The Ecclesial Polity of the English Calvinistic Baptists, 1640-1660

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Ecclesial Polity of the English Calvinistic Baptists, 1640-1660 THE ECCLESIAL POLITY OF THE ENGLISH CALVINISTIC BAPTISTS, 1640-1660 Ian Birch A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2014 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/6362 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence The Ecclesial Polity of the English Calvinistic Baptists 1640-1660 Ian Birch This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2014 Abstract The subject treated in this thesis is the doctrine of the church among the English Calvinistic Baptists in the period, circa 1640-1660. This timeframe covers the significant phase of early Calvinistic Baptist emergence in society and literary output. The thesis seeks to explore the development of theological commitments regarding the nature of the church within the turbulent historical context of the time. The background to the emergence of the Calvinistic Baptists was the demise of the Anglican Church of England, the establishment by Act of Parliament of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, and the establishment of a Presbyterian Church of England. The English experiment with Presbyterianism began and ended in the years covered in this work. Ecclesiology was thus one of the most important doctrines under consideration in the phase of English history. This thesis is a contribution to understanding alternative forms of ecclesiology outside of the mainstream National Church settlement. It will be argued in this thesis that the emergence and development of Calvinistic Baptist ecclesiology was a natural development of one stream of Puritan theology of the church. This was the tradition associated with Robert Brown, and the English separatist movement dating from the 1570s. This tradition was refined and made experimental in the work of Henry Jacob. Having developed his ecclesiology in the Netherlands, in 1616 Jacob founded a congregation in Southwark, London from which Calvinistic Baptists would emerge with distinct baptismal convictions by 1638. Central to Jacob’s ideology was the belief that a rightly ordered church acknowledged Christ as King over his people. The Christological priority of early Calvinistic Baptist ecclesiology will constitute the primary contribution of this thesis to investigation of dissenting theology in the period. 1 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Ian Birch hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 87 000 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September, 2009 and as a candidate for the degree of PhD in September, 2010; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2009 and 2014. Date 7th April 2014 signature of candidate ……… 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date ………….. signature of supervisor ……………………….. 3. Permission for publication: In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the publication of this thesis: PRINTED COPY Embargo on all or part of print copy for a period of 3 years on the following ground(s): lly damaging to the researcher. ELECTRONIC COPY Embargo on all or part of electronic copy for a period of 3 years on the following ground(s): lly damaging to the researcher. Date 7th April 2014 signature of candidate …… signature of supervisor ……… 2 Acknowledgements I would like to place on record my gratitude to the many people who have helped make the research and writing of this thesis possible. In particular I am indebted to the guidance and wise comments of my supervisor Revd Dr Stephen Holmes of the divinity department of the University of St Andrews. His own interest and writing in early Baptist theology has made for a stimulating partnership throughout the course of my studies. Advice and suggestions for reading have also been sought and given by Professor John Coffey, and Dr Larry Kreitzer, and for these I am most grateful. In my pursuit of sources and original documents the library staff at my home institution, the University of the West of Scotland, have been of considerable help. In the initial stages of the work a profitable week was spent at the Angus library at Regents Park College, Oxford. Parts of the work were read by my colleague Revd Dr James Gordon, whose sharp eye for grammar and punctuation has enabled me to avoid numerous errors. The remaining faults are of course my own. Financial help for my work has come from the Scottish Baptist College, the Baptist Union of Scotland, my parents and friends. I hope that seeing the work completed is an appropriate reward for their support. My wife and children have been patient, supportive, encouraging throughout, and without them, especially Elizabeth, this work would not have been possible. 