John McLeod Campbell (1800 - February 27, 1872) was a Scottish minister who through sustained reflection on Scripture and the pastoral questions of his congregation, in additon to his many years of ministerial experience, became one of Scotland's finest constructive and revisionary theologians of the 19th century. Indeed, in the opinion of one church historian, contemporaneous with Campbell, his theology was the highpoint of British theology during that century.[1] Reverend Professor James B. Torrance, formerly of the University of Aberdeen, ranks him among two theological luminaries on the doctrine of the atonement, the early church father Athanasius of Alexandria, and, Anselm of Canterbury.[2] In the nineteenth century, perhaps no one else was as notable or constructive as an exponent and thinker regarding the doctrine of the atonement. Campbell took his cue from his close reading of the early church fathers, the historic Reformed confessions and catechisms, John Calvin, Martin Luther's commentary on Galatians, and Jonathan Edward's works-- arriving at his own conclusions after much thought, writing, preaching and reflection.[3] Edward's question which originally became one of the impetus' for Campbell's work, in addition to the spiritual issues facing his congregation in Row, was this: "Could God be satisfied by Christ's earnest and honest repentance on behalf of humanity, or was his death necessary for satisfaction, forgiveness, and atonement to occur?" Asked in another way, did Christ have to die to effect atonement, or was there another way for atonement to take place? As Gustaf Aulen has shown, the penal substitutionary theory of the atonement was not the only view throughout the history of Christian doctrine.[4]
Campbell, the son of the Rev. Donald Campbell, he was born at Kilninver, Argyllshire. Thanks to his father he was already a good Latin scholar when he went to the University of Glasgow in 1811. Finishing his course in 1817, he became a student at the Divinity Hall, where he gained some reputation as a Hebraist. After further training at Edinburgh he was licensed as preacher by the presbytery of Lorne in 1821. In 1825 he was appointed to the parish of Row on the Gareloch. About this time the doctrine of Assurance of Faith powerfully influenced him. Campbell's question, during his ministry in Row, was the dreadful spiritual state of his parishoners in which many questioned God's attitude towards them. Did God love them? Did Christ die for them? How was one to know when facing God what God's disposition was towards the person? At issue was their doctrine of God, their doctrine of Christ, and their doctrine of the Christian life. All of which, Campbell was soon to discover, was bleak at best. There was little joy or happiness in their Christianity.[5]
He began to give so much prominence to the universality of the Atonement that questions arose among some of his parishioners who petitioned the presbytery in 1829. Campbell's reputation as a brilliant preacher, certaintly had something to do with the views some his ministerial colleagues had of him. The petition was withdrawn, because of improprieties in its occurance and because the overwhelming majority of his congregation was clearly affectionate and appreciative of his piety, pastoral ministry among them, and the seriousness with which he took his faith. However, a subsequent appeal in March 1830 led to a presbyterial visitation followed by an accusation of heresy. Technically, Campbell taught a universal atonement in his sermons, and in particular, the sermon he preached on that occasion. In this, he clearly disagreed with the Westminster Confession of Faith's view of a limited atonement. This caused the foreseeable occurance of his disbarrment. The General Assembly by which the charge was ultimately considered found Campbell guilty of teaching heretical doctrines and deprived him of his living. In studying the disciplinary documents one must be reminded that several issues, some of which were political, came into play. Campbell was without theological party in the Assembly, he did not belong to either the Moderates or the Evangelicals. This lack of affiliation hurt him terribly.[6] The ultimate question facing the Assembly, was not Campbell's piety and faith, but his earlier promise and statement that he would abide in his preaching and teaching by the Westminster Standards, then the official standards of the Scottish church. Campbell knew, following his disbarrment, that his theology was at odds with the official church standards, no matter how Reformed, or biblical it was. Declining an invitation to join Edward Irving in the Catholic Apostolic Church, he worked for two years as an evangelist in the Scottish Highlands.
