New biography of John Cennick

Today I happened to drop in to the Coles bookstore at Limeridge Mall on the Hamilton mountain. Spent a few moments looking at the Biography section. Was amazed--though I shoudn't be!--that most of the bios were of movie stars, rock stars, some royalty, and some sports heroes. Is this honestly what people are reading when it comes to biographies? I spent a few minutes looking at one, that of Tatum O'Neal. I remembered her starring with her Dad in Paper Moon, a movie that sticks in my mind because I took my wife to it on our first date. What a sad, sad story she's lived. I don't expect most of the others of this genre--movie star bios--are much different. There is a place for such bios, if only to show how sad life is when the Lord Jesus is not in it.

What a contrast, then, was a recent biograpphy that I read, cover to cover--Peter Gentry and Paul Taylor, Bold as a lion: The Life of John Cennick (1718-1755), Moravian Evangelist (2007)--when I flew back from Wales in June. Here was a biography that was truly uplifting and strengthening to the soul, both challenging and inspiring to the heart. And in good biblical fashion, the book ended with a challenge to the present-day from Cennick's life and theology.

Samuel Pearce on humility

It is simply wrong to think that we as Evangelicals are great on how to enter into the Christian life but when it comes to sanctification we have no spiritual heritage to speak of and that we have to go to Roman Catholic writings to find wisdom. Here is a good example of a perennial Baptist concern for humility. In a letter that Samuel Pearce wrote to John Ryland, Jr. on October 8, 1798, he told his close friend of a sermon that he had just heard:

Cooper from London is here. I heard part of a sermon last night from him, after our service was over, which I should have very much liked if the fly of Egotism had not spoiled the ointment, e.g. "I have found that my preaching has been blessed when I etc."

Pearce then added, “O what a lovely garment is humility! May the Lord clothe [us] with it from head to foot."

Samuel Pearce on how to conduct oneself as a missionary

When Samuel Pearce was dying in 1799, momentous things were afoot with the Baptist Missionary Society, to which he had given so much energy. They were preparing to send a number of missionaries, among them William Ward and Joshua Marshman, to India. Once Ward and Marshman arrived they would link up with Carey and form the Serampore Trio, that fruitful band of brothers in the Church of that era. Pearce wrote a deeply-moving letter to Andrew Fuller, the Secretary of the Society, from Tamerton, Devon, on May 2, 1799.[1] The following are his three recommendations regarding missionary policy. They are still wise advice today.

First, as this Society is dependent for its support on the pious public, whose least compensation should be an acquaintance with the success of those for whom their benevolence is exerted, it is highly proper that each missionary under the patronage of this Society should communicate direct and personal information concerning his own efforts, and their various fruits, at least twice in every year; to which end the Society do request that each of their missionaries would keep a regular journal of his proceedings and send it, or a copy of it, to the secretary by the spring and fall ships.

Secondly, since that kingdom which we as the disciples of Jesus wish to establish is not of this world, we affectionately and seriously enjoin on each missionary under our patronage that he do cautiously and constantly abstain from every interference with the political concerns of the country were he may be called to labour, whether by words or deeds; that he be obedient to the laws in all civil affairs; that he respect magistrates, supreme and subordinates; and teach the same things to others. In fine, that he apply himself wholly to the all-important concerns of that evangelical service to which he has so solemnly dedicated himself.

Thirdly, however gross may be the idolatries and heathenish superstitions that may fall beneath a missionary’s notice, the Society are nevertheless persuaded that both the mutual respect due from man to man, together with the interests of the true religion, demand that every missionary should sedulously avoid all rudeness, insult, or interruption during the observance of the said superstitions; recommending no methods but those adopted by Christ and his apostles, namely, the persevering use of Scripture, reason, prayer, meekness, and love.

[1] From Periodical Accounts relative to the Baptist Missionary Society I (Clipstone: J.W. Morris, 1800), 516-519.

Reflections from a Trip to Wales, Part I

It is often not during a visit to another clime or land that one realizes the impact of the visit or sojourn. It was so for me last month when I visited Wales. Statue of Thomas Charles

The last time I had been in Wales was in 1992 when I drove to Aberystwyth from Oxford to do research at the National Library of Wales. I spent three or four glorious days in that town, studying by day in the Library and by night walking the promenade along the beach and looking wistfully across the Irish Sea to my forebears’ native land of Ireland.

