Roseann Benson - Alexander Campbell and Joseph Smith

praise for

Alexander Campbell and Joseph Smith:
Nineteenth-Century Restorationists

In this groundbreaking analysis of the life and thought of Alexander Campbell and Joseph Smith, RoseAnn Benson has produced the most extensively researched and deft treatment of these quintessentially American religious leaders to date. Bensons insider LDS insights, complemented by her careful examination of Campbell materials and consultation with Campbell scholars, make this an important addition to American religious studies.

Douglas A. Foster, professor of church history in the Graduate School of Religion and director of the Center for Restoration Studies, Abilene Christian University

Oftentimes, ones own cherished beliefs and religious interpretations are best studied in the context of other faiths and traditions.... Dr. Benson has written a balanced and compelling comparison between what she calls the revelatory restorationism of Joseph Smith and the reasoned restorationism of Alexander Campbell.Considering the fact that both religious movements began in America and that one of Mormonisms best known early leadersSidney Rigdoncame out of the Campbellite movement, this book is timely and most informative. Readers from both the Latter-day Saint and the various Disciples of Christ movements will find much to commend in this competent, highly readable study.

Richard E. Bennett, professor of church history and doctrine, Brigham Young University

On the cover: The Mantua Center Christian Church (right) is the oldest Disciples of Christ (or Campbellite tradition) house of worship in Ohio. Photograph by Marianne Burton Millar. Cover and interior design by Carmen Durland Cole.

Published by Brigham Young University Press, Provo, Utah, in cooperation with Abilene Christian University.

2017 by Brigham Young University. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books, Inc.

Any uses of this material beyond those allowed by the exemptions in US copyright law, such as section 107, Fair Use, and section 108, Library Copying, require the written permission of the publisher, Religious Studies Center, 185 HGB, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of Brigham Young University or the Religious Studies Center.

ISBN: 978-1-9443-9428-8

Retail: US $24.99

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017952626

for my parents

Rose Isabelle Schlosser Benson (19232000)
and
Walter Latham Benson (191897)

Illustrations

Map of United Kingdom, by Edward Dean Neuenswander

Alexander Campbells 1809 Journal. Courtesy of Disciples of Christ Historical Society, Nashville, Tennessee

Alexander Campbells Mansion Home and Study, by Edward Dean Neuenswander

Title page of the first edition of the Book of Mormon, 1830. Courtesy of Kent P. Jackson

Thomas Campbell, c. 1834, by Edward Dean Neuenswander

Masthead of Millennial Harbinger 1, no. 1 (4 January 1830). Courtesy of L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University

Alexander Campbell, c. 1815, by Edward Dean Neuenswander

Title page of Alexander Campbell, ed., The Sacred Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists of Jesus Christ . Buffaloe, VA,1826. Courtesy of Kent P. Jackson

Title page of Joseph Smith, Holy Scriptures: Inspired Version (Herald Press, 1876). Courtesy of L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University

Map of Eastern United States, by Edward Dean Neuenswander

The Mantua Center, Ohio. Courtesy of Steve Hurd

Map of Missouri and Illinois, by Edward Dean Neuenswander

Alexander Campbell, ca. 1860, by Edward Dean Neuenswander

Joseph Smith, ca. 1840, by Edward Dean Neuenswander

Foreword

Thomas H. Olbricht

Distinguished Professor Emeritus of
Religion, Pepperdine University

In this book, RoseAnn Benson has competently concluded a study never before attempted. She has set out to compare and contrast divergent visions of restorationism held by Alexander Campbell (17881866) and Joseph Smith (180544). Campbell was the key leader in the movement for which he preferred the designation Disciples of Christ. Smith was the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

What is the importance of this study? One might argue that the comparison is warranted for the same reason that one climbs the proverbial mountainbecause it is there! But a more pressing incentive is that these constituencies comprise the two largest indigenous religious bodies founded in America in the nineteenth century. These religious traditions reflect perhaps more than any other confessional groups the spiritual life and thought generated by the nineteenth-century American experience. Though the visions of these two men are profoundly divergent in specific ways, they nevertheless incorporate certain major motifs in American religious life of the time: primitivism, restorationism, evangelism, and denominationalism.

Smith and Campbell fathered religious bodies that at the beginning of the twenty-first century number into the millions and are found throughout the world. The largest constituency resulting from the work of Smith is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, now headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, with now almost 6,000,000 members in the United States and approximately 9,000,000 elsewhere in the world. A second, smaller group is the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, recently reconstituted as the Community of Christ, headquartered in Independence, Missouri, with about 250,000 members throughout the world. The total therefore comes to above 15,000,000.

The three largest religious groups that result from Alexander Campbells efforts are the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), with about 800,000 members in the world; the Churches of Christ, with about 3,000,000 members in the world, and 1,300,000 of these in the United States; and the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, with about 1,200,000 members in the world. The total number therefore exceeds more than 5,000,000 persons. The heirs of Joseph Smith and Alexander Campbell have made a significant impact on religion not only in America but also across the globe.

These two religious bodies emerged at about the same time in the northeastern United States, and some of the early leaders of the Latter-day Saints came from the followers of Alexander Campbell, all of whom at that time were Baptists. Both of these groups proceeded from the assumption that original Christianity had departed from its moorings. Both Campbell and Smith were convinced that the biblical faith needed to be restored. Furthermore, they were convinced that creeds contributed to apostasy. What therefore was required was a return to the primitive faith as set forth in the ancient scriptures. A new start was imperative. It was only in this manner that Christians could be unified in the modern era. Despite these common aspirations, however, the visions of Smith and Campbell for the restored church diverged widely. Dr. Benson is largely occupied with the manner in which Smith and Campbell differed.

Benson first approached me about assessing her work several years ago. She thanked me for my suggestions and said I would receive additional essays from her again after she had read the changes proposed. When she wrote about six months later, she included another section of the book. I was impressed with how seriously she had taken my suggestions and at the more nuanced insights that resulted in what she had written. Benson then proposed that I continue to react to various versions of her manuscript, and that I have proceeded to do. It has taken some time for us to work through the major interpretations, since scholars, of course, differ. We have tried to achieve what best represents a consensus perspective among the major interpreters of Smith and Campbell.