Baptist History, Heritage and Distinctives – Are Baptists historically “Calvinist”? – PART TWO of SIX

Thomas E Kresal Admin · 5 hrs April 8, 2020

Baptist History, Heritage and Distinctives – Are Baptists historically “Calvinist”? – PART TWO of SIX

Let us turn to Thomas Armitage, respected Baptist historian from America to give us the details of the London Confession:

“By 1643, the Calvinist Baptist Churches in and about London had increased to seven, while the non-Calvinistic Churches numbered thirty-nine, forty-six in all. The English Calvinistic Churches, together with a French Church of the some faith, eight in all, issued a Confession of Faith in 1643.” –History of the Baptists by Thomas Armitage, 1887, p.460.

Armitage, in stating the number of Churches in London, tells us that the Calvinist type Baptist Churches were clearly in the minority.

In fact, if we are to believe Armitage, the London Confession of Faith was not even issued so much to declare the faith, but to convince the critics that the Baptists were orthodox:”

[The London Confession of Faith, 1643, consisted] of fifty articles; not to erect a standard of faith, but to close the mouths of slanderers. Its preface says of their enemies: ‘They, finding us out of that common road-way themselves walk, have smote us and taken away our veil, that so we may by them be odious in the eyes of all that behold us…All cast upon us, many that fear God are discouraged and forestalled in harboring a good thought, either of us or what we profess, and many that know not God (are) encouraged, if they can find the place of our meeting, to get together in clusters to stone us, as looking upon us as a people holding such things as that we are not worthy to live” History of the Baptists by Thomas Armitage, 1887, p.461.

Continued tomorrow with David Benedict.

Presented by Thomas E. Kresal from: Published article on now defunct “Garbage Truck Forum” July, 2000