It was too long to have not been back to Wales! No wistful longing for Ireland on this trip. I was too absorbed by what I was seeing and experiencing. I went to Wales to speak at the Bala Ministers’ Conference, preach—in Newport, Gwent (Emmanuel Church, Newport) and Narberth (www.bethesdachapel.co.uk)—and give a talk on Benjamin Daniel Thomas (1843-1917)—“Dr. Thomas of Toronto”—at Bethesda Baptist Church, Narberth, where Thomas had grown up as a child of the manse (it is the church’s 200th anniversary this year). I was with my daughter for much of the time, so we did the legionary fortress at Caerleon (which was superb) and had a day in Bath.

But it was the drive to and from Bala, a half-day looking at Howell Harris sites, and the time in Pembrokeshire that deeply impacted me. Pastor Graham Harrison, who generously gave of his time to drive me around and who, with his wife Eluned, fabulously hosted my daughter and I, drove me to Bala. And then on the way back drove through country associated with Ann Griffiths (1776-1805) and William Williams Pantycelyn (1717-1791). I was deeply moved to see places associated with these two figures, two of my favourite hymnwriters. And then to go to places associated with Howel Harris: Talgarth, where he was converted—I wish I had recalled that Williams was awakened in the very graveyard adjacent to the church (see Look at Talgarth church); Trefeca, where Harris’ home is located, once a college, now a retreat

Tombstone of William Williams

and conference centre and where there is a Howell Harris Museum; and Llangasty, where Harris had a “baptism of fire” as Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it—see his Howell Harris and Revival. It wasdeeply moving to be in places where God had moved so powerfully and kindled revival. It brought to the fore, as I have reflected on those aspects of the trip, that our great need as Evangelicals—our greatest need—is to cease from man and cry out to God for the outpouring of his Spirit in power and in a baptism of fire and renewal.

To be cont’d.

Thesis Topics on “Long” 18th Century Baptists from England: A Dozen

What of some topics in 18th century Baptist life and thought then? Here are 12—I have another dozen at least!

  1. The piety of Anne Steele as reflected in her hymnody or that of Anne Dutton in her writings (many of the latter are now published)
  2. The life and ministry of Caleb Evans—vital figure but little done on him besides a great work by Roger Hayden that deals with him along with his father and Foskett of Bristol
  3. Daniel Turner as a theological author—nothing that I know of has been done on Turner
  4. The doctrine of baptism in 18th century Calvinistic Baptist circles
  5. John Foster: the ministry of his pen—a completely neglected figure
  6. John Foster’s Calvinism
  7. The Christology of Robert Hall, Jr.—a very important figure, transitional in some ways
  8. Joseph Kinghorn’s Christology—a neglected favourite of mine
  9. The exegesis of the gospels in 18th century Baptist authors
  10. Benjamin Beddome as a preacher—another of my favourites
  11. The life and ministry of Samuel Medley
  12. The Stennetts: biblical fidelity across five generations from Edward to Samuel’s children—a good place to do some social history

Interpreting English Calvinistic Baptist History

The reigning paradigm for interpreting English Calvinistic Baptist history is as follows: Significant growth in the 1640s and 1650s

Persecution but still growth from 1660-1688

Increasing stagnation and even decline from 1688 to the 1770s /1780s

Revival between the 1770s/1780s and the 1830s

This is a common-enough hermeneutic grid for making sense of the English Calvinistic Baptist story. But it makes sense only if one presumes that the whole story is about numerical growth.

But what if we approached the whole history from the 1640s to the 1830s from a somewhat different angle, say the angle of being pilgrims and strangers? Do you still get the same graph of growth, decline and growth? No, then the pattern is somewhat different. Then the early period—when the historical background was the Puritan Cause Triumphant—is not as close to the New Testament pattern, since many of the Calvinistic Baptists were wielding power in the army and were influential in Puritan politics (witness Ireland, for example, and William Kiffin). The second era, the one of overt persecution, looks a lot more like New Testament faithfulness.

And the third era is not so stark. Why? Because the Baptists have been relegated to second-class status—and there are significant numbers abandoning the good ship Dissent (witness the Wesley brothers’ parents and Faithful Teate’s son, Nahum Tate). Then, the Baptists increasingly see themselves as a beleaguered minority, a pilgrim people in an alien land. Now, the question which must be asked is this: how did the Baptists of the third era from the 1680s to the 1770s—nearly hundred years—interpret the pilgrim people themes of the New Testament. Are they truly a pilgrim people? If so, then the story of that period is not so bad after all.