Returning to Glasgow in 1843, he was minister for sixteen years in a large chapel specially built for him, by close friends, but he never attempted to found a sect or denomination. He remained in his own mind an evangelist and pastor to those who attended worship services. In 1856 he published his famous book titled: The Nature of the Atonement, which has profoundly influenced Scottish theology particularly in the work of Hugh Ross Mackintosh, Donald Baillie, and most notably Thomas F. and James B. Torrance. Campbell's aim was to view the Atonement in the light of the Incarnation. The divine mind in Christ is the mind of perfect obedient sonship towards God and perfect brotherhood towards men. Christ in his person fulfills the law to love God wholeheartedly and to love neighbor selflessly. By the light of this divine fact of the Incarnation, Christ's life, vicariously lived in humanity's place, is seen to develop itself naturally and necessarily as a perfect and complete atonement; the penal element in the sufferings of Christ is but one part of the atonement. Campbell has been falsely accused of minimizing the penal substitutionary theory of the atonement with his views, but Campbell never denied its theological veracity. He merely expanded on what was the case in Christ, in light of the atonement. Subsequent critics have argued that Campbell's position was not self-consistent in the place assigned to the penal and expiatory element in the sufferings of Christ, nor adequate in its recognition of the principle that the obedience of Christ perfectly affirms all righteousness and so satisfies the holiness of God, thus effecting a peace and reconciliation between God and humanity--a true atonement. Such criticisms, however, fail to grasp Campbell's theological reading of Numbers 25 and the constructive use and application of verses 10-13 of that Scriptural book. Campbell's reading of this passage, certainly must have taken into account, Phineas' passion, obedience, and living out of a life passionate for God. If Phineas, a human, could, through his obedience, effect peace between God and the people of Israel, after their sin, as Scripture indicates here, how much more, Campbell thought, must Christ's obedience, love, jealousy for God's glory, and vicarious humanity effect peace and reconciliation between God and humanity in his person. The question, for Campbell, was "Are we to take Scripture's declaration that Phineas' obedience in this particular instance effected a "peace" between God and the people of Israel?" If so, then how much more so God's Son in his person and work; Campbell was clear that one could not separate the cross from the incarnation. In 1859 his health gave way, and he advised his congregation to join the Barony church, where Norman McLeod was pastor. In 1862 he published Thoughts on Revelation.
In 1868 he received the degree of D.D. from Glasgow University for his theological work and writing. He and his friends took it to be a reaching out on the part of the Scottish church towards him so long after his disbarrment. Indeed, later Scottish theology affirmed Campbell's influence in its departure from the strict reading of Westminster's Standards. In 1870 he moved to Roseneath, and there began his Reminiscences and Reflections, an unfinished work published after his death by his son. Campbell was greatly loved and esteemed by a circle of friends, which included Thomas Erskine, Norman McLeod, Alexander Ewing, Frederick Maurice and CJ Vaughan, and he was recognized and honoured as a man whose opinion on theological subjects carried great weight. In 1871 a testimonial and address were presented to him by representatives of most of the religious bodies in Scotland. He was buried in Roseneath churchyard.
For Further Reading:
Primary Sources
The Whole Proceedings before the Presbytery of Dumbarton, and Synod of Glasgow and Ayr in the Case of the Rev. John Mcleod Campbell, Minister of Row, Including the Libel, Answers to the Libel, Evidence, and Speeches, R. B. Lusk, Greenock, Edinburgh, 1831,; Sermons and Lectures, 2 Vols., 1832; Fragments of Expositions, 1843; On the Nature of the Atonement, 1856 (and other editions); Christ the Bread of Life, 1869; Thoughts on Revelation, 1874; Reminiscences and Reflections, 1873; Responsibility for the Gift of Eternal Life, (Thematically arranged material from Campbell's early sermons), 1873; Memorials of John Mcleod Campbell, 2 Vols., 1877.
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public ___domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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1. Otto Pleiderer, The Development of Theology in Germany since Kant and its Progress in Great Britain since 1825, Macmillian and Co., New York, New York, 1890, p. 382. "I regard their (Thomas Erskine of Linlathen's and John Mcleod Campbell's) ideas as the best contribution to dogmatics which British theology has produced in the present century."
2. James B. Torrance, Scottish Journal of Theology,#26, 1973, p. 295.
3. On this the reading of the The Whole Proceedings..., is fascinating because it shows how widely read Campbell really was, particularly with regard to Reformed theology outside of the Westminster Standards. That he continued reading widely may be seen in his dialogue in On the Nature of the Atonement with past theologians like Martin Luther, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, and contemporary theologians like Pye Smith, George Payne, Thomas Jenkyns, Thomas Chalmers, and others.
4. Gustav Aulen, Christus Victor--An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the idea of the Atonement, (various editions).
5. See on this On the Nature of the Atonement, p. 43
6. J. H. Leckie, The Expository Times: Books that Have Influenced our Epoch, #40 (1929), p. 199. "When his trial came he was without influential friends."