“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.” (1 Timothy 5:17 KJV) Biblically, there are only two officers in a church, pastor and deacon. They are not the same. What I mean is, the deacons are not pastors and pastors are not…
Baptist Disctinctives
Don’t Be Suspicious of Plurality of Pastors
“Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:” (Acts 15:22) The New Testament pattern is not elder-rule, but rather it is an elder-led congregationalism. This is good…
Plurality of Elders Taught In The New Testament
As I gather some thoughts from my studies in Acts, I will share some about pastors. This first post is about elders in the church. “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they…
J.R. Graves and William Kiffin
JR Graves also included an appendix note about William Kiffin, who he identified as a Landmarker in the book “Old Landmarkism.” Two things worth noting 1) Kiffin was a signer of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. He is second on the list in my copy. Graves would have known this. 2) Notice Graves…
B.H. Carroll and the 1689
“The Philadelphia Confession of Faith, adopted in 1742, and printed by Benjamin Franklin in 1743, is, with some modifications, but a reproduction of the old London Confession, adopted in 1689. It is the prevalent standard in 1800.” -B.H. Carroll (1843-1914) The Baptists One Hundred Years Ago
David Benedict and the Philadelphia Confession
David Benedict, Baptist historian who lived 1779-1874, wrote this in his book “Fifty Years Among The Baptists” – The Philadelphia Confession of Faith, published in that city, in 1742, was the standard of most of the oldest Baptist churches in this country, especially in the middle and southern States. This Confession was copied mostly from…
C.H. Spurgeon and the 1689
The following is from the Autobiography of Charles Spurgeon, regarding the 1689 Confession: In 1855,—partly as an answer to the slanders and calumnies by which I was assailed, and partly that my own people might be furnished with a plain statement of “the faith once for all delivered to the saints,”—Messrs. Alabaster and Passmore brought…
J.R. Graves and the 1689
In the book Intercommunion, JR Graves does mention the confession and of course, his disagreement with Article 26, Paragraph 1. He mentioned his preference of the First London or the New Hampshire Confession as to giving what he believed to be a more scriptural definition of the church. (I am not sure even most Landmarkers…
J.M. Pendleton and the 1689
J.M. Pendleton, A “Landmarker” writing about the 1689 Confession: Having indicated who should not baptize, I shall attempt to show who should baptize. Before I refer to the scriptural argument, I will presentwhat has been, as I think, the general views of Baptists, I go back to the Confession of Faith, put forth in London…
Baptists and The Five Solas
From the Protestant Reformation came the “Five Solas” which can be summarized as follows: Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)Sola Christus (Christ Alone)Sola Fide (Faith Alone)Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone) I am not going to exhaust you with a history lesson about the Protestant Reformation or the history of the Five Solas…