3 Table of Contents Abstract 1 Declaration 3 Acknowledgements 5 Table of Contents 7 List of Abbreviations 9 Introduction: 11 Chapter 1 ‘Casting Balls of Wildfire into the bosom of the Church’ The Emergence of English Particular Baptist Churches to 1660 19 1.1. From Jacob to Jessey 20 1.2 Particular Baptist Expansion, 1644 – 1660 34 1.2.1. Geographical Expansion 34 1.2.2. Publishing 38 1.2.3. Preaching 40 1.2.4. Disputations 43 1.2.5. Missionary Evangelism 47 Summary 51 Chapter 2 ‘A True Visible Church of Christ’ The Principles of Calvinistic Baptist Ecclesiology 53 2.1 A Believer’s Church 54 2.2 Baptism, Infant Baptism, and Church Membership 57 2.3 A Gathered Church 66 2.4 A Visible Church 72 2.5 A Separate Church 78 2.6 The Rule of Christ 82 Summary 86 Chapter 3 ‘To follow the Lambe wheresoever he goeth’: The Church of King Jesus. 89 3.1. The Forerunner, Henry Jacob 91 3.2. Christology of Early Particular Baptists 95 4 3.3 Thomas Collier on the ‘Exaltation of Christ.’ 101 3.3.1. Collier on Christ’s Priesthood 103 3.3.2. Collier on Christ as Prophet 105 3.3.3. Collier on Christ’s Kingship 107 Summary 120 Chapter 4 ‘A Holy and Orderly Communion’. Theology and Practice of Discipline among Early Particular Baptists. 123 4.1 The Purity of the Saints in Particular Baptist Confessions. 124 4.2 Church Discipline in Hermeneutical Perspective. 129 4.3 The Practice Church Discipline among Early Particular Baptists 136 4.3.1. Occasions of Discipline in Baptist Records 137 4.3.2. Pastoral Procedure in Discipline 140 4.4 Theology of Discipline among Particular Baptists 150 4.4.1. The authority of the church 151 4.4.2. The Glory of Christ 152 4.4.3. Purity of the Body of Christ 153 Summary 156 Chapter 5 ‘An Intolerable Usurpation’. Theology and Practice of Ministry among Early Particular Baptists. 157 5.1 Particular Baptist Lay Ministry 157 5.2 Offices of Ministry in Particular Baptist Churches 172 5.3 Calling of Ministers in Baptist Congregations 178 5.4 Ordination of Ministers in Baptist Congregations 182 Summary 187 Chapter 6 ‘The Counsel and Help of One Another’. Independency and Interdependency, Particular Baptists in Association. 189 6.1 The Origins of Particular Baptist Associations to 1660 189 6.1.1 Associational Origins in the ARPB 191 6.2 Theology of Particular Baptist Associations 204 6.3 Associational Authority and local Ecclesiology 214 Summary 218 Conclusions: 221 Bibliography: General and Reference 235 5 Abbreviations ARPB Association Records of the Particular Baptists BQ The Baptist Quarterly EEB Stephen Wright, The Early English Baptists, 1603-1649. EED C. Burrage, The Early English Dissenters in the Light of Recent Research (1550-1641) 2 vols. HBB W.T. Whitley, A History of the British Baptists2nd. HEB A.C. Underwood, A History of the English Baptists. JEH The Journal of Ecclesiastical History JTS The Journal of Theological Studies TBHS Transactions of the Baptist Historical Society 6 Introduction In 1641, Thomas Edwards wrote to members of the Long Parliament to alert them to what he considered the major issue of the time: Tis not unknown to You, Right Noble and Worthy Senators, that the Great and Present Controversie of these Times is about the Church, and Church Government.1 Edwards, an Anglican clergyman at the time but soon to become a virulent Presbyterian, recognised that the political instability of the early 1640s had provided an opportunity for religious sects, notably ‘Anabaptism, Brownisme, &c.’,2 to flourish.
Recommended publications
  • Henry J Essey a Pastor in Politics
    Henry Jessey A Pastor in Politics HAVE decided to speak* about Henry Jessey's politics because I of my suspicion that the time is perhaps once more approaching when, while a service of ordination may become optional for the making of a minister of Christ, a prison sentence may yet become obligatory. So I want to uncover for you the motives which took Jessey into politics and the ambiguities and troubles which attended his commitment. Nevertheless, I do not want you to think that I have deluded myself into believing that I have discovered either a seventeenth century English Martin Luther King or yet one more lily-livered liberal mouthing platitudes about 'involvement' from a safe suburban pulpit. Henry Jessey was a man of his time and not ours. His spiritual and political context was not our context, his arguments were not our arguments, his crises were not our crises, but the question remains whether his deepest concern ought to be ours. Jessey, apart, perhaps, from being an Oxbridge man, was nearly everything a Baptist minister ought to be. He had the grace of perseverance and served one congregation for about a quarter of a century. He was friendly to other Christians, at least within decent limits, for neither papists nor unitarians were invited to the ministers' fraternal to which he belonged. He was good with children, though a bachelor, and had even written a book for them. He was an en­ thusiastic expositor of Scripture and shared, during the 1650's, in a scheme for replacing the King James Version with a new and more accurate one.