Two important caveats to all of this: I am not discounting the importance of evangelism. Far from it. But I am asking whether or not that is the only heuristic tool available. Second, I am not completely rejecting the older interpretation of this era from the 1688 to the 1770s as one of stagnation and decline. I am just seeking to see whether or not other interpretative models can yield valuable insights. PS: a blessed new year to all of my readers!

On the Difference between the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

The difference between seventeenth-century Puritan theology and that in the eighteenth century is well summed up by the following remark made by the Calvinistic Baptist David Kinghorn to his son, the famous Joseph Kinghorn: “I think if [Stephen] Charnock were abridged by a skilful hand, it would be a valuable work.”[1]

The seventeenth-century passion for big systematic tomes was simply not shared by the eighteenth-century men, even when the two different generations shared a similar commitment to Reformed orthodoxy.

[1] Letter to Joseph Kinghorn, December 18, 1790 [in Martin Hood Wilkin, Joseph Kinghorn, of Norwich: A Memoir [1855 ed.; repr. in The Life and Works of Joseph Kinghorn (Springfield, Missouri: Particular Baptist Press, 1995), I, 182].

The Faithful Preacher: A Book Note

Thabiti M. Anyabwile, The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the Vision of Three Pioneering African-American Pastors (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2007), 191 pages. Like far too many church historians trained in the West in the past thirty to forty years, this book made me realize that I am woefully ignorant of the spiritual experience of African-American pastors and congregants. Rightly does John Piper state in his foreword to this volume by the senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Grand Cayman Islands, that it “mines the unknown riches of the African-American experience” (p.9). Now, I had heard of one of the figures treated in this book, the Edwardsean Lemuel Haynes (1753-1833), but the other two men—Daniel Payne (1811-1893) and Francis Grimké (1850-1937)—were completely unknown to me. And what I knew about Haynes could have been told in less than a minute!

What makes this volume especially useful is that Anyabwile combines his narrative discussion of the lives of these three pastors with three or four of primary sources from each of their writings. This work is ideal as a source-book to be included in any study of American Christianity. But it is also good for the souls of those called to be pastors and leaders in the Church of the living God.

Here, for instance, is a deeply challenging statement from the Methodist Bishop Payne: “…it is not the omnipotence of God that constitutes His glory—it is His immaculate holiness. And such must be the fact in the moral character of the Christian minister—not his talents…not his learning…but his holiness” (p.95).

John Erskine and a 1784 Letter to John Ryland, Jr.

A question that has long fascinated me is how John Ryland, Jr. (1753-1825) came to be corresponding with Dr John Erskine of Greyfriars, Edinburgh, in the 1780s? Erskine was an Edwards aficionado and sent packets of Edwardsean literature to all with whom he corresponded. So it was that he sent Edwards’ Humble Attempt to Ryland in 1784 and the result was the beginning of a prayer movement among the Northamptonshire Association Baptists, to which Ryland belonged, that led to revival.I initially thought of Ryland’s father, John Collett Ryland, as a link. But just recently I noticed in a letter from John Newton to the younger Ryland—Newton was his mentor—that Newton said that he would forward some letters to Erskine. Could Newton be the link between the young Baptist and the Scottish evangelical?

John Ryland, Jr. On Believer’s Baptism

John Ryland, Jr. (1753-1825), to be distinguished from his father, John Collett Ryland, about whom I blogged a few days ago, detailed his commitment to the Baptist way in a sermon that he preached in June, 1812, to the students and subscribers of Stepney Academy, founded two years prior to train men for ministry among the Calvinistic Baptists. Ryland gives the following solid advice to the students in his audience:[1] “Always show you are more concerned to turn sinners to God, than to make proselytes to a party. While you teach men to observe all things whatsoever our blessed Lord has commanded, whether with reference to moral duty, or positive institutions, let it appear, in the latter case, that you regard the thing signified as far more important than the sign.

