(Black Rocks on Presque Isle, Marquette, MI)
The Immutable Kingdom – Part 59
By Scott A. Klaft
Philip S. Fall
Certainly no controversialist, but rather quiet and reserved, the reason P.S. Fall was significant to the restoration was due mainly to his tremendous influence in Frankfort and Louisville, Kentucky, as well as Nashville, Tennessee. He was a man strong in conviction, pure in thought, lofty in his ideals, and his deep love for Christ was always a sure and uplifting influence.
Born in England in 1798, his parentage had a mix of Episcopalian and Baptist education. Upon their arrival in America in 1817, his parents settled in Russellville, Kentucky where they died only a year later. In the same year of their death, P. S. Fall established an academy near Louisville and joined a Baptist group where he became interested in preaching. By December 1819, he was given a “license to preach” for the Baptist Church. In the fall of 1821, he was invited to preach once a month for a newly organized Baptist Church in Louisville, which steadily grew until 1823, when he was then invited to move there to expand his preaching efforts. It was here that he became familiar with the restoration principles.
After Alexander Campbell’s debate with John Walker in 1820, there was an excited stir among the Baptists of Kentucky. In intellect, independence, and piety, Campbell towered above other preachers, and many Baptists enjoyed the idea of him preaching immersion. Yet, there were mixed emotions due to his stance on the two covenants.
By the time Campbell made public his belief that scriptural immersion in the name of Christ was for the purpose of remitting sin, no little alarm was raised among the Baptists. For P.S. Fall, however, his love of truth would not allow him to defend a party’s beliefs just for the party’s advancement. He would examine fairly, and determine for himself the truth of the matter. He read, and closely scrutinized, a published form of Campbell’s sermon on Law; and, by the next winter, he was preaching the very same principles.
Considerable criticism followed Fall, but the Baptist Church in Louisville was convinced he was right; and together, they became the first in the state to join the Restoration Movement. Fall was very quickly cast into disfavor with most Baptists. Despite his effort in 1824 to convince other Baptist Churches in the Long Run Baptist Association by means of a circulated letter, for the most part, he was rejected.
He was asked to teach at The Nashville Female Academy in 1825; and, after his move, he began to preach for the Baptist Church in that area with the agreement that he would preach only the Bible, and reject all human creeds. Again, he found disfavor with the local Baptist Association who are on record referring to P. S. Fall as “a thorough dyed Campbellite under a Baptist cloak.” It is little wonder, considering that, by this time, Fall and Campbell had become the closest of friends.
Fall stayed in Nashville until 1831 when his health demanded his move back toward Frankfort, Kentucky. During his stay there, he managed to convince the church to leave the Baptists altogether and stand solely upon the Bible. He also established the Female Eclectic Institute where the daughters of Kentucky’s most prominent families received their education. He taught there for twenty-six years while preaching all around the state, frequently coming in conflict with Baptists.
In 1852, the church in Nashville was in serious trouble over the teaching of J.B. Ferguson. In order to resolve the problem of their division, they appealed to Fall to return, which he did, preaching there until 1877. Getting on in age, he grew rather feeble and quite deaf after moving back to Frankfort. He attended one of the troublesome Missionary Society’s annual meetings, not because he believed in it, but because he knew he would soon die, and he wanted to see his old friends a last time. At the age of ninety-two, on December 3, 1890, this soldier of faith, P. S. Fall, was finally laid to rest.
(Next Week: “Raccoon” John Smith)
