Tolbert Fanning (May 10, 1810 – May 3, 1874) was one of the most influential leaders of what came to be called the American

Restoration Movement The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790–1 ...

. Born in what would later become

Cannon County, Tennessee Cannon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,506. Its county seat is Woodbury. Cannon County is part of the Nashville–Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN Metropolitan S ...

. He was man of many talents in both religion and agriculture: preacher, college founder and professor, journalist, writer, and editor. For his era he was considered an innovative farmer writing and co-editing magazines, '' Agriculturalist'' from 1840-1845 and '' The Naturalist'' from 1846-1850. His greatest influence was as much from his successful publications '' The Christian Review'' and '' Gospel Advocate'', as much as from his circuit preaching. The most influential publication he founded, ''Gospel Advocate'', inspired a former Franklin college student, David Lipscomb, who would follow Fanning as its editor. Fanning’s magazine provided a platform for purveying views and opinions relating to doctrine and church practice. It was through this influence that led to the 1906 identification of the

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ * Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...

as a distinct religious body, 33 years after Fanning's death.

Early life

As a boy Fanning lived on the

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

to attend the former

University of Nashville University of Nashville was a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It was established in 1806 as Cumberland College. It existed as a distinct entity until 1909; operating at various times a medical school, a four-year military college, a ...

Contributions to Restoration Movement

Fanning is said to have converted under the influence of preachers Ephraim D. Moore and James E. Matthews. He was baptised a member of the church in response to a sermon preached by Matthews seven miles north of

Florence, Alabama Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner, and had a population of 40,184 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Florence is l ...

, around October 1, 1827. Fanning soon after his arrival in Nashville became one of the recognized leaders of the

, an attempt to purge the Christian religion of its many denominations and restore it to the original

doctrine Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...

s and practices of the church in the 1st century. Fanning founded a girls' school in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

in 1837, the year of his graduation from Nashville University. He founded Franklin College in 1840, notable alumni of which include David Lipscomb, T. B. Larimore, E. G. Sewell, Edward Ward Carmack, J. E. Scobey, Samuel R. Lowery. and

William Lipscomb William Nunn Lipscomb Jr. (December 9, 1919April 14, 2011) was a Nobel Prize-winning People of the United States, American Inorganic chemistry, inorganic and Organic chemistry, organic chemist working in nuclear magnetic resonance, theoretical ch ...

. He was president of the college until 1861.

Legacy

Fanning's major legacy within the Restoration Movement lay with his advocacy of education. He was an important mentor to David Lipscomb and thought by many to be the source of many his protégé's more

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

views. ‘Letter to President of the Confederacy.’ “Gospel Advocate, 8:417-418, July 3, 1866.”

Lipscomb University Lipscomb University is a Private university, private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills, Nashville, Tennessee, Green Hills neighborho ...

has a dormitory named in honor of him. Following the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Fanning was instrumental in resisting the missionary societies and the use of

instrumental music An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer t ...

, issues which would eventually lead to the

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

, recognized by the U.S. Census in 1906, in which the

was first recognized as a separate body from the more liberal

Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...

Books

*"The True Method of Searching the Scriptures" by Tolbert Fanning. 67 pages. Cobb Publishing, McLoud, Oklahoma, 2016 *''The Hazard of the Die: Tolbert Fanning and the Restoration Movement'' by James R. Wilburn. 288 pages with index. Sweet Publishing Company,

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, 1969 *''Tolbert Fanning vs. Robert Richardson: battling for the birthrights of the "People of the Book"'' by Darren Ross Johnson. 1999.

References

External links

*
Tolbert Fanning
page at th
Restoration Movement
pages of the

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

Tolbert Fanning
by A. R. Holton
Restoration Quarterly 1:1

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Christian research university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an R2 (High Research Spending and Doctorate Production) institutio ...

, 1957. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fanning, Tolbert 1810 births 1874 deaths American Christian pacifists American members of the Churches of Christ People from Cannon County, Tennessee