“In administering the Ordinances of the New Testament be careful to point out their important signification. Urge them who are buried with Christ by Baptism into death, to remember their obligations to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness; to be separate from the world and devoted to God. What avails observance of a more significant and scriptural mode of administering the ordinance, if its end be not kept constantly in view? It is not the Baptism of adults, but of believers, for which we plead; let them who profess to have believed, be urged so to walk as to prove they abide in him, whose name they bear. Let them live the life of faith, and fight the good fight of faith. “He that believeth and is Baptized shall be saved” [Mk 16:16]. Were the Greek term translated, I am persuaded it should be rendered, He that believeth and is immersed or overwhelmed etc. Overwhelmed with what? with Water? Yes, that is the sign, and thus only we think the ordinance should be administered. But, what is the thing signified? He that is overwhelmed with a sense of Obligation, of Guilt, of Danger, of Gratitude, of Love; he that is immersed in the Holy Spirit, shall be saved. We had rather have the thing signified without the sign, than the sign without the thing signified: though we think both should go together.”

[1] Advice to Young Ministers, respecting their preparatory Studies (Bristol, 1812), 28-29.

Heroes: Baptist & Other

Human heroes. We all have them. All of them are flawed, for they are all sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. Yet, it is not unbiblical to have such (see Hebrews 11).

But which ones to choose from in the wide and broad history of the Church? Well, this question will be answered in part by one’s theological and ecclesiological perspective. Not totally, of course. I have always admired Dietrich Bonhoeffer, for instance, despite my disagreement with some elements of his Lutheranism and his reception of critical theology. But his exposition of Nachfolge in his study of the Sermon on the Mount and above all his study of what Christian community should be in his Life Together, from the very first when I read them, won my heart’s delight and conviction.

But for us who are Baptists who are the best guides? Where do we find those who will most challenge us with their radical Christ-centred Christianity? That question was answered for me in the academic year 1985-1986, when I picked up a copy of Andrew Fuller’s works—the 3-volume 1845 edition that Pastor Lloyd Sprinkle has republished.

I read Fuller’s essay The Promise of the Spirit—in part because of my early interest in the work and person of the Holy Spirit. I was smitten—yes, smitten by the force of his argument and his passion for the extension of the Kingdom of Christ and his biblical defence of the church’s utter need for the Spirit’s empowerment.

From Fuller I was led to his friends—William Carey, John Ryland, John Sutcliff, and above all Samuel Pearce. Then to Christopher Anderson, John Fawcett, Benjamin Beddome, Joseph Kinghorn, Benjamin Francis, Joshua Thomas, William Staughton, Anne Steele, Anne Dutton, the Stennetts and then back into the 17th century to men like William Kiffin, Hanserd Knollys, Hercules Collins, Benjamin Keach—where should I stop? In other words: I found my guides in men and women who were the fathers and mothers of my denominational persuasion, Baptist. Since then I have discovered Canadian Baptists in the 19th century like D.A. McGregor and William Fraser, and Americans like Oliver Hart and four men I am learning to know—J.P. Boyce, John Broadus, Basil Manly, Jr., and William Williams.

The theology of these brothers and sisters have set the ethos and temper, timber and shape of our denominational frame. And though their foundational work was not perfect, I have found it better than any other. Though I do admire many others—especially men like Jonathan Edwards and Basil of Caesarea—in the life and theology of these Particular Baptists I have found riches for the spirit and for the mind and a pattern of the Christian life most in accord—in my opinion—with Scripture.

Piety & Elegance

“Piety was not at war with elegance.” These words of William Wilberforce well express a growing conviction. Far too many evangelicals in our day would have been more at home with the Quakers of a bygone era with their austerity and, dare I say it, drabness, than with the Puritans (like John Owen with his red leather boots and yellow cloak!) or their eighteenth-century Evangelical heirs.

Andrew Fuller Conference Two Weeks Away

Two weeks from today will be the Andrew Fuller the Reader Conference with Drs Russell Moore and Tom Nettles, and Drs Carl Trueman and Jeff Jue from Westminster Theological Seminary as keynote speakers. It will explore the theological influences on Fuller, ranging from the Reformers, John Owen, and Jonathan Edwards. There will also be a number of parallel sessions by junior scholars that will explore various aspects of Fuller’s thought. It promises to be an extremely informative and inspiring time. It will be the first conference of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies, newly established on the campus of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. There is still time to register: go to https://www.regonline.com/AndrewFullerTheReader and we will see you at Southern on August 27-28.

