeared in the great excitement in the beginning of the century--
As he had earlier placed the exercises after the revival by the phrase "but then I saw" he now seems to make the distinction by adding--
"That there were many eccentricities, and much fanaticism in this excitement, was acknowledge by its warmest advocates; indeed it would have been a wonder, if such things had not appeared, in the circumstances of that time. Yet the good effects were seen and acknowledged in every neighborhood, and among the different sects it silenced contention and promoted unity for a while; and these blessed effects (unity--not exercises) would have continued had not men put forth their unhallowed hands to hold up their tottering ark, making it for the ark of God." (Biography, p. 42).
From several accounts, the sense is that the "good effects" were not the eccentricities and fanaticism but the good which resulted from the unity in and among the various sects which had the effect of silencing the contention. If the "bodily exercises" were not the fanatical part of the revival meetings I can find nothing else in the record which would answer to his and other's use of the word.
Stone undoubtedly never knew that when David tried to move the ark he was performing the play or ritual "exercise" with songs, music and dance. Descriptions of similar rituals sound much like Cane Ridge. This was apparently what happened when Israel "rose up to play." Those who "put up their hand to steady the ark" after Cane Ridge were not the ones struck down. Rather the Calvinistic ark which "placed God in a box" so that only certain ones could find him through "appeasement rituals" for a "double cure" was struck down even as the exercises ceased.
At the bottom of page 42 he again identifies the excitement by showing that it had a beginning. However, what continued was the urge for people to repent in mourning as they attempted to "pray through" to find the missing god (Elijah could have told them to just ask with simple words).
Perhaps before he felt the need to defend his "beginnings" which most had rejected, Stone noted the "good" things but rejected the lasting value of those who were "deluded" but had not really turned to the Lord.
Stone acknowledged being instructed by Campbell and others and may have changed his mind based on Scripture to some extent. While Campbell was troubled by Stone's views on some issues, it is not likely that he would have joined with charismatics. In 1831 Stone seemed to write favorably of the "exercises." However, as in all of his accounts, care must be taken to determine what he approved and what he did not. Max Ward Randall in The Great Awakenings and the Restoration Movement, College Press, p. 386f quotes from The Christian Messenger, Vol. V., No. 7, July, 1831, Revivals of Religion By Barton Warren Stone, pages 164-167 to show that--
First--the Great Excitement: Stone acknowledged that the revivals continued for several years and spread. In his 1831 assessment he recalls with "mournful pleasure" the revival in his part of the world thirty years ago. He defended the part which he described as:
"all clothed with solemnity--many wetting their paths with tears--and thousands anxious to find the way of life--many sunk under the burden of sin, and little groups around pointing to them the hope of Israel, and uniting their solemn prayers for their salvation... Thousands silently hanging on the lips of the preacher, who in the warn, loving spirit of his Lord, was ministering to them the word of reconciliation." (p. 386).
This supports Jennings (p. 29) which we quoted above. When he began to preach faith, repentance and baptism in imitation of Peter on the day of Pentecost he saw a solemn group of people who listened to the preacher speaking of love and reconciliation. He saw tears of sorrow which he would demand as a sign. He also saw small groups taking the mourners in tow and undoubtedly teaching them their own views. He saw "solemn prayers" for the new believers.
Second--the Fanaticism: Stone then said: "I then saw, and yet acknowledge some imperfection, some eccentricities or aberrations from what I thought right, among the vast multitude assembled." The good, which he does not always define clearly, so far exceeded the evil that it was not an important issue. At the time or later Stone then saw things which he thought might be miracles because they seemed to be beyond human ability. Whatever he saw back then, he now considered some of it to be evil. If he later included the legalistic demand for mourning as evil then he would seem to include running through the woods as evil based on its final outcome.
Others saw about a thousand who experienced the "mourning" but it is not clear that many of these were fanatical. Stone sees multitudes and thousands who fell but does not identify them as all eccentric, aberrant, or evil. For specific exercises he sees many but not thousands.
Third, He excused the fanatics only because "I remembered that they were but men."
The religion of Jesus and the wonderful things which he approved was the revival of the preachers and the fact that they were speaking the word of the Holy Spirit and not "according to the studied rules of rhetoric and oratory." He honored them for working night and day, privately and publicly, from house to house... preaching the word of salvation to all, not for filthy lucre."
