Dr Thomas had gone to England m June, 1848, filled with a great zeal to share the truth he had discovered m America with his fellow countrymen In the article last month, we left him involved with the “Millerites ” This relationship was, however, quite unintended It grew out of Dr Thomas’ initially unsuccessful attempts to proclaim his message to the English “Campbellites ” We will place these attempts in the broader context and describe how the “American Connection” both hindered and helped him proclaim his message I do not intend to deal with many of the details as recorded by Robert Roberts in his Dr Thomas: his Life and Works, but will amplify the account from contemporary Campbellite sources and Dr Thomas’ own account of his visit in the Herald.
The Campbellites in England
The Campbellite Church (Churches of Christ) in England derives its origin largely from the work of Peyton Wyeth from Pennsylvania who introduced the message of the Campbells to a London church The pastor, William Jones, then commenced publication of the Millennial Harbinger (same name as Alexander Campbell’s American periodical) In 1837, James Wallis entered upon the scene, as is described below The growth of the church was steady m 1842, 50 churches reported 1300 members By 1847, when Campbell visited the country, 80 churches reported a total membership of 2,300 Published records show that most churches were small and fairly independent of each other The only real form of central organization, apart from Wallis’ magazine, was the conferences held annually from 1847 on The group never grew very large in Britain the figures I have show fewer Campbellites than Christadelphians from about the 1880’s on The number of its adherents peaked at around 16,000 in the 1920’s It then declined to around 3,500 before merging with the United Reform Church in 1980, so it no longer exists as a separate denomination in Britain.
James Wallis, the British Millennial Harbinger and Dr. Thomas
James Wallis was the main leader of the British Campbellites for the period of interest Born in 1793, he joined the Scottish Baptists, but rebelled against their Calvinism and fell under the influence of the Campbellite movement He and a few others formed the Campbellite church m Nottingham in December, 1836 An owner of a coat factory in Nottingham, his wealth gave him whatever influence his religious abilities lacked When Campbell came over to England in 1847, Wallis was his host and escort, a fact that Dr Thomas commented on with sarcasm.
There is no evidence Dr Thomas and Wallis met prior to 1848, but the two were clearly acquainted by correspondence Wallis commenced his Christian Messenger and Reformer m 1837, and Dr Thomas wrote to Wallis from at least 1838 on He supplied many articles to Wallis’ magazine in fact, from its beginning, there had been more articles in it from Thomas’ pen than any other save Campbell himself Initially, the relationship was cordial for example, m the last issue of the Apostolic Advocate, Dr Thomas published a friendly letter from Wallis Wallis had published extracts from Dr Thomas’ previous letters, and now said in part “I thank you, brother; for your remarks and paraphrase on Phil. 1: 20-24. I hope to see the one on II Cor 5: 6-8..I am hoping, looking, and longing for the immortality exclusively through the mediation of the Immortal Jesus.
Your brother in this hope,
James Wallis”
By 1844, the relationship was very different Dr Thomas wrote in his Herald of the Future Age, vol 1, “Friend Wallis and his truth-trimming associates seem to have become proficient in the policy of their brother ecclesiastics on this side of the Atlantic They…have elaborated the same dishonesty, and treachery against the truth as their co-adjudicators are guilty of among us.” This is a small sample of a lengthy diatribe against Wallis, it was not surprising the enmity was later reciprocated!
In 1846, Wallis changed the title of his magazine to the British Millennial Harbinger As you will not be amazed, by 1848, when Dr Thomas reached England, Wallis was bitterly opposed to any Campbellite congregation giving the Doctor a hearing Even before Dr Thomas reached the shores of his native land, Wallis had warned his readers of the impending arrival of one who had, according to Wallis “publicly abjured all connection with the churches of the Reformation in the United States.” Despite this attack, Dr Thomas presented his letters of introduction to Wallis, but not surprisingly was rebuffed in his attempts to get a hearing in Nottingham
Wallis continued his attack against Dr Thomas at his next opportunity in Glasgow m late September After the Doctor’s enormously successful lectures there (see below), he attended a Campbellite convention as a delegate from Lincoln (as noted below) There Wallis circulated not only his Confession and Abjuration, but also two letters from New York In these, Dr Thomas was represented as being out of communion with the local Campbellite Church there – a charge Dr Thomas vigorously denied, but to no avail He was denied a place as a delegate at the congress after what seemed to be a blatant move by Wallis to eliminate any possibility of Dr Thomas addressing the assembly The place on the program where his name should be was left blank, and the following statement was put in the record “The delegate of the Lincoln congregation, being a foreigner some doubts were entertained as to his being eligible to represent any congregation in Great Britain at this meeting; and some having said he had made a declaration of non-fellowship with our brethren in the U.S…. it was moved… That it is the opinion of this meeting, that Dr Thomas is not a fit and proper person to represent the church in Lincoln.” So the avenue to proclaim his message to the Campbellite churches in England was initially closed by the machinations of Wallis Perhaps if Dr Thomas had not been his normal forthright self four years earlier the situation might have been different But maybe being forced to look outside the small groups the Campbellites represented served the cause of the Truth better Many Campbellites responded to his message, but many also did from other denominations, particularly the Millentes, as we saw last month.
