Journal of Theology Southwestern Historical Theology SWJT Historical Theology Vol. 56 No. 2 • Spring 2015 HISTORICAL THEOLOGY Southwestern Journal of Theology EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Paige Patterson, President and Professor of Theology MANAGING EDITOR Terry L. Wilder, Professor and Wesley Harrison Chair of New Testament EDITORIAL BOARD Keith E. Eitel, Professor of Missions and World Christianity, Dean of the Roy Fish School of Evangelism and Missions, and Director of the World Missions Center Mark A. Howell, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church Daytona Beach Evan Lenow, Assistant Professor of Ethics, Bobby L. and Janis Eklund Chair of Stewardship, and Director of the Richard Land Center for Cultural Engagement Miles S. Mullin II, Assistant Professor of Church History, J. Dalton Havard School for Theological Studies Steven W. Smith, Vice President of Student Services and Communications and Professor of Communication Jerry Vines, Jerry Vines Ministries Joshua E. Williams, Assistant Professor of Old Testament Malcolm B. Yarnell III, Professor of Systematic Theology, Director of the Oxford Study Program, and Director of the Center for Theological Research BOOK REVIEW EDITOR AND EDITORIAL ASSISTANT David G. Norman, Jr. The Southwestern Journal of Theology is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database, the Southern Baptist Periodical Index, and the Christian Periodical Index. Southwestern Journal of Theology invites English-language submissions of original research in biblical studies, historical theology, systematic theology, ethics, philosophy of religion, homiletics, pastoral ministry, evangelism, missiology, and related fields. Articles submitted for consideration should be neither published nor under review for publication elsewhere. The recommended length of articles is between 4000 and 8000 words. For information on editorial and stylistic requirements, please contact the journal’s Editorial Assistant at journal@ swbts.edu. Articles should be sent to the Managing Editor, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 22608, Fort Worth, Texas 76122. Books and software for review may be sent to Book Review Editor, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 22608, Fort Worth, Texas 76122. Please direct subscription correspondence and change of address notices to Editorial Assistant, P.O. Box 22608, Fort Worth, Texas 76122. Change of address notices must include both the old and new addresses. A one-volume subscription in the United States is $30. An international subscription is $52. Southwestern Journal of Theology (ISSN 0038-4828) is published at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas 76122. For the contents of back issues and ordering information please see http://swbts.edu/journal. © 2015 CONTENTS Editorial . 157 Terry L. Wilder Early English Baptists’ View of the Lord’s Supper . 159 W. Madison Grace II Christopher Blackwood: Exemplar of the Seventeenth-Century Particular Baptists . 181 Malcolm B. Yarnell III Andrew Fuller and the Doctrine of Revelation. .207 Andrew J. Spencer History or Revisionist History? How Calvinistic Were the Overwhelming Majority of Baptists and Their Confessions in the South until the Twentieth Century? . .227 Steve W. Lemke Easter Celebration in Seventh-Century Britain: Resolving Conflict within the Church . 255 Rodney H. Orr and Shane Angland The Lifespans of the EB-MB Patriarchs: A Hermeneutical and Historical Conundrum . .267 Eugene H. Merrill Does God Own a Death Star? The Destruction of the Cosmos in 2 Peter 3:1-13 . 281 Matthew Y. Emerson Book Reviews. .295 Abstracts of Recent Dissertations at Southwestern . .331 Index of Book Reviews Southwestern Journal of Theology • Volume 57 • Number 2 • Spring 2015 Editorial Terry L. Wilder, Editor Professor and Wesley Harrison Chair of New Testament Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary [email protected] This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology is devoted to the topic of “Historical Theology.” The benefits of studying history are many. It can be of tremendous assistance to us in the present day. For example, history helps us to understand and gain perspective on our current situation and thinking. It can answer questions like: “How did we get to where we are now?” “Where did that idea or line of thought originate?” “From what tradition did that opinion stem?” In other words, history provides us with fresh insights from past knowledge as we evaluate and make sense of our present. History also helps us learn not to repeat the mistakes of the past and enables us to see how people long ago met challenges and dealt with the crises, problems, and obstacles that came their way. History is especially valuable when studying theology because