THE BAPTISTS IN SCOTLAND An Historical Survey. ****************************** CONTE NT S Introduction Principles of the Baptists I Traces of Baptist Doctrine in the Early Scottish Church 7 15 II Baptist Witness During the Coimnonwealth 33 III An Isolated Beginning 35 IV The Scots Baptist Connexion 48 V The Work of the Haldanes 58 VI Churches of the "English" Order 73 VII The Home Missionary Society 81 VIII Decline of the Soots Baptists 88 IX The First Baptist Union 97 [X A Century of Progress 111 XI Ministerial Education IBQ XII The Wider Outlook 130 XIII The Baptist Union of Scotland 141 XIV Churches and The&r Ministers 151 XV Students in the Colleges 154 XVI Literary Works of Scottish Baptists 165 Appendix A. Leith Confession of Faith of 165S. B« Proclamation of Charles II against Quakers and Anabaptists. 167 0. Principles of the Scots Baptists. 168 D. Order of Service in Scots Baptist Church, Edinburgh. 170 E. Principles of First "English" Baptist 170 Church, Glasgow. 178 B ibliography ProQuest Number: 27660799 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 27660799 Published by ProQuest LLO (2019). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 PRINCIPLES OP THE BAPTISTS. ********************* AH historioal survey of any particular section of the Christian Church demands a prefatory statement of the principles which it cherishes, especially those that distinguish it from the other parts of the Christian body. One might reasonably compare the religious denominations to the various regiments of the national army, each with its own distinctive marks and colours, but all engaged in the same warfare, and all working under the direction of the same commander-in-chief. The Baptist Church has ever sou^t to co-operate with other churches in the advancement of the Kingdom of God, as its beliefs in the cardinal doctrines of Christianity harmonise with those of other religious bodies; never­ theless, it has preserved its own distinctive marks, because of its particular conceptions of Christian truth and duty. The name "Baptist" is rather unfortunate, because it seems to imply the monopoly of an ordinance which the Baptist does not claim; and also tends to make the chief focus of interest on the ordinance itself, instead oC on the trdths which it implies and symbolises. The great fundamental principle for which Baptists contend, and the one which has given them their distindtitbname, is the BAPTISM OP BELIEVERS BY IMMERSION. They focus attention upon the ordinahoe, for everything vital to Christianity is there in symbol, and every genuine Baptist principle is there in implication. Baptism by immersion, upon a profession of repentance and faith, I in Obedience to apostolic practice, is the observance that marks them Off from other Christian communities. The authority for their practice is the commission of Christ to His disciples:- "Go ye there­ fore, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."/'It is the baptism of intelligent persons who have entered upon a new life Of moral and spiritual relationship to God, and who have dedicated , their lives to the serviceof Jesus Christ. The ordinance is the eztermal expression of their repentance and faith. The candidate 1 • Matthew proclaims in symbol that his former manner of life is ended and buried, and that henceforth he will "walk in newness of Life." They refuse to give baptism to infants, as they are not capable of intelligent Christian belief. They affirm that infant baptism is nowhere taught or even implied in the New Testament, and in this contention they claim the support of the best scholarship outside their own denomination. They also adduce the evidence of history to prove that believer's baptism was the practice of the early church for almost three centuries, until the doctrine of original gIn required the ordinance to be administered to infants. They further argue that to give the rite to infants interferes with individual responsibility, and disavows the necessity of personal faith on the part of the subject, while it destroys the symbolical meaning of baptism and frustrates its purpose. The mode of baptism they believe to be immersion, as they understand that to be the original meaning of the Greek word trans­ lated baptise (baptizo), as given by the best lexicons, and the method practised by the early chuToh. They do not attach any magical significance to the rite. The literal water does not wash away sin nor bring cleansing; and they are entirely opposed to the idea of baptismal regeneration. They have been taunted with rigid adherence to outward form, but they are not formalists, -they attach importance to the form of baptism only because of the truths which it emphasises. Baptism is a confession of the believer's faith in Christ and of his change of character; and symbolises also, according to the Pauline thought, the mystical union of believers with their Lord in His death, burial and resurrection. The full significance of the ordinance would have been lost had immersion not been employed. Several important truths are implied in the ordinance of believer's baptism, and these supply the principles which are essen- tial to the Baptist position. Those principles continue from one period to another, gathering around them varying expansions or applications suggested by the differing circumstances of each Bucoessiv© age. The Baptist ohurohes do not claim any monopoly at these vital prinoiplee. Just because they are the cardinal principles of Christianity, they will be found operating in other nations. All that the Baptist Church claims is that the practice of giving baptism to believers by immersion is the best guarantee that the vital truths of the Hew Testament will receive adequate recognition. The Baptist sees in the ordinance the unqualified assertion of the NECESSITY AND INDIVIDUALITY OP CONVERSION AND OP THE SPIRITUALITY OP RELIGION. To give baptism to none W t believers is to proclaim in the clearest terms that personal faith is the most essential element in the Christian religion, for baptism is the symbol of the believer's confession of faith and repentance. It witnesses that Christianity is a spiritual religion, and puts the emphasis upon the inward and the unseen. It indicates the personal prerogative of a voluntary choice of Jesus Christ. New Testament baptism is a perpetual assertion of the truth that religion cannot be communicated by one to another, but that it is an inward personal experience of the power of God. There is also implied in the ordinance that which is the out­ come of a spiritual religion, namely, a SPIRITUAL CHURCH. All Christian bodies recognise that the Church is a spiritual society, composed of men and women who profess faith in Christ and who acknowledge Him as their Lord. But the Baptists by their insist ence on the observance of believer's baptism, with all that it implies, has given the spiritual conception of the Church, even greater emphasis. They therefore, endeavour in all their activities to uphold the purity of church fellowship; and in order to secure this, they exercise every care in the admission of members, They realise that the admission of any but true believers constit­ utes a weakness and a danger to the Church, and hinders the advance- ment of Ohriet’s kingdom* Ih.. «.in, ». B.ptl.1. »» • . 1 . t . ». A O M C B I H o r «01» omis». *s oom»um -4- IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. Dr H. Wheeler Robinson saysî "Believer's baptism directly relates the believer to Christ, not simply because it is in His name (for this applies to all forms of Christian baptism), but because here alone there is conscious acceptance of His authority, personal submission to His will, and confession of individual loyalty."i The believer owes allegiance to Christ, and to Him alone. No man, or council of men, must be allowed to stand between the soul and Christ. Christ is supreme in His own kingdom. This principle settles their attitude to popes, patriarchs and prelates. They protest against any man exercising spiritual authority over the Church. They repudiate the papal claim to supremacy, for it has no Scriptural support, and is entirely opposed to the spirit of the Gospel. They declare that the effect of papal rule is dangerous, for it has caused the Church to lean upon a human, instead of upon a divine arm; it has weakened the sense of individual responsibility, inspired persecution and undermined religious liberty. It also determines their relation to king and state. Since the sphere of the Church is in spiritual things , Baptists hold that there can be no warrant for a church in alliance with the state. So long as law and order are maintained, they contend that the civil magistrate can have no authority in matters of religion; and any such interference may be regarded as usurping the regal rights of Jesus Christ. Religion is a matter entirely personal t between the soul and God. They believe that any alliance of church and state has always militated against religious freedom. When some ecclesiastical system, representing a section of the people, tried, with the aid of the civil power, to force its ritual upon others, many felt bound to resist; and as a result Of those struggles for religious liberty Baptist churches sprang up in England and later on in Scotland.