    [Show full text]
  • Menasseh Ben Israel and His World Brill's Studies in Intellectual History
    MENASSEH BEN ISRAEL AND HIS WORLD BRILL'S STUDIES IN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY General Editor AJ. VANDERJAGT, University of Groningen Editorial Board M. COLISH, Oberlin College J.I. ISRAEL, University College, London J.D. NORTH, University of Groningen R.H. POPKIN, Washington University, St. Louis-UCLA VOLUME 15 MENASSEH BEN ISRAEL AND HIS WORLD EDITED BY YOSEF KAPLAN, HENRY MECHOULAN AND RICHARD H. POPKIN ^o fr-hw'* -A EJ. BRILL LEIDEN • NEW YORK • K0BENHAVN • KÖLN 1989 Published with financial support from the Dr. C. Louise Thijssen- Schoutestichting. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Menasseh Ben Israel and his world / edited by Yosef Kaplan, Henry Méchoulan and Richard H. Popkin. p. cm. -- (Brill's studies in intellectual history, ISSN 0920-8607 ; v. 15) Includes index. ISBN 9004091149 1. Menasseh ben Israel, 1604-1657. 2. Rabbis-Netherlands- -Amsterdam-Biography. 3. Amsterdam (Netherlands)-Biography. 4. Sephardim--Netherlands--Amsterdam--History--17th century. 5. Judaism--Netherlands--Amsterdam--History--17th century. I. Kaplan, Yosef. II. Popkin, Richard Henry, 1923- BM755.M25M46 1989 296'.092-dc20 89-7265 [B] CIP ISSN 0920-8607 ISBN 90 04 09114 9 © Copyright 1989 by E.J. Brill, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without written permission from the publisher PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS BY E.J. BRILI, CONTENTS Introduction, Richard H. Popkin vu A Generation of Progress in the Historical Study of Dutch Sephardic Jewry, Yosef Kaplan 1 The Jewish Dimension of the Scottish Apocalypse: Climate, Cove- nant and World Renewal, Arthur H.
    [Show full text]
  • Church, Place and Organization: the Development of the New
    238 CHURCH, PLACE AND ORGANIZATION The Development of the New Connexion General Baptists in Lincolnshire, 1770-18911 The history and developm~nt of the New Connexion of· the General Baptists represented a particular response to the challenges which the Evangelical Revival brought to the old dissenting churches. Any analysis of this response has to be aware of three key elements in the life of the Connexion which were a formative part in the way it evolved: the role of the gathered church, the context of the place within which each church worked and the structures which the organization of the Connexion provided. None of them was unique to it, nor did any of them, either individually, or with another, exercise a predominant influence on it, but together they contributed to the definition of a framework of belief, practice and organization which shaped its distinctive development. As such they provide a means of approaching its history. At the heart of the New Connexion lay the gathered churches. In the words of Adam Taylor, writing in the early part of the nineteenth century, they constituted societies 'of faithful men, voluntarily associated to support the interests of religion and enjoy its privilege, according to their own views of these sacred subjects'. 2 These churches worked within the context of the places where they had been established, and this paper is concerned with the development of the New Connexion among the General Baptist churches of Lincolnshire. Moreover, these Lincolnshire churches played a formative role in the establishment of the New Connexion, so that their history points up the partiCUlar character of the relationship between churches and the concept of a connexion as it evolved within the General Baptist community.