Their good work did not impress people very long because the excesses led to the easy claim that they were "enthusiasts, mad and beside themselves. As Stone's views presented a barrier to many to entering the unity through restoration effort, the acts which seemed fanatical prevented many from listening to the truth. Corinth is a perfect example of such "disunity in diversity."
Fourth, he did not approve of the exercises but to felt "the spirit of love, peace and union" as the essentials of religion. He identified congregations in revival, not as continuing the extremes of Cane Ridge, but of mingling together, praying together, loving one another, and parents so concerned over their children that they wept. Neighbors of all age groups worked together at "church" and at home and abroad (p. 387). When they got together it was not "fishing, hunting, golfing, and my latest trip" but they were not ashamed to speak the Word to one another. People converted to God and enemies became friends. He saw brotherly kindness, meekness, gentleness, and all the divine graces. Not a single exercise is identified as an ingredient of revival.
Stone could give up his slaves and income and literally work himself to death. However, when the "honeymoon" was over he found that the old forces had not been changed in the slightest.
What his younger idealism did not account for was that the groups were still sectarians--the Baptists still tried to pry you away from the Methodists. To grasp you out of the hands of the Baptists, the Methodists had to convince you that "we are right and they are wrong."
He still supported revivals in spite of the "enthusiasm, mismanagement, and unscriptural means." These were the imperfections which should be opposed while supporting the "meekness and gentleness"--carefully root out the tares and perhaps you could save the wheat.
Stone tested the revivals by their fruits. Remember, that he had defended the revival of "love, peace and union" as the essentials of religion but he had rejected the eccentricities and aberrations. What Stone defended in revivals was the studied goal of many preachers to create repentance--"many crying aloud for mercy, and many praising God for delivering grace." However, neither the fanatical methods of trying to force revival or even mourning had any lasting effect and Stone wrote--
"We have seen this state of things continue but a short time, and then disappear for years. We have seen many of these converts soon dwindle, sicken and die, and become more hardened against the fear of God, than they were before--many of them becoming infidels, by thinking that all professors of religion are like themselves deluded by strong passion and imagination."... All must acknowledge that some good results from such revivals; but all must acknowledge that great evil also rose out of them. Those, who were under strong affections, believed they were born of God, and who made a public confession of faith, and fell from it, are of all people in the most pitiable situation, seldom do they ever after embrace religion--these by their example, discourage others, and fill their minds with prejudices against religion." (Stone, Barton Warren, The Christian Messenger, Vol. VII, No. 7, July, 1833, pages 210-212--See Randall p. 390, for the complete letter).
In his autobiography, p. 61, he notes that praying for the mourners was the custom of the time. However, in 1833 he had already arrived at the conclusion that seeking some experience and even demanding it of people as a condition of full fellowship had led to delusions. In this paper his mathematics seem to be more in favor of the good. Some good results had to be admitted but everyone had to agree that great evil arose. Stone could live with the great good of revivals even if they produced great evil. However, we are not forced to "do evil that good might abound."
The evil seems to overwhelm the good when Stone recognized that they had put their trust in human revivalism when, from the beginning, God had provided a way for any person at any time at any place on the earth to gain his approval by faith and be saved by turning to Him. You either had to believe that God does have the power to communicate in human languages or you have to believe that he does have the power.
Stone was troubled that "these scenes pass off forgotten, then another similar revival takes place."
"The general sentiment has been that these revivals depend on the sovereign will of God, who at certain seasons pours out of his spirit on the people as the angel at certain times troubled the waters in the pool of Bethesda. This sentiment we think of dangerous tendency. It teaches that the means ordained for salvation are not always on the same efficacy--of no efficacy at all, till God by special almighty power, makes them so. 'The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believeth.'... Now should I be taught that the gospel loses its power to save me, though I believe and obey it, until God by some nondescript operation makes it powerful to this effect... Should I reasonably feel guilty that I am carnal, lifeless, and dead, believing that the means ordained by God were able to meliorate my condition?" (Randall, p. 391).
This view he held to be dangerous and his ultimate conclusion was that "the unbelieving world are to be saved by the means of this truth, shining in his church on earth." That is, Biblical teaching producing Biblical lives which overflow.
The Reason for Stone's Doubts
Education during this time was very scarce and many people have a bigger library than Stone could find. However, he searched the Scriptures and sought out books and the opinions of others in a honest search for the truth.
