Notes from Norman

History of the Churches of Christ in Texas (2)

Book Review (part 2)

Eckstein, Stephen Daniel, Jr. History of the Churches of Christ in Texas: 1824-1950. Austin, Texas: Firm Foundation Publishing House. 1963. hardcover 378 pages.

EARLY BEGINNINGS – 1819-1836

When we use the word “filibuster,” we think of long speeches in the United States Senate, but there is another usage. The Anglo settlers in Texas came in filibustering expeditions. The filibusters were adventurers and dreamers who entered Texas illegally and attempted to settle in territory that was largely uninhabited. One of the first and best known of these entrepreneurs was Philip Nolan, who was killed in battle by Spanish soldiers in 1801. The last of the filibusters was Dr. Colonel James Long, husband of Jane Long, who is sometimes called “The Mother of Texas.” There is no record of any Restoration Movement church members coming to Texas as filibusters.

After the Mexicans secured their independence from Spain, they allowed Anglo-American colonists to settle in Texas provided they practiced the Catholic religion. Basically a colonist had three religious options (1) Embrace Catholicism, (2) Lie about their religious affiliation, or (3) Enter Texas illegally. Interestingly enough, many of the original settlers of Texas were Anglo-Americans who gained illegal entry in an area controlled by the Mexican government – our present immigration problem reversed.

Apparently the “Catholicism only” rule wasn’t strictly enforced, probably because the soldiers had to cover such a large territory. Presbyterians, Baptists, and others carried on preaching activities with mild harassment from Mexican soldiers. It is known that a few people associated with the Restoration Movement were in Texas during this period of time. Collin McKinney had embraced the teaching of Barton W. Stone in Kentucky. He settled near present day Texarkana. He was active in politics and helped draft the Declaration of Independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos in 1836. Although services were conducted in his home, he refused to organize a church in defiance of Mexican law.

The first known congregation was established in 1835 by a group of “immigrants” who traveled to Texas by wagon and horseback from Northern Alabama. They conducted church services on their journey and were sometimes called “The Church on Wheels.” Davy Crockett accompanied them during part of their journey to Texas. They set up a church at Fort Clark on January 17, 1836. Their leader was a man named Mansil W. Matthews, a physician, teacher and preacher. At this time all Mexican soldiers had been withdrawn from Northeast Texas. It is unlikely that anybody met them at the border to check their immigration status or religious credentials.

It was only after the beginning of the Republic that church members began coming in large numbers. As the Texas settlers slowly transitioned themselves from colonists, to rebels, to citizens of a new Republic, several significant events were playing out in Restoration History in other regions. Regrettably Eckstein gives scant attention to these events, which had enormous influence in the future development of the Restoration Movement in Texas and in the United States. In 1826 Barton W. Stone began publishing The Christian Messenger. In the first issue he indicated a desire to resist traditional religious thinking, and advocated independent Bible study among those who profess to be Christians. He said, “If the present generation remains under the influence of the same principle, (traditional religion – NLB) the consequences must be, that the spirit of free enquiry will die….” The same independent spirit that drove Stone was deeply embedded in the early settlers of Texas.

Alexander Campbell began publishing the Millennial Harbinger in 1830. In the first issue he announced his intent to promote the destruction of “sectarianism, infidelity and Anti Christian doctrine and practice.” He was optimistic about his prospects. He said, “No seven years of the last ten centuries, as the last seven, have been so strongly marked with the criteria of the dawn of that period which has been the theme of many a discourse, and the burden of many a prayer”

Campbell and Stone were not satisfied with the status quo. Neither were the early settlers of Texas. They were independent, self-governing, free-wheeling radicals when measured against widely accepted social and political standards of the time. It is only natural that they would come to think of religion in the same manner. Consequently, a movement predicated on the belief that we ought to “speak where the Bible speaks and remain silent where the Bible is silent” found a receptive audience.

NEXT INSTALLMENT
The Church During the Republic Era, 1836-1845

posted by Norman @ 1:10 PM