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A study of the development of the Calvinistic Baptist movement during the English Commonwealth, and the Christological ecclesiology that it espoused.
To Follow The Lambe Wheresoever He Goeth explores church doctrine among English Calvinistic Baptists between 1640 and 1660. It examines the emergence of Calvinistic Baptists against the background of the demise of the Episcopal Church of England, the establishment by Act of Parliament of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, and the attempted foundation of a Presbyterian Church of England. Ecclesiology was one of the most important doctrines under consideration in this phase of English history and this book is a contribution to understanding alternative forms of ecclesiology outside the mainstream National Church settlement. It argues that the development of Calvinistic Baptist ecclesiology was a natural development of one stream of Puritan theology, the tradition associated with Robert Brown, and the English separatist movement.
This tradition was refined and made experimental in the work of Henry Jacob, who founded a congregation in London in 1616 from which Calvinistic Baptists emerged. Central to Jacob's ideology was the belief that a rightly ordered church acknowledged Christ as King over his people. The Christological priority of early Calvinistic Baptist ecclesiology will constitute the primary contribution of this study to the investigation of dissenting theology in the period.
To Follow The Lambe Wheresoever He Goeth explores church doctrine among English Calvinistic Baptists between 1640 and 1660. It examines the emergence of Calvinistic Baptists against the background of the demise of the Episcopal Church of England, the establishment by Act of Parliament of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, and the attempted foundation of a Presbyterian Church of England. Ecclesiology was one of the most important doctrines under consideration in this phase of English history and this book is a contribution to understanding alternative forms of ecclesiology outside the mainstream National Church settlement. It argues that the development of Calvinistic Baptist ecclesiology was a natural development of one stream of Puritan theology, the tradition associated with Robert Brown, and the English separatist movement.
This tradition was refined and made experimental in the work of Henry Jacob, who founded a congregation in London in 1616 from which Calvinistic Baptists emerged. Central to Jacob's ideology was the belief that a rightly ordered church acknowledged Christ as King over his people. The Christological priority of early Calvinistic Baptist ecclesiology will constitute the primary contribution of this study to the investigation of dissenting theology in the period.
Price: $29.99
Pages: 248
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: James Clarke
Publication Date:
26 October 2017
Trim Size: 9.02 X 6.02 in
ISBN: 9780227176726
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
RELIGION / History, History of religion
This book illustrates with a pleasing amount of detail, combined with readability, that early modern Baptists were interested in more than baptism and ecclesiology.
— MARK W. ELLIO, University of St. Andrews
On the basis of his mastery of a wide range of original sources, [Ian Birch] has shown how the idea of Lordship of Christ functioned in the context of both individual faith and the corporate life of the community. This is a fine contribution to Puritan and Baptist studies.
— D. DENSIL MORGAN, University of Wales Trinity Saint David
Early Baptists took the Reformed principle of the kingship of Christ further than their contemporaries. Birch shows how it molded their understanding of the gathered church exercising discipline, maintaining its ministry and associating with other congregations. This book is a clear and orderly exposition of how the Particular Baptists worked out the implications of what one of their most eminent figures, William Kiffin, called 'this great truth, Christ the king of his church.
— DAVID BEBBINGTON, University of Stirling
In this well-researched monograph, Birch shows how the Baptists derived and diverged from the Reformed and Puritan traditions. With careful attention to theological arguments and concepts, he offers the fullest treatment of their ecclesiology to date. This is a welcome contribution to scholarship on radical Puritanism as well as Baptist history.
— JOHN COFFEY, University of Leicester
— MARK W. ELLIO, University of St. Andrews
On the basis of his mastery of a wide range of original sources, [Ian Birch] has shown how the idea of Lordship of Christ functioned in the context of both individual faith and the corporate life of the community. This is a fine contribution to Puritan and Baptist studies.
— D. DENSIL MORGAN, University of Wales Trinity Saint David
Early Baptists took the Reformed principle of the kingship of Christ further than their contemporaries. Birch shows how it molded their understanding of the gathered church exercising discipline, maintaining its ministry and associating with other congregations. This book is a clear and orderly exposition of how the Particular Baptists worked out the implications of what one of their most eminent figures, William Kiffin, called 'this great truth, Christ the king of his church.
— DAVID BEBBINGTON, University of Stirling
In this well-researched monograph, Birch shows how the Baptists derived and diverged from the Reformed and Puritan traditions. With careful attention to theological arguments and concepts, he offers the fullest treatment of their ecclesiology to date. This is a welcome contribution to scholarship on radical Puritanism as well as Baptist history.
