Chalmers on the English Particular Baptists

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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[i] These men are Andrew Fuller, William Carey, John Ryland Jr., Robert Hall Jr., and John Foster.

Southern Baptist problems and their seminaries

In It Is Not Just the Southern Baptist Convention That’s At Stake. Here’s What You Can Do, Rod Martin makes a plea for his fellow Southern Baptists to “show up” for the annual convention. He says, “In an average year, only 7.2% of SBC churches are represented.” He wants conservatives to come make a difference.

This probably will fall on many deaf ears in the SBC. Moreover, it certainly does not mean much to those of us who are not in the Convention, who cannot, will not, and have no interest in sending messengers. However, there is one little bit that caught my eye, and is interesting in its effect (or possible effect) on preachers and churches outside the SBC.

“Southern Baptists make up 11% of America’s churches. But what you probably don’t realize is that the six SBC seminaries educate roughly one-third of America’s seminary students. That’s a lot more than just Southern Baptists.

“If those six seminaries go bad, all of evangelical Christendom is infected…”

Many students who are not Southern Baptist attend Southern Baptist seminaries. Therefore, these institutions, who they hire, what they teach, what they stand for, etc., can have a profound effect on others. Not sure what we outsiders can do about it, but we can be aware.

Gill’s recourse to the Puritan and Reformed orthodox writers

“Gill’s recourse to the Puritan and Reformed orthodox writers of the seventeenth century was, in a sense, the alternative to the university. As a Dissenter, Gill had no access to the higher theological education of Oxford and Cambridge. In his search, therefore, not only for theological allies and dialogue partners, specifically of allies and partners who thought and wrote at the highest levels of theological discourse, he made up for his lack of access to the universities of the eighteenth century by close examination of the works of the universities of the seventeenth. And in so doing, he rooted himself in a theology that was far more compatible with his understanding of Scripture and Christian doctrine than the Anglican theology that inhabited the English universities of his time. While he remained in dialogue and debate with his contemporaries, his theology was, in large part, a return of Dissent to its roots in the glorious days, a hundred years past, when a Puritan and Reformed theological sentiment ruled Oxford and Cambridge and when English Puritan theology was in close dialogue with the Reformed thinkers of continental Europe.”

“John Gill and the Reformed Tradition: A Study in the Reception of Protestant Orthodoxy in the Eighteenth Century,” by Richard A. Muller, “Chapter Two” in The Life and Thought of John Gill (1697-1771): A Tercentennial Appreciation, Michael A. G Haykin, Editor. Studies in the History of Christian Traditions Series, Volume 77, 1997.

B. Keach on the Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures

“IX. To these astonishing miracles we may fitly add, the preservation of these holy writings for so many ages, being itself little less than miraculous, and such as is a great argument, that they belong to God, as the Author and Parent of them: it being reasonable to derive that from God, as a book of his own dictates, about which he has exercised a peculiar care. Were not the Bible what it pretends to be, there had been nothing more suitable to the nature of God, and more becoming divine Providence, than long since to have blotted it out of the world: for why should he suffer a book to continue from the beginning of times, falsely pretending his name and authority?” p. xv

“…though the Romans were so careful for the preservation of the books of the Sybils, that they locked them up in places of greatest safety, and appointed special officers to look after them; yet many ages since they are gone and perished, and only some few fragments do now remain. Whereas, on the contrary, the Bible, notwithstanding part of it was the first book in the world, (as we proved in the second argument) and though the craft of Satan, and the rage of mankind, have from time to time combined utterly to suppress it; yet it has borne up its head, and remains not only extant, but whole and entire, without the least mutilation or corruption.” p. xv

“Since therefore the Bible has thus wonderfully surmounted all difficulties and oppositions, for so many generations, and in so many dangers, and against so many endeavours to root it out of the world, we may, (according to that maxim in philosophy, Eadem est causa procreans et conservans; the procreating and conserving cause of things, is one and the same) conclude, that the same God is the Author of it, who hath thus by his special providence preserved it, and faithfully promised, and cannot lie, that heaven and earth shall pass away, but one iota or tittle of his word shall not pass away.” p. xvi

“The penman of the Scriptures, good, pious, honest, holy men, delivered it out as the Word of the Lord, and ever since there have been thousands, and hundreds of thousands, that have believed and testified the same down from age to age in a continual uninterrupted succession…” p. xvi

“XVI. The divine composition of this blessed book is not a little manifested by the continual rage of the devil against it, which appears not only in the stirring up of his instruments utterly to suppress it, (for what book in the world ever met with such opposition? as aforesaid), but also in those temptations with which he assaults the hearts of men, when they apply themselves to the serious study of it.” p xx

“We shall therefore conclude this brief discourse on this subject, with those excellent words of a learned man upon the same occasion:—“Let this remain and be received as an established truth, that those whom the Spirit hath inwardly taught, do solidly acquiesce in the Scripture; and that the same is (αυτοπισον) self-credible, or for its own sake worthy of belief, and that it obtains that certainty which it justly deserves with us, by the testimony of the Spirit....Calv. Instit. lib. 2.” p. xxiv

Quotations from 17th century English Baptist Benjamin Keach (1640-1704), in his book Tropologia; a Key to Open Scripture Metaphors...to Which are Prefixed, Arguments to prove the Divine Authority of the Holy Bible (from the section entitled “The Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures”).

God’s seminary

The church is God’s “seminary.” 

“upon this rock I will build my church … teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway …”

“Our hearers...think it enough for them, if at best they can hear with some profit to themselves. But this was not the state of things in primitive times. Every church was then a seminary, in which provision and preparation was made, not only for the continuation of the gospel in itself [Gospel preaching], but for the calling, gathering, and teaching of the churches also… And this course, namely, that teachers of the church should be educated thereunto in the church, continued inviolate until the public school at Alexandria, which became a precedent unto other places for a mixed learning of philosophy and religion, which after a while corrupted both, and at length the whole church itself.” 

(John Owen 1616-1683, An Exposition of the Epistle of Hebrews, Vol. III, London: Thomas Tegg, 1840, pp. 114-115)

“We are well aware that we shall be complained of when we say these things…Mere scholars, those who know more of books than of men, and more of theological halls than the pulpit, ought not be invested with the trust of educating a whole generation of young men for the Christian ministry. The fact may no longer be dissembled, that the tendency, if not the design of our theological seminaries themselves, is to fill the most important chairs with purely literary men; men who neither have, nor expect to have, any relation to the pastoral office; men ordained, not to the work of the ministry, but to their professorship. It is easy to see that such arrangements once entered upon, are apt to be progressive and to perpetuate themselves. Age and experience sleep in the tomb; and those only become the teachers of ministers, who have themselves never been teachers of the people, and never served the Church of God in the ministry of his Son.”

(Gardiner Spring 1785-1873, The Power of the Pulpit: Or, Thoughts Addressed to Christian Ministers, New York, NY: Baker and Scribner, 1848, pp. 382-383)

“Whether seminaries and theological schools are the proper places to educate the ministry, I know not. It is a matter of experiment in our day, and time alone can decide it. Their tendency is to raise intellectual above spiritual qualifications, and such it has thus far proven. Of old, they have I think proved to be, after a generation or two, schools of heresy.”

(Francis Wayland 1796-1865, a letter by Wayland, long-time president of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island to James Petigru Boyce, first president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, January 26, 1857)

“The local church is itself a school. If believers are also disciples, then they are students, and the local church is a place for the study of the Gospel. If these local churches under their constituted teachers are schools for the training of God’s people, why cannot these schools also train future ministers? Why must these schools be set aside and higher schools be established by men in their superior wisdom for the training of ministers? It is true that the local church has but one text book – the Bible – but what need do we have for schools where Barth and Bultmann are also studied? Do we need these higher schools for the clergy where men finish their education and have completion of their education certified? Can men ever finish their study of the Bible and receive their diploma of having mastered the Gospel? In this school called the local church we never finish our education and receive our degree. We are always learning and studying here, ever fascinated by the knowledge of God and His way of salvation.”

(Elmo Wayne Johnson 1914-2001, “Extra-Biblical Ecclesiastical Systems,” Baptist Reformation Review, Summer - 1978, Vol. 7:2, pp.15-16)

“In the early days of American Protestantism, the training of ministerial candidates was carried on by pastors of churches. A young man feeling a call of God to the ministry would associate himself with a church pastor, receive training from him, participate in the work of the parish, perhaps even live in the pastor’s home. I’m not sure why, but eventually this system was felt to be inadequate… Seminaries not only frequently ‘refuse to do the work of the church,’ they also tend to undo it.”

(John M. Frame, “A Proposal for a New Seminary,” The Journal of Pastoral Practice: Volume 2, Number 1, Winter 1978, pp. 10-11)

“The best structure for equipping every Christian is already in place. It predates the seminary and the weekend seminar and will outlast both. In the New Testament no other nurturing and equipping is offered than the local church. In the New Testament church, as in the ministry of Jesus, people learned in the furnace of life, in a relational living, working and ministering context.” 

(R. Paul Stevens, Liberating the Laity: Equipping All the Saints for Ministry, Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985, p.46).

“Modern training is primarily intellectual; New Testament training is primarily spiritual and practical. Modern training emphasizes the classroom; New Testament training emphasizes life and experience.”

(Clay Sterrett, Myths of the Ministry, Staunton, VA: CFC Literature, 1990, p. 18)

“Most church leaders would agree that developing new leaders is a critical responsibility of the local church, yet very few churches actually have an intentional leadership development process…During the Renaissance, also known as the Age of Enlightenment, great emphasis was placed on learning through the rise of universities. Any person who felt called to serve God was directed to attend a university…From the universities grew extended knowledge centers of specialization and thus was born the seminaries. Anyone who believed God was calling them to full time Christian service was directed to attend seminary for proper preparation. Churches, desiring to have the best educated ministers possible, have been outsourcing the responsibility for training church leadership ever since.” 

(Brian Keith Moss, “Leadership Development in the Local Church: A Seven Step Process for Developing Leaders at Every Level,” Doctor’s Thesis, Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, Lynchburg, Virginia, 2014, pp. v, 116)

In 21st-century Western Christianity, folks who feel a calling for Christian ministry think (through years of teaching and tradition) that going to seminary is naturally the first step to take. Biblically, theological education is an aspect of discipleship. It is not (at least should not be) a pathway to a professional degree. Churches to the Front!

God does all things well

“It is not necessary we should know every thing. There are mysteries in nature as well as in providence and grace. We should beware of picking the lock, as one expresses it, of which the key is not in our keeping. It becomes us rather humbly to adore that God, who does all things well, Mark vii. 37; but gives account of his matters to none, Job xxxiii. 13; and be thankful for that wonderful and all-sufficient discovery of divine truth, that has been made. Let us use diligence in improving those discoveries to the glory of God, and our own advancement in grace, that we may be built up in faith and holiness. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory, for ever and ever. Amen”

Samuel Jones, Circular Letter of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, 1783

Why Read Books by Baptist Authors?

“One of the most surprising things about 21st century Baptists is how few books they read by authors of their own denominational background,” writes Baptist pastor Ben Stratton.

Brother Ben Stratton is pastor of the Farmington Baptist Church, in Farmington, Kentucky. He put together a brochure for the J. H. Spencer Historical Society titled “Why Read Books by Baptist Authors?” He answers the question with three reasons. 

• 1. To Learn About Our Rich Baptist Heritage.
• 2. To Avoid the Pitfalls of Protestant and Pedobaptist Theology.
• 3. To Grow in Your Understanding of Sound Doctrine.

He mentions several web sites as book sources.

• Baptist Global Mission
• Baptist Standard Bearer
• Bryan Station Baptist Church
• Challenge Press
• Local Church Bible Publishers
• Particular Baptist Press
• Solid Christian Books
• Solid Ground Christian Books

To Ben’s list I add the following comments. This list is (I think) primarily concerned with print works that can be ordered online. Another source for print works is Sprinkle Publications. Sprinkle’s books are not Baptist titles only – in fact, a lot of U.S. history is available from them. However, you can find there the rare gem, Concise History of the Ketocton Baptist Association & Life of James Ireland by William Fristoe, and other Baptist books. I mention this specifically because it is my understanding that since Pastor Lloyd Sprinkle died that they will be selling off their inventory.

