DOCSLIB.ORG

A Historical Study and Evaluation of the Form of Church Government Practised by the Particular Baptists in the 17Th and 18Th Centuries

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Historical Study and Evaluation of the Form of Church Government Practised by the Particular Baptists in the 17Th and 18Th Centuries NORTH-WEST UNIVERSITY (POTCHEFSTROOM CAMPUS) in co-operation with Greenwich School of Theology UK A historical study and evaluation of the form of church government practised by the Particular Baptists in the 17th and 18th centuries by B. S. POH, B. Eng. (Hons), PhD (Electronics Eng.), Cambridge Dip. in Religious Studies #22543775 Thesis submitted for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Church & Dogma History at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University Promoter: Professor Benno Zuiddam Co-Promoter: Prof Johannes Smit April 2012 Dedicated to my dear wife, Goody, who has stood by me through thick and thin. “Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.” (Prov. 31:29) A historical study and evaluation of the form of church government practised by the Particular Baptists in the 17th and 18th centuries ABSTRACT This thesis is a historical study and evaluation of the form of church government practised by the Particular Baptists of the 17th and 18th centuries, from the years 1650 to 1750. This study is based on confessional statements, the ecclesiological literature, and the extant church books of the Particular Baptists. It is shown that the Particular Baptists practised a definitive form of church government known traditionally as Independency, similar to that expounded by John Owen, minus infant baptism. Under the principle of the autonomy of the church the Particular Baptists practised believer’s baptism, an explicit church membership, and upheld covenant theology. Under the principle of the headship of Christ, they practised the separation of church and state, upheld the divine right of the magistrate, and also believed in the liberty of conscience. Under the principle of rule by elders the majority of the Particular Baptists practised a plurality of elders in which there was a distinction made between the roles of the pastor or minister and the ruling elders, although they occupy the same basic office of rule. However, deviation from a plural eldership took place, leading to the single- pastor-and-multiple-deacons situation, accompanied by the disappearance of ruling elders and the practice of congregational democracy in governance. This arrangement is characteristic of modern Congregationalism. Under the principle of the communion of churches the regional associations of churches accomplished much good, while a number of issues remained unresolved, including open and closed communion, congregational hymn singing, and the training of ministers. In the final chapter, the study attempts to resolve some ecclesiological issues controverted among Reformed Baptists today by applying the lessons learned from the Particular Baptists. To the Particular Baptists, Independency was the jus divinum (divinely ordained) form of church government used by God as the vehicle to carry out the Great Commission with a view to establishing biblically ordered churches, which upheld the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. These three components of church life − mission-mindedness, biblical church order, and the 1689 Confession of Faith − arose from the thorough biblicism of the Particular Baptists. Key words: Keys of the kingdom, church government, polity, Reformed, Particular Baptist, 1689 Baptist Confession, jus divinum, Independency, Congregationalism, elders PREFACE In 1995 the present writer’s book “The Keys of the Kingdom: A Study on the Biblical Form of Church Government” was published. The book puts forward the Independency propounded by John Owen, infant baptism excepted, as the jus divinum (divinely ordained) form of church government. This writer does not claim to have perfectly understood nor expressed everything correctly, for, as with all truths, there is always room for improvement as more light comes from the study of the Bible. The true significance of the book needs to be appreciated. To the knowledge of this writer, no one has written a comprehensive book expounding Independency since John Owen’s book “The True Nature of a Gospel Church and Its Government”, published in 1689. Ralph Wardlaw published a comprehensive book entitled “Congregational Independency” in 1864 but his view did not exactly coincide with that of Owen. A number of smaller books focusing on church discipline or church order have been published, which are not the same as a comprehensive treatment of the Independent form of church government. The book “The Keys of the Kingdom” was essentially a biblical study on the form of church government, supported by reference to John Owen’s writings and the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. The author interacted with the Presbyterian writers of the 19th and 20th centuries, whose books were heavily relied upon by those Reformed Baptists who have been advocating a system of eldership which might be called the “Absolute Equality view”. A number of those Reformed Baptists reacted to the book strongly, but have not been able to convince the author of the correctness of their view and the wrongness of his. With great reluctance, he has responded to their criticism in a book, “Against Parity” (Poh, 2006). He regarded the matter closed at that time, preferring to focus more on the positive work of preaching and planting churches. He was made aware of an academic attempt to interact with his book, but chose to ignore it, believing that his book, “The Keys of the Kingdom” would speak for itself. That work, of course, was the PhD thesis of James Renihan. In recent days, Renihan’s thesis has been quoted quite widely by others. It recently has been published as a book, making it