BY EDWARD PARKER, D. D., MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.
Their Number and Divisions—The Regular Baptists—Their Movements and Progress.
BRITISH Baptists are not one body in the sense, or to the same extent, that American Baptists are. If a man in America says he is a Baptist, it is known exactly what he means. But if a man in England says he is a Baptist, you need further to know what sort of a Baptist he is before you can form a definite opinion of his belief or practice. All British Baptists are alike in three things. They are, of course, all Immersionists; they believe that the immersion of believers on a profession of their faith is the only baptism of Scripture. They are all Congregationalists; they believe that every separate congregation of believers is a church in itself, apart from any other congregation, and competent to manage its own affairs. They are all Voluntaries; that is, they are opposed to all connection between Church and State, and all endowments for the support of the clergy secured or allotted to them by the law of the land. They neither accept the patronage, nor allow of the interference, of the civil magistrate in matters of religion and conscience. But, while agreed on these things, there are others on which they differ.
The first principal difference between them is indicated by the terms Particular and General Baptists. These terms express a difference, not of practice in regard to communion, but of creed. Particular Baptists are professedly Calvinistic in their creed; General Baptists are professedly Arminian. Particular Baptists have existed in England for a much longer period than General Baptists. The first General Baptist church in England was founded in about the year 1612, and had its location in Newgate, London. After a time, an Association of General Baptist churches was formed; and still later, in 1770, the Association was re-organized under the title of the General Baptist Association of the New Connection. The occasion for this new departure was the doctrinal degeneracy of the churches of the old association. “From general redemption,” says Dr. Ryland, “they had gone to no redemption; from Arminianism to Arianism and Socinianism.” This re-organized Association still exists, and it still bears the same name. The churches belonging to it are all Arminian in doctrine. On the question of Communion, they are divided. Some of them practice Close Communion, and some Open. Formerly, the churches were nearly all Close, but Open Communionism has made considerable advances amongst them during recent years. They have a College at Nottingham for the education of young men for the ministry. They have, also, their own Missionary Societies.
EDWARD PARKER, D. D.
The Particular, or Calvinistic, Baptists of England differ in some respects from each other. Professedly, they are all alike, Calvinists, but they are not all Calvinists alike. Some of them are hyper, and some of them moderate, Calvinists. At the beginning of this century, nearly all the Particular Baptists in the country were Hyper-Calvinists. This resulted from the teaching of such men as John Brine and Doctor John Gill. The teaching of and influence of Andrew Fuller inaugurated a change: and the change thus inaugurated has continued and developed ever since, so that to-day the vast majority of Particular Baptists in Great Britain are moderate Calvinists. The Hyper-Calvinists, however, are by no means extinct. In some parts of England they are rather numerous, while in almost all parts a few of them may be found. There are amongst them some very excellent people. They adhere firmly to their principles. They maintain a separateness from the world that other Christians might profitably emulate. But, speaking generally, they are not very aggressive in their spirit; at any rate in the direction of efforts to spread the truth. There is not much of the missionary spirit amongst them. They have, however, one Missionary Society called, with an emphasis, the Strict Baptist Mission. This Mission has two centres of evangelical work—in India and Ceylon. In India, there are sixteen stations, and twenty-eight workers; in Ceylon, there are six stations and seven workers. The income last year was nearly £700, and the expenditure about £590.