Like most of us, his primary problem was to "dispel error before he could discover the truth." Many Calvinistic teachings troubled him and he went looking on his on but spent a lot of time on mystical themes--
"Stone had been led far into the fields of speculation on the question of the Trinity, the Son of God, and kindred questions of a very unprofitable, nay, of a very injurious character; and
"he often regretted, in the latter part of his life, that he ever allowed himself to be turned away from the simplicity of the truth,--in which was all his delight,--to follow his opponents into the mazes of mystic theology." (Stone Biography, p. 329-330).
What he sought in this new religion is described thoroughly in the literature as the logical outcome to mystical religion--against which Paul often warned--
"The mystery religions claimed to reveal the true character of the supernatural world and insisted that it could be attained only by non-rational means. Their gnosis had its climax in a 'vision of the divine', i.e. in a mystical, indeed ecstatic, illumination in which the participant was taken quite outside his normal mind--even, it was held, his physical body. Paul warns his hearers against being deceived by this promise of revelation and by the false persuasiveness it appears to possess (Col. 2:4, 8)." (Banks, p. 77).
Of course, Stone finally rejected the mystical search because he could not allow this new mystical religion to take the place of the objective Word of God. He finally recognized that God was right when He said--
But if they had stood in my council,
they would have proclaimed my words to my people and
would have turned them from their evil ways and
(would have turned them) from their evil deeds. -- Jer 23:22Conversion and revival, therefore, is not a falling but a turning.
Many lives were changed by Cane Ridge but observers had to question the merging of "genuine experiences of the Holy Spirit" and "demonic exercises" as a result of the same preaching. Couldn't the lives have been changed or revived by the use of God's method without the evil results?
In Stone's mind, a great benefit from the revival was that people were driven to the Word and had arrived at the belief that "faith comes from hearing" and that everyone had the power to accept the Word and obey it. These residual values were summed up in what we know of as the Restoration Movement. Once directed to the Word as the residual benefit of Cane Ridge it would seem futile to try to retrace the events--you can't go back and indeed who would want to when father Stone and brother Campbell have confirmed what we knew all along--faith comes from hearing the Word of God.
Alexander Campbell
The Campbell family had been influenced by restorationism even before leaving Scotland-Ireland by the teachings of various men who wanted to return to the Bible as the only source of religion. To the extent that they were influenced by Locke it was in a violent reaction to Calvinistic religion of the day. While Locke might not believe in inspiration as we do, he understood the principle which we will look at in Romans ten: "faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God." In discussing inspiration, Locke would say that "you have nothing in your mind which did not come through the human senses." That is, you were not born with knowledge and you do not get it directly from God.
Charismatics reject the "rational" by calling it "rationalism" but they do not give people an "antenna" to receive supernatural knowledge. Rather, our studies show that they use and abuse the human senses totally to surface the irrational, right-brained part of society.
Campbell is defined as a sectarian but his Christian System shows that he put more stock in how people live than by their perfect grasp of Scripture. He does say--along with Jesus--that one cannot love Jesus and ignore His Words.
It is important that before union with the Stone churches in 1832, Campbell had led the restoration movement in Kentucky since about 1823 by preaching and writing which led the people back to the Bible and prepared them to merge with the Disciples. He put his misgivings aside and permitted union perhaps because he already knew that his views (widely held) were already accepted among Stone churches.
Why Stone's Influence Did not Dominate the Restoration
We noted above that Calvinism (most at Cane Ridge were Calvinists) denounced any effort to find truth in the Bible (Calvin could but you could not). If God wanted you He would come and get you and "yank" you into the church.
However, it is impossible to understand the early church in this country without understanding that many people loved their Bible and gained great comfort and training from it. However, as a paradox, many preachers were ignorant of it and were chosen because of some rhetorical skill which could move a crowd. Their natural ability often rose higher than professional education could ever carry them.
Therefore, Stone's disciples never believed that the unimmersed were lost because men like Stone had only a vague understanding of the power of Biblical conversion which any child could have gained from reading. Through emotional appeals one was frightened to death or "convinced of sin" and mourned and suffered the ravages on their human body which Christ had already taken on Himself. If they came out of it with "a light, a whisper, a dream, or joy as a release from mourning" they were saved but by faith only. If they wished, they might then be baptized. This was not Biblical and it did not survive among those who believed that the Bible is the evidence for faith and practice.