it gives us a look at the specific contexts in which theolo- gies were created, developed, and defined. This describes historical theology. This journal volume features seven insightful articles. Madison Grace, assistant professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, presents the first article, “Early English Bap- tists’ View of the Lord’s Supper,” in which he seeks to discern the earliest understanding of the Lord’s Supper for seventeenth-century English Bap- tists. Malcolm Yarnell, professor of Systematic Theology, director of the Ox- ford Study Program, and director of the Center for Theological Research at Southwestern, also contributes a paper entitled, “Christopher Blackwood: Exemplar of the Seventeenth-Century Particular Baptists,” in which he en- gages in historiography using Blackwood and his thought as a paradigmatic test case to evaluate the competing histories of seventeenth-century Bap- tists. Andrew Spencer, Ph.D. student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, provides an essay entitled, “Andrew Fuller and the Doctrine of Revelation,” in which he puts together Fuller’s doctrine of revelation from his available published works and shows its essentiality and relevance to his ministry. Steve Lemke, provost and professor of Philosophy and Eth- ics at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, furnishes an article called “History or Revisionist History?” in which he explores claims as to whether the overwhelming majority of Baptists were five-point Calvinists, and also whether Baptist confessions in the South were five-point Calvinist confes- sions until the twentieth century. Rodney Orr, associate professor of World 158 EDITORIAL Missions and Intercultural Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, and Shane Angland, Th.M. student at Dallas Theological Seminary, contribute an essay called, “Easter Celebration in Seventh-Century Britain: Resolving Conflict within the Church,” in which they discuss the Easter debates of the seventh century and other deliberations on ecclesiological authority, cul- tural understanding, and early church traditions concerning the date of the celebration of Easter. Eugene Merrill, distinguished professor of Old Testa- ment Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, contributes an article, “The Lifespans of the EB-MB Patriarchs: A Hermeneutical and Historical Conundrum,” in which he considers the lifespans of the Early Bronze-Middle Bronze era patriarchs and asks how the lifespans of biblical figures need to be understood in light of their extra-biblical contemporaries which, as recorded in their writings, are at odds with those in Scripture. Lastly, Matthew Emerson, currently assistant professor of Christian Minis- tries and Chair of Arts and Sciences at California Baptist University, con- tributes an essay entitled, “Does God Own a Death Star? The Destruction of the Cosmos in 2 Peter 3:1-13,” in which he provides an interpretation of 2 Peter 3:1-13 that counters the popular assumption that teaches that the uni- verse will be annihilated at Christ’s return. This issue also contains for your perusal several book reviews and abstracts of recent doctoral dissertations completed at Southwestern. This issue will be the last one for me as the editor of SWJT. The sem- inary has graciously entrusted to me other important responsibilities that will not permit me to continue overseeing the journal’s production as well. Madison Grace will become the new editor of SWJT and will serve you well in this role. It has been my privilege to serve you. We pray that the articles in this issue will help to equip you in your preparation for engagement in ministry. If you would like to have any of our faculty members or students speak in your church, please do not hesitate to contact us. We aim to serve the church and are more than happy to serve you. Further, if God has called you into his service, please consider allowing us the privilege of preparing you at Southwestern for a lifetime of ministry. God bless you. Southwestern Journal of Theology • Volume 57 • Number 2 • Spring 2015 Early English Baptists’ View of the Lord’s Supper W. Madison Grace II Assistant Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Fort Worth, Texas [email protected] The year 1609 for many students of Baptist history marks the begin- ning of the ecclesial movement. It was in this year that John Smyth and his congregation were baptized in Amsterdam thus distinguishing themselves from other English Separatists in the region. Over four hundred years have passed since this inaugural event, and it is obvious even to the casual observer that much has changed. The multi-million, multi-national conglomeration of Baptist people today is a far cry from those few former English-separatists who fled