Lectures 70-71: Controversies, Bios, Baptists PDF

**Oct.15, 2024 Hist. Theology 3 (RBS Residential) (a version EBC Adult S.S. Class)** **[Lecture 70:] Calvinist Arminian controversy cont** **In our study of church history of late, we've been considering the beginnings of the 18^th^ century evangelical revival, as it's called when referring to Gre...

**Oct.15, 2024 Hist. Theology 3 (RBS Residential) (a version EBC Adult S.S. Class)** **[Lecture 70:] Calvinist Arminian controversy cont** **In our study of church history of late, we've been considering the beginnings of the 18^th^ century evangelical revival, as it's called when referring to Great Britain** **Or, as the parallel revival in North America is called, the Great Awakening** **So far our focus has been on Great Britain, and we come back to that this evening** **And the extraordinary impact of his preaching, especially after he took the momentous step of beginning to preach in the open air** **Remember, Whitefield and Wesley had become acquainted at Oxford, and were both part of what was called, derisively, the Holy Club** **And this is the name that stuck, and was later a kind of tag given to the revival movement, and to the evangelical and experiential Christianity associated with it** **Wesley was converted to an evangelical faith in the gospel in 1738, when he was almost 35** **Where, through various disappointments and his exposure to the Moravians, he had come to the conviction he was a stranger to a true and saving faith in Christ** **But it was through that experience that he came to an understanding of justification by faith alone....** **But then, after considering the conversion and the early preaching of George Whitefield, and then of John Wesley** Whitefield left England for his second trip to the colonies, having entrusted thousands, who had professed conversion under his preaching, to the care of John Wesley And the main reason was that Wesley had decided, while Whitefield was away, to publicly advocate for an Arminian understanding of grace A Christian perfection he began teaching was possible for a believer in this life...(though he never claimed to have experienced it himself) Wesley published a sermon in which he attacked a Calvinistic understanding of grace... Last time we also considered briefly the major tenets of Wesleys' brand of Arminianism And also the details of his doctrine of Christian perfection There were certain influences in Wesley's thinking that made him susceptible to this kind of teaching Who followed what has been called "the mystical way" Though after his conversion to an evangelical faith in Christ, he was able to fight the old mystical tendencies some time, he kept slipping back into them These tendencies in Wesley And his interest in mystical theology and seeking after this experience of Christian perfection But here's an excerpt from his journal, less than a year later, in January, 1739 But the fruits of faith don't precede faith, they are the result of looking entirely away from yourself.... And trusting alone in the all-sufficiency of Christ and His work on our behalf So, Wesley continued at times to struggle with this He wrote, "In one of my last letters I was saying that I do not feel the wrath of God abiding on me; nor can I believe it does. And yet (this is the mystery), I do not love God. I never did. Therefore, I never believed, in the Christian sense of the word. Therefore, I am only an honest heathen...And yet I dare not preach otherwise than I do, either concerning faith, or love, or justification, or perfection....I want all the world to come to what I do not know"[^2^](#fn2){#fnref2.footnote-ref} So, there was this painful struggle from time that you find in Wesley Quoting here from Lloyd-Jones, "When justification by faith was dominant, down went mysticism; but when he became somewhat confused, as he did several times, concerning justification by faith, mysticism came up again....It is important...that we should bear this in mind. In 1740 he made statements about justification by faith\-\--which he had only come to believe two years earlier---which were really denials of this doctrine; and Whitefield and Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians...in London protested" "He did the same again some thirty years later in 1770" "In his conference he made a statement in which he virtually went back to "justification by works" quite openly, and it was printed in the minutes of the Conference" Here was the statement, by the way, that I think Lloyd-Jones is referring to It's from the 1770 Methodist Conference of ministers Well after these minutes were published, Wesley had to do some serious damage control, to assure people that he opposed the doctrine of justification by works.... So, there was apparently throughout his life a kind of confusion at times in his thinking about these things Or to hold to justification by faith alone while also believing that the highest peace and joy is, ultimately, to be found in some second work of grace... But to be fair to Wesley, with all of his confused theology at times, yet on the whole throughout most of his life, Wesley and his followers did preach the essential truths of the gospel For example, in summary They believed that one of the main purposes of preaching is to awaken sinners to their dreadful condition, and to bring them to Christ... And to urge believers to holiness of life They sought to expose the evil of men's hearts, and the sinfulness of their practices..... They pressed the necessity of the new birth, the doctrine of justification by faith in the merits of Christ, the promises of forgiveness and adoption into God's family In all this, Whitefield and Wesley were one Well having finished considering the origins of the Calvinist-Arminian controversy in the Evangelical Revival in England.... Let's move on now to consider, secondly..... **B.** **[Its Effects]** The main effect was it led to a split in the entire English Evangelical Revival movement Wesley by now had begun organizing his converts into societies for mutual edification, similar to the way the Moravians did... Eventually Wesley subdivided these into what were called "Classes" within the society consisting of 12-15 members Independent of these, there also developed "Calvinistic Methodist Societies" Whitefield assumed the leadership of them So, the Calvinistic and Arminian Evangelicals in England went their different ways.... There were still some connections and fellowship between them Wesley and Whitefield also made sort of a pact of peace, that neither would erect chapels in a locality where the other had already been functioning as a religious society He also paid Whitefield, "the tribute of saying that there was only one man whom he thought he had ever known who was the equal of Whitefield in saintliness\-\--and conceivably he thought this other man was a little higher, he was not sure"[^4^](#fn4){#fnref4.footnote-ref} As we'll learn later, the revival as it occurred in Wales was distinctly Calvinistic in its theology... The same will be true in Scotland And though Wesley made as many as 22 trips there, and often received a warm reception, even in Presbyterian churches... The revival there remained reformed in its character The Wesleyan brand of methodism did seem to have more success in Ireland, though not in Northern Ireland, or what's sometimes called Ulster..etc.. **II. [Great Evangelical Calvinist Preachers in England]** It would certainly be wrong to think Whitefield was the only one... There were several great men and preachers God raised up in England during this period I'm only going to take the time to briefly introduce us to some of them A. **[William Grimshaw]**[^6^](#fn6){#fnref6.footnote-ref} [Ex.-] Show them Faith Cook's biography Grimshaw is one of a number examples of a man in those days who was converted while already in the ministry... It's one of those examples of how God was working in the hearts of different men in different places around the same time period... And completely independent of one another Grimshaw was born in 1708 In 1731 he was ordained a deacon in the Anglican church, and entered holy orders as a curate of Rochdale They were men called to work with the priests, and also to preach And this was often preparation for being promoted to a higher position And a curate is a member of the clergy who serves as an assistant to a more senior priest, or as something like an apprentice He was totally ignorant of, or at least indifferent to, the true duties and responsibilities of a Christian minister as well Something he greatly lamented later He continued in this way as a lost Anglican clergyman for at least 10 years For the first few years of his ministry, he spent most of his time hunting and fishing in the woods and rivers of West Yorkshire, where Todmorden is located... And in the evenings socializing, playing cards, drinking and swearing Though he did, seek to make sure he never entered the pulpit drunk We really don't know why, but after being there for three years, something began to change He began to be aware that things were not right with him Faith Cook in her biography, suggests that, perhaps, one cause was his inability to comfort two of his parishioners, a man and his wife, when their infant daughter died at only five weeks old But all was not soon right The couple wondered if the pastor had any more guidance for them And Grimshaw, this time, confessed that he had nothing to advise them, and admitted his own spiritual plight The fact is he had begun to feel a deep concern about his own soul From this time a new note of seriousness came over him He started the practice of praying in secret four times a-day Nothing about the new birth, nothing about justification by faith, forgiveness through the blood of Christ and so on The illness and death of his wife after being married four years, seems to have intensified his concern about his soul One was Thomas Brooks' *Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices* This book deepened his sense of his own sins He was convinced that he was Satan's prey, and under his dominion It almost brought him to the brink of despair But then in 1741 he was visiting a friend Lying on the table in his friend's room was a book that attracted his attention It was the Puritan John Owen's book entitled, *The Doctrine of Justification by Faith* It was in reading this book that Grimshaw was converted His eyes were opened to the truth of the gospel His ministry began to change dramatically Suffice it to say, he eventually became the minister of the Anglican church in Haworth in Yorkshire When he first arrived at Haworth, only a dozen