Introduction to the 1689 LBC

[JM]

A circular letter was sent to particular Baptist churches in England and Wales asking each assembly to send representatives to a meeting in London in 1677. A confession consciously modeled after the Westminster Confession of Faith was approved and published. It has ever since born the name of the Second London Confession. The First London Confession had been issued by seven Baptist congregations of London in 1644. That first document had been drawn up to distinguish newly organized Calvinistic Baptists from the Arminian Baptists and the Anabaptists. Because this second London Confession was drawn up in dark hours of oppression, it was issued anonymously.

Without retracing the whole of English history concerning the events that culminated in the creation of the 1689 London Baptist Confession (hereafter known as the 1689 lbc), I will concentrate on specific events.

Under the rule of Charles I, the Puritans suffered. When Charles came to the throne in 1625, he suppressed the Purian's view of worship and forced the uniformity of religion. By 1642, after failing to improve upon the conditions among the population, supressing the freedom of worship and antagonizing Parliament, civil war erupted. From 1640-1648 there was a time of Presbyterian dominance, having the ruling power that controlled Parliament. During this time, the Baptists were viewed as 'dissenters' and the Presbyterians opposed dissent and religious freedom.

In 1643 when the Westminster Assembly convened, the Baptists were not only excluded but were (deliberately?) misunderstood and falsely accused by the Presbyterians.

In 1661 when Charles II came to the throne he issued a proclamation prohibiting unlawful and seditious meetings under the pretence of religious worship which became known as the Clarendon Code which was a series of acts issued from 1661-1665. Because Charles II aligned himself with the Church of England, even the Presbyterians were now beginning to face persecution as they forced upon the Baptists. In fact, even the Presbyterians were called 'dissenters' by the Church of England'.

In 1662 the Act of Uniformity was passed which sought to force a uniformity of religious worship and practice upon all, that is, all the Church of England viewed as 'dissenters'. It required full agreement with the article of the Church of England and the Book of Common Prayer by all ministers which led to the exclusion of Presbyterians, Baptists and Congregational pastors from their churches.

In 1664 the Conventicle Act was passed which prohibited anyone over six years old from being present at any worship service other than what the Church of England authorized. The penalty was imprisonment for the first two offences and the third offence banished one to America for a period of years. Appeal wasn't even a possibility.

In 1665 the Five-Mile Actwas passed which required noncomformist preachers to swear by oath they would not rebel or practice sediton against the King. Sedition being that whatever the King and/or the Church of England determined.

In 1670 the Second Conventicle Act was passed which gave authorities the power to arrest unlawful worshippers. Those who informed on these 'alleged' violaters received a reward for so doing.

In 1672 the Declaration of Indulgence brought about some rest from persecution. Strangley, Charles II removed all ecclesiastical laws against Dissenters, including Roman Catholics. Many were released from prison of whom was John Bunyan who had been imprisoned for the last twelve years.

However, in 1673 Parliament forced Charles II to withdraw the Declaration of Indulgence and passed the Test Act which reestablished persecution upon all dissenters again at which time John Bunyan returned to prison. It was during this time that Presbyterians and Baptists began to draw closer together, having suffered the same persecution for the same reason and being imprisoned in the same place at the same time. It is believed that at this time when the Baptists began desiring a more unified spirit with other various groups of dissenters the result was the drawing up of the Second London Confession in 1677 which was not signed until 1689.

In 1685 James II, a Roman Catholic, came to the throne. Religious persecution, civil disorder, attempts to murder James and rebellions abounded more severe than at any time before. Many dissenters were imprisoned or executed but these intense conditions ceased in April of 1687 when James issued (re-issued?) the Declaration of Indulgence which emptied the jails, ended persecution and brought relief to the dissenters. Finally, in 1689 the Toleration Act was passed under the reign of Mary (the Protestant daughter of James) and her husband, William of Orange. The Particular (Calvinistic) Baptists ment in 1689 and signed the Second London Confession as a direct result of the Toleration Act.

This is where I will end the Introduction to the 1689 lbc. Next I will continue with the more immediate consequences of the Toleration Act
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Sam Hughey

http://reformedreader.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=211

 

[JM]

Upon William and Mary's entrance to England's throne in 1689, the first Toleration Act was passed that permitted the worship of all denominations in England except two, the Catholics and the Unitarians (toleration does have its limits). Baptist historian, J.M. Cramp, D.D. refers to this time as "The Quiet Period"; "I have named this the �Quiet Period,� because it was not only a time of rest, persecution having ceased, but also a time of stillness�of slumber�of comparative inaction", Baptist History, From the Foundation of the Christian Church to the Present Time, (1871). Also from Cramp's Baptist History; "A General Assembly was convened in London, in 1689, at which ministers or delegates from upwards of one hun�dred churches were present. The meetings continued nine days, from the third to the twelfth of September. The object was to unite the churches together, that by a combination of their energies certain useful purposes might be subserved, besides the benefit which might be expected to result from brotherly communication. It was particularly recommended to raise a fund, by �freewill offerings,� and yearly, quarterly, monthly, or even weekly contributions, �the proceeds of which were to be devoted to the following objects, viz.:�the assistance of such churches as were not �able to maintain their own ministry,� so that their ministers might be �encouraged wholly to devote themselves to the great work of preaching the Gospel;� the sending of ministers �where the Gospel hath or hath not yet been preached, and to visit the churches;� and the furtherance of the wishes of �those members that shall be found in any of the aforesaid churches that are disposed for study, have an inviting gift, and are sound in fundamentals, in attaining to the knowledge and understanding of the languages, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.�

The Toleration Act had now established a rest for the Particular Baptists to endorse and print a confession of faith to refute the false accusations made against them and to establish a firm foundation of Biblical beliefs among the Particular Baptists as opposed to the Arminians of that time. The preface to the confession says it best:

Quote: WE the MINISTERS and MESSENGERS of and concerned for upwards of one hundred baptized congregations in England and Wales (denying Arminianism), being met together in London, from the third of the seventh month to the eleventh of the same, 1689, to consider of some things that might be for the glory of God, and the good of these congregations, have thought meet (for the satisfaction of all other Christians that differ from us in the point of Baptism) to recommend to their perusal the confession of our faith, which confession we own, as containing the doctrine of our faith and practice, and do desire that the members of our churches respectively do furnish themselves therewith.
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Sam Hughey

http://reformedreader.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=251