Yet, I’ve found that many churches do not know how useful the confession can be beyond establishing subscription to certain core doctrines. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.įast-forward to 2016 and many Baptist churches continue to have statements of faith “on the books” as a part of their foundational documents. Of primary importance, they saw biblical warrant for the practice of confessionalism in texts such as 1 Timothy 3:16, where the apostle Paul’s inspired pen produced a brief but beautiful display of the mystery of godliness: The Second London Confession also aimed at refuting popular notions associating Particular Baptists with the radical wing of the Anabaptist movement on the continent. Additionally, they sought to manifest their solidarity with the prevailing forms of Calvinistic orthodoxy as well as to expound the basic elements of their ecclesiology. The signers of that venerable confession lived and moved in an age in which most local congregations wrote confessions of faith for a number of reasons, one of them to demonstrate their commitment to the historic Christian faith. The product was the most comprehensive expression of orthodox Baptist theology ever written-the Second London Confession of 1689. The seven carried out their war for truth by wielding the sword of the Spirit. Seven churches returned fire, but not by brandishing the sword of steel or by hurling theological invectives. These nefarious charges and numerous others arose from leaders of the state church and led to decades of grinding persecution for Baptists. Perhaps their most virulent and colorful opponent, Daniel Featley-a separatist persecutor deluxe-derisively dismissed our Baptist forebears, writing in a venom-filled pamphlet, “They pollute our rivers with their filthy washings.” Such was Baptist life under Charles I. Particular Baptist churches planted in the tumultuous soil of 17th century England grew up and bore fruit under a nasty set of doctrinal and methodological accusations, including that they subscribed to libertarian free will, denied original sin, that their pastors baptized women in the nude, and were opponents of church and crown.
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