David Lipscomb

David Lipscomb
Born	1831 Tennessee, USA
Died	1917 (aged 85–86) United States
Organization	Founded the Nashville Bible School, which is now known as Lipscomb University
Political movement	American Restoration Movement
Religion	Restoration Movement Christianity

David Lipscomb (1831–1917) was a minister, editor, and educator in the American Restoration Movement and one of the leaders of that movement, which, by 1906, had formalized a division into the Church of Christ (with which Lipscomb was affiliated) and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). James A. Harding and David Lipscomb founded the Nashville Bible School, which is now known as Lipscomb University in honor of the latter.

Early life

Lipscomb was born to Granville Lipscomb (born January 13, 1802 in Louisa County, Virginia, died November 16, 1853) and his second wife Ann E. Lipscomb (born January 25, 1799 in Louisa County, Virginia, died January 29, 1835 in Illinois) (called "Nancy" in some sources.) Granville had previously been married, on December 14, 1825 in Spotsylvania, Virginia, to the former Ellen Guerner.

Granville and his older brother William Lipscomb were active in the Bean's Creek Baptist Church, where they were listed as the church clerks for 1828-1831 (Granville Lipscomb) and 1844-1876 (William C. Lipscomb). Attempts to convert the Bean's Creek church to Restoration Movement theology was poorly received and Granville Lipscomb's family was expelled in 1831.^[1][2]David was born in Huntland, Tennessee.

The Lipscomb family, originally Baptist, were said to have converted to Restoration Movement Christianity in the mid 1820s while reading Alexander Campbell's periodical Christian Baptist, copies of which had been sent to the Lipscomb's family by Ann's sister Elizabeth (born ca. 1797) and brother-in-law, physician Lunsford Lindsay (born ca. 1793) of Todd County, Kentucky who would later participate in the formation of the Cadiz Christian Church in 1837.^[3]

They were said to be charter members of the Old Salem church, according to Dr. Earl Irvin West's Lipscomb biography, The Life and Times of David Lipscomb.

“The Old Salem congregation began in May 1834 with two male members and two females. Also, five colored people belonged. By Christmas that year the number had grown to thirty-four whites and twelve blacks.”

When Lipscomb was three years old (some sources say four), in 1834 or 1835, his father moved the family temporarily to Sangamon County, Illinois, (whose county seat, Springfield, would become the state capital in 1837) for the express purpose of freeing Granville Lipscomb's four slaves. Lipscomb's mother died in Illinois on January 29, 1835; she and some of David's siblings died of malaria while the family lived in Illinois.

Lipscomb's father moved the rest of the family back to Tennessee in 1835 or 1836 and he married his third wife, Jane L. Breedan, (died September 8, 1885), on April 11 or August 11, 1837.^[4] A half-brother of David's, also named Granville, was born to Jane Breedan Lipscomb. William Lipscomb would help to found Neely's Bend Church of Christ in April 1872 .^[5] Granville Lipscomb, Jr. would become a leader in the Lebanon Church of Christ founded in 1879 in Weakley County, Tennessee.^[6]

Tolbert Fanning, farming in Georgia, and Franklin College

David Lipscomb (1831-1917)

Lipscomb, along with his older brother William, was greatly influenced by conservative Nashville, Tennessee church leader Tolbert Fanning. Lipscomb was baptized by Fanning in 1845, and, in 1846, he entered Fanning's Franklin College, graduating in 1849. While a student at Franklin, Lipscomb roomed with the father of Edward Ward Carmack.

Fanning was an enforcer of strict orthodoxy with regard to Restoration doctrines, seeing anything not specifically authorized by the New Testament as an unnecessary and hence sinful addition to the "primitive" Christianity of the 1st century, which the movement was by definition dedicated to restoring.

Lipscomb then spent two years managing a plantation in Georgia before returning to Tennessee.

Gospel Advocate

In this spirit, in 1855, Fanning and William Lipscomb began publishing a magazine aimed at dissemination of this view throughout the Restoration Movement, the Gospel Advocate. Following the resumption of mail service, which had been interrupted by the American Civil War, David Lipscomb revived the Gospel Advocate in July 1866, with himself and Fanning as editors: Fanning withdrew making Lipscomb the sole editor until he was joined by P. S. Fall, John T. Walsh, Jacob Creath, Jr., T. W. Brents and Carroll Kendrick in 1867.

The Advocate seemed almost invariably to take the conservative side of every issue facing the Restorationists – its stance was opposed to the use of musical instruments of any type in worship; in its early years, it was likewise totally opposed to Sunday school. (This latter position was later totally reversed to the extent that the Gospel Advocate is today one of the largest single publishers of Sunday School materials used in the Churches of Christ.)