We have noted that Stone, like many others, had trouble finding his way out of the briar patch which had enslaved people by denying them the Bible. Because he was an "honest seeker" he did not have the guile to hide his search for the truth. This led to many statements which still appear to show him to believe that Christ did not preexist in the form of God. And of course, he would have sprinkled little babies in his early years. Therefore, his views were a stumbling block to the restoration of some groups such as the Baptists--
"W. T. Moore calls attention to an important result of the union which should not be overlooked: 'From the Campbellian point of view this union had its drawbacks. At the time it was consummated the 'Reformers' were practically sweeping everything before them in the Baptist churches of Kentucky, Ohio, and other places where the 'Christians' had attained considerable influence.
But the union seriously affected the trend of the Baptist churches toward the Reformatory movement. Many of those who had sympathy with the Reformation utterly refused to become associated with a movement which had coalesced with Unitarians and Pedobaptists.' This charge was false, but it had the semblance of truth, and, for a time, it did much injury." (Davis, M. M., Restoration Movement in the 19th Century, p. 157).
If you discount Thomas Campbell's early association with "restorationists" and his attempt to unify the bodies of Presbyterians, and place his restoration at the time of his rejection of the Presbyterian church, then you can say that Stone had begun before Campbell. However, Davis notes that a stream can be longer but still be a tributary--
"And so the Stone movement, though several years older in its organic form than that of the Campbell's, is generally regarded as a tributary, and not the main stream, in this onflowing and world-blessing spiritual current. This is because most of the vital and permanent in the teachings of Stone, and much more, were found in the teachings of Campbell." (Davis, p. 158).
From this and other evidence, Stone had theological problems which prevented him from being the father of the restoration movement. Baptists who made up a major body of the growing restoration movement would have never agreed with him. In addition, Stone did not have a "rounded out" view of the Bible which found acceptance among people who already knew what the church should look like, if and when it appeared.
"In a sense, there was nothing to unite, because neither Stone's Christians nor Campbell's Disciples of Christ hand any denominational organization. Tensions were inevitable, even over the proper name of the united movement.
Many Stonites cherished their revivalist origins, continued to affirm Stone's Arianism, and resented Campbell's doctrinal rigidity and few of his less than flattering remarks about Stone.
In most regions the competing congregations eventually merged, but a remnant of Stoneite congregations in the Midwest, joind by a small Christian movement in New England and independent Christian congregations in North Carolina and Virginia rejected union." (Conkin, p. 140)
Samuel and John Rogers fill in many blanks and show that the Stone methods of church membership did not find a "fit" in the Bible trained minds of many in Tennessee and Alabama and had to be replaced with the Biblical method defined in the Great Commission and already taught by Campbell.
Samuel Rogers' mother had dared to carry her Bible into Catholic controlled cities at great risk and trained little Samuel with it. He later "married into" the Stone movement by marrying a lady who had lived in the Cane Ridge area. He slowly felt that he was to preach and met many of the early preachers who were out founding churches. He was "recruited" by the Preachers conference which decided who was to be a Stone preacher. He was also "recruited" by Stone's leaders who had defected to Shakerism. In his wisdom he denounced both.
After discussing one of his sermons Rogers shows that charismatic religion is truly legalistic religion in which one must, in the words of another, "struggle up to God because God does not come down to man." He also confirms why many sign seeking people finally need to hold the office of an apostle--
"Views were entertained in those days, not only by those of us who were derisively called New Lights, but by almost every all denominations, both in regard to conversion and the call to the ministry, which were very absurd, and would now be rejected by almost every one. The evidences of pardon looked for then were a light, a whisper, a dream, or exhilarating feeling after great depression of spirit, etc." (Rogers, John I., Autobiography of Samuel Rogers, p. 22, Restoration Reprint."
"The evidence of a call to the ministry was, ordinarily, an impression, either waking or dreaming, that continued to rest upon the mind with such weight that the subject could not get rid of it. We made no distinction between the ordinary and the extraordinary ministers of Christ, but claimed to be in the shoes of the Apostles; and, hence, we expected the Lord to work with us in the same way that he did with the Apostles; and we were praying and looking for some sign, or wonder, or demonstration of the power of the Holy Ghost."