Baptists and Calvinism: A Brief Reply to Dr. Garrett

In a recent series of articles on Baptists and Calvinism, Dr. James Leo Garrett, Jr., has produced a good overview of some of the key issues that Baptists have faced regarding Calvinism over the centuries of their existence. I deeply appreciated the irenicism of the articles, the passion for missions and the finely nuanced scholarship. Dr. Garrett correctly points that “Baptists have not been in total agreement on these issues.”[1] Nor have Baptist historians always been in agreement about how to interpret Calvinism in Baptist life. I was especially intrigued by some of Dr. Garrett’s remarks regarding eighteenth-century English Baptist life. The bane of Hyper-Calvinism He argues first of all that Hyper-Calvinism was the bane of missions in certain quarters of English Baptist life in the eighteenth century. In his words:

“When the learned John Gill in London was teaching the tenets of Dort and some of the teachings of Hyper-Calvinism, the Particular Baptists were in a deplorable state of spiritual decline and apathy. It took a casting off of Hyper-Calvinism and an overhauling of Dortian Calvinism to bring Particular Baptists into the Evangelical Revival and to the point of leading the modern Protestant missionary movement. Moreover it has been the evangelical or missionary form of Calvinism that in the providence of God through William Carey and Andrew Fuller and Charles Haddon Spurgeon and John Leadley Dagg propelled Baptists from a tiny minority sect to a major Christian denomination. Hence the teachings of Dort do matter inasmuch as there are effects of such teachings.”[2] Now, it is important to realize that in the eighteenth century Gill’s teaching was not uniform throughout the English Baptist denomination. There was the vital Calvinistic Baptist tradition associated with the Bristol Baptist Academy, for instance, that preserved a rich balance between the sovereignty of God and evangelism. The Academy produced remarkable Evangelical Calvinists like the younger Andrew Gifford (1700-1784), who supported George Whitefield, Benjamin Francis (1734-1799), an indefatigable evangelist, and Benjamin Beddome (1717-1795), who knew revival in the town where his ministry was centred, Bourton-on-the-Water. Moreover, while there is little doubt that there was decline among many Baptist quarters in England during this period—especially seen in London, Yorkshire, the East Anglian counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and the area covered by the Northamptonshire Association—to fix the blame chiefly on Gill and his “Dortian Calvinism” is an over-simplification.[3] Russell E. Richey, for instance, points out that there were ongoing legal restrictions, which effectively confined Baptist preaching to the meeting house.[4] Deryck W. Lovegrove, on the other hand, locates the real problem of Baptists during this period in the matter of their isolation. “The very strength of independency,” he notes, “the internal cohesion of the gathered church, became its weakness as geographical remoteness conspired with autonomy and lack of common purpose to foster numerical decline.”[5] And Isabel Rivers sees a loss of identity as a key factor in the decline of the Baptists. Speaking about the dissenters in general, she states: “The experience of…persecution and heroic leadership must have given a sense of identity and commitment to the nonconformists not shared by the succeeding generations of dissenters.”[6] In short, the decline of the Baptists during the early and mid-eighteenth century cannot be easily attributed to simply one cause.[7] As the studies of Richey, Lovegrove and Rivers indicate, there were a variety of factors at work: political and sociological, as well as theological. Recent historiographical approaches demand that we consider not simply the realm of ideas in analyzing denominational history but also the social and political climate. Yet, Garrett is not wrong to point out that there was decline. Andrew Fuller, who, as Garrett notes, was instrumental in the revitalization of the Baptists in the final decades of the century, summed up this situation of decline in his own inimitable style when he declared: “Had matters gone on but for a few years, the Baptists would have become a perfect dunghill in society.”[8] But, it is vital for Baptist historians to ask this: is Fuller here speaking in strict statistical terms of every nook and cranny of the denomination, or making a more general observation? One of the myths in Baptist history has been to take Fuller’s words as totally applicable to the entire denomination in England.

