Confession of Faith (1689)

Last updated

The Confession of Faith (1689), also known as the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, [1] [2] or the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (to distinguish it from the 1644 London Baptist Confession of Faith), is a Particular Baptist confession of faith. It was written by English Baptists who subscribed to a Calvinistic soteriology as well as to a covenantal (yet non-Westminsterian) systematic theology. Because it was adopted by the Philadelphia Association of Baptist Churches in the 18th century, it is also known as the Philadelphia Confession of Faith. [3] The Philadelphia Confession, however, was a modification of the Second London Confession; it added an allowance for the singing of hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs in the Lord's Supper and made optional the laying on of hands in baptism. [4]

Contents

History

The Confession was first published in London in 1677 under the title "A confession of Faith put forth by the Elders and Brethren of many Congregations of Christians, Baptized upon Profession of their Faith in London and the Country. [5] With an Appendix concerning Baptism." [3] It was a revision of the Savoy Declaration (1658) with modifications to reflect Baptist theology. [3] Savoy is itself a revision of the Westminster Confession (1646) from presbyterian to congregational church polity. The Confession was published again, under the same title, in 1688 and 1689. [3] [6]

The Act of Toleration passed by the Parliament of England in 1689 enabled religious freedom and plurality to co-exist alongside the established churches in England and Scotland. In response to the Act, representatives from over 100 Particular Baptist churches gathered in London from 3–12 September of 1689 to discuss and endorse the 1677 document. Thus, despite the fact that the document was written in 1677, the official preface to the Confession has ensured that it would be known as the "1689 Baptist Confession of Faith." [6]

Contents

The Confession consists of 32 chapters, as well as an introduction and a list of signatories.

  1. Of the Holy Scriptures
  2. Of God and the Holy Trinity
  3. Of God's Decree
  4. Of Creation
  5. Of Divine Providence
  6. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof
  7. Of God's Covenant
  8. Of Christ the Mediator
  9. Of Free Will
  10. Of Effectual Calling
  11. Of Justification
  12. Of Adoption
  13. Of Sanctification
  14. Of Saving Faith
  15. Of Repentance Unto Life and Salvation
  16. Of Good Works
  17. Of the Perseverance of the Saints
  18. Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation
  19. Of the Law of God
  20. Of the Gospel and the Extent of Grace
  21. Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience
  22. Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day
  23. Of Lawful Oaths and Vows
  24. Of the Civil Magistrate
  25. Of Marriage
  26. Of the Church
  27. Of the Communion of Saints
  28. Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper
  29. Of Baptism
  30. Of the Lord's Supper
  31. Of the State of Man After Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead
  32. Of the Last Judgment

Distinctives

Influences

Particular Baptists were quick to develop churches in colonial America, and in 1707 the Philadelphia Baptist Association was formed. [14] This association formally adopted the 1689 Confession in 1742 [14] after years of tacit endorsement by individual churches and congregational members. With the addition of two chapters (on the singing of psalms and the laying on of hands), it was retitled The Philadelphia Confession of Faith. [15] Further Calvinistic Baptist church associations formed in the mid-late 18th century adopted the Confession as "The Baptist Confession." [16]

Current usage

Baptist churches around the world continue to subscribe to the 1689 Baptist Confession as the fullest statement of their beliefs. Many 1689 churches are listed in directories like the Reformed Wiki, the Farese Church Directory and the 1689 Church Directory.

Modernizations

Efforts have been made in recent years to modernize the language of the 1689 Baptist Confession to make it more accessible to contemporary readers. Some approaches are rather free, such as SM Houghton's A Faith to Confess, while others, such as Jeremy Walker's Rooted and Grounded, are more conservative. Still others, like Stan Reeve's The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith In Modern English lie somewhere between. A comparison from the first paragraph demonstrates this:

". . . which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now ceased." (Banner of Truth, 1689) [17]

"And as the manner in which God formerly revealed His will has long ceased, the Holy Scripture becomes absolutely essential to men." (A Faith to Confess, 1975) [18]

"This means that the Holy Scriptures are most necessary, because God’s former ways of revealing his will to his people have now ended." (Rooted and Grounded, 2021) [19]

"Therefore, the Holy Scriptures are absolutely necessary, because God's former ways of revealing His will to His people have now ceased." (The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith in Modern English, 2017) [20]

Modern expositions

Several expositions of the 2LBCF have been published in recent years.

A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession, by Samuel Waldron, first published in 1989, was one of the first influential expositions of the confession in recent years. [21] It has remained an influential work ever since, going through several editions, revisions, and corrections. Since it was first published, reformed Baptist scholarship has matured in several respects, particularly regarding covenant theology. [22] Nevertheless, it remains a respected source for understanding the theology of the 2LBCF.

