|
 This
interesting bit of history is taken from "Hazard of the
Die;" the account of Tolbert Fanning and Restoration, by
James R. Wilburn (p.14-15).
——————–
In
1825, at the age of 21, (B.F. Hall) had been ordained by Stone
and during the following summer preached in several series of
meetings. He discovered the "mourner's bench" still in
use by many of Stone's associates. Hall was disturbed because so
many meetings closed without the "mourners" receiving
deliverance from their obvious distress.
The
next year ... he was visiting on Line Creek which separates
Tennessee from Kentucky. In the cabin of a friend he found a
copy of the Campbell — McCalla Debate and read carefully
Alexander Campbell's discussion of the N.T. design of baptism.
Suddenly he cried, "Eureka! Eureka! I have found it, I have
found it!" The book dropped to the floor as the whole
"plan of salvation" became clear to him for the first
time. Puzzled mourners did not need to wait in vain for God to
enter their hearts miraculously. Confronting Christ, they could
respond to God through their own free will and as an expression
of their own intellect, being immersed for the remission of
their sins. Such was the obvious picture in the first century,
and God was the same in 1826!
When
Hall excitedly approached (B.W.) Stone about this, Stone replied
that he also had preached baptism for the remission of sins. But
its effect on his listeners, he reported, was similar to
throwing cold water
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on them, and so he discontinued the
practice. .... ....
Unaware
of Tolbert Fanning, B.F. Hall made his way to Alabama. On the
last day of Sept., 1827, he preached at Cypress Creek, just
north of Florence. He had determined to imitate the preaching of
the apostles, and so for the first time he urged his hearers to
be baptized for the remission of their sins. To encourage his
listeners to respond, he decided to ask the group to sing an
"invitation" hymn. His message came through to Fanning
"in a manner which was so simple and plain that anyone
could understand it." He was convinced of its truth. When
the invitation hymn was sung (for the first time among these
people), he came forward and confessed his faith in Christ.
———————
Wilburn
gives as sources for this material: Autobiography of Samuel
Rogers; Standard Pub, Cincinnati; 1880; and an article in
Restoration Quarterly, V. 5, No. 1, (1961) by Thomas H. Olbricht.
B.
W. Stone and others wrote "Last Will and Testament of
Springfield Presbytery" in 1804; beginning then to
establish independent churches and take the Bible only as their
guide. But we are often hasty in assuming that this meant
"all truth" was found and followed. We also err in
thinking "the way we do it now" has "always"
been done. (Oh, how our brethren love "always.") Far
better that we face the facts of history, and learn the spirit
of restoration that makes each responsible before God's word.
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