more easily available. This writer has had the opportunity to teach in a number of seminaries and Bible colleges in Indonesia, Myanmar and Nepal. Some of these institutions are government- accredited, and require that the teachers be those who have a post-graduate degree in theology. In order to facilitate teaching in these institutions, he finally decided to embark on earning a second PhD, this time in theology. This, providentially, provides him the opportunity to follow up his study on the church government of the Particular Baptists, and to interact with Renihan on an academic level. The present thesis will supplement his book “The Keys of the Kingdom” by providing strong historical support from primary sources. Most pastors, seminarians, and serious Christians would find the reading of “The Keys of the Kingdom” sufficient to give a clear idea of that form of church government called Independency. However, those who follow through with a reading of this thesis will be considerably helped towards forming a personal conviction of the jus divinum form of church government. Needless to say, this thesis may be read with profit without the prior reading of “The Keys of the Kingdom”. The writer takes this opportunity to thank the following: (i) The Greenwich School of Theology, which facilitated this PhD programme with the North-West University. Mrs. Peg Evans has been the indefatigable administrator, monitoring his progress and liaising between him and the promoters. (ii) The staff of North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) for their roles in this programme, including Mrs. H. Dreyer, Ms. Tienie Buys, Professor A le R Du Plooy, Professor B. Zuiddam, and Professor J. Smit. Professors Zuiddam and Smit supervised this project. (iii) Ms. Emily Burgoyne of Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford, for help in procuring manuscript materials from the Angus Library. (iv) Ms. Sue Hourigan of the Berkshire Record Office, Reading, for making available photographed pages of certain church books. (v) The archivists of the London Metropolitan Archives for providing copies of pages from certain church record books. (vi) Dr. Richard Smart of the Bedfordshire Historical Record Society for providing “Some Early Nonconformist Church Books” edited by H. G. Tibbutt. (vii) Dr. Roger Hayden of the Baptist Historical Society for books and copies of the Association Records of the Particular Baptists. (viii) The brethren of the Grace Reformed Evangelical Church, Hong Kong, for their encouragement at the beginning of this project. Brother Daniel Lo provided broadband internet facility while Brother Joseph Chan loaned books. (ix) The members of the Damansara Reformed Baptist Church and the Subang Jaya Reformed Baptist Church for their support in various ways. (x) Various other individuals who have contributed in one way or another towards making this project possible and enjoyable. (xi) Thomas Nelson, Inc. for quotations from the New King James version of the Bible. Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations are from this version. The writer’s wife, Goody, and their four sons and daughter-in-law have played their roles in helping and encouraging their “old man” in this project. Yeh Tze and Yeh Chuin, based in the United Kingdom and the United Sates of America, respectively, were able to procure copies of critical manuscripts and books for him. The present writer, alone, is to be held responsible for this work and the views expressed. In his book “The Keys of the Kingdom” he focused on issues, and not on personalities. In the present work, his interactions with those with whom he disagrees are done solely with the aim of extricating truth from error, and are not meant as personal attacks. It is his prayer that the Triune God would bless this work to many who harbour a charitable spirit towards this undeserving sinner. B.S. Poh 2012 CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION...................................................................1 1.1 BACKGROUND.............................................................1
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Calvinism in America
    Nebula7.4, December 2010 Participation, Democracy, and the Split in Revolutionary Calvinism, 1641 – 1646. By Tod Moore & Graham Maddox Abstract During the early phase of the revolutionary period in Britain (1641-46) an ideological divergence took place between fractions labelled Independent and Presbyterian. Our study of printed sources for this period uses debates over the meaning and relevance of the Greek term „democracy‟ to attempt a mapping of these emergent ideologies within revolutionary Calvinism. We find a contested social terrain with the Presbyterians supporting the revolutions from a socially conservative position and the Independents favouring radical social change. The years 1641 to 1646 saw “a transformation of the political nation, the beginning of mass politics, and a rapid and revolutionary expansion of what is sometimes called the „public sphere‟ [which] brought “men that do not rule” (and sometimes women too) into active engagement with public affairs” (Cressy 2003: 68). In particular there were a great number of books and pamphlets written by the leading Calvinists and these reveal a surprising amount of interest in democracy. A modern consensus that democracy did not come into fashion as an idea until the mid-nineteenth century is questioned by the prominence given to democracy in the controversy over the reconstruction of the church between the Presbyterians and the Independents in the 1640s. We know that “democracy” survived from ancient times within the “mixed constitution,” where it was blended with monarchy and aristocracy. We ask whether the strains of conflict, especially the attitudes and practises of the Independents, loosened the internal bonds of the mixed constitution, undermining claims of kingship and challenging elites.
