Why Are We Particular Baptists? An Historical Overview

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Jonas Booth
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1 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 Ecumenical 1 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. Too many independent, fundamental Baptists are woefully and willfully ignorant of church history and many are even outright suspicious of it due to the liberal compromises that occurred in the Southern Baptist Convention in the mid 20 th century. Thus, many Baptists either don t care about their doctrinal roots (and so can be easily swayed away from them) or they try to disassociate themselves from the mainstream of church history for fear of being reckoned as either a Catholic (a dirty word for fundamental Baptists), or a liberal compromiser. But church history is not so black and white. Most church history is a mixture of grey, with ancient Christians holding to a mixture of both truth and error. Sadly, some modern Baptists would have you believe that their doctrinal roots lead all the way back in an almost pristine fashion to John the Baptist and that their lineage follows a Trial of Blood 2 via the Waldenses and the Lollards of the middle ages to the Anabaptists of the Reformation; yet they conveniently look the other way when scholars point out the unbiblical, weird, and even heretical views that these ancient groups held 3. With all that in mind, it is obvious that we don t want to be ignorant of church history nor our own doctrinal heritage, so let s take a moment to review these ancient creeds: The Apostle s Creed (mid. 2 nd Century A.D.) I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell 4. The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, I believe in the holy catholic 5 church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The Nicene Creed (A.D. 381) We believe in one God the Father, the Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and of all that is, seen and unseen. 1 Ecumenical is defined as (1) worldwide or general in extent, influence, or application. (2) of relating to, or representing the whole of a body of churches; promoting or tending toward worldwide Christian unity or cooperation For instance, the early Waldenses took a vow of chastity and poverty and still had their own sacramental system as well as a form of communal living that would be anathema to modern fundamental Baptists. Some of the Anabaptists were anti-trinitarian, some baptized people naked, and some baptized believers by sprinkling. The Lollards, being followers of the early Reformer John Wycliffe, held to a Calvinistic view of predestination and a Lutheran view of the elements of the Lord s Supper (consubstantiation). Some of them advocated vows of poverty as well. 4 There is controversy over the exact meaning of the phrase, he descended into hell. Some say that this refers to Christ being buried, some say his descent to the earth in the incarnation, and others say that this may refer to him proclaiming His victory in Hell between his death and resurrection. The creed probably bases this upon two Scripture passages: Eph. 4:9 and 1 Pet. 3:18-20, but cf. Lk. 23:46. 5 [C]atholic at it is used here is a reference to the universal church, not the Roman Catholic Church. 1

2 We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being [substance] with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins 6. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen The Definition of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a rational soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; One and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed 7 of the holy Fathers has handed down to us. The Athanasian Creed (6 th -7 th Century A.D.) Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all else, hold to the true Christian Faith. Whoever does not keep this faith pure in all points will certainly perish forever. Now this is the true Christian faith: We worship one God in three persons and three persons in one God, without mixing the persons or dividing the divine being. For each person -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- is distinct, but the deity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory and coeternal in majesty. What the Father is, so is the Son, and so is the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated; The Father is eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they are not three who are eternal, but there is one who is eternal, just as they are not three who are uncreated, nor three who are infinite, but there is one who is uncreated and one who is infinite. In the same way the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, and the Holy Spirit is almighty. And yet they are not three who are almighty, but there is one who is almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord; yet they are not three Lords, but one Lord. 6 Baptism for the forgiveness of sins is a reference to the early church s view that infant baptism literally cleansed an infant of original sin. This is based upon a misreading of the New Testament. 7 A reference to the Nicene Creed. 2