people attended the Communion service in his church He also, like Whitefield and Wesley, engaged in itinerant evangelism throughout that region Traveling on horseback and preaching in the open air, in barns and chapels From 1748, his itinerant evangelism, according to Needham, included a large chunk of Northern England territory, a preaching 'circuit' known as the Great Haworth Round Here is Grimshaw's description of the effects that accompanied his preaching Let me tell you a couple of interesting anecdotes from the life of William Grimshaw... There are many of them, he was quite a character John Newton tells us that, "It was his frequent custom to leave the church at Haworth while the psalm before the sermon was singing, to see if any were absent from worship and idling their time in the churchyard, the street, or the ale-houses and many of those whom he so found he would drive into the church before him" There was a spot out in the countryside some distance from the village, where these young folks would gather for these activities, in spite of all of his pastoral exhortations But suddenly, to their horror, he revealed his true identity When they came to meet with him, he took them into a private room... Then after rising from his knees, he spoke to them about the matter, and he never had the occasion to have do it again One more anecdote On one of the occasions in which Whitefield came to Haworth to preach for Grimshaw, the church building, which held 1000, was too small to hold the crowd of 6,000 who attended They moved the service out into the churchyard As Whitefield stood and announced his text, "It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgement"... Suddenly there was a shriek from the crowd A person had fallen down dead right there on the spot There was another shriek from the crowd, and another person died God most certainly had everyone's attention **B. [James Hervey] (1713-1758)** I'm drawing mainly from Needham for the biographical information about him... And also, from time to time, from J.C. Ryle James Hervey was one of the original members of the Holy Club at Oxford Very religious and serious about trying to be holy, but still unconverted After his studies at Oxford, he was ordained in 1737 and held various positions in the Church of England He was still trusting in his works and religious efforts In God's kind providence, the man was a true Christian, and Hervey asked him one morning, "What do you think is the hardest thing in religion?" Then Hervey said, "I think the hardest thing is to deny sinful self"... Hervey said, "I argued upon the import and extent of the duty, showing that merely to forbear sinful actions is little, and that we must deny admittance and entertainment to evil imaginations and quench irregular desires. In this way I shot my random bolt" "Sir", he said, "there is another instance of self-denial to which the injunction of Christ..extends...which is the hardest thing in religion, and that is, to deny *righteous* self. But it is absolutely necessary" Hervey says that at the time he hated such teaching, and I thought the plowman to be an old fool During this period of Hervey's life, his old Oxford friend, George Whitefield often corresponded with him by letters in the effort to bring him to the full light of the gospel He tells about it in two sermons he gave known as his "Recantation Sermons" Here is his own description of his conversion in a letter to George Whitefield "You are pleased to ask how the Holy Ghost convinced me of self-righteousness, and drove me out of my false rest. Indeed, sir, I cannot tell. The light was not instantaneous; it did not flash upon my soul, but arose like the dawning of the day. A little book by Jenks, upon 'Submission to the Righteousness of God,' was made serviceable to me. Your journals, dear sir, and sermons, especially that sweet sermon on the text, "What think ye of Christ?' were a means of bringing me to the knowledge of the truth. Another piece has been also like precious eye-salve to my dim and clouded understanding\-\--I mean Marshall's 'Gospel Mystery of Sanctification.' These blessed be He who is a light to them that sit in darkness, have in some degree convinced me of my former errors. I now begin to see I have been labouring in the fire, and wearying myself for very vanity, while I have attempted to establish my own righteousness. I trust I knew not what, while I trusted in some imaginary good deeds of my own....As for my own beggarly performances, wretched righteousness, gracious Emmanuel! I am ashamed, I am grieved that I should thrust them into the plan of Thy divine, Thy inconceivably precious obedience! My schemes are altered. I now desire to work in my blessed Master's service, not for life, but from life and salvation" Though he had been a very close friend of Wesley, he became a committed Calvinist and strongly opposed Wesley's Arminianism and perfectionism teaching Two of the most known were, first, his two volumes entitled *Meditations and Contemplations* They were extremely popular First published in 1748, they went through fourteen editions in 14 years... And reached their 25^th^ edition in 1791 Another work he was known for is his three theological volumes entitled, *Theron and Aspasio: or a Series of Dialogues and Letters upon the Most Important and Interesting Subjects* (published in 1753) Hervey said this about the Puritans, "The Puritans, one and all of them, glory in the righteousness of their great Mediator; they extol His imputed righteousness in almost every page, and pour contempt on all other works compared to their Lord's. For my part I know no set of writers in the world so remarkable for this doctrine and diction. It quite distinguishes them from the generality of our modern treatises" [Comment]- pick up with this next time **[Stop Here]** **[Lesson 71:] Evangelical Revival in Great Britain, Part 4, Particular Baptists and the Revival, part 1** **[Comment]- where we are.** Well after considering these developments began to introduce us to some of the other... **II. [Great Evangelical Calvinist Preachers in England cont......]** Last time we were only able to consider two of them William Grimshaw of Haworth And James Hervey who spent most of his ministerial life pastoring in the parish of Weston Favell Well as we move on now the next person I want to introduce us to is.... **C. [John Berridge] (1716-93)** Berridge was described by Charles Spurgeon as the most eccentric preacher who ever lived To be eccentric is to be unconventional, or a bit quirky, as we might put it Quaint is another word used to describe him, which means attractively unusual This is the standard description you find of this man It was part of his personality, later to be used in the service of the gospel... He was born in Kingston on Soar in Notthinghamshire to a prosperous farmer At the age of 19, in 1734, he entered Cambridge University to study for the ministry He took his BA in 1738 and his MA in 1742 and was at the same time elected Fellow of Clare Hall He was a hard-reading man, and made great progress in every branch of literature He was a very popular person to be around because of his love of humor... If it was known that Berridge would be present at any public dinner, the table was sure to be crowded with company Everyone delighted with his unique, entertaining and witty conversation Well in this setting he imbibed the spirit of his company, drinking in a Socinian scheme of religion, losing all of his serious impressions.... And giving up private prayer for a period of ten years But there would be intervals in which he would return to it... In the year 1749 it pleased the Lord to awaken his conscience once more He accepted in 1750 the position of curate in the parish of Stapleford, near Cambridge, where he remained until 1755 But he did begin pressing upon his hearers, with great earnestness, the importance of living a holy life But even though he was very earnest in pressing the necessity of holiness, his ministry throughout those six years had no effect However, he later decided to try again He took up a new post as vicar of Everton, in Bedfordshire, in July 1755 But the same pattern of failure met him again After two years of this, Berridge began to conclude that there must be something wrong with the message he was preaching He began to cry to God for direction Quoting now from JC Ryle, "The constant language of his heart was this---'Lord, if I am right, keep me so; if I am not right, make me so, and lead me to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus'---After incessant repetition of this child-like prayer, it is no wonder that God should lend a gracious ear, and return him an answer, which he did almost two days after. As he was one morning musing on a text of Scripture, the following words seemed to dart upon his mind....'Cease from thine own works, only believe.' At once the scales seemed to fall from his eyes, and he perceived the application. He saw the rock on which he had been splitting for many years, by endeavoring to blend the Law and the Gospel, and to unite Christ's righteousness with his own. Immediately he began to think on the words 'faith' and 'believe', and looking into his Concordance, found them very frequently used. This surprised him so much, that he instantly resolved to preach Jesus Christ and salvation by faith. He therefore composed several sermons of this description, and addressed his hearers in a manner very unusual, and far more pointed than before" His preaching became extremely captivating to his hearers "I preached up sanctification by the works of the law very earnestly for six years in Stapleford, and never brought one soul to Christ. I did the same at Everton for two years, without any success at all. But as soon as I preached Jesus Christ, and faith in His blood, then believers were added to the Church continually; then people flocked from all parts to hear the glorious sound of the Gospel; some coming six miles, others eight, and others ten. And what is the reason why my ministry was not blessed, when I preached up salvation partly by faith and partly by works? It is because this doctrine is not of God, and because He will prosper no ministers but such as preach salvation in His own appointed way; namely, by faith in Jesus Christ" He became friendly with George Whitefield and sometimes preached for him at the Tabernacle church, which was erected for Whitefield in London's Tottenham Court Road Berridge, like Whitefield, adhered to the Calvinistic wing of the revival His reputation for eccentricity is mainly because of his unique and often humorous style of preaching He was sometimes criticized