    [Show full text]
  • © 2010 Rachel N. Schnepper ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
    © 2010 Rachel N. Schnepper ALL RIGHTS RESERVED JONAS CAST UP AT LONDON: THE EXPERIENCE OF NEW WORLD CHURCHES IN REVOLUTIONARY ENGLAND By RACHEL N. SCHNEPPER A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History written under the direction of Dr. Alastair Bellany and approved by _________________________________________ _________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey May 2010 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Jonas Cast Up at London: The Experience of New World Churches in Revolutionary England By RACHEL N. SCHNEPPER Dissertation Director: Alastair Bellany My dissertation, “Jonas Cast Up at London: The Experience of New World Churches in Revolutionary England,” offers a completely new way of approaching the history of religious struggle and debate during the English Revolution--blending the history of religious polemic and identity-formation with the history of the book and of print culture, and, for the first time, placing these epochal struggles over church government and religious freedom within a dynamic Atlantic context. With over one hundred printed books and pamphlets as my research base, my project uncovers the hitherto under-explored importance of English Atlantic colonial churches on the fiery debates over further reformation of the Church of England, and reveals a bustling world of preachers, polemicists and printers who refashioned the experiences of religious life in the Americas for English readers eager to recreate their own church according to what they took to be God’s will. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS While this dissertation bears my name, an entire village participated in its creation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Life of John Milton Vol. 3 1643-1649
    The Life of John Milton Vol. 3 1643-1649 David Masson Project Gutenberg's The Life of John Milton Vol. 3 1643-1649, by David Masson Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission. Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. **Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** **eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** *****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** Title: The Life of John Milton Vol. 3 1643-1649 Author: David Masson Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6483] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on December 20, 2002] Edition: 10 Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF MILTON VOL. 3 *** Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. THE LIFE OF JOHN MILTON: NARRATED IN CONNEXION WITH THE POLITICAL, ECCLESIASTICAL, AND LITERARY HISTORY OF HIS TIME. VOL. III. 1643-1649.
    [Show full text]
  • 'They Themselves Will Be the Judges What Commands Are Lawfull': Legal
    ‘They themselves will be the Judges what commands are lawfull’: Legal pamphlets and political mobilisation in the early 1640s Alexander John Russell Hitchman A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Sheffield Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of History April 2017 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the pamphlets which defended Parliament’s resistance against the King in the first English civil war (1642–1646), and the development of Parliament’s legal case in response to the pressures of mobilisation, ideas and events. The civil war was explained, narrated and defended in cheap print, which was consumed by the reading public who were hungry for news, ideas and justifications. Increasingly, pamphlets used the device of an implied reader to construct obedience and solve the political problems thrown up by the debate, but this unprecedented opening-up of legal issues to public debate further complicated the parliamentary cause. The thesis also integrates the printers and publishers who facilitated this public debate into its account of legal, political and religious ideas. By using typographic and bibliographic techniques, the thesis suggests that printers and publishers held coherent political and religious identities, and could exert influence over not only the pamphlets they produced, but increasingly the way that the parliamentary cause was understood. As the concept of allegiance becomes more problematic, and as histories of the civil war focus more on the concept of mobilisation and the construction of the parliamentary cause, this thesis argues that closer contextualisation and a chronological examination of the debate elucidates in greater detail the complexities and complications of the parliamentarian position.
    [Show full text]
  • Politics, Plots and Propaganda in Civil War London, 1642-1644
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Mobilizing the Metropolis: Politics, Plots and Propaganda in Civil War London, 1642-1644 A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History by Jordan Swan Downs December 2015 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Thomas Cogswell, Chairperson Dr. Jonathan Eacott Dr. Randolph Head Dr. J. Sears McGee Copyright by Jordan Swan Downs 2015 The Dissertation of Jordan Swan Downs is approved: ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside Acknowledgements I wish to express my gratitude to all of the people who have helped me to complete this dissertation. This project was made possible due to generous financial support form the History Department at UC Riverside and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Other financial support came from the William Andrew’s Clark Memorial Library, the Huntington Library, the Institute of Historical Research in London, and the Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation. Original material from this dissertation was published by Cambridge University Press in volume 57 of The Historical Journal as “The Curse of Meroz and the English Civil War” (June, 2014). Many librarians have helped me to navigate archives on both sides of the Atlantic. I am especially grateful to those from London’s livery companies, the London Metropolitan Archives, the Guildhall Library, the National Archives, and the British Library, the Bodleian, the Huntington and the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. Personal debts are due to the many scholars and individuals who tipped me off to the bounty of lesser-known holdings and their contents. Special thanks, however, are owed to Jason Peacey for sharing his unrivaled knowledge of archival materials during the 1640s on numerous occasions.
