Alexander Campbell is one of the most important American religious figures of the 19th Century. The Stone/Campbell movement is the foundational movement for the creation of the Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ. Yet today Campbell is relatively unknown even by members of the Churches he founded. There are a few reasons for this. First, he shunned using his name and was upset when people used the term Campbellism instead of Church of Christ. Had he embraced his name like Luther, his name would be more known today. Second, he never set out to form a religion, but believed in unity of all Christianity so he never really embraced it. Finally, the movement he and Barton Stone created eventually split between the Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ. His reputation is much different from Joseph Smith who we will start studying next week. Smith and Campbell were contemporaries, but Smith is completely tied to Mormonism while Campbell has been largely forgotten.
Historically Speaking 