Pacifist and anarchist beliefs

All the wars and strifes between tribes, races, nations, from the beginning until now, have been the result of man's effort to govern himself and the world, rather than to submit to the government of God.

David Lipscomb, On Civil Government p.14

Lipscomb was a pacifist. He did not believe in the use of violence for any reason. Some state that Lipscomb's pacifism was shaped by the Union occupation of Nashville during and after the Civil War. Others see in it an echo of the Anabaptist theological tradition that underlay some of the early Restorationist thinking. Most directly, it was also a belief of his primary teacher, Tolbert Fanning, who was convicted of treason for his pacifism.^{[citation needed][dubious – discuss]} Quite likely, he was influenced by multiple sources before the Civil War, and his pacifism strengthened by events he witnessed during and after it. In his letter, reprinted as "To His Excellency The President of The Confederate States of America," Lipscomb stated his position in no uncertain terms so that "members of the churches of Jesus Christ" would be exempt from serving as soldiers in the Confederacy. His most systematic statement of doctrine on this matter is his book, On Civil Government: Its Origin, Mission, and Destiny, and the Christian's Relation to It, which has been reprinted several times. In this book, Lipscomb (a lifelong educator) makes an important distinction: "Teaching school is no part of the administration of the government. It seems to me a Christian might teach a government school as an employee without compromising his position" (143).

Like many of the Anabaptists, Lipscomb disavowed most involvement by a Christian with government; as far as he was concerned, faithful Christians had absolutely no business voting in elections or serving on juries. He likewise condemned membership by Christians in secret societies such as Freemasonry and similar fraternal organizations, stating that a Christian's true responsibilities were to God, church, and family, not members in a lodge. This almost total eschewing of government can be construed as a Christian form of anarchy, a term that Lipscomb never used to describe himself. Many of Lipscomb's present-day followers now favor either Minarchism or a more libertarian version of advocacy for limited government.

Every one who honors and serves the human government and relies upon it, for good, more than he does upon the Divine government, worships and serves the creature more than he does the Creator.

David Lipscomb, On Civil Government p.50

Lipscomb's beliefs on government can be classified as a radical theory of religious freedom, classical liberalism, even potentially consistent with fundamental positions of Anarcho-primitivism. Lipscomb believed in creating a peaceful, cooperative, decentralized communion in which freedom, worship, and family could thrive. Therefore, he was a pacifist, unlike many anarchists (particularly those of the early 20th Century) who sometimes advocated violence as a legitimate means to freedom. For Lipscomb, violence and warfare were incompatible with Christianity, and, perhaps because of his experiences during the American Civil War, he noted that civil governments tended to increase violence and warfare. In this context, Lipscomb appears to be a meliorist.

Unlike Leo Tolstoy, Lipscomb's theories developed without any influence or knowledge of the early anarchists like Pierre Proudhon and Josiah Warren, who developed their beliefs without reliance on religion. Anarchism after Lipscomb remained unaware of Lipscomb's contributions.

When Lipscomb was discovered by radical libertarian scholars, some such as Prof. Edward Stringham noted^[7] that Lipscomb had independently questioned common assumptions that

1. Governments need to make laws.
2. Governments are created for the public good.
3. Democracy is for the common good.

Further, Lipscomb argued that

1. Governments may seek to increase disorder to expand their power.
2. People should abstain from voting, instead seeking change through persuasive and non-coercive methods.
3. Peaceful civilization is not dependent on the state.
4. Governments are created for the benefit of the rulers, not the people.

While all of these arguments are common today in anarchist thought, Lipscomb may have been the first to bring them all together, at least in America and likely preceded only by William Godwin in England and Proudhon in France. The radical libertarians in America from Lysander Spooner to Murray Rothbard and beyond developed and popularized these arguments after Lipscomb did, but with no knowledge of Lipscomb. Lipscomb's theory of freedom must be understood as a radical statement positing the almost absolute separation of church and state as the only true guarantor of the freedom of religion.

Nashville Bible School

Lipscomb for a time was a prosperous farmer in addition to his religious activities, at one time operating his own ferry across the Cumberland River from his farm north of Nashville to the side of the river on which the main part of the city was located. He eventually relocated to an estate south of Nashville. Today, this estate is the campus of Lipscomb University. The log house in which he lived on his former farm has been dismantled and re-erected adjacent to his later home, which is used by the university for some social occasions.

In 1891, Lipscomb and James A. Harding founded the Nashville Bible School, the precursor to the current Lipscomb University, which was not named for him until after his death. As Lipscomb was a product of the predominant Southern culture of the time, this institution was segregated and was for many years solely for white students, necessitating a separate sister institution in North Nashville for blacks, which was not totally dismantled and merged with the larger white school until the 1960s.

