Founding & Establishement

The Story of Nicol Campbell and his development of The School of Truth, excerpt from:

One of the very active groups of New Thought in South Africa is the School of Truth, with headquarters in Johannesburg. Established as the School of Practical Christianity in 1937, it later changed its name. It has centers in several cities of South Africa. In all of these centers lectures are given at stated times, and the centers are open for prayer and meditation as well as consultation. An extensive correspondence is carried on with inquirers - thousands of letters each month, they report - seeking help in every sort of problem that the human individual faces.

Some thirty years ago Nicol Campbell was, according to the story of his life written by one of his followers (a student in the School of Truth), a lonely, confused, and quite fearful young man, living at home in Cape Town. His parents were Presbyterian. His grandfather was a Presbyterian minister, so he was brought up in a Christian home. He was a student of the Bible. He believed in God and according to ordinary standards would have been judged a good average Christian young man. But he longed to prove the beliefs he held, and in his sheltered home there seemed no way to do this. Nor did he know any religious leader to whom he could go who had proved these beliefs.

Campbell had no money, but he felt impelled to strike out on his own and put to proof the gospel that he had been taught. He left home with only a few pounds in his pocket and went to another city a thousand miles away. Here he gave away all his remaining cash to a spiritual agency and found himself quite alone and utterly dependent on God for all his physical needs. He got a job, but refused to name a salary. As a result advantage was taken of him by his employer, who paid him nothing. He was often hungry, living chiefly on "office tea," which in that country it is the custom to serve twice daily. He told no one about his financial straits, but extolled the love of God and his unfailing care

Once he was reduced to the point where he had not even a postage stamp with which to mail a letter which it seemed to him he must write and post. He set off for the post office not knowing how he would succeed in mailing it. But on the way out of the building the caretaker asked him to carry some letters and mail them. He waited a moment, his own letter in hand, while the stamps were being affixed to the letters. "Here, let me put a stamp on that for you," said the caretaker, taking it from him. So the letter got mailed. It was a turning point in his life. This demonstration, small though it seemed, was really the beginning of a career of practical service which was to be blessed richly in the spreading of the Truth message. This small coin became, as it were: "the seed which when planted in the soil of service had to multiply." It had proven to him that his trust had not been misplaced, and from that day to this he has conducted his entire enterprise on the basis of this faith. It was not always easy - there were difficult days through which he and his movement had to pass - but he never ceased to preach utter reliance upon God as the source of supply, and his movement stands as proof of the gospel he preached.

Asked by the writer what it was that first turned him in the direction of New Thought, he replied that it was the reading of a poem by Linda Buntyn Willie, circa 1915.

"The Law." Thou criest out that thou didst ask And yet didst not receive, And now thou sayest in thy heart There is no law of good. But hadst thou kept the law of good, Or didst thou, asking, doubt? Nay, nay, 'twas not the law that failed 'Twas thou who trustedst not. Is law for Me alone to keep? Nay, thou must do thy part. Thou art to ask for naught but good And asking, never doubt. That is the law that thou must keep --- Seek good, and e'er believe. When thou hast kept this law of good, Then ask; thou wilt receive

This, he said, sent him to a deeper study of the New Testament, and when the light broke through he began to put the Master's teaching of the Law of Love into everyday practical living. His own teaching, he continued, has always been based upon what he has proved for himself in working with this Law of Love.

The support of the work he carries on is purely on the basis of voluntary gifts. There is no charge for any of the services of any of its ministers. Even its literature is distributed freely.

Reverend Nicol Campbell's personal path of truth lectures can be downloaded here: