Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), a Scottish Presbyterian minister, speaking about a difference on baptism, nevertheless made these complimentary remarks on the English Particular Baptists.
Let it never be forgotten of the Particular Baptists of England, that they form the denomination of Fuller and Carey and Ryland and Hall and Foster;[i] that they have originated among the greatest of all missionary enterprises; that they have enriched the Christian literature of our country with authorship of the most exalted piety, as well as of the first talent and the first eloquence; that they have waged a very noble and successful war with the hydra of Antinomianism; that perhaps there is not a more intellectual community of ministers in our island, or who, have put forth to their number a greater amount of mental power and mental activity in the defence and illustration of our common faith; and, what is better than all the triumph of genius or understanding, who, by their zeal and fidelity and pastoral labour among the congregations which they have reared, have done more to swell the lists of genuine discipleship in the walks of private society—and thus both to uphold and to extend the living Christianity of our nation.
He notes their (1) zealous missionary endeavours, (2) excellent religious writings, (3) active defense of the Christian faith, and (4) faithful making of disciples. Thomas Chalmers, “Lecture XIV,” Lectures on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, New York, NY: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1844, 76. (Thanks to Michael A. G. Haykin for calling attention to this passage in Chalmers.)
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