Was Andrew Fuller a Calvinist? Then, in a later article, “How prominent Baptists stack up: Have leading Baptist theologians affirmed teachings of Dortian Calvinism?”, Garrett makes the following comment about Andrew Fuller’s own commitment to Calvinism: according to Garrett, Fuller “strongly advocated repentance and faith as duties,” but he “supported only two of Dortian Calvinism’s five points[,] limited atonement and irresistible grace.”[9] These remarks are very curious and have no basis in Fuller’s works. Fuller was a five-point Calvinist through and through. Yes, he did argue, against Hyper-Calvinism, that repentance and faith were duties. Hyper-Calvinists had argued that sinners are unable to do anything spiritually good, and thus are under no obligation to exercise faith in Christ. They supported their argument by reference to such texts as John 6:44 (“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him”) and 1 Corinthians 2:14 (“the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”). The inability of which these passages speak, Fuller contended in response, is a moral inability, which is rooted in the sinful disposition of the heart. Men and women refuse to come to Christ because of their aversion to him. They fail to understand the gospel and the things of the Spirit because they lack the means by which such matters are understood, namely, the presence of the indwelling Spirit. And they lack the Spirit because their hearts are closed to God. These verses are not speaking of a physical inability—such as insanity or mental deficiency—which excuses its subject of blame.[10] In making this distinction between physical and moral inability, which Fuller derived from Jonathan Edwards, Fuller was seeking to affirm a scriptural paradox: sinful men and women are utterly powerless to turn to God except through the regenerative work of God’s Holy Spirit, yet this powerlessness is the result of their own sinful hearts.[11] In other words, Fuller takes seriously the Scriptures’ affirmation of the total/radical depravity of the human heart. This led Fuller to address the role of the Spirit’s work in conversion. Hyper-Calvinists argued that if repentance and faith are ascribed by the Scriptures to the work of the Spirit, then “they cannot be duties required of sinners.” As Fuller points out, though, the force of this objection is dependent upon the supposition that “we do not stand in need of the Holy Spirit to enable us to comply with our duty.” What is amazing about this supposition is that Arminianism assumes the same. For the Arminian, because faith is commanded of sinners by God, then they must be able to believe without the irresistible drawing of the Spirit. Similarly, the Hyper-Calvinist reasons that since faith is wrought by the Spirit it cannot be an act of obedience. The truth of the matter, however, is that “we need the influence of the Holy Spirit to enable us to do our duty” and that “repentance and faith, therefore, may be duties, notwithstanding their being the gifts of God.”[12] Fuller thus affirmed the biblical via media on this issue. In his confession of faith that he made when he was inducted into his second pastoral charge, at Kettering in 1783, Fuller maintained that he believed in “the doctrine of eternal personal election and predestination” and that “those who are effectually called of God never fall away so as to perish everlastingly, but persevere in holiness till they arrive at endless happiness.”[13] It is a Baptist urban myth that Fuller abandoned his Calvinistic heritage. He affirmed it to the end of his earthly life.

Distinct proof of this can be found when Fuller came to die in 1815, in a last letter to his close friend, John Ryland, Jr. (1753-1825), in which he affirmed his belief in the perseverance of the saints. After quoting a portion of 2 Timothy 1:12, Fuller went on to say:

“I am a poor, guilty creature; but Christ is an almighty Saviour. I have preached and written much against the abuse of the doctrine of grace; but that doctrine is all my salvation and all my desire. I have no other hope, than from salvation by mere sovereign, efficacious grace, through the atonement of my Lord and Saviour. With this hope, I can go into eternity with composure.”[14]

What I love about Andrew Fuller is this wholehearted commitment to the doctrines of grace and his passion for missions. He did not compromise either. And in so doing, he proved to be a safe guide for Baptists today.

[1] James Leo Garrett, Jr., “A question facing Baptist churches: Does Dortian Calvinism really matter?”, The Alabama Baptist (Thursday, August 2, 2007) (http://www.al.com/living/alabamabaptist/index.ssf?/base/living/118581125997920.xml&coll=8; accessed august 6, 2007).

[2] Garrett, Jr., “A question facing Baptist churches.”

[3] Deryck W. Lovegrove, Established Church, Sectarian People. Itineracy and the transformation of English Dissent, 1780-1830 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 7; B.R. White, “Reviews: H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage: Four centuries of Baptist witness”, The Baptist Quarterly, 32 (1987-1988), 256.

[4] “Effects of Toleration on Eighteenth-Century Dissent”, The Journal of Religious History, 8 (1974-1975), 350-363. There were exceptions, of course. Between 1688 and 1705 William Mitchel and David Crosley (1669-1744) evangelized towns and villages throughout east Lancashire and West Yorkshire from their base at Rossendale. For further details, see W.E. Blomfield, “Yorkshire Baptist Churches in the 17th and 18th Centuries” in The Baptists of Yorkshire (2nd ed.; Bradford/London; Wm. Byles & Sons Ltd./London: Kingsgate Press, 1912), 73-88; Ian Sellers, ed., Our Heritage. The Baptists of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire (Leeds: The Yorkshire Baptist Association/The Lancashire and Cheshire Baptist Association, 1987), 10-11.

[5] Established Church, Sectarian People, 7.

[6] Reason, Grace, and Sentiment. A Study of the Language of Religion and Ethics in England, 1660-1780 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), I, 169.