In addition to purchasing print books, if you don’t mind reading online, you can look to places such as Google Books and Archive.org for scans of old books. You will need an idea for whom you are looking, or perhaps search generically for something like “Baptist books,” or use more specific terms such as “Texas Baptist history.” Ben mentions many names in “Why Read Books by Baptist Authors.” Some are well known, and others not so much. B. H. Carroll, J. M. Pendleton, C. D. Cole, J. B. Moody, Andrew Fuller, A. H. Strong, John A. Broadus, J. R. Graves, Charles H. Spurgeon, Alexander Maclaren, T. T. Eaton, H. Boyce Taylor, George Truett, William Carey, George Liele, Isaac McCoy, Isaac Backus, John Clarke, John Leland, T. T. Martin, Shubal Stearns, R. H. Boyd, John Jasper, William J. Simmons, Andrew Bryan, Ben Bogard, William Cathcart, John Gill, John T. Christian, J. W. Porter, and Charles T. Walker. And that does not even begin to exhaust the Baptist authors or subjects available (in some cases you may only find books about some of the people, as opposed to books by them). Nash Publications has several book files online, such as Ivimey’s History of English Baptists, Purefoy’s History of the Sandy Creek Baptist Association, and Ecclesia, the Church, by B. H. Carroll. And don’t forget the voluminous Baptist History Homepage, already a wealth of material which is added to regularly.

I second Ben’s motion that Baptists ought to read Baptist books. Getting plenty of “Vitamin B” is good for Baptists. Ben is not saying you can’t read other works. He succinctly writes, “This is not to say that Baptists cannot learn from the works of Protestant and Pedobaptist authors. However, any reading of these men must be balanced with a steady diet of old Baptist authors.” Some Baptists seem to be ashamed of their Baptist forefathers. Perhaps that is why each time they look in the mirror they look more and more like Pedobaptists. As Ben also notes, you can “eat the watermelon and spit out the seeds” – or as we often say around here, “eat the meat and spit out the bones.” Good idea. Just remember, if you don’t spit out the Pedobaptist bones, you’re liable to choke on them! 😊

The Theology of Alonzo Nunnery

The following is an attempt to stitch together some of the theology of Alonzo Nunnery, based on his writings and debates.

Bible

• The Bible is our standard, rule or law of our faith and practice, [the] judge in all matters of controversy...We have no judge, no authority, no law on earth but the Bible. Every man and everything should be tried by the Bible. This is the faith of the Baptist worker. Here we take our stand... The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, December 19, 1928, p. 4

Salvation

• There is not a place in the Bible where we find that the term remission of sins is used exclusively for salvation...Jesus saved people while he was here on earth, before and apart from baptism...baptism was never intended to be administered in order to the salvation of any one. (Commenting on Acts 2:38) The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, January 27, 1926, p. 4
• John taught as Baptists teach today, that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, January 11, 1928, p. 2

Grace and works

• We rejoice in the doctrine of grace as much as anyone could, but would be ashamed to claim the doctrine of grace for our hope of Heaven and then refuse to work for the Lord what few days we are permitted to live on this earth. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, November 13, 1929, p. 4

Easy-believism

• When the fashionable preachers and the so-called revivalists departed from the old-time Bible doctrine of repentance and the new birth, we might naturally expect them to substitute modern  play grounds and game, moving picture shows, many organizations, jazz and funny anecdotes for preaching of the Gospel. Of course they get the crowds—but hell is getting the crowds, too. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, January 27, 1926, p. 2
• …the preachers on the day of Pentecost preached the Gospel and did not make ‘Billy-Sunday-Jumping-jacks’ of themselves nor did they have the sinner ‘sign a card’ or ‘hold up three hands,’ but they taught the sinner that he must repent, neither did the preacher get hold of a penitent sinner and urge or pull him up from his knees in prayers but let the sinner make his own confession. We are glad to admit that there are exceptions to the rule, but as a rule these big modern revivals, where several hundred have been counted as converts, the greater number of the so-called converts have been deceived, made to believe they were saved when they have never repented hence will die deceived and be lost. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, August 2, 1916, p. 2

Security of the Believer

• Brother Nunnery showed the man born of God cannot sin, and if he cannot sin then he cannot be lost, and that God had sworn by two immutable things in that He could not lie, giving a strong consolation. We have fled for refuge, and laid hold of that hope that anchors the soul sure and steadfast. Nunnery-Cowan Debate

Church

• The church or kingdom of Christ was set up during his personal ministry on earth. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, March 14, 1917, p. 1
• The Scripture teaches that the Church of Jesus Christ was set up, formed, or established during the personal ministry of Jesus Christ. Nunnery-Cochran Debate, 1932
• …Christ established the Baptist churches for the purpose of having them preach His gospel, and that all other churches are man-made institutions. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, February 7, 1917, p. 6
• Opposition to union meetings with other denominations. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, February 7, 1917, p. 6; Wednesday, March 14, 1917, p. 8
• He knew that men would teach the doctrine of church salvation, and for this reason Jesus placed in the first church an unsaved man – not that he would have us knowingly receive unsaved people into his churches, but that we may know that the church and the saved are not necessarily the same. Baptist and Reflector, Thursday, April 23, 1903, p. 7

Ordinances

• The viewpoint supported by Nunnery and The Baptist Worker is that there are two positive commands that rest on the Lordship of Jesus Christ – baptism and the Lord’s supper. First salvation, then baptism by immersion by the authority of the church, church membership, and then the Lord’s supper. For example, The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, July 14, 1926, p. 6
• Acts 20:4-12. There were present at this communion brethren from seven different countries and they all partook of the communion…we have an example of inter-communion in the Bible [that is, he believed in restricted communion, but not local-church-only communion] The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, February 17, 1926, p. 2
• The first question that appeared [at the 5th Sunday meeting of the Beech River Association] was “Foot washing as a church ordinance.” The subject was completely demolished by Elder A. Nunnery, of Lexington, showing first that there was no Scriptural authority for it, and second, that the command to lay down our lives for the brethren was just as binding. Baptist and Reflector, Thursday, May 9, 1895, p. 13

Pulpit Affiliation

• It is thought by some, and perhaps by many, that the Baptist General Assembly of Oklahoma should have an added article to our statement of agreement, to the effect that no church will be received or retained in our cooperative fellowship who practice pulpit affiliation or engages in so-called union meetings or that receives alien baptism. If no one else offers it I think I shall at our next meeting. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, February 3, 1926, p. 8

Conventions and Associations

• The Scriptures teach that the people who do their mission work through Conventions, by means of Boards, are the regular Baptists. Nunnery-Crawford Debate, 1916
• We are for the Conventions heart and soul; but if there is a thing wrong either in constitution or practice, we want to know it. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, March 14, 1917, p. 8
• Nunnery suggests the Board is helping some churches pay large salaries to their pastors while other churches have once a month preaching or no preaching at all, and that he opposes this. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, March 14, 1917, p. 8

Freedom of Association

• The house of worship cannot be taken away from a Baptist church because said church votes to discontinue supporting the General Convention. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, March 9, 1927, p. 2
• Baptist churches are self-governing, and are no compelled to support any convention in order to be a valid Baptist Church. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, March 9, 1927, p. 6
• If the convention had a law to help them they would cheerfully close the mouths of every man who dares speak against them. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, March 9, 1927, p. 6

These quotes are related to the Scullin church house case (J. J. Cape, et al. vs. Jim Moore, et al. Supreme Court of Oklahoma) in which the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma supported the minority taking the church house from the majority because the majority voted to leave the Convention.

Cessationism

• Nunnery opposed the teaching that men receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and have the same evidences as in apostolic days – as well as opposing faith healing. Nunnery-Nevel Debate, 1929

Tithing

• …we would be glad if some tither would write The Worker and point out just one place in the Bible where any man ever did or was ever commanded to give a tithe of his money at any time or for any purpose. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, February 17, 1926, p. 4

Socialism

• Socialism teaches atheism, infidelity, and free love, as well as many other abominable things. The Socialist Antidote, August 15, 1916, p. 4

Creation and Evolution

• …even the wool on the sheep’s back is indisputable proof that God made this world, and that life and matter did not come about by the slow process of evolution or by mere chance…Can anyone be so dull as to think the fire was latent in this rock and steel by happen so, or by the slow law or process of evolution? Is it not more reasonable to believe as the Bible declares that God made everything? And that He, knowing that we need fire, placed fire latent in even rocks and steel?
• The water in the earth and on land, without which we could not live, likewise prove that all life and matter come from god. The lumber that makes our houses, and our ability to utilize it, proves that everything was made by an all wise maker. The grain that makes our bread, and the cotton that makes our clothing, all prove that life and matter came from God. The nights to sleep in, and the daylight to work in, prove the Bible to be true, and that life came from God. The Baptist Worker, Wednesday, July 7, 1926, p. 4

Other

• It seems to be a new “fad” with many Baptists to point to their success as an evidence of God’s approval of their work or methods…Stick to the Bible, brother, and don’t worry about success. Baptist and Reflector, Thursday, May 24, 1906, p. 7

Baptism of the Holy Ghost

The following is an excerpt from Circular Letter on the “Baptism of the Holy Ghost,” by T. B. Montanye. It appears in the minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association in 1802. The entire letter can be read HERE.

The narrow limits of a letter call us to a close. We must, therefore, leave you to gather further instruction from the few inferences deducible from the whole.

1. That though regeneration and sanctification be essential to the character of a Christian; yet neither of them constitute the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

2. However much you may enjoy of the Spirit, as the Spirit of life, light, and love; you have no Scripture grounds to call this inward baptism, and so the one baptism, and thereby live in the neglect of the appointments of Jesus Christ.

3. That as the baptism of the Holy Ghost was given for the confirmation of the gospel dispensation, it has effected its design; the sacred prophecy is fulfilled, and it has ceased.

4. That as the extraordinary work, and no other, is known in the gospel as the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and that took place after faith in Christ, or regeneration, we have no right to call regeneration baptism.

5. Though we are the hopeful subjects of divine grace, and live in the smiles of heaven; it is both our duty and privilege to submit to the appointments of Jesus Christ, as laid down in his word.

And now, dear brethren, you may perceive, that our intention is not to deny any of the blessed operations of the holy Ghost upon the human mind; but to distinguish between truth and error.

Circular Letter, by T. B. Montanye, October 5-7, 1802, in Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, from A. D. 1707 to A. D. 1807, A. D. Gillette, editor, Philadelphia, PA: American Baptist Publication Society, 1851, p. 376.

Baptist Universalism

What is universalism?[i] By “universalism,” I mean a teaching that in some way Christ’s death guarantees salvation for every member of the human race – past, present, and future.[ii] Or, at the least, that every member of the human race will ultimately be saved, however it is accomplished.[iii] Dictionary.com defines “Universalism” as “the doctrine that emphasizes the universal fatherhood of God and the final salvation of all souls.” Universalism is the belief that, in the end, all men will be saved.

A friend suggested something of which I had never given thought, writing, “I acknowledge the Calvinist heritage of the doctrine [of universalism].” This is interesting. Universalism shares with Calvinism some sort of idea of “unconditional election” and “irresistible grace.” Universal salvation is not based on human choice but God’s choice. The “grace” may not be “irresistible” until after an individual’s death, but ultimately it is irresistible because all individuals – atheists, agnostics, other religions, unbelievers – will be saved whether they want to be or not![iv]

Two prominent Baptists in U. S. history, Elhanan Winchester (1751-1797) and Hosea Ballou (1771-1852), adopted the theory of Universalism. Winchester was originally a Calvinist, and moved from Particular Redemption to General Redemption to Universalism. Winchester remained what Nathan Finn called a “Revivalistic Universalist.” Ballou on the other hand seems to have developed his universalism from his Calvinism and moved to a more rationalistic version of universalism. Probably most Baptists who embrace universalism move on elsewhere, and do not remain Baptist in persuasion. However, I am aware of a few kinds of Baptist Universalists.

1. Primitive Baptist Universalism. Held by several Appalachian Primitive Baptist Associations who embraced universalism. Howard Dorgan wrote about them in In the Hands of a Happy God: The “No-Hellers” of Central Appalachia.

2. Interspersed Baptist Universalism. Held by individual Baptists or individual churches who are dispersed within Baptist churches and/or Baptist denominations that do not hold universalism.

3. Functional Baptist Universalism. Held by individual Baptists in practice – that is, those whose theology may say otherwise but their lifestyles and life’s actions are lived as if in the end everyone will be saved.[v]

Primitive Baptist Universalism

The following articles of faith from the Washington District [Universalist] Primitive Baptist Association demonstrate their theology and their conservatism: (1) their conservatism in that their Abstract of Principles were only slightly changed from its original wording to show how they interpreted matters in a universalist way, and (2) their theology in that they did actually make a slight change from their previous abstract.

Article 10. We believe there now is a general judgment and the punishment of the wicked is everlasting and the happiness of the righteous is eternal. [i.e., the believe the judgment and punishment are in the temporal world.]

