Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2006 Benjamin Keach and the Baptist Signing Controvery: Mediating Scripture, Confessional Heritage, and Christian Unity James C. Brooks Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES BENJAMIN KEACH AND THE BAPTIST SINGING CONTROVERSY: MEDIATING SCRIPTURE, CONFESSIONAL HERITAGE, AND CHRISTIAN UNITY By JAMES C. BROOKS A Dissertation submitted to the Program in the Humanities in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2006 Copyright © 2006 James C. Brooks All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of James C. Brooks defended on March 27, 2006. _________________________________ Charles Brewer Professor Directing Dissertation _________________________________ Walter Moore Outside Committee Member _________________________________ David Darst Committee Member _________________________________ Michael Corzine Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii To Mary Alice, without whose undying love and unwavering support this project would not have been possible iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A project of this magnitude is impossible to complete without the assistance of many others along the way. I have had the privilege of corresponding with others who have researched Keach and learning more about what shaped the thinking that produced their written projects. In this regard, I am grateful for the collegiality shown to me by David Copeland, Barry Vaughn, David Riker, and Austin Walker. Also, at a very late stage in the dissertation, James Renihan of the Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies at Westminster Seminary California entertained questions and provided me with facsimiles of two original documents that I had not seen. These documents are not widely available, but their content significantly shaped the direction of Chapter 3, and I have included transcripts of them in Appendices A and B. I am also indebted to the Office of Graduate Studies at The Florida State University for providing me with a Dissertation Research Grant. Many of the necessary sources for my dissertation were held in collections of rare copies or on microform at various locations, and these funds greatly offset the cost of acquiring my own copies. The many reproductions of sources that I obtained, however, could not have been achieved without the excellent professional assistance of librarians at several research libraries and archives. I am deeply grateful to the following individuals: Susan Harris, Bodleian Library; Susan Mills, Regent’s Park College; Hazel Robertson and Pamela MacKinnon, Edinburgh University Library; Bill Sumners, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives; and Helen Bernard, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Without their help, I could not have viewed many of the primary sources that have shaped the writing of this dissertation. Deron Smith, a friend who was pursuing his own doctoral studies in Bristol at the time I was acquiring my materials, assisted in the logistics of paying for the materials received from Edinburgh, and for his help I am thankful. Finally, I am appreciative for the kindness of the library staff at the Heard Library of Vanderbilt University, who relaxed the rules on reading privileges for the general public and granted me access to primary source materials as I drove through Nashville one rainy November evening. My committee members have always been available as needed for consultation, and their accessibility has eased some of the challenges that a project of this nature entails. Professors Charles Brewer, David Darst, Walter Moore, and Jeffrey Kite-Powell iv have always treated me with respect and collegiality. During my final semester, Professor Jeffery Kite-Powell was on research leave and unable to participate in the oral defense, and I am especially thankful to Professor Michael Corzine for stepping in as a substitute at such late notice. Additionally, although no way connected to my graduate program, Professors Edward Myers of Harding University and John Mark Hicks of Lipscomb University have each suggested source material and also have availed themselves for occasional questions, and I appreciate their assistance. Finally, just a few weeks before I completed the dissertation, Dr. Alice Jewell of Harding University graciously took time to review some Latin texts and answer questions that were beyond my learning or skills, and I am thankful for her assistance on short notice. While there are many who have provided help, from the inception of this project to its completion, no one could have been blessed with more devoted personal support from friends and family. We made many friends in Tallahassee, both through our church and through the home-schooled community with which my wife worked for three years. These friends provided constant support and encouragement, and our association with them is one of the highlights of our years in Tallahassee; we are thankful that many of these relationships still continue. The greatest support, however, has come from family. I am deeply blessed to have had the emotional love and encouragement of my parents, Cleve and Deanna Brooks, and my grandmother, Jimmie Lee Mills, to sustain me in times of joy and struggle as I completed my graduate studies. And to my wife, Mary Alice, herself a scholar and teacher, for the many hours of proofreading, dialogue, and persistent confidence, I will forever be grateful. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Abbreviations............................................................................................................. vii Abstract....................................................................................................................................ix 1. ENVISIONING A NEW TYPOLOGY FOR EVALUATING BENJAMIN KEACH ................................................................................................................1 2. CAPTURING THE ENERGY OF THE REFORMATION ..............................................27 3. REFOCUSING THE CONTROVERSY ............................................................................47 4. RESPONDING TO SCRIPTURE: REFORMATION PRINCIPLES SHAPE THE SINGING CONTROVERSY............................................................................80 5. EVOLVING RESPONSES TO SINGING IN WORSHIP THREATEN CHRISTIAN UNITY........................................................................................99 6. LASTING IMPRESSIONS OF BENJAMIN KEACH AND ISAAC MARLOW......................................................................................................122 APPENDIX A .......................................................................................................................132 APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................................138 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................144 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.................................................................................................166 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AFD Isaac Marlow, An Appendix to the Former Discourse. (London: 1691) BD Isaac Marlow, A Brief Discourse Concerning Singing. (London: 1690) BR Benjamin Keach, The Breach Repaired in God’s Worship. (London: 1691) CC Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, 6th ed., 3 vols. (New York: Harper and Row, 1931; reprinted Baker Books, 1998) Crosby Thomas Crosby, The History of the English Baptists, 4 vols. (London: 1738-1740) CSBE Isaac Marlow, The Controversie of Singing Brought to an End. (London: 1696) CSPD Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles II. (London: Public Records Office, 1860-1947) DNB H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison, eds., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 60 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) Institutes (HB) John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559), 2 vols. Trans. Henry Beveridge. (London: James Clarke and Co., 1949) Institutes (FLB) John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559), 2 vols. Trans. Ford Lewis Battles. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960) NP-1689 A Narrative of the Proceedings of the General Assembly . of the Baptized Churches . (London: 1689) vii NP-1690 A Narrative of the Proceedings of the General Assembly . of the Baptized Churches . (London: 1690) NP-1691 A Narrative of the Proceedings of the General Assembly . of the Baptized Churches . (London: 1691) NP-1692 A Narrative of the Proceedings of the General Assembly . of the Baptized Churches . (London: 1692) Tappert The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, trans. and ed. Theodore G. Tappert. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959). All quotations from the Augsburg Confession are from the Latin translation. TSD Isaac Marlow, Truth Soberly Defended. (London: 1692) viii ABSTRACT Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) was an influential leader among Particular Baptists throughout the seventeenth century. As a prominent nonconformist leader and a prolific writer, he helped shape the theological development of the Particular Baptists as they struggled through persecution and finally emerged under legal toleration near the end of the century. He did not