The printing and circulation of the debate opened the eyes of Mr. Campbell to the power and usefulness of the press. From that time forward he cherished the hope that he might do something upon a more extended scale to rouse the people from their spiritual lethargy. Step by step he had been brought to an eminence from which he could survey the wide field in which he was destined to labor, and he now nerved himself for the undertaking. After maturing his plans, he conferred with his father and others concerning the advisability of issuing a monthly publication in the interest of religious truth. They heartily approved his plan, and he issued in the spring of 1823 a prospectus for the work which he proposed to call “The Christian Baptist.” In this prospectus the nature and objects of the publication were candidly and clearly stated, as follows: The “Christian Baptist” shall espouse the cause of no religious sect, excepting that ancient sect “called Christians first at Antioch.” Its sole object shall be the eviction of the truth and the exposing of error in doctrine and practice. The editor, acknowledging no standard of religious faith or works other than the Old and New Testament, and the latter as the only standard of the religion of Jesus Christ, will, intentionally at least, oppose nothing which it contains, and recommend nothing which it does not enjoin. Having no worldly interest at stake from the adoption or reprobation of any articles of faith or religious practice, having no gift nor religious emolument to blind his eyes or to pervert his judgment, he hopes to manifest that he is an impartial advocate of truth. He dedicated the work “to all those, without distinction, who acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be a true revelation from God, and the New Testament as containing the religion of Jesus Christ; who, willing to have all religious tenets and practices tried by the divine Word, and who, feeling themselves in duty bound to search the Scripture for themselves in all matters of religion, are disposed to reject all doctrine and commandments of men, and to obey the truth, holding fast the faith once delivered to the saints.” The Campbell-McCalla Discussion