Article 11. We believe there will be a resurrection of the dead bodies of all people when Christ shall change these vile bodies of ours like unto His most glorious body.

The churches believe the atonement is for all humankind, that the “elect” are the true church (basically, the Primitive Baptist Universalist churches),[vi] that people experience their judgment & hell here on earth, that there is no hell in the afterlife, and that all people without exception go to heaven.

The split of Primitive Baptists over this issue occurred in 1924. According to various sources, there are either four or six “No-Heller” associations in Central Appalachia Washington District Association, Three Forks of Powell’s River Regular Primitive Baptist Association, two Elkhorn Primitive Baptist Associations,[vii] Stony Creek and Union. They likely no more than 2000 members, perhaps much less.[viii]

Interspersed Baptist Universalism

In our inclusivist age and society, it is likely that there is a high number of individuals in Baptist churches who hold a universalist theology. Developing any idea of numbers or percentages is well-nigh impossible. I have identified two churches in the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts who hold dual-affiliation with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA): The Federated Church of Sturbridge and Fiskdale, Sturbridge, MA and First Parish of Bolton, Bolton MA.[ix] Their affiliation with the UUA indicates they are no longer Baptist in much if any meaningful way, but they maintain a semblance of Baptist heritage by continuing to affiliate with the ABC of Massachusetts.[x]

Functional Baptist Universalism

For retired Baptist pastor William Thornton, it means those who “live as if somehow, someway, everyone will make their way to heaven. No one ever admits to this as a concrete belief…” I found the “Functional Baptist Universalists” described this way: “Christians who live, act, or function as though every person is bound for heaven. Their daily routines do not emphasize spiritual or eternal priorities. Though they regularly converse with friends and acquaintances on various subjects, they never discuss religion, God, or salvation.” For Christians who believe that God has already done all he can do and the salvation of lost souls depends upon them to not be evangelistic is a virtual denial of their theology. It is a practical acceptance of functional universalism.

Some links that might interest readers

• Elhanan Winchester: The Outcasts Comforted – Sermon on Universal Restoration (1782)
• Elhanan Winchester
• Hellers or No-Hellers?
• “It’s hell enough down here.” What do Primitive Baptist Universalists believe?
• Reconciling Conflicting Convictions on the Sovereignty of God and the Freedom of Human Beings: Three Centuries (16th-18th) of Baptist Universalism
• The Baptist Universalist by Robin Parry
• The Making of a Baptist Universalist: the Curious Case of Elhanan Winchester
• A Case For Christian Universalism (From A Non-Universalist)
• Universalism is the new Christian orthodoxy

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[i] I have tried to follow Finn in using the terms “universalism” and “universalist” when referring to the theological position, and “Universalism” and “Universalist” when referring to groups that embraced the universal salvation and individuals who were the members of such groups. See “The Making of a Baptist Universalist: the Curious Case of Elhanan Winchester,” footnote 3.

[ii] This is in reference to soteriology. Some people who hold General Atonement refer to it as Universal Atonement. In reference to ecclesiology, “Universalism” often is used pejoratively regarding the universal church versus local church only.

[iii] Some Universalists move this completely out of the realm of Christian theology.

[iv] This is assuming an initially Christian version of universalism, of course.

[v] This is usually confined to those who hold the theoretical possibility that all men could be saved (general atonement), but make to attempt to reach them with the gospel or call them to repentance and belief. On the other hand, “Functional Baptist Universalism” could not apply to those who believe that God regenerates the sinner and repentance & faith are mere fruits of God’s act.

[vi] Johannes Steenbuch distinguished the Primitive Baptist Universalists idea of “saved believers” as those who “enjoy the comfort of knowing their salvation here and now, while unbelievers are still unaware that they are already saved in principle.”

[vii] Due to a split in the early 1980s.

[viii] In 2011 Bill Leonard estimated around 1,000. “Baptist scholar says remember Appalachia before it disappears,” Norman Jameson, The Christian Century, March 31, 2011.

[ix] Both these churches also affiliate with the United Church of Christ.

[x] For example, for the church in Sturbridge “All questions regarding the Sacrament of Baptism shall be left to the conscience of the individual member” – which includes being exempt from any type of baptism if that is one’s conviction.