3 For just as Christian truth compels us to confess each person individually to be God and Lord, so the true Christian faith forbids us to speak of three Gods or three Lords. The Father is neither made not created, nor begotten of anyone. The Son is neither made nor created, but is begotten of the Father alone. The Holy Spirit is neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeds from the Father and the Son. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And within this Trinity none comes before or after; none is greater or inferior, but all three persons are coequal and coeternal, so that in every way, as stated before, all three persons are to be worshiped as one God and one God worshiped as three persons. Whoever wishes to be saved must have this conviction of the Trinity. It is furthermore necessary for eternal salvation truly to believe that our Lord Jesus Christ also took on human flesh. Now this is the true Christian faith: We believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, is both God and Man. He is God, eternally begotten from the nature of the Father, and he is man, born in time from the nature of his mother, fully God, fully man, with rational soul and human flesh, equal to the Father, as to his deity, less than the Father, as to his humanity; and though he is both God and Man, Christ is not two persons but one, one, not by changing the deity into flesh, but by taking the humanity into God; one, indeed, not by mixture of the natures, but by unity in one person. For just as the reasonable soul and flesh are one human being, so God and man are one Christ, who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty, and from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. At his coming all people will rise again with their own bodies to answer for their personal deeds. Those who have done good will enter eternal life, but those who have done evil will go into everlasting fire. This is the true Christian Faith. Whoever does not faithfully and firmly believe this cannot be saved. These creeds were written by the ancient church not only to clarify and summarize what Christians believed about essential doctrines, but also to counter heresy as it crept into the churches, and to show essential unity to the watching world. The same goes with the 1644/46 London Baptist Confession of Faith. The Historical Background of the London Baptist Confession of 1644/46 The Particular Baptists arose in England between after coming out of what was known as the Separatist Movement. They first appeared in 1616 when one Henry Jacob organized a church in London after returning from exile in Holland. This first church gathered under a common church confession and covenant and it contained Independent Puritan and radical Separatists, both having different convictions on the proper mode and subjects of baptism. The Independent Puritans honored the national church and wanted to reform it, the radical Separatists said that the established national church was a false church and wanted no connection with it. Different attitudes developed about the national church in this early independent English church led by Jacob and divisions in it were evident by In 1633 a group of believers left this church because of credobaptist 8 convictions and came under the leadership of Samuel Eaton. In 1638 this church also dismissed some of its members because they believed that only professing believers should be baptized and that group came under the leadership of John Spilsbury 9, the man who took over Samuel Eaton s pastorate. This is considered to be the first Particular Baptist Church. In 1640, Spilsbury and others associated with his church became convinced that the proper mode of believer s baptism was by full immersion into water. Then they tried to learn how they could best implement this practice in a nation where the otherwise doctrinally orthodox only sprinkled or poured water on infants. Only a few liberal sects in the Netherlands 10 were known to practice full immersion, and so you can understand how this practice was viewed with great suspicion in England. 8 Credobaptist refers to one who believes that only believers should be baptized and paedobaptist refers to those who hold that the infants of one or more believing parents should be baptized Namely the Rhynsburgers or Collegiants, both of Mennonite persuasion. 3

4 An Englishman who spoke Dutch named Richard Blunt was sent to Holland where he was probably baptized by a Mennonite group 11 that practiced full immersion. Around 1641, he came back to England to baptize by immersion 12 those believers that were in agreement with him and by 1642 other baptismal services were held involving many of the radical Separatists. By 1644, there were seven Particular Baptist Churches in London that had the opportunity to more freely express their views than ever before because the English government was changing from a Monarchial rule to a Parliamentary style of government. Ecclesiastical tyranny was cast down and a temporary religious freedom was granted to the Particular Baptists. Dissenters to the Church of England worked more openly and itinerant preachers and evangelists traveled throughout the country expressing their religious views. The Particular Baptists took great advantage of this newfound freedom and gained new converts to their views from various religious groups. Because the Calvinism of the Particular Baptist congregations was already a generally accepted theology of the English, this wasn t a barrier to their acceptance as a legitimate Christian body. Because Baptist views had spread so rapidly by 1644, it brought serious opposition from dissenting Christian groups. The most serious accusations leveled at the Particular Baptists were that they held to Pelagianism 13 and anarchy; both of which views were associated with the radical wing of the Anabaptists. Thus, they had to write a confession to clear the air by stating their doctrinal views. William Lumpkin sums it up well, In order to distinguish themselves from both the General Baptists and the Anabaptists, the Calvinistic Baptists of London determined to prepare and publish a statement of their views. The seven London churches, already informally associated together by 1644, evidently pushed aside their prejudice against the use of confessions and prepared their own statement for apologetic purposes. 14 Reformed Baptist historian Dr. James M. Renihan sums up the historical situation this way, The First London Confession is a seminal statement of Particular Baptist faith and practice. A product of the political and religious upheavals of early 1640s London, it was an attempt by seven small and relatively new churches in the metropolis to mitigate growing concerns about their doctrines and intentions. Religious toleration was virtually unknown, and rumors abounded that this burgeoning group of illegal congregations held nefarious views similar to the execrated Anabaptists of Munster in northern Germany. Cries for the civil magistrate to take action were sounding forth; the situation was certainly volatile, and the representatives of the churches determined that the best course of action would be an honest declaration of their faith, hoping that this act would convince their concerned opponents of their peaceful orthodoxy. 15 Because some of the signers of the 1644 London Baptist Confession had been associated with the older Separatist movement, they used their separatist confession, a document known as The True Confession of 1596 as the basis for creating their new confession. The True Confession of 1596 had a strong Christological emphasis and this theological emphasis as well as the general structure of the 1596 confession was reflected in the 1644 London Confession as well as its later 1646 revision. It is noteworthy to point out that a large section in the 1596 True Confession that dealt with reforming the Church of England along Separatist lines is entirely absent from the 1644 London Confession. Lumpkin notes,... the Baptists did not think of reforming the National Church but of building an entirely new structure on the New Testament pattern. 16 The 1644 London Confession was authored by several men working together from these seven churches, three of which were the important early Particular Baptists John Spilsbury, William Kiffin, and Samuel Richardson. Interestingly, none of these men were formally trained for the ministry. Nevertheless, in the 1644, the Calvinism is orthodox, the free-offer of the gospel is upheld to promote Biblical evangelism, there is a strong emphasis on the preaching of the gospel, the ecclesiology is Biblical, the high Christology refutes Arminianism, and this is the first Baptist Confession to clearly state that immersion is the proper mode of baptism. While the 1644 and 1646 London Baptist Confessions are not the best organized, they truly are superior as to their devotional quality and warmth of expression. 17 It is important to note that the 1644 Confession was received with great eagerness by the Particular Baptists in London as a worthy doctrinal statement that would promote church cooperation. The Confession was 11 Baptist history scholar William Lumpkin says he was probably baptized by the Mennonite group known as the Collegiants. Cf. William Lumpkin, Baptist Confessions of Faith, (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1959, 1969 Revised Edition), Technically, it is redundant to say we baptize by immersion since the Greek word baptize means to dip, to whelm, to immerse. 13 Pelagianism is a heresy that teaches that men are not born with a sin nature but learn to be sinners by being influenced by other sinners, that men can become sin-free after their conversion, and are not slaves to sin before their conversion. This heresy was rightfully condemned by the Council of Orange in 529 A.D. and Augustine s predestinarian views were upheld as Biblical. 14 Lumpkin, James M. Renihan, Ed., True Confessions: Baptist Documents in the Reformed Family, (Owensboro, KY: RBAP, 2004), Lumpkin, Ibid. 4