    [Show full text]
  • A-Level History, HIS1D: Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy 1603-1702 Absolutism Challenged: Britain 1603-49 Section 2: Revolution 1629-1649
    A-Level History, HIS1D: Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy 1603-1702 Absolutism Challenged: Britain 1603-49 Section 2: Revolution 1629-1649. Part 1: 1629-1642 KEY TOPIC AREAS 1629-42: KEY TOPIC AREAS 1629-42: Divisions over Religion: Arminianism and Laudianism; Puritanism, and Millenarianism Political divisions in Personal rule: Short Parliament • Arminianism and Laudianism • The Short Parliament • Puritanism • Continued Opposition in 1640 • The emergence of Millenarianism Political divisions • The Long Parliament. Political divisions in Personal rule: Finance • The leadership and importance of John Pym. • Fiscal policy used in Personal rule Causes of the English Civil War • The opposition that it caused • Events culminating in the outbreak of the Civil War. Political divisions in Personal rule: Scotland • Policies in Scotland • The Crisis of 1637-42 • The extent of Opposition Political divisions in Personal rule: Ireland • Policies in Ireland • The Crisis of 1637-42 • The extent of Opposition A-Level History, HIS1D: Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy 1603-1702 Absolutism Challenged: Britain 1603-49 Section 2: Revolution 1629-1649. Part 1: 1629-1642 KEY WORDS KEY INDIVIDUALS Articles of Perth: had been forced through the Scottish Kirk in 1618. They were a set of Charles Stuart: ruled as Charles I 1625-1649 commands outlining religious practices. To Presbyterians, the commands seemed like William Laud: a key Arminian cleric who became the Archbishop of Canterbury in Catholicism 1633 and made changes to the Anglican Church Bill of Attainder: medieval method which allowed anyone who was seen as a threat to the Henrietta Maria: Catholic wife of Charles I, she aroused suspicion of a Catholic state t be removed by Parliament without formal trial conversion of the King and the court Book of Sports: originally produced by James in 1618.
    [Show full text]
  • BUNYAN STUDIES a Journal of Reformation and Nonconformist Culture
    BUNYAN STUDIES A Journal of Reformation and Nonconformist Culture Number 23 2019 Bunyan Studies is the official journal of The International John Bunyan Society www.johnbunyansociety.org www.northumbria.ac.uk/bunyanstudies BUNYAN STUDIES –— A Journal of Reformation and Nonconformist Culture –— Editors W. R. Owens, Open University and University of Bedfordshire Stuart Sim, formerly of Northumbria University David Walker, Northumbria University Associate Editors Rachel Adcock, Keele University Robert W. Daniel, University of Warwick Reviews Editor David Parry, University of Exeter Editorial Advisory Board Sylvia Brown, University of Alberta N. H. Keeble, University of Stirling Vera J. Camden, Kent State University Thomas H. Luxon, Dartmouth College Anne Dunan-Page, Aix-Marseille Université Vincent Newey, University of Leicester Katsuhiro Engetsu, Doshisha University Roger Pooley, Keele University Isabel Hofmeyr, University of the Witwatersrand Nigel Smith, Princeton University Ann Hughes, Keele University Richard Terry, Northumbria University Editorial contributions and correspondence should be sent by email to W. R. Owens at: [email protected] Books for review and reviews should be sent by mail or email to: Dr David Parry, Department of English and Film, University of Exeter, Queen’s Building, The Queen’s Drive, Exeter EX4 4QH, UK [email protected] Subscriptions: Please see Subscription Form at the back for further details. Bunyan Studies is free to members of the International John Bunyan Society (see Membership Form at the back). Subscription charges for non-members are as follows: Within the UK, each issue (including postage) is £10.00 for individuals; £20.00 for institutions. Outside the UK, each issue (including airmail postage) is £12.00/US$20.00 for individuals; £24.00/US$40.00 for institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • BAPTISTS in the TYNE VALLEY Contents
    BAPTISTS IN THE TYNE VALLEY Paul Revill Original edition produced in 2002 to mark the 350th anniversary of Stocksfield Baptist Church Second revised edition 2009 1 2 BAPTISTS IN THE TYNE VALLEY Contents Introduction 4 Beginnings 5 Recollections: Jill Willett 9 Thomas Tillam 10 Discord and Reconciliation 12 The Angus Family 13 Recollections: Peter and Margaret Goodall 17 Decline 18 A House Church 20 Church Planting 22 New Life 24 Two Notable Ministers 26 New Places for Worship 28 Recollections: George and Betty McKelvie 31 Into the Twentieth Century 32 Post-War Years 37 The 1970s 40 The 1980s and 1990s 42 Into the Present 45 Recollections: Sheena Anderson 46 Onwards... 48 Bibliography & Thanks 51 3 Introduction 2002 marked the 350th anniversary of Stocksfield Baptist Church. There has been a congregation of Christians of a Baptist persuasion meeting in the Tyne Valley since 1652, making it the second oldest such church in the north east of England and one of the oldest surviving Baptist churches in the country. However, statistics such as this do not really give the full picture, for a church is not primarily an institution or an organisation, but a community of people who have chosen to serve and worship God together. The real story of Stocksfield Baptist Church is told in the lives of the men and women who for three and a half centuries have encountered God, experienced his love and become followers of Jesus Christ, expressing this new-found faith through believers’ baptism. They have given their lives to serving their Lord through sharing their faith and helping people in need, meeting together for worship and teaching.