It is a piece of Christadelphian trivia that George Dowie was present at the convention as a delegate from Edinburgh In 1849 he became the leader of the group called the Baptized Believers in the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, which group were later disfellowshipped by Robert Roberts Their influence has reached down through the years in more ways than most recognize but that is a story that is difficult for me to tell, even from 150 years later.
The destructive work of Wallis was yet not complete, as we shall presently see
Dr. Thomas and other Campbellite churches
Soon after his arrival m London, Dr Thomas succeeded briefly in being allowed to speak at a Campbellite church in Ellestree Street, London, about three miles from the house of Dr Thomas’ brother, Henry He obtained this introduction via his sister, but was soon repudiated by their leader, David King This was, accord-mg to Dr Thomas, because Wallis bribed King by promising to let his press publish the broadsides of Campbell, but in any case this avenue was soon closed This same David King later became editor of the Harbinger, and engaged in correspondence and polemics with the Christadelphians, particularly Robert Roberts, all his long life he died m 1894.
The next Campbellite Church he visited was in Lincoln, which was notable for two events
- During this time, in August 1848, Dr Thomas appears to have immersed two members into his new-found faith These unnamed believers were, I believe, the first to be baptized into the “Gospel of the Kingdom” Unfortunately, there is no evidence that these initial converts continued in their new-found faith.
- This small Campbellite group agreed to accept the offer of Dr Thomas to serve as their representative (without any cost to them) to the Campbellite convention shortly to be held m Glasgow Thus Dr Thomas went to the convention in Glasgow with unintended consequences as we shall see!
In late 1849, Dr Thomas visited Aberdeen, and addressed large audiences, although not as large as in Glasgow His main success there was among the Campbellites, and about half the congregation (or about 16 members) left to form a new congregation We must not forget that among his audience one night was a young boy, then aged 10, named Robert Roberts All he later remembered was the long beard of the speaker, for he fell asleep during the two-hour lecture But the local seed had been sown, so four years later there was a group of twenty still meeting in a small upper room for Robert Roberts to find when he, m turn, discovered the Truth.
Dr Thomas gained a hearing at several more Campbellite churches, and m general it is clear his message, when he could proclaim it, was very successful It is interesting to note that the historians of the Campbellite churches in England ascribe the major cause for lack of growth of the Campbellite movement to the visit of Dr Thomas — as the number of his own followers grew, the number of Campbellite supporters actually shrank, particularly m Scotland The Fife (Scotland) Association m 1851 “noted that numbers had declined because of divisions and separations caused by Thomasite teaching”
Dr. Thomas and the Gospel Banner
Walls initially succeeded m cutting off Dr Thomas from access to his magazine and to the congregations he controlled There were, however, dissident voices among the British Campbellites, and among these were Henry Hudston and William Dawson, publishers of a little magazine called the Gospel Banner They opened up the pages of this periodical to Dr Thomas, not because they agreed with all his views, but because they believed he should be able to present his position You will find much by Dr Thomas in this magazine, as well as some criticism, for the whole of the period Dr Thomas was m England, 1848-50 As is not surprising, this aroused the wrath of Wallis and Campbell, and a scathing attack on the magazine was published m 1850 The little paper could not survive this attack, so it ceased publication in 1850, but not before the message of Dr Thomas was spread to most of the Campbellites m England, as well as the others who took this magazine.
How Dr. Thomas was persuaded to write Elpis Israel
Most Christadelphians are aware that the first major work of doctrine for our community was Elpis Israel Written in the winter of 1848-9, although not published until early 1850, it was a major milestone m Dr Thomas’ development of his religious beliefs, and is still m print and m wide use almost 150 years later.
