No, Johnny! you were reading Campbell deciding whom he preferred: when he spoke of them being chrisrtians he EXPLAINED that this was in the sense of us being a "christian nation."
He defined a Christian as saved as being BAPTIZED for the remission of sins.
Only DISCIPLES are called Christians and disciples are made by baptizing and teaching.
I quoted exactly what Campbell said and IF there were Christians in the sense of being baptized in the SECTS then they should COME OUT OF BABYLON. You quoted what you wanted to quote and I continued the text. Sound fair?
Not saying it was all Campbell as there were universities, publications, and great debates that launched the movement splitting churches and creating new ones. And your last statement is also false: Beginning with Jesus most of church history, the Campbells demand that you are NOT saved if you refuse to obey the Gospel. Probably only preachers ever think about what others believe except to teach what they believe. You REVERSE the judgmental by implicating all churches of Christ as having made a CREEDAL STATEMENT. You deem THEM wrong for believing that they are Biblical.
The division thing not a fact either: the Campbells did not set out to set up another church. Thomas left to keep from being disfellowshipped by the Presbyterians for offering communion to those NOT of his presbyterian sect. You had to be CERTIFIED to be ACCEPTED at the table:
No token: no eaty.
Nextly, Alexander Campbell left to keep from being disfellowshipped by the Baptists because he absolutely always taught that to be a Christian one had to be baptized FOR or in order to the remission of sins and not BECAUSE of remission of sins. If Campbell believed the Baptists were SAVED why would he preach the bible to them.
Therefore, being SECTED OUT rather than form a sect, the Declaration and Address was used to define a community assembly following the direct commands for the church in the wilderness and commanded by Jesus and described in GREAT DEATAIL by Paul and practiced until in 373 in SOME congregations they violated the command to SPEAK and began to SING as a ACT: act defining legalism and creating discord.
Church is "A school of Christ.
Worship is "reading and musing the Word."
No one was excluded but no one was deemed saved until they obeyed what Christ prophesied, Jesus commanded, the apostles and most of church history practiced.
While the Disciples from the beginning was a continuation of the INSTITUTE of their old religions, it was only in the 1930's that Churches of Christ became more than a community Bible study with communion which was still "teaching."
So, when they tell you that the Church of Christ became a SECT because it refused to BEGIN to do what it had NEVER done for 2000 years, they have lied beyond redemption because to teach something divisive while being ignorant of the Bible is still lying. Especially since none of the groups added instruments until they overextended and needed a Cash Cow.
Johnny, you have never read ALL of the Lunenburg correspondence and neither has Hughes. The Baptists gloated and believed just what you believe until Campbell pulled the rug out from under them. I quoted some of that: If you are a baptized Christian and still in a SECT then Campbell demands "come out of Babylon."
And he gives no grace to anyone who supposing that there were "Christians among the sects" failed to teach the truth about Baptism. He never approved and never "unioned" with any of the sects including the musical sectarians.
