[This article was written by Justin Monts.]
Alexander Campbell did not start the church of Christ. The church of Christ began in 30 AD on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38, 47). Campbell was born in 1788, long after the first century. Jesus Christ founded the church that bears his name. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, “I will build my church.” God gave him to be head over all things to the church which is his body (Ephesians 1:22-23). Further, the Hebrew writer tells us that Jesus is the minister of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man (Hebrews 8:2). Since Jesus Christ erected his own church, Campbell could not have possibly started the church of Christ. The apostle Paul wrote in 58 AD, “The churches of Christ salute you” (Romans 16:16).
Who was Alexander Campbell? Campbell was a well known preacher and Bible student. He was also a delegate to the Virginia constitutional convention which led the state toward a more powerful executive branch of government. Incidentally, he was also the founder of Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia. Campbell therefore started a college, not a church. What role did he play in the restoration movement in America? He was just one among many pioneer preachers who sought to return to the Bible. Yet a man is never a standard (1 Corinthians 4:6). Men can be wrong but the Bible is right.
Additional proof that Campbell did not start the church of Christ. Historical evidence continually surfaces that churches of Christ existed on American soil long before Campbell. Above is a photograph of a sign commemorating a church of Christ in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The local group met in 1710. The minister, Thomas Cheever, was born in 1658. Obviously, the church of Christ predates Campbell. And, according to the Bible, it predates even Cheever! If one is in a church that did not commence in 30 AD he is in a church that does not belong to Christ. In which church are you found?