Influence and Legacy

David Lipscomb's main legacy is Lipscomb University.

A trace of Lipscomb's pacifism survives in Churches of Christ today; the group contained few conscientious objectors even in World War I, while 199^[8] served in Civilian Public Service camps during World War II, though it is not recognized as a historical peace church, which it would have been had Lipscomb's views in this area predominated. Lipscomb's views on voting and jury service are likewise nearly extinct within the group, held generally only by a few of the oldest members in rural areas, though there are current members of the faculties of both Harding University and Lipscomb University who do not vote, following Lipscomb's views on the matter. There are also pacifists who currently teach at Lipscomb University [1]. When Lipscomb University recently began the Center for International Peace and Justice, some of the faculty associated with the program saw it as a way of manifesting David Lipscomb's continuing legacy of pacifism in a Church of Christ-supported University setting, though it must be noted that some of the faculty associated with the Center for International Peace and Justice do not share David Lipscomb's pacifist views.^[9]

His views on fraternal organizations were once quite controversial; this issue arises in Churches of Christ only periodically and generally locally, and is somewhat in eclipse due to the lessening of the size and influence of such groups generally, at least in the Upper South and Texas where the Church of Christ is generally centered.

It has been noted^{[citation needed]} that Lipscomb's influence over the Churches of Christ was greatest in about a 150- to 300-mile radius of his base in Nashville; while he influenced the group considerably in Texas and elsewhere as well, his influence there apparently was less than in the Nashville area.

Lipscomb's Gospel Advocate developed significant, though unofficial, status within the Churches of Christ, more so than any of many other similar publications. The Churches of Christ had (and have) no recognized leadership hierarchy above the congregational level, yet debates of the day that concerned many congregations were framed within the pages of such periodicals. Churches of Christ still cling to the congregational model, with almost no inter-congregational political structures.

Opposition to missionary societies and instrumental music

Lipscomb already had become so influential as a young man that he engaged in a running correspondence with Alexander Campbell, one of the early Restorationists who was very influential but quite elderly by the time of Lipscomb's ascendancy. Lipscomb disagreed with Campbell most vehemently on the topic of the American Christian Missionary Society, a cooperative effort to fund and coordinate foreign missions among various congregations, which Campbell accepted and encouraged but Lipscomb totally rejected as a sinful, unscriptural innovation.^{[citation needed]}

Lipscomb noted that most of the congregations that supported the Missionary Society were likewise those not opposed to instrumental music. He began to attack both these practices, and felt that those ministers who were not publicly opposed to these activities should not be allowed to address "sound" congregations (those that followed what he saw to be Bible truth). Notably, however, Lipscomb often spoke in non Church of Christ congregations that had instrumental music without ever alluding to his opinion on the matter, which is not directly addressed in the New Testament. He believed in the early (unofficial) Church of Christ creed that Christians should have liberty in matters of opinion.^{[citation needed]} However, he did not consider such issues a matter an opinion, but rather “took a firm stand against the organization of human societies for the preaching of the gospel, and he as ably contended for the simple worship without the use of instrumental music, as taught in the New Testament.”^[10]

Perhaps Lipscomb's words provide the world some insight as to why he vehemently rejected instrumental music:

"Neither Paul nor any other apostle, nor the Lord Jesus, nor any of the disciples for five hundred years, used instruments. This too, in the face of the fact that the Jews had used instruments in the days of their prosperity and that the Greeks and heathen nations all used them in their worship. They were dropped out with such emphasis that they were not taken up till the middle of the Dark Ages, and came in as part of the order of the Roman Catholic Church. It seems there cannot be doubt but that the use of instrumental music in connection with the worship of God, whether used as a part of the worship or as an attraction accompaniment, is unauthorized by God and violates the oft-repeated prohibition to add nothing to, take nothing from, the commandments of the Lord. They have not been authorized by God or sanctified with the blood of his Son."^[11]

As the debate over such matters spread, people chose sides and by 1906 the lines of division were evident. Thomas Hughes put forth that Lipscomb's apocalyptic worldview of “progression versus digression” shaped his belief that the “kingdom of God would break into pieces all the kingdoms of this world.” This resulted in his strict “legalistic” restorationist vision. While Hughes did not define what he meant by "legalistic," he accurately noted history revealing the fact that apocalyptic outlook affected the worldview and Christian life of many restoration leaders during that time.^[12]

The Church of Christ

The triumph of this line of thought within the conservative Restoration congregations was the impetus behind the 1906 decision (made in the course of the religious census formerly conducted in years ending in "6" by the United States Bureau of the Census) to list the "Church of Christ" and the "Christian Church" as separate bodies, formalizing what had long been the de facto case.

