London Baptist Confession of Faith Essay

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In the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1644, we see a confession of faith statement that is much closer to that of what modern day Baptists would find familiar. With the coming and continuance of the English Civil War, Baptists saw the need and took the opportunity to write down their own statement of faith. The document was written and signed by seven separate congregations that collaborated to write the document. The document's purpose was to differentiate the beliefs of the Particular Baptists from the General Baptists. This was to formally define the beliefs of the Particular Baptists as opposed to the General Baptists. While not detailed, it was very clearly Calvinistic in tone. It rejected the notion that the law convicted of sin, claiming that the terrors of the law were not needed. They were not needed because the gospel alone has the power to do this. Secondly, it rejected the notion of the Son having eternal generation (Taylor and Young 244).

The Baptist movement represented the left wing of the Protestant movement. It was opposed to the more conventional convictions of Luther who though seemingly radical in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church was absolutely terrified at the dogs of war that he unleashed with his 97 Theses and the radical splintering movements that they spawned such as the Anabaptists. What is very frustrating to the religious historian is that there is not a clear thread of development of the Baptist movement and whether or not it had a clear ancestry linking the pre-Baptist movements such as the Anabaptists with the later Baptists.

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Due to the demise of the monarchy, the Westminster Confession was declared officially the faith statement of the Church of England (Anglican Church) and Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). The confession was not very expansive. This inspired more expansive confessions later. These confessions of faith represent two of Christ-exalting expressions of Baptist faith and practice that were written down at the time. The Particular Baptists were those who believed in a strict-Calvinist interpretation of scripture.

In the early 17th century, General Baptists were called so because of the belief that they had in a General Atonement. This view of atonement is that Jesus in his death made possible the salvation of all. Particular Baptists observed the so-called Particular Atonement which held that Jesus in his death sought to save particular individuals, usually referred to as the elect.

These Calvinist flourishes differentiated the "Baptists" of the early 1600's form what we know of most Baptist's today. These beliefs were based upon the "Grace Baptist" positions that emphasized the power of grace and salvation based upon faith, as evidenced by baptism. However, any way one looks at it, the particularistic faith paid out in coin James 2:20 (Lumpkin 15).

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