— JOHN COFFEY, University of Leicester
Contents
Foreword by Stephen Holmes
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. "Casting Balls of Wildfire into the bosom of the Church": The
Emergence of English Particular Baptist Churches to 1660
1.1. From Jacob to Jessey
1.2 Particular Baptist Expansion, 1644-1660
1.2.1. Publishing
1.2.2. Preaching
1.2.3. Disputations
1.2.4. Missionary Evangelism
Summary
2. "A True Visible Church of Christ": The Contours of
Calvinistic Baptist Ecclesiology
2.1 The Rule of Christ
2.2 A Believer's Church
2.3 B aptism, Infant Baptism, and Church Membership
2.4 A Gathered Church
2.5 A Visible Church
2.6 A Separate Church
Summary
3. "To follow the Lambe wheresoever he goeth": The Church of King Jesus
3.1. The Forerunner, Henry Jacob
3.2. "Christology" in Early Particular Baptist Confessions
3.3. Munus Triplex Christi and Ecclesiology in Thomas Collier
3.3.1. Collier on Christ's Priesthood
3.3.2. Collier on Christ as Prophet
3.3.3. Collier on Christ's Kingship
Summary
4. "A Holy and Orderly Communion": Theology and Practice
of Discipline among Early Particular Baptists
4.1 The Purity of the Saints in Particular Baptist Confessions
4.2 Church Discipline in Hermeneutical Perspective
4.3 Church Discipline in Early Particular Baptist Records
4.3.1. Occasions of Discipline in Baptist Records
4.3.2. Pastoral Procedure in Discipline
4.4 Theology of Discipline among Particular Baptists
4.4.1. The Authority of the Church
4.4.2. The Glory of Christ
4.4.3. Purity of the Body of Christ
Summary
5. An Intolerable Usurpation: Theology and Practice of
Ministry among Early Particular Baptists
5.1 The Choosing of "Meet Persons": Baptist Lay Ministry
5.2 Offices of Ministry in Particular Baptist Churches
5.3 The Calling of Ministers in Baptist Congregations
5.4 Ordination among Early Calvinistic Baptists
Summary
6. "The Counsel and Help of One Another": Independency and
Interdependency: Particular Baptists in Association
6.1 The Origins of Particular Baptist Associations to 1660
6.1.1 The Origins of Associations in the Association Records of
the English Particular Baptists
6.2 Theology of Particular Baptist Associations
6.3 Associational Authority and Local Ecclesiology
Summary
Conclusions
Bibliography
Index
Foreword by Stephen Holmes
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. "Casting Balls of Wildfire into the bosom of the Church": The
Emergence of English Particular Baptist Churches to 1660
1.1. From Jacob to Jessey
1.2 Particular Baptist Expansion, 1644-1660
1.2.1. Publishing
1.2.2. Preaching
1.2.3. Disputations
1.2.4. Missionary Evangelism
Summary
2. "A True Visible Church of Christ": The Contours of
Calvinistic Baptist Ecclesiology
2.1 The Rule of Christ
2.2 A Believer's Church
2.3 B aptism, Infant Baptism, and Church Membership
2.4 A Gathered Church
2.5 A Visible Church
2.6 A Separate Church
Summary
3. "To follow the Lambe wheresoever he goeth": The Church of King Jesus
3.1. The Forerunner, Henry Jacob
3.2. "Christology" in Early Particular Baptist Confessions
3.3. Munus Triplex Christi and Ecclesiology in Thomas Collier
3.3.1. Collier on Christ's Priesthood
3.3.2. Collier on Christ as Prophet
3.3.3. Collier on Christ's Kingship
Summary
4. "A Holy and Orderly Communion": Theology and Practice
of Discipline among Early Particular Baptists
4.1 The Purity of the Saints in Particular Baptist Confessions
4.2 Church Discipline in Hermeneutical Perspective
4.3 Church Discipline in Early Particular Baptist Records
4.3.1. Occasions of Discipline in Baptist Records
4.3.2. Pastoral Procedure in Discipline
4.4 Theology of Discipline among Particular Baptists
4.4.1. The Authority of the Church
4.4.2. The Glory of Christ
4.4.3. Purity of the Body of Christ
Summary
5. An Intolerable Usurpation: Theology and Practice of
Ministry among Early Particular Baptists
5.1 The Choosing of "Meet Persons": Baptist Lay Ministry
5.2 Offices of Ministry in Particular Baptist Churches
5.3 The Calling of Ministers in Baptist Congregations
5.4 Ordination among Early Calvinistic Baptists
Summary
6. "The Counsel and Help of One Another": Independency and
Interdependency: Particular Baptists in Association
6.1 The Origins of Particular Baptist Associations to 1660
6.1.1 The Origins of Associations in the Association Records of
the English Particular Baptists
6.2 Theology of Particular Baptist Associations
6.3 Associational Authority and Local Ecclesiology
Summary
Conclusions
Bibliography
Index