Lipscomb's legacy is still felt within the Church of Christ today, perhaps primarily through the Gospel Advocate, which is still published and still tends to define mainstream orthodoxy within the body, although to a lesser extent than previously, and through its other publishing operations, notably in regard to Sunday School literature as noted previously.

His namesake institution in recent years has been accused of selling out to "liberalism" by many of the more conservative voices in the church. The term "liberalism" in the context of the Churches of Christ is frequently linked to a form of doctrine founded upon a direct operation of the Holy Spirit upon the heart of the sinner and saint as well as cooperation with denominational groups that differ in theology, doctrine and concept of truth. The term "liberalism" must be taken in a relative sense for both sides in this debate because too much of the religious world outside the Churches of Christ, the term "liberal" tends to denote teaching against plenary verbal inspiration while both sides tend still to be accepting the position of the plenary verbal inspiration of the Bible, a theologically very conservative position, while disagreeing about its mode and medium.

A more superficial distinction between liberal and conservative Churches of Christ has less to do with doctrine and more to do with style of worship: A "liberal" Church of Christ employs worship styles that are not congruent with those found in traditional Churches of Christ (e.g. singing with "Praise Teams," eschewing hymnals, raising hands, embracing drama and art, using multimedia displays, celebrating traditional religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter AS religious holidays), while both liberal and conservative Churches of Christ tend to have similar beliefs about the divinity of Christ; the meaning of his death, burial, and resurrection; the necessity of baptism; the literal truth of the New Testament scriptures; the omnipotence of God, etc. Some in both groups claim fidelity to David Lipscomb's spirit and teachings.

Bibliography

• On Civil Government: Its Origin, Mission, and Destiny, and the Christian's Relation to It. 1866-67. Reprinted in the Library of Radical Christian Discipleship. Stone-Campbell Tradition Series. vol. 4. Doulos Christou Press: Indianapolis, 2006. ISBN 0-9744796-1-6 ISBN 978-0-9744796-1-3 Complete e-text (The writings in On Civil Government were originally published in the Gospel Advocate in 1866-1867, then in the Christian Quarterly, and finally Lipscomb collected them in book form.)

See also

• Christian pacifism
• Radical Christianity

References

1. ^ Therestorationmovement.com, Early Life Of David Lipscomb
2. ^ Therestorationmovement.com, David Lipscomb at therestorationmovement.com
3. ^ WesternKentuckyHistory.org: Trigg County Chapter 6
4. ^ MS 2473: The Bean's Creek Baptist Church Minute Book, 1814-1876 at the library of the University of Tennessee (Knoxville)
5. ^ History of Neelys Bend Church of Christ
6. ^ rootsweb.com: Lebanon Church of Christ
7. ^ Edward Stringham (2005-07-07). "The Radical Libertarian Political Economy of 19th Century Preacher David Lipscomb" (DOC). Department of Economics, San Jose State University. http://www2.sjsu.edu/stringham/docs/Stringham.on.Lipscomb.2005.07.07.doc. 
8. ^ Gingerich, Melvin (1949), Service for Peace, A History of Mennonite Civilian Public Service, p. 452, Mennonite Central Committee.
9. ^ Center for International Peace and Justice - Lipscomb University - Nashville, Tennessee at cipj.lipscomb.edu
10. ^ H. Leo Boles, Biographical Sketches Of Gospel Preachers (Gospel Advocate Company: Nashville, TN 1932)p243-247
11. ^ David Lipscomb, Queries and Answers by David Lipscomb p226-227, and Gospel Advocate, 1899, p. 376-377
12. ^ Richard T. Hughes, Reviving the ancient Faith: The story of Churches of Christ in America (Eerdmans Publishing Co: Grand Rapids, MI, 1996) p133.

Further reading

• Robert E. Hooper, Crying in the Wilderness: A Biography of David Lipscomb (Nashville: David Lipscomb College, 1979)
• To His Excellency the President of the Confederate States of America Open Letter by David Lipscomb, November 13, 1862. Reprinted in the Appendix of the edition of On Civil Government cited above, pages 128-130.

External links

• Munc.ca, David Lipscomb at the Restoration Movement pages at the Memorial University of Newfoundland.
• The Buford Church of Christ in Georgia, U.S.A., maintains pages about the Restoration Movement, including this one Therestorationmovement.com about David Lipscomb.
• Gospeladvocate.com, this article was adapted from A Call to Remember by Robert E. Hooper, Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1977.

Preceded by Tolbert Fanning

Editor of the Gospel Advocate 1866–1908

Succeeded by Robert Henry Boll

Persondata
Name	Lipscomb, David
Alternative names
Short description	Leader, American Restoration Movement
Date of birth	1831
Place of birth	Tennessee, USA
Date of death	1917
Place of death	United States