A New Exposition of the London Baptist Confession of Faith, edited by Rob Ventura, is a collection of essays written by various reformed Baptist pastors and scholars expounding upon the theology of the 2LBCF. [23]

To the Judicious and Impartial Reader, by James Renihan is part of a multi-volume series covering 17th century reformed Baptist documents. [24] Renihan's work is much larger than that of Waldron or Ventura.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reformed Christianity</span> Protestant denominational family

Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, a schism in the Western Church. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregational traditions, as well as parts of the Anglican and Baptist traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eucharist</span> Christian rite and sacrament

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper, the night before his crucifixion, giving his disciples bread and wine. Passages in the New Testament state that he commanded them to "do this in memory of me" while referring to the bread as "my body" and the cup of wine as "the blood of my covenant, which is poured out for many". According to the synoptic Gospels this was at a Passover meal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sabbath in Christianity</span> Inclusion or adoption in Christianity of a Sabbath day

Many Christians observe a weekly day set apart for rest and worship called a Sabbath in obedience to God's commandment to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seventh Day Baptists</span> Branch of Christianity

Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They believe in conscious baptism of believers by immersion, congregational government and the scriptural basis of opinion and practice. They profess a statement of faith instituted on fundamental precepts of belief. Seventh Day Baptists rest on Saturday as a sign of obedience in a covenant relationship with God and not as a condition of salvation. Many, have adopted a Baptist covenant theology, based on the concept of regenerated society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westminster Confession of Faith</span> Presbyterian creedal statement

The Westminster Confession of Faith, or simply the Westminster Confession, is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" of doctrine in the Church of Scotland and has been influential within Presbyterian churches worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westminster Shorter Catechism</span> Presbyterian manual of basic religious instruction

The Westminster Shorter Catechism is a catechism written in 1646 and 1647 by the Westminster Assembly, a synod of English and Scottish theologians and laymen intended to bring the Church of England into greater conformity with the Church of Scotland. The assembly also produced the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger Catechism. A version without Scripture citations was completed on 25 November 1647 and presented to the Long Parliament, and Scripture citations were added on 14 April 1649.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Covenant theology</span> Protestant biblical interpretive framework

Covenant theology is a biblical theology, a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for understanding the overall structure of the Bible. It is often distinguished from dispensational theology, a competing form of biblical theology. It uses the theological concept of a covenant as an organizing principle for Christian theology. The standard form of covenant theology views the history of God's dealings with mankind, from Creation to Fall to Redemption to Consummation, under the framework of three overarching theological covenants: those of redemption, of works, and of grace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sabbath desecration</span> Failure to observe the Biblical Sabbath

Sabbath desecration is the failure to observe the Biblical Sabbath and is usually considered a sin and a breach of a holy day in relation to either the Jewish Shabbat, the Sabbath in seventh-day churches, or to the Lord's Day (Sunday), which is recognized as the Christian Sabbath in first-day Sabbatarian denominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorialism</span> Theological position of certain Christian denominations

Memorialism is the belief held by some Christian denominations that the elements of bread and wine in the Eucharist are purely symbolic representations of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the feast being established only or primarily as a commemorative ceremony. The term comes from the Gospel of Luke 22:19: "Do this in remembrance of me", and the attendant interpretation that the Lord's Supper's chief purpose is to help the participant prayerfully remember Jesus and his sacrifice on the Cross, and symbolically renew commitment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Reformed Christianity</span>

Reformed Christianity originated with the Reformation in Switzerland when Huldrych Zwingli began preaching what would become the first form of the Reformed doctrine in Zürich in 1519.

Rebaptism in Christianity is the baptism of a person who has previously been baptized, usually in association with a denomination that does not recognize the validity of the previous baptism. When a denomination rebaptizes members of another denomination, it is a sign of significant differences in theology. Churches that practice exclusive believer's baptism, including Baptists and Churches of Christ, rebaptize those who were baptized as infants because they do not consider infant baptism to be valid. However, churches from such denominations deny that they rebaptize because they do not recognize infant baptism as baptism at all.

A church covenant is a declaration, which some churches draw up and call their members to sign, in which their duties as church members towards God and their fellow believers are outlined. It is a fraternal agreement, freely endorsed, that establishes what are, according to the Holy Scriptures, the duties of a Christian and the responsibilities which each church member pledges themselves to honour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confession (Lutheran Church)</span>

In the Lutheran Church, Confession is the method given by Christ to the Church by which individual men and women may receive the forgiveness of sins; according to the Large Catechism, the "third sacrament" of Holy Absolution is properly viewed as an extension of Holy Baptism. Unlike Roman Catholicism, the practice of private confession in the Lutheran Church is voluntary, not obligatory.

Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that identifies primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 1517. Lutheranism subsequently became the state religion of many parts of Northern Europe, starting with Prussia in 1525.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keach's Catechism</span> Particular Baptist catechism

Keach's Catechism is a Reformed Baptist catechism consisting of a set of basic questions and answers from scripture teaching readers the basics of the Baptist faith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sabbatarianism</span> View within Christianity that advocates the observation of the Sabbath

Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacrament</span> Christian rite recognized as of particular importance and significance

A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the reality of God, as well as a channel for God's grace. Many denominations, including the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Methodist, and Reformed, hold to the definition of sacrament formulated by Augustine of Hippo: an outward sign of an inward grace, that has been instituted by Jesus Christ. Sacraments signify God's grace in a way that is outwardly observable to the participant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regulative principle of worship</span> Christian doctrine

The regulative principle of worship is a Christian doctrine, held by some Calvinists and Anabaptists, that God commands churches to conduct public services of worship using certain distinct elements affirmatively found in scripture, and conversely, that God prohibits any and all other practices in public worship. The doctrine further determines these affirmed elements to be those set forth in scripture by express commands or examples or, if not expressed, those implied logically by good and necessary consequence. The regulative principle thus provides a governing concept of worship as obedience to God, identifies the set of specific practical elements constituting obedient worship, and identifies and excludes disobedient practices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of Protestantism</span> Overview of criticism of Protestantism

Criticism of Protestantism covers critiques and questions raised about Protestantism, the Christian denominations which arose out of the Protestant Reformation. While critics may praise some aspects of Protestantism which are not unique to the various forms of Protestantism, Protestantism is faced with criticism mainly from the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, although Protestant denominations have also engaged in self-critique and criticized one another. According to both the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy, many major, foundational Protestant doctrines have been officially declared heretical.

Protestant theology refers to the doctrines held by various Protestant traditions, which share some things in common but differ in others. In general, Protestant theology, as a subset of Christian theology, holds to faith in the Christian Bible, the Holy Trinity, salvation, sanctification, charity, evangelism, and the four last things.

References

  1. ↑ The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Documents, Reformed
  2. ↑ 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith  . 1689 – via Wikisource.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Schaff, Philip (1877). "The Baptist Confession of 1688 (The Philadelphia Confession)". The Creeds of Christendom (entry). Vol. 3 - The Creeds of the Evangelical Protestant Churches. New York: Harper & Bros. pp. 651–. ISBN   978-1-61025-039-9.
  4. ↑ Leonard, Bill J (2012). Baptists in America. Columbia University Press. ISBN   9780231501712.
  5. ↑ James Leo Garrett, Baptist Theology: A Four-century Study, Mercer University Press, USA, 2009, p. 72
  6. 1 2 J. Gordon Melton, Faiths Across Time, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2014, p. 1258
  7. ↑ "The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 19 Of the Law of God, Paragraph 3, 5". 14 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "Chapter 22 of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day, Paragraph 4". 11 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "Chapter 22 of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day, Paragraph 7". 11 May 2017.
  10. ↑ "Chapter 25 of Marriage, Paragraph 1". 8 May 2017.
  11. ↑ "Chapter 25 of Marriage, Paragraph 3". 8 May 2017.
  12. ↑ "1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 26 Of the Church, Paragraph 9, 11". 7 May 2017.
  13. 1 2 "The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 32 Of the Last Judgement, Paragraph 2". May 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  14. 1 2 Reid, DG; Linder, RD; Shelley, BL; Stout, HS (1990), Dictionary of Christianity in America, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  15. ↑ "The Philadelphia Confession of Faith". The Spurgeon Archive. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  16. ↑ William Cathcart, The Baptist Encyclopedia - Volume 2, The Baptist Standard Bearer, USA, 2001, p. 573
  17. ↑ The Baptist Confession of Faith. 6 September 2018.
  18. ↑ "SGCB | A FAITH TO CONFESS: The 1689 London Baptist Confession in Modern English". www.solid-ground-books.com. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  19. ↑ www.thoughtcollective.com, Thought Collective. "Rooted and Grounded by Jeremy Walker". 10ofthose.com. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  20. ↑ Reeves, Stan (2017). The 1689 Baptist Confession in Modern English. Cape Coral, FL: Founder's PRess. ISBN   978-1-943539-04-8.
  21. ↑ Waldron, Samuel (2016). A modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith (5th ed.). Welwyn Garden City, UK, AL7 1TS: EP Books. pp. cover page. ISBN   978-1-78397-187-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  22. ↑ Waldron, Samuel (2016). A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith (5th ed.). Welwyn Garden City, UK, AL7 1TS: EP Books. p. 128. ISBN   978-1-78397-187-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  23. ↑ Ventura, Rob (2022). A New Exposition of London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire, IV20 1TW, Scotland, UK: Mentor. ISBN   978-1-5271-0890-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  24. ↑ Renihan, James (2022). To the Judicious and Impartial Reader. Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press. ISBN   978-1-943539-34-5.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.