"We believed, as Kincaid and others had taught, that miracles would be restored to the Church, if we could only attain to the proper degree of holiness. We were, therefore, looking continually for the beginning of more wonderful signs than any yet apparent. Meanwhile, we had to content ourselves with such mental impressions as could be reasonably constructed into the extraordinary workings and unutterable calls of the Spirit. We never thought of finding our call in the New Testament." (Rogers, p. 22-23)
This helps explain Stone's demand for almost perfect holiness because even "minor" sins would prove that the conversion was false. This view fed the various Holiness groups which grew up in the area of Cane Ridge (as in Fleming County, etc.)
Later, Rogers wrote--
"We had mourner's benches in those days, and they were things unauthorized by the Word of God. We long since abolished them, and we did right in so doing." (Rogers Autobiography, p. 30)
Another fallacy of the Stone movement which continued denominational error was that one needed to hold this "apostolic office" as "an ordained preacher" to have the credentials to administer the "ordinance" of baptism. Biblical knowledge was not vital.
Therefore, when Rogers made converts he did not want to baptize them because he had not been ordained. He went in search of some brothers with whom he could consult. On his way, he met Stone's faithful friend, David Purviance, who informed him that they had organized a Conference of preachers and they couldn't ordain him until they met in about six months. However, Rogers confirmed the "apostolic view" when he expressed the belief that no body of men had the power to "impart any spiritual gift by the imposition of hands." Maybe he could be ordained by some direct experience but not by a new "budding" denominational structure which stood between God and man.
Because he refused this form of ordination, Purviance sent Reuben Dooley to do the baptizing. Rogers finally did accept ordination at the hands his friends--male and female. This was a major defection from the effort of Stone preachers to organize.
The original charismatic outbreak during camp meetings had burned out but camp meetings continued--and continue in groups such as The Pilgrim Holiness or Wesleyan churches where people still try to "get religion" which can be witnessed and accepted by the leaders to admit you into fellowship. We have witnessed this by people "praying through" and it is a perfect model of the mourning of the Stone movement.
Observers at many Camp Meetings note that they continued to be social gatherings which included drunks and prostitutes. For instance, Rogers noted that Camp Meetings continued for a while but were disbanded because--
"These meetings we looked forward to as great occasions. Our preachers were in the habit of coming hundreds of miles to attend them. And the people, good, bad and indifferent, for many miles around, made their arrangements to attend; until, finally, the multitude of people completely broke down the meetings, the camp-ground having become a place of fun and mischief for every abominable character in the land." (Rogers, p. 42)
In about 1821 Stone held a meeting at Millersburg, Missouri. Rogers attended and found that--
"Many had professed religion, and many more, who were at the mourner's bench, refused to be comforted. After laboring with the mourners until a late hour of the night, without being able to comfort them, Brother Stone arose and addressed the audience: 'Brethren, something must be wrong..." (Rogers, p. 56-57).
Stone concluded that they must not be preaching what the Apostle's preached. There, he said, they had been told to repent and be baptized. The group was still confounded about baptism and "the speech was a perfect damper upon the meeting." Stone repeated this sermon several times and it usually destroyed the enthusiasm. Stone measured the power of the Holy Spirit by how effective he was in creating a "sign" which he held in his own mind uninstructed by a clear reading of the Bible. When the Bible is preached in its fullness it has always reached a tiny "remnant" and when it has "mass appeal" we can be sure that "Brethren, something must be wrong."
In discussing another case, when the person could not "mourn his way into relief" Stone and others decided that "Jamison was a proper subject of Baptism--that he had doubtless received pardon, but was not conscious of it. They baptized him, and he went on his way rejoicing."
That is, the believer had been saved and if he could not get through the "mourning stage" then perhaps he might still be baptized if someone decides that he is good enough. Baptism, to Stone, was not connected to salvation even though he was driven to try preaching it at times. His "brush" with baptism, however, did not really convince him. He, like so many early preachers, could not get through the "denominational" teachings to open their eyes to the Biblical text.
Therefore, it was left to other preachers to try to find the way to truth which the congregations would validate by their reaction. This led in various paths which are not clearly documented. However, Rogers shows how the Stone churches in the south were led to the truth. In our own Alabama history it was common to steal out to the edge of the forest to see and hear the "brush arbor meetings" which usually deteriorated and apparently had little effect on the lives of the community. This was what the early preachers saw and decided that something was wrong with their preaching.