    [Show full text]
  • Rethinking Church and State During the English Interregnum Charles W. A. Prior
    Rethinking church and state during the English Interregnum Charles W. A. Prior Abstract This article offers a re-examination of the concept of Erastianism as an explanatory tool in discussions of church and state. It focuses in particular on three texts – by Pierre du Moulin, Thomas Cobbet and John Milton – that took up the question of the nature of civil power in the sphere of religion. Based on this, the article argues that the term ‘Erastianism’ obscures the complexity and nuance of arguments about religious politics in the civil war period. It concludes by suggesting that we should instead consider these debates as contributions to discourse on civil religion. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Prior, C. W. A. (2014), Rethinking church and state during the English Interregnum. Historical Research, 87: 444–465. doi: 10.1111/1468- 2281.12042, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2281.12042/abstract. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving. In early modern England, a key source of political tension lay in the relationship of church and state. Approached from the perspective of the history of political thought, the Reformation was an ‘act of state’ which redrew the boundaries of power between sovereigns and subjects, and blurred the line that apparently separated political authority and individual conscience. Religious dissent manifested itself as political opposition, and it is now a matter of broad agreement that religion shaped the political character of the English civil war.
    [Show full text]
  • A Purpose Lost: Cultural Consequences of the English Civil War for Congregationalist New England, 1630 - 1649
    Durham E-Theses A Purpose Lost: Cultural Consequences of the English Civil War for Congregationalist New England, 1630 - 1649 DANDURAND, ELI,ALAIN How to cite: DANDURAND, ELI,ALAIN (2015) A Purpose Lost: Cultural Consequences of the English Civil War for Congregationalist New England, 1630 - 1649 , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11103/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! A Purpose Lost: Cultural Consequences of the English Civil War for Congregationalist New England, 1630 - 1649 ! ! ! ! Eli A. Dandurand Department of History Durham University 2014 A Purpose Lost: Cultural Consequences of the English Civil War for Congregationalist New England, 1630 - 1649 ! Eli A. Dandurand ! Abstract ! Though rarely identified as such, the English Civil War was a transformative event in early New England history. Founded upon religious idealism, the New England colonies were particularly susceptible to the religious and political movements in England which influenced Puritan motives and emigration.
    [Show full text]
  • John Goodwin and the Puritan Revolution
    JOHN GOODWIN AND THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 1 Portrait of John Goodwin aged 47 in 1641, first published in A Treatise of Justification (1642), and later republished in Divine Authority of the Scriptures (1647), The Obstructors of Justice (1649) and Redemption Redeemed (1651). From the Fairclough Collection of the University of Leicester Library. JOHN GOODWIN AND THE PURITAN REVOLUTION RELIGION AND INTELLECTUAL CHANGE IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND John Coffey THE BOYDELL PRESS © John Coffey 2006 All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner The right of John Coffey to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 First published 2006 The Boydell Press, Woodbridge ISBN 1 84383 265 8 The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK and of Boydell & Brewer Inc. 668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA website: www.boydellandbrewer.com A CIP catalogue record of this publication is available from the British Library This publication is printed on acid-free paper Edited and typeset by Frances Hackeson Freelance Publishing Services, Brinscall, Lancs Printed in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Cornwall CONTENTS Illustrations page vi Preface vii
    [Show full text]
  • Ideas of Martyrdom in Early Stuart Public Debates, 1603 - 1649
    Ideas of Martyrdom in Early Stuart Public Debates, 1603 - 1649 Johannes Huhtinen Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Florence, 12 December 2017 European University Institute Department of History and Civilization Ideas of Martyrdom in Early Stuart Public Debates, 1603 - 1649 Johannes Huhtinen Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Examining Board Professor Martin van Gelderen (Lichtenberg-Kolleg, University of Göttingen) Professor Luca Molà (EUI) Professor Peter Lake (Vanderbilt University) Professor Markku Peltonen (University of Helsinki) © Johannes Huhtinen, 2017 No part of this thesis may be copied, reproduced or transmitted without prior permission of the author Researcher declaration to accompany the submission of written work Department of History and Civilization - Doctoral Programme I Johannes Kristian Huhtinen certify that I am the author of the work Ideas of Martyrdom in Early Stuart Public Debates, 1603 - 1649 I have presented for examination for the Ph.D. at the European University Institute. I also certify that this is solely my own original work, other than where I have clearly indicated, in this declaration and in the thesis, that it is the work of others. I warrant that I have obtained all the permissions required for using any material from other copyrighted publications. I certify that this work complies with the Code of Ethics in Academic Research issued by the European University Institute (IUE 332/2/10 (CA 297). The copyright of this work rests with its author.
    [Show full text]