    [Show full text]
  • Denominations Andministries
    THE ESSENTIAL HANDBOOK OF DENOMINATIONS AND MINISTRIES GEORGE THOMAS KURIAN AND SARAH CLAUDINE DAY, EDITORS C George Thomas Kurian and Sarah Claudine Day, eds., The Essential Handbook of Denominations and Ministries Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2017. Used by permission. _Kurian-Day_BakerHandbook_JK_bb.indd 3 11/18/16 11:16 AM These websites are hyperlinked. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com www.bakeracademic.com © 2017 by George Thomas Kurian www.brazospress.com Published by Baker Books www.chosenbooks.com a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.revellbooks.com http://www.bakerbooks.com www.bethanyhouse.com Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kurian, George Thomas, editor. Title: The essential handbook of denominations and ministries / George Thomas Kurian and Sarah Claudine Day, editors. Description: Grand Rapids : Baker Books, 2017. Identifiers: LCCN 2016012033 | ISBN 9780801013249 (cloth) Subjects: LCSH: Christian sects. Classification: LCC BR157 .E87 2017 | DDC 280.0973—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016012033 Scripture quotations labeled ASV are from the American Standard Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • How English Baptists Changed the Early Modern Toleration Debate
    RADICALLY [IN]TOLERANT: HOW ENGLISH BAPTISTS CHANGED THE EARLY MODERN TOLERATION DEBATE Caleb Morell Dr. Amy Leonard Dr. Jo Ann Moran Cruz This research was undertaken under the auspices of Georgetown University and was submitted in partial fulfillment for Honors in History at Georgetown University. MAY 2016 I give permission to Lauinger Library to make this thesis available to the public. ABSTRACT The argument of this thesis is that the contrasting visions of church, state, and religious toleration among the Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists in seventeenth-century England, can best be explained only in terms of their differences over Covenant Theology. That is, their disagreements on the ecclesiological and political levels were rooted in more fundamental disagreements over the nature of and relationship between the biblical covenants. The Baptists developed a Covenant Theology that diverged from the dominant Reformed model of the time in order to justify their practice of believer’s baptism. This precluded the possibility of a national church by making baptism, upon profession of faith, the chief pre- requisite for inclusion in the covenant community of the church. Church membership would be conferred not upon birth but re-birth, thereby severing the links between infant baptism, church membership, and the nation. Furthermore, Baptist Covenant Theology undermined the dominating arguments for state-sponsored religious persecution, which relied upon Old Testament precedents and the laws given to kings of Israel. These practices, the Baptists argued, solely applied to Israel in the Old Testament in a unique way that was not applicable to any other nation. Rather in the New Testament age, Christ has willed for his kingdom to go forth not by the power of the sword but through the preaching of the Word.