The Stone Movement in Tennessee and Alabama
Many churches already existed in Alabama and Tennessee including Baptists and Methodists. These would provide the seed bed for restoration churches as surely as men taught by Stone would make people aware that the Bible was not considered by many theologians as the ground or basis for establishing faith and practice. Strange as it seems, mothers saw it as the "text book" to teach basic reading and moral principles.
Perhaps it is to the South's credit that "arousal revivalism" did not work among the masses as it might have with a few early converts. Rogers says of B. F. Hall--
"On the 15th of May, A. D. 1825, I was, by prayer and imposition of hands, ordained by the venerated B. W. Stone and others".. in Missouri
Then Hall reports on a preaching trip into Middle Tennessee undoubtedly preaching Stone doctrine with the same failures which Stone noted from trying to get people to have an experience--
"Early in the summer of that same year (1825), I returned and preached through Middle Tennessee and Northern Alabama. We had many camp meetings that fall. It was a season of much religious interest. It was no uncommon thing, at a camp-meeting, to see from ten to fifty weeping sinners at the anxious seat, crying out for mercy. Being naturally sympathetic, I thought they were the most affecting, touching scenes I had ever witnessed. At many of those meetings I spent nearly the whole night singing, praying for, and trying to instruct weeping mourners how to obtain pardon. I would weep with those that wept, and rejoice with those that rejoiced.
"At one of those meetings, in the fall of 1825, an unusually large number were constantly at the anxious seat, weeping, and praying, and begging us to pray that God would have mercy upon them. Some found relief during the meeting; but the greater number remained uncomforted. At the close of the meeting, when about to leave for another meeting, a brother proposed that we sing a parting hymn, and the Christians first, and then the mourners, who had not found peace, should come forward and give the minister the parting hand.
When the broken hearted mourners came in a long line, weeping as if their hearts would break, I could sing no longer, but burst forth in a wail of anguish of soul. My pent-up grief found vent in a gush of tears. On the way to the next meeting, I said to a brother preacher:
"There is a wrong somewhere. Surely, we do not preach as the Apostles and first evangelists preached." (Rogers, p. 57-58).
The Stone method which had created the excitement worked for a short season. The less erratic method of weeping and mourning worked with certain people but did not work as a universal principle because it had no Biblical foundation. While he held a series of meetings during the fall "this idea haunted me" that there was a difference between the message and results of his preaching and Biblical examples.
Therefore, Hall seemed totally frustrated and went visiting family. He tells how he was led to the truth by Campbell through reading a book. He came across a copy of the Campbell-MacCalla debate and said: "I knew it would exactly fit and fill the vacant space. I was converted over; and was one of the happiest young converts you ever saw; happier than when I was converted the first time." Hall no longer held his Stone influenced conversion to be good enough and he, in effect, rejected Stone as an authority by rejecting his primary method of revival.
Hall then met with Stone but Stone rejected the teaching because it chilled the mourning which he saw as the work of the Holy Spirit. His preconception stood between his mind and the Bible. Or perhaps the universal principle that truth does not attract the masses was something he was not ready to accept.
Bypassing Stone, Hall baptized Samuel Rogers as the only preacher who did not oppose the idea. At this time, Hall moved a bit closer to the Biblical pattern and with Rogers was the only Stone preachers who were prepared to advance the Restoration cause.
Therefore, if we were looking for the "trail to the Old Paths" we should see that the restoration movement branched totally away from Stone's early views at this moment. In 1827 Hall preached in a meeting and if he baptized no one else, one convert went on to fan the flame. His new move toward restorationism led him to preach (note his spelling)--
"baptism for the remission of sins on Cyprus Creek, in Lauderdale county, Ala., on the Lord's-day night. Talbert Fanning was present and heard the discourse, was convinced of the truth, and, when the invitation was given came forward and made the good confession, and was immersed the next morning for the remission of sins." (Rogers, p. 60)
This is the same man, I believe, who had to be removed from East Main Church in Murfreesboro to escape those who would have done him harm for preaching against slavery! Again, false revivals work in producing "love" but only within the tribe or clan.
Rogers admits to the general ignorance of the people but M. M. Davis and others show that the demands of the people served to sort out the direction of the movement. That is, there were many men who threw opinions around the country, but those which "caught on" and were permanent became so because it was the truth which everyone could verify and not because of the love (pronounced by my kids as luuuvee) of Stone or the heavy doctrinal hand of Campbell.