There were, I believe, many factors that came together to persuade Dr Thomas to produce this book, which, although written in haste, is a monumental work fully worthy of being read by all Christadelphians These factors are
- 1848 was a time of tremendous turmoil m politics, with major political developments m most European countries As we saw recently in this country with the Gulf War, such times create a great desire to listen to any voice that offers a fresh, consistent, Bible-based view on current events and possible future developments
- The Campbellite annual conference was held that year m Glasgow, starting September 28 and Dr Thomas wanted to go to present his message to the whole Campbellite group in Great Britain He did not succeed in this, being, as we have seen, blocked m this attempt by Wallis, but this was the cause of his visit to Glasgow.
- Dr Thomas had only one friend in Glasgow, a Campbellite named Mr Gowans who was an acquaintance by correspondence Gowans succeeded in renting a hall for Dr Thomas and advertising by leaflets and posters Dr Thomas arrived in Glasgow at 4:30 p m on Friday, September 15 and was lecturing within four hours By the Sunday, a Campbellite in the audience proposed a committee of 14 to advertise the lectures more extensively This resulted in audiences that eventually necessitated the hiring of a hall that held 5,000 – and filling it to capacity Nothing more is heard of Gowans, (Robert Roberts m his biography does not even mention his name) but without his initiative Dr Thomas would undoubtedly never have come to Glasgow m advance of the conference So Dr Thomas lectured for 11 days, before suspending his talks to attend the Campbellite conference.
- The Sunday of his last lecture, September 25, the audience decided to form another committee, this time to organize a “soiree” “as a public testimonial and acknowledgment of their obligation to us for our disinterested labors on their behalf,” as Dr Thomas phrased it Soirees were common m Britain at the time, and “were for the entertainment of such individuals as their friends and public might delight to honor” Admission price would be decided, and the affair advertised light refreshments served, followed by music from a band and addresses, which alternated until it was time to adjourn Dr Thomas attended and spoke at such an affair held at the end of the Campbellite conference now one was to be arranged in his honor on October 12.
- At the conclusion of this latter soiree, a member of the audience pleaded with Dr Thomas to turn the substance of his lectures into book form, as the doctor was then intending to return to America To this Dr Thomas agreed, only asking that the audience would obtain subscribers for the work if he were to write it Dr Thomas also said, “When we left the United States our intention was to return in the Autumn. (To take up his lecturing duties at the S&E Medical Institute in Virginia) We had made no provision for a longer stay” he continued, “and the probability was that our affairs would suffer as a consequence.” As I have pointed out before, his extended stay in England undoubtedly led to much future expansion of his influence there — but also cost him both personally and financially.
Out of all these factors, Elpis Israel came to be written.
A contemporary description of Dr. Thomas in Glasgow
The Reformer’s Gazette noted the visit of Dr Thomas in these words:
“Soon after the bombardment of Rome by the French, we had a visit in this city of a gentleman with a very long beard, who interpreted prophecy with wonderful gravity and precision, and who seemed to bring to the task considerable scriptural erudition Dr Thomas was grave, sedate, and, barring his long black beard, a very respectable-looking personage He had, moreover, a particular way of his own, an Intimate and enlightened knowledge of passing events, a considerable acquaintance with history, and enough of scriptural and etymological science to impart a peculiar force and power to his expositions of prophecy He did not pretend to be inspired, but simply to interpret prophecy by the light of history.”
Conclusion
Dr Thomas succeeded m attracting considerable support from among the Campbellites, despite the opposition of Wallis But when one door shuts, another opens Wallis refused his British Millennial Harbinger, but the Gospel Banner was the new chosen vehicle Refused a hearing among the Campbellites conference in Glasgow, Elpis Israel resulted. Thus, and it must have been by the grace of God, the success of his visit to Britain was in the end much greater, but perhaps from a different direction, than he might have imagined And let us not forget his visit to Aberdeen!
Sources. The Gospel Banner, and the Christian Messenger (later British Millennial Harbinger) both contain many articles by, and much concerning, Dr Thomas In addition, W Nome’s book on the early growth of the Christadelphians in Britain was consulted, as was Andrew Wilson’s The History of the Christadelphians. The history of the Campbellite movement in England is to be found m Let Sects and Parties Fall by David Thompson.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One