    [Show full text]
  • Free Speech, Free Minds, Free Religion UCOT, Taos, NM Rev
    Free Speech, Free Minds, Free Religion UCOT, Taos, NM Rev. Munro Sickafoose June 4, 2017 So.. let’s delve into a little history. Our religious heritage traces back to the English Dissenters – Protestant Christians who separated from the Church of England in 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. At that time, church and state were largely inseparable entities, and they dictated what people could officially believe and how they worshipped. Religion reinforced the authority of the monarchy, and the state enforced the standards of the church. Dissenters were those who disagreed with this state of affairs in one way or another. But the Reformation and the Enlightenment had unleashed the winds of freedom, and dissenting religious and political factions abounded in England at the time. It’s an intriguing exercise to read the names of some of them: Anabaptists, Barrowists, Behmenists, Brownists, Diggers, Enthusiasts, Grindletonians, Levellers, Muggletonians, Puritans, Quakers, Ranters, Rationalists, Sabbatarians, Seekers, Socinians. Whatever their flavor, the dissenters typically paid a heavy price by standing up for their beliefs – they were, after all, speaking out against the church or the state, or both. It was illegal to gather to worship in the way they wanted to. And punishments were severe in those times. One could lose a nose, or an ear, irrevocably marked as a traitor for life. Prisons were brutal exercises in survival. And transport to the New World became a way to rid the Isles of these dangerous men and women. Many of them, of course, also came voluntarily to the new American colonies, seeking a place where they could practice their religious beliefs and implement their political ideas, and the great majority of American religions have been from one dissenting tradition or another – even those we consider mainstream, like Baptists and Methodists.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of the Baptists of Tennessee
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 6-1941 The History of the Baptists of Tennessee Lawrence Edwards University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Edwards, Lawrence, "The History of the Baptists of Tennessee. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1941. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/2980 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Lawrence Edwards entitled "The History of the Baptists of Tennessee." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in History. Stanley Folmsbee, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: J. B. Sanders, J. Healey Hoffmann Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) August 2, 1940 To the Committee on Graduat e Study : I am submitting to you a thesis wr itten by Lawrenc e Edwards entitled "The History of the Bapt ists of Tenne ssee with Partioular Attent ion to the Primitive Bapt ists of East Tenne ssee." I recommend that it be accepted for nine qu arter hours credit in partial fulfillment of the require­ ments for the degree of Ka ster of Art s, with a major in Hi story.
    [Show full text]
  • Records of the Jacob-Lathorp-Jessey Church, 1616-1641
    Records. of . the Jacob .. Lathorp-Jessey Church 16'16 .. 1641. ., HE first document in Stinton's Repository covers nearly. twelve pages foolscap. It has a series of dates down the T outer, or right, margin; these enable us to see that the· manuscripts of Mr. H. Jessey which were avowedly the' sources, had not been digested. First is an introduction as to. Mr. Henry Jacob, leading up to his forming a church in 1616,; whose story pauses with 'his successor leaving England in 1~34. Then comes an episode arising from the accession of a group, from Colchester in 1620, who provoked discussions ending with the dismissal of a group in 1633; to which is added a note as .to· a similar dismissal in 1638. The main thread is then resumeci at 1636 and carried on to 1641. The episode is recurred to, with an account of what happened in 1630. And Stinton closes with the disappointing remark that there followed several sheets with, names and dates-which he fore bore to copy out I In six cases there are dates on the left margin; we may guess that these were absolutely original, and that those on the right margin were' added by Jessey or' Adams or Stinton; b~ut we can ~ardly check that guess. The two series of dates do not conflict with each other. As to the pedigree of these papers, so poorly arranged. Stinton says he received them from Richard Adams. Adams was. a clergyman ejected from Humberstone after the Restoration, who­ opened a conventicle at his home in Mouni"Sorrel, arid in 1672.
    [Show full text]
  • Why Are We Baptists
    Why Are We Particular Baptists? An Historical Overview INTRODUCTION: Our church is a Particular Baptist Church. That means we believe that God saves people with a particular intention, through a particular sovereign plan, and that only those particular elect people were purchased by Jesus on the cross and only they are to be immersed in water as a public profession of their faith in Jesus Christ. Since we believe that those doctrines are clearly taught in the Scriptures, why do we still refer to ourselves as Baptistic Christians? Why not merely refer to ourselves as mere Christians as the title from C.S. Lewis’ classic work suggests? Is it only to distinguish ourselves from other so-called denominations, or is there something more to it? Well, there is something more to it. The elders of our church are Baptist by conviction. That means that we believe that the Bible clearly teaches core Baptist doctrines and that the historic Baptist confessions of faith (esp. the Reformed variety) correctly represent the teaching of the Bible as far as it goes. This brings us to a brief but much needed mention about the ecumenical creeds of the Christian Church. The Ecumenical1 Creeds Before we look at the historical background of the 1646 London Confession of Faith, it is important to note that Particular Baptists are in essential agreement with the great ecumenical creeds of church history; namely, the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed and the lesser known Definition of Chalcedon. Now, a mention of the word “ecumenical” in some Baptist circles can cause otherwise peaceful men to load a shell in their shotguns, point the barrel at you and scream in unison “ready, aim, fire!” This is because too many Baptists are ignorant of their own doctrinal roots.
    [Show full text]