In the early 1800’s, as our new nation was going through its development, the men of the restoration movement were also struggling with how to return to the scriptures. Barton Stone in Kentucky, with six other ministers, broke away from their Presbyterian “section” and began the Springfield Presbytery, which began to grow “in strength and size daily.”
Now, bathing in the light of the scriptures, free from outside authorities, they soon realized the organization they had begun was itself unscriptural. So, in 1804, they penned the now famous “Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery.” They declared, “We will, that this body die, be dissolved and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large…We will, that our name of distinction, with its Reverend title, be forgotten…We will, that our power of making laws for the government of the church forever cease.”
Twelve items in total were in this document, spelling out in detail their return to the scriptures and desire “that all our sister bodies read their Bibles carefully.”
May we today be as brave, to urge a reliance on the inspired scriptures alone. Let us unashamedly proclaim to the so-called religious authorities of the world: “Let God be true, and every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4).
-Dennis Doughty