5 also generally received as a well-written document, reflecting sanity and moderation in its articles. However, it didn t take long for the well-educated, former participant in the Westminster Assembly Daniel Featley to accuse these London Baptists of heresy by attributing to them the doctrinal errors of the continental Anabaptists. Featley specifically said that six articles in the 1644 Confession were heretical. This created no small stir. Samuel Richardson replied to Featley s accusations, but because Parliament needed to be appeased, the framers of the 1644 decided to work it over producing the 1646 revision 18. With the help of two ex-clergymen, Benjamin Cox 19 and Hanserd Knollys, the Calvinism was strengthened, a section on the doctrine of original sin was added, and other changes were made to show that the framers and their churches were orthodox. As a result, legal toleration was granted to the Particular Baptists on March 4, The 1644/46 London Baptist Confession was useful in providing a sound doctrinal foundation for the Baptist Christians who rose to leadership in Cromwell s army and through that influence they were well-received by the King and Parliament. Englishmen could compare the Westminster Confession of Faith with the London Confession and see that the Particular Baptists were well within the stream of Reformed Orthodoxy. Finally, Lumpkin provides an appropriate perspective regarding the effects of the First London Confession of 1644/46, Perhaps no Confession of Faith has had so formative an influence on Baptist life as this one. Vedder calls it one of the chief landmarks of Baptist history. Harold Brown well says, This significant document of 1644 embodies practically every doctrine that present-day Baptists hold dear, and is, therefore vastly important in Baptist history... Its immediate value to Baptist life can hardly be overstated. Though issued in the name of London Baptists, it served Baptists all over the country at a time when the Particular Baptist stream was becoming the major stream of Baptist life. It certainly was one of the most effective bits of propaganda both for winning a toleration for Baptists and for winning converts to the Baptist position. 20 Well said. In conclusion, it is the hope and prayer of the elders of Shepherd s Fellowship Baptist Church that your exposure to and personal use of the 1646 London Baptist Confession of Faith will prove to be helpful in determining and clarifying matters of Christian doctrine, duty, and delight (Psalm 37:4). 18 This is the version that Shepherd s Fellowship has chosen to use. See it online at 19 On November 30, 1646, Benjamin Cox published twenty-two additional articles for the 1646 Confession titled An Appendix to a Confession of Faith. 20 Lumpkin,

The Ecumenical Creeds

The Ecumenical Creeds "The Ecumenical Creeds" is an umbrella term used in the western church to refer to the Nicene Creed, the Apostles' Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. These creeds are accepted by almost