[7] Barrie R. White, Letter to the author, May 6, 1991.

[8] Cited Simon Valentine, “A wrestler who fought the Devil”, Baptist Times, 7297 (March 1, 1990), 6.

[9] James Leo Garrett, Jr., “How prominent Baptists stack up: Have leading Baptist theologians affirmed teachings of Dortian Calvinism?”, The Alabama Baptist (Thursday, August 2, 2007) (http://www.al.com/living/alabamabaptist/index.ssf?/base/living/118581123097920.xml&coll=8)

[10] The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation in The Complete Works of the Rev. Andrew Fuller, revised Joseph Belcher (1845 ed.; repr. Harrisonburg, Virginia: Sprinkle Publications, 1988), 2:376-379.

[11] James E. Tull, Shapers of Baptist Thought (1972 ed.; repr. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1984), 90.

[12] Works, 2:379-380.

[13] Confession of Faith VIII and XIV in Michael A.G. Haykin, ed., The Armies of the Lamb: The spirituality of Andrew Fuller (Dundas, Ontario: Joshua Press, 2001), 276, 279.

[14] Cited John Ryland, The Work of Faith, the Labour of Love, and the Patience of Hope Illustrated; in the Life and Death of the Reverend Andrew Fuller (London: Button & Son, 1816), 544-546.

John Newton and Unanswered E-Mails

It is very comforting to know that John Newton during his London ministry in the 1790s was “always working…from a stack of fifty or sixty unanswered letters” [Bruce Hindmarsh, John Newton (Oxford, 1996), 250].

It warmed my soul to read that and helped me realize that having a “pile” of unanswered e-mails is not as spiritually bad as I have thought it to be. I hate being so pressed as not to be able to answer e-mails, but I confess I do have some that have been there for a few months without an answer. If Newton could live with the guilt, then I have hope!

And brothers/sisters, an answer to your e-mail is coming., Patience—and more time for me!

John Newton, a Letter to Samuel Pearce

This summer, DV, I hope to do some serious writing on one of my favourite Baptists, Samuel Pearce (1766-1799). It is long overdue. I had intended years ago to do a biography by 1999, the bicentennial of his death. Then it was to be 2000, the bicentennial of the appearance of the first biography of him by Andrew Fuller, his close friend. His is a great story and crosses the pathways of some of the great figures of that era. One of them is John Newton, the bicentennial of whose death is this year, 1807-2007. He wrote to Pearce on one occasion in 1797. The letter begins thus: "My dear sir, I stiled you...Reverend in my last [letter], and you stiled me Honoured--I like the epithet Dear better than either. Let us substitute it for the others if you please should we have correspondence in future." Typical Newton, ever the loving mentor.

Please pray for this. I know I have asked for prayer about this before. Please pray that all of the Pearce "stuff" that I need to write will get done!

Thank you.

“A Charge to Keep I Have”: Charles Wesley & His Tercentennial

This year is the tercentennial of the birth of Charles Wesley (1707-1788), and in honour of that what follows is an overview of his life. Charles was the eighteenth child born to Samuel Wesley and his wife Susanna (née Annesley). He arrived prematurely on December 10, 1707, and apparently spent his earliest days of life wrapped in wool, neither opening his eyes nor raising his voice. But his voice would not always be silent! For fifty years after his conversion in 1738 it would announce, in sermon and in song, the Good News of God’s redemption through faith in Christ.

The story is told of how Charles, as a young boy, refused an offer of becoming the heir of a wealthy Anglo-Irish cousin, Garret Wesley, since it would remove him from the bonds of his family and friends. Another cousin, Richard Colley, went in Charles’ stead and became Richard Colley Wesley—the grandfather of Marquis Wellesley, who colonized India, and of the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. How much history hung on a small boy’s decision! Yet, Charles Wesley also left a heritage, one more permanent than any empire and larger than any army.

For his early education Charles joined his siblings as each day his mother Susannah, who knew Greek, Latin, and French, methodically taught them for six hours. Charles then spent thirteen years at Westminster School, where the only language allowed in public was Latin. Finally, Charles went up to study at Oxford in 1726. “At first he lived a … carefree undergraduate life, intent only on having a good time—an attitude not unusual in one of his age.” But by 1729 he had become quite devout and threw all of his energies into seeking to live the Christian life. But he was not converted; and he was seeking to build his Christian faith and hope of salvation on his good works. Nearly ten years were to elapse before Charles came to Christ on May 21, 1738, Pentecost Sunday.

