Spiritual Declension: Lessons from Early 18th Century Particular Baptists, Part 2-Controversies over More or Less Minor Issues

Posted by jsmitheasley on January 13, 2009
22 Comments

In the interests of survival, theological debate was relatively rare among Particular Baptists during the time of persecution.[1] But once the Act of Toleration was in place and major persecution ceased, theological and personal differences came to the forefront. The problem was not so much that there were disagreements among Baptists on some issues. It was the divisive, mean-spirited attitude in which these disputes were sometimes engaged.

The first issue was the matter of singing in worship services. This debate actually began before the Act of Toleration, but it heated up in the decade immediately after it. There may have been exceptions, but the singing of “uninspired” hymns was not practiced in any of the English churches in general in the 17th century.[2] However beyond that, among Baptists, there were many who did not practice congregational singing at all. There is evidence that some churches did, but many were against it and didn’t sing at all.[3] In some cases, the omission of singing may have originated from fear that their secret meetings would be discovered by the authorities during the days of persecution.[4] But this expedient seems to have become a cherished tradition among some Baptists.[5] So even after religious liberty came many did not sing in worship.

In 1673, the Particular Baptist Benjamin Keach persuaded his church to sing a hymn at the close of the Lord’s Supper. He allowed those who objected to leave before the hymn. Fourteen years later, “At a church meeting on March 1, 1691, a large majority of the members” of Keach’s church “voted to have a hymn sung following the service every Sunday.”[6] Twenty-two of Keach’s members left. They felt this practice was an unscriptural innovation. For a number of years they attended the church pastored by Hanserd Knollys. Then they formed themselves into a new church that met at a place called Maze Pond. In the articles of faith that they drew up in 1694, they explicitly state their opposition to congregational singing. They stated that it was “a gross error equall with common nationall Sett forme Prayer.”[7] In other words, they put it in the same category as using the Church of England prayer book. Michael Haykin notes, “The convictions of these people were shared by a number of leading London Baptists, including William Kiffin, Robert Steed and Isaac Marlow.”[8] Steed preached against congregational singing and encouraged Marlow to publish a book against it. Others wrote against it as well, but Marlowe was the main antagonist writing eleven books that dealt with the issue.[9] Haykin further remarks,

The heat generated by this controversy may be discerned by the terms the two sides tossed at each other. Marlow tells us that he was labeled a ‘Ridiculous Scribbler’, ‘Brasen-Forehead’, ‘Enthusiast’, and “Quaker’. But Marlowe could give as good as he got. He viewed his opponents as ‘a coterie of book burning papists’ who were seeking to undermine the Reformation, for, as far as he was concerned, they were endorsing a practice that had no scriptural warrant at all”[10]

This division over hymn singing became quite a controversy. It split the Particular Baptist churches and was marked by a lot of grievous unchristian behavior and attitudes.

The second issue was the matter of closed versus open membership and open communion. This was a debate that also began early before the Act of Toleration. However the compilers of the 1677 confession (which is also the 1689 confession) charitably decided not to insist on either side of the issue. They explained, “We…are not in full accord among ourselves.”[11] So they were content not to insist on one position or the other in the confession. But again this debate was reopened in the 18th century and became quite heated.

So these two issues, congregational singing, including the singing of “uninspired” hymns, and open versus closed communion became matters of serious division among the churches. Lots of energy and time was taken up debating and fussing over these issues, all of which tended to distract from more important things. Also, no doubt, the spirit in which these debates were sometimes carried on did much to grieve the Holy Spirit. Mention was made in an earlier post of Howell Harris and the impression that he had of the Nonconformist churches. Apparently he knew many nonconformist pastors well, including Particular Baptists. David Martyn Lloyd-Jones commenting on this says that Harris even felt that the Nonconformists had the truth. In fact, he agonized for a long time over whether or not he should stay in the Church of England. Finally he chose to stay and one of several reasons he did was his impression that the nonconformists were constantly entangled in doctrinal disputes. Quoting Lloyd-Jones, “They were learned men, they were able men, and they were well versed in doctrine; but they spent most of their time in arguments and disputations with one another.”[12] It’s also interesting to read John Newton’s explanation of why he never became a Baptist. He considered doing so but one of the things that put him off was that while they were so strongly against other groups who agreed with them on every point but one, baptism, they were so divided among themselves.[13]

The lesson for us is clear as Reformed Baptists. In our relationships with one another as pastors and sister churches, we must guard against becoming embroiled in heated controversies over relatively minor issues. We must not allow such things to distract us from the higher priorities of the kingdom. Furthermore, when we do have disagreements we must be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit by a mean-spirited attitude. Of course, there is the opposite danger of neglecting and minimizing the importance of sound doctrine. This too must be avoided. We must uphold our confessional standard when it comes to our closest inter-church relationships and ties. However, there are relatively minor issues that we can legitimately disagree about as Reformed Baptists that are not confessional issues. If we agree on the doctrines set forth in 32 detailed chapters of a confession of faith that’s a lot of agreement!! There’s no need to fight or divide over matters our confession never takes a dogmatic position about. There are, indeed, some differences among us of this nature. There are differences related to music and singing in our churches; whether we sing out of a hymn book all the time, or sometimes sing more modern songs, or even use power point, or whether and how we use musical accompaniment. There are differences regarding the best ways to engage in ministerial training and interchurch association. There are even differences regarding the nature of plurality, parity and diversity in an eldership. There are other things that could be mentioned. But if we can agree on all 32 chapters of our confession of faith, differences in other areas ought not to divide us. There’s a proper place for debating finer points, but it shouldn’t consume our best energies. Surely we should strive to maintain a strong bond of unity between churches that can agree on so much. Even with brethren who don’t agree with everything in our confession, there’s a unity of the Spirit that we ought to pursue and seek to express with all who hold to the essential fundamental doctrines of evangelical Christianity. According to Paul in Ephesians four there is a unity of the Spirit to be maintained with all who know and love Christ and hold to gospel essentials (4:3). While there is also a unity of the faith to be attained (4:13) through faithful, patient, ongoing instruction of the churches by their pastors and teachers. The implication is that our duty to keep the unity of the Spirit is not negated by the present lack of a perfect unity of the faith in every particular. If that is true in our relationships to all true gospel believing churches of Christ, how much more in our relationships to one another as Reformed Baptists who hold to the same confession of faith. In the next entry we’ll consider a third major factor in the decline among Particular Baptists in the early 18th century.

Jeffery Smith
Covenant Reformed Baptist Church
Easley, SC

[1] David Merck, “Modern Church History”; manuscript of lectures given for Reformed Baptist Seminary, 261.
[2] Thomas Ross, “English Particular Baptist Singing and Congregational Worship Practices,” accessed on Internet January 2009 here.
[3] Merck, 261.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Michael Haykin, Kiffin, Knollys and Keach (Leeds, England: Reformation Today Trust, 1996), 92.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid. 93.
[9] Ibid.