"As a people, though we were somewhat superstitious, and were advancing slowly towards the full day of gospel light, yet we were certainly preparing the way for this Reformation as no other people." (Rogers, p. 60).
He shows that baptism generally did not flow from the preachers to the converts. Rather, it was the converts who demanded of the clergy that they administer baptism. And so Rogers and others were led by the Bible students in most congregations and by their refusal to respond to their emotional methods. If revival does not occur then perhaps we should say with him "surely we are doing something wrong."
Rogers later came in contact with the O'Kelleyites in Charlotte and states that Rice Haggard had suggested the name Christian to Stone. On this trip he met Campbell whom he had not heard on his earlier visits to Kentucky. He recognized that Campbell had a view of the church which he had been seeking but never found in the Stone movement. His acceptance was not based on any heavy-handed force from Campbell but the teaching of truth.
He does acknowledge on p. 115 that the Stone churches had been the "seed-bed" of the Reformation produced by Brother Campbell. However, he notes that while union occurred in 1832 most of the Stone preachers--
"received the teachings of Brother Campbell almost from the beginning of his writings in the Christian Baptist, which commenced July 4, 1823."
The End of the Stone Movement in The South
A Baptist congregation "comes to its end" if and when it as a body denounces their old theology it begins to practice something quite different. In the same way, Stone congregations came to an end when they quit believing and practicing certain things and began to believe and worship in a different way. Even in the lifetime of existing church members, some Rutherford County churches were called Christian churches. And as we noted above much of the change occurred slowly as men moved closer and closer to the views which Campbell taught. Perhaps some "Campbellism" also died as people moved away from some of his views.
Many people believed that Stone thought that unity was more important than doctrine. Therefore, his critics believed that he sought union among groups even when he never united with them in his mind-
Jennings, p. 74, quotes J. F. Burnett to show that "only Stone was lost to us in his affliction with the Disciples, with which people he never united except in cooperation."
This may be supported by the statement above that long before Stone agreed to union, the Campbell movement was "sweeping" up Stone and other churches because he taught what they often already believed.
If there were really 2,000 "experiences" at Cane Ridge they were not "harvested" by Stone. After he left the Presbyterians there were only five leaders in general agreement about the next move. After the defection of the others, Stone was left alone to build from "scratch" by his new teaching. He preached where he could, "stalked" the Shakers to enjoin debate, but did much of his work "from house to house." Where were were the 30,000 or the 2,000?
Three years later there were only 15 congregations in Kentucky and Ohio who followed his brand of restorationism which most of us would not accept. By 1823 Campbell was already working and publishing in Kentucky and by 1826 there were about 10 to 15 thousand members in 300 Stone-influenced congregations who were not in agreement with the denominations but were certainly not churches of Christ. When the Stone and Campbell influenced churches merged not all of these remained as "restoration" churches.
By the time of the union Samuel Rogers' seems to support the number--
"Then followed a wave of 'Campbellism' that swept the Christians off their feet, and aggregated about eight thousand accessions to the Disciples.
No Christian churches long survived in Tennessee, their cause was ruined in Kentucky and never has regained its former strength or prestige.
Of the southern Ohio Christians a majority of the preachers embraced Campbellism prior to 1837, and only about one thousand church members remained." (Jenning, Walter W., Origin and Early History of the Disciples of Christ, p. 197, Standard).
Whatever was brought to Tennessee as doctrine or organization, it did not survive but was replaced. By analogy, if a restoration member was earlier sprinkled by a Methodist minister we cannot say that the member became the foundation of the church.
Therefore, if it is true that "their cause was ruined" then it is also true that the churches felt themselves to be going in the wrong direction and changed. If the Christians united with the Disciples because they held a common view then there could be no "sweeping"--all they had to do was to change their name.
To have preached in Tennessee and helped others move churches away from denominationalism did not mean that Stone was the father of churches in the South. When men repudiated the "mourner's bench" and had the courage to preach the Bible with much less enthusiastic results, they built on "father Stone" but had moved beyond him and most of his influence. They planted on the "seed bed" which Stone preachers had prepared but they did not plant Stone "seed."
In the image of Rogers as he argued against Calvinism: "To have been born in a potato patch does not make one a potato." In the same way, to have been started by Stone's preachers did not make the churches "Stone" churches for very long.