The key figure in his conversion was Peter Böhler (1712-1775), a German Moravian missionary. Early in that year, while living in London, Charles had fallen ill and had actually come close to death. Böhler came to visit him and spoke to him about his need of salvation. Böhler asked him: “Do you hope to be saved?” When Charles assured him that he did, Böhler enquired further: “For what reason do you hope it?” “Because I have used my best endeavours to serve God,” returned Charles. At such an inadequate response Böhler shook his head sadly and said no more. Charles later admitted that he considered Böhler to be most uncharitable and though to himself, “What are not my endeavours a sufficient ground of hope? Would he rob me of my endeavours? I have nothing else to trust to.”

It was another Moravian by the name of William Holland (d.1761) who gave Charles a copy of Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians to read (Holland in fact has been identified as the one who was reading this commentary on May 24, 1738 at Aldersgate Street when John Wesley was converted). On May 17, 1738, Charles noted in his diary: “I spent some hours this evening in private with Luther, who was greatly blessed to me, especially his conclusion of the second chapter. I laboured, waited, and prayed to feel ‘Who loved me and gave Himself for me’.”

On May 21, Pentecost Sunday, Charles awoke with great expectation. Still confined to bed because of his sickness, he was visited by John. After John had left, Charles lay back to sleep. He awoke to hear the voice of a woman (actually the sister of the man in whose house he was staying) saying: “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, arise and believe, and thou shalt be healed of thy infirmities.” The woman, a Mrs. Turner, had been commanded by the Lord in a dream to convey this message. Charles was physically healed and spiritually converted. Three days later, on May 24, his brother was also converted.

Up until 1749 Charles, like his brother was an itinerant evangelist. But on April 8, 1749, he married a Sarah (aka Sally) Gwynne (d.1822), who was 23 at the time, and whom he had known since 1747 when he visited the home of her father Marmaduke Gwynne, a Welsh Methodist. Their correspondence had helped their friendship ripen into love, and in 1748 Charles wrote this verse:

Two are better far than one For counsel or for fight How can one be warm alone Or serve his God aright?

A gifted singer and accomplished harpsichordist, Sally was gentle and unselfish, and her and Charles had in many ways an ideal marriage. Charles’ itinerant ministry became less because of family responsibilities. Of eight children, they lost five as infants! They settled first at Bristol, and then in London in 1771, where he became a spiritual father to the burgeoning Methodist movement.

There was a shy and retiring side to Charles. He had to force himself to stand before the ten thousand people who came to Moorfields in London on July 8, 1739, to hear him preach on the text, “Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins.” Although both preacher and congregation were deeply affected by the sermon, Charles’ inner disquiet at such a public ministry was not easily silenced. Thus, that same year, he confided in a letter to George Whitefield: “I am continually tempted to leave off preaching, and hide myself… Do not reckon on me, my brother, in the work God is doing: for I cannot expect he should long employ one who is ever longing and murmuring to be discharged.”

But Charles Wesley knew better. Once, when an acquaintance said that if people spoke about him the way they did about Whitefield, he would run away and hide himself. “You might,” Charles apparently retorted, “but God would bring you back like Jonah.” These words have a ring of experience about them. The revival committed the younger Wesley to a vast scene of public ministry, and by God’s grace he overcame the natural inclinations of his temperament. Later celebrated this victory in the hymn “A Charge to Keep I Have” (1762; based on Leviticus 8:35):

1. A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify, a never-dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky.

2. To serve the present age, my calling to fulfill; O may it all my powers engage to do my Master’s will!

3. Arm me with jealous care, as in thy sight to live, and oh, thy servant, Lord, prepare a strict account to give!

4. Help me to watch and pray, and on thyself rely, assured, if I my trust betray, I shall forever die.

John Wesley once characterized himself as a man “full of business.” This would be a fair analysis of one side of his character. Methodist tradition has remembered the older Wesley as a man full of drive and discipline, one who expended himself in Herculean efforts that readily wore out those who chose him for a role model. But John also seemed to hurry through life in a way that robbed it of some of its richness. Though he was also an ardent evangelist, Charles was the sort of man who could pause to pen a poem, “Written at Land’s End,” while watching the sun set by the sea.

Despite these differences in temperament, the Wesley brothers established what they both called their “partnership” in ministry, and their partnership was so successful in their day that it has paid rich dividends into our own.