english baptists in 19th century

7/30/2019 English Baptists in 19th Century

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Interdenominational

Efforts 1798Protestant Unionfund for

relief of older clergyParticular

Baptist John Rippon (wrote How

Firm a Foundation) of Southwarkchurch in London was a charter

member

1799Religious Tract SocietyBaptist Joseph Hughes of Battersea

was 1st secretary


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Interdenominational

(cont.) 1804British and Foreign Bible

SocietyHughes was also 1st

secretary of this organization


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The Baptist Union

organized in London in 1813 forParticular Baptists

1831reorganizationUnion now

welcomed General Baptist churchesof the New Connectionsome NewConnection pastors even presided

1863further reorganizationmore

centralized bodyby now one-thirdof affiliated churches were from NewConnection


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Baptist Union (cont.)

1873doctrinal changessoftening

of Calvinism

1891full merger of Baptist Union

and New ConnectionUnderwoodsuggested (in A History of theEnglish Baptists) 3 factors behind

merger: continuing decline of Calvinism among

Particular Baptists


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Baptist Union

movement toward open communion and

open membership among both groups

Baptist Union already had provided

Particular and New Connection Baptists a

common meeting-ground

1899Baptist Union Handbook listed 2697Baptist churches in England, Wales,

Scotland, and Ireland, with 355,218 members

(Baptist Union today includes England &

Walesseparate Union in Scotland)


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Charles Haddon Spurgeon

(1834-1892)

born in Essex County, England, 10

days after Carey diedhis father

John was a businessman and

preacher at the Independent Church(infant baptism) at Tollesburyhis

grandfather was also an Independent

pastor (Spurgeon lived withgrandparents for 6 years because of

parents economic problems)


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Spurgeon (cont.)

Spurgeons first contact with Baptistswas at age 15 while serving as anassistant at a school in Newmarket

1850conversion at PrimitiveMethodist chapel in Colchesterduring a snowstormwithin 4months he was immersed

1851moved to Cambridge to teachschoolattended St. Andrews StreetBaptist Church


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Spurgeon (cont.)

Spurgeon began to preach in St.

Andrews Streets mission chapels

soon he was called to pastor chapel

at Waterbeach, where he served 1852-54

1854at 20, he was called to New

Park Street Baptist Church in London(Southwark church previously

pastored by Keach, Gill, and Rippon)


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Younger Spurgeon


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Spurgeon (cont.)

church had dwindled down to 232

members

Spurgeon was never ordained

he married Susannah Thompson, a

member, in 1856she became an

invalid in 1868

New Park St. grew rapidly asSpurgeons preaching drew large

crowds


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Spurgeon (cont.)

1861Metropolitan Tabernacle was

completed, seating 5500membership

of church grew to 5000 by Spurgeons

death (a total of 14,000 additions duringhis ministry in London)

Spurgeon a voluminous writer

sermons, commentaries, monthly Sword

& Troweltoday there is more availablewritten by him than by any other

Christian author, living or dead


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Tabernacle Today


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Tabernacle Interior

Today


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Spurgeon (cont.)

book lover12,000 volumes in hisown libraryusually read 6 booksper week

he organized over 20 social &evangelistic ministries through theTabernacleStockwell Orphanage,Pastors College, Colportage

Association and Book Fund (forministers who could not affordbookshis wife helped with this)


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Spurgeon (cont.)

characteristics of his ministry:

evangelical Calvinist who admired the

Puritans

warm preaching, evangelistic fervor humility, sincerity, appeal to common

people

poor health (gout, kidney inflammation),

bouts of depression, esp. after people

were trampled to death when someone

cried fire while he was preaching


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Spurgeon (cont.)

political interests:

opposed slavery, alienating some Baptists in

American South (who edited out refs. to

slavery in his published sermons) identified with Liberal Party (classical

liberalism)a friend of William Gladstone,

although Spurgeon opposed him on Home

Rule for Ireland (Spurgeon called it RomeRule)


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Down Grade

Controversy conservatives in Baptist Union

concerned about doctrinal drift with

impact of Darwinism, biblical

criticism, and universalism Spurgeon feared a downgrading of

orthodoxy in the Unionin 1887

several articles appeared in Sword &Trowel protesting liberal inroads inBaptist Union


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Spurgeon (cont.)

later in 1887 Spurgeon withdrew from

the Baptist Union, upset that the

Union would not establish a specific

creed in place of its Declaration ofFaith

1888Union passed a resolution

critical of Spurgeon for not givingnames of those in Union he thought

were liberal


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Spurgeon (cont.)

Spurgeon was given names of

liberals in confidence by Samuel

Harris Booth, secretary of Union

Spurgeons friends interpretedresolution vs. Spurgeon as a censure

Spurgeons main antagonist was

John Clifford, president of the Union conflict foreshadowed later ones in

U.S. (1920s; 1979ff.)


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Spurgeon


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Spurgeons Tomb in

London


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Grave Marker


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SPURGEON RAP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z5R

kyAIWYM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z5RkyAIWYMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z5RkyAIWYMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z5RkyAIWYMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z5RkyAIWYM


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Postscript

Baptist Union declined significantly

in 20th century:

19213068 churches, 442,000 members

19812058 churches, 170,000 members(a 57% decline)

todayabout 2150 churches, 140,000

members (another 172 churches with

14,000 members in BU of Scotland)

conflicts over doctrine, ecumenical

relations

english baptists in 19th century

Documents