In fact, at Stone's instigation, the Conferences of the Christians were dissolved, churches disbanded, and the people became amalgamated with the Disciples (Jennings, p. 197). Because they were still somewhat sectarian or denominational in their views, it was necessary to "disband" or effectively denounce their old allegiance before they could be "amalgamated" with the Disciples.
People had generally agreed that they were not Presbyterians, Methodists, or Baptists but they were just on the way to true restoration. Of Stone it clear that he changed his mind on some things after Campbell came to Kentucky--
"Nor did he hesitate to acknowledge that from A. Campbell and others, he had derived important, practical religious knowledge." (Stone Biography, p. 301).
Those of the Stone movement understood that neither man was the "savior" and wrote Campbell and said--
"It was not your joining brother Stone as a leader, nor his joining you as such; but all rallying in the spirit of gospel truth, liberty and love, around the one glorious centre of attraction--Christ Jesus." (Biography, p. 345)
John Rogers concludes that he might agree with the critics if Barton W. Stone really produced the Cane Ridge "fanaticism." Rather, he notes that they happened periodically and not as a result of Stone's character or method. In the same breath he ridicules anyone who claims that the churches of Christ were a product of father Stone--both claims are outrageous nonsense----
"He would disparage Mr. Stone's reformation, by representing it, as a system of the grossest error associated with the wildest fanaticism.
"He would degrade Mr. Campbell, by representing him as building on Mr. Stone's foundation." (p. 403).
Samuel Rogers will deny that Stone's influence was the "foundation" of the Restoration. Rather, it was the "seed bed" because it had called many people out of denominationalism based on the belief that they didn't need a Presbyterian "token" or Wesley's "watch and pray" Love Feast Ticket to get into a class as one "found acceptable."
It must be possible to honor all of the thousands of honest seekers without demanding that any of them did anything more than "unlock the Bible" and read it for themselves.
Campbell Rejected Charismatic Revivalism
Campbell was willing to join with Stone perhaps because many of the Stone preachers had already spread a clearer understanding the New Testament church beginning in 1823. However, he denounced Stone's earlier involvement with fanatical experiences or even of the mourner's bench. He also denounced the concept of revivals because it attempts to do something which it is supposed the teaching of the Word cannot do. He wrote--
"The machinery of modern revivals is not divine, but human. It is certainly divisive. They are undoubtedly deceived who repose the slightest confidence in it. The spirit of the crusades is in it--the spirit of fanaticism is in it--the spirit of delusion is in it. The Spirit of God is not in it, else he was not in the Apostles; for he taught them no such schemes--no such means of catching men. This is a bait which was never put by Christ's fishermen on the evangelical hook." (Alexander Campbell, quoted by Randall, p. 373)
These "exercises" have always been confused with "Revivalism." Such artificial methods often have the goal of "attracting the largest miscellaneous crowd" so that the bills can be paid or because people reject the Bible. Therefore, Campbell warned against this "machinery" as a method of true "revival" where he considered them "sheep stealers." Stone said about the same thing when the Baptists and Methodists did not want to "unite" but to steal the sheep brought in by Cane Ridge and other "revivals." Campbell wrote--
"But in the rage of sectarian proselytism, 'the Holy Ghost' is an admirable contrivance. Every qualm of conscience, every new motion of the heart, every strange feelings or thrill--all doubts, fears, despondencies, horrors, remorse, etc., are the work of this Holy Ghost.
The Holy Spirit is equivalent to the spirit of holiness, and its fruits are goodness, gentleness, purity, peace, joy, etc.
But not so the fruits of this evangelical Holy Ghost. To it is ascribed all the anguish, horror of conscience, lamentations and grief, which precede that calm called regeneration, so often witnessed in our greatest revivals." (Millennial Harbinger 1831:212).
Later, Campbell wrote to deny that the church was the product of Cane Ridge by questioning its methods. He surely knew that the Stone movement depended heavily on the "mourners bench" until they found the "truth" more powerful--
"When then shall we think of that religion which is the mere offspring of excited feelings--of sympathy with tones, and attitudes, and gestures--of the noise, and tumults, and shoutings of enthusiasm--of the machinery of the mourning bench, the anxious seat, the boisterous interlocutory prayers, intercessions, and exhortations to 'get religion on the spot' etc., with which all are conversant who frequent revival meetings in seasons of great excitement" (Millennial Harbinger. 1840:167)
Kenneth Sublett Comments Welcome
Great Awakening Cane Ridge Index
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