for this and accused of being irreverent It's an important reminder that God uses men with different gifts and temperaments and not by completely neutering their own unique personality... Here's an example of his humorous way of speaking at times... Berridge himself never married and thought it best not to He's writing using as an example the marriages of George Whitefield and John Wesley George married a widow, Elizabeth James in 1741 In her case she seemed to be alright with that ,and their marriage was secure, though without much companionship And she died in 1768 Well here is Berridge's letter to the Countess of Huntingdon He says he opened his Bible at random and it fell open on this verse, Jer. 16:2, "Thou shalt not take thee a wife, nor have sons or daughters in this place" Well, there are so many others we could consider, Henry Venn Also a bit later, John Newton, William Cowper, Augustus Toplady What a remarkable time the 18^th^ century was **E. [Selina, the Countess of Huntingdon] (1707-91)** I highly recommend her biography by Faith Cook Who was she? She was a member of the English aristocracy, born into the Shirley family at Atwell Castle in Northhamptonshire The tiny coffin was being carried by four men The same age as Selina And God used this to awaken this little girl to very serious thoughts about her soul At the age of 21 she married Theophilus Hastings, the Earl of Huntington They had a happy marriage, and she was a devout church-goer in her local Anglican church... But she had no spiritual peace In 1738 at the age of 39, Selina, the Countess, became seriously ill She told her about her conversion and about the joy she had found in Christ She eventually sided with Whitefield in the Arminian-Calvinist controversy And he became her personal chaplain In an effort to expose her own social class to the gospel, she would hold these aristocratic dinner parties... Also in order to alleviate the problem of Whitefield being barred from Anglican pulpits, she used her great wealth to finance the building of meeting houses, or chapels, where people could gather to hear him preach She appointed sympathetic Anglican ministers to be in charge of the chapels and required the prayer-book to be used as the form of worship\[p And also, she pointed out that as part of the aristocracy she had a legal right to appoint as many chaplains as she wished and whomever she wished At that point, Selina was compelled to have her chapels registered as a Dissenting or Nonconformist denominations outside the Anglican Church... Overall, the Countess of Huntington was a tremendous supporter of the revival and its faithful preachers Using her great wealth for the advancement of the gospel So we're considering the Great 18^th^ century Evangelical Awakening in England I want to pause to address to address the question... III. **[What Was Happening with the Particular Baptists in England at This Time]** Something I think should be of particular interest to us and something from which I think we can learn some valuable lessons [Explain]- just get started today I remind you that the Particular Baptists were Calvinistic/Reformed Baptists who grew out of the English reformation We learned a little bit about them in our study of the Puritan era in England They were called Particular Baptist's because of their commitment to particularism It was a prominent segment of Particular Baptists in England who first published in 1677, and then again in 1688 and 1689, what has come to be known as *The London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689*... Well Particular Baptist churches began to pop up in England in the early part of the 17^th^ century, largely as an outgrowth and development of the Puritan movement By the mid-1640's there were seven churches in London That's tremendous growth in only 27 years[^8^](#fn8){#fnref8.footnote-ref} It was a time of great blessing and spiritual harvest. Then when Charles II took the throne in 1660, after the relatively peaceful days of the Cromwell era, the Baptists went through a period of increased persecution According to one historian new churches were planted and \[some\] older ones flourished so that between 1660 and 1699, Baptists increased by about another third[^9^](#fn9){#fnref9.footnote-ref} Then a very important event occurred in 1689 We have the Act of Toleration under William and Mary which brought a new day of religious liberty It gave new freedom to the Baptists after years of persecution Well, on the surface we might think these new freedoms would result in even greater spiritual vitality and growth I'd like to focus on this period of decline among the Particular Baptists in the early 18^th^ century The evidences of this decline are abundant However, by the early 1750's the number of congregations had dropped to around 150 Andrew Fuller summed up the situation in these words, "Had matters gone but for a few years, the Baptist's would have become a perfect dunghill in society."[^13^](#fn13){#fnref13.footnote-ref} The final three decades of the 18th century, and the beginning of the 19^th^ century, were a time of spiritual prosperity and expansion for Calvinistic Baptists... But for most of the 18^th^ century Particular Baptists were in decline There were exceptions It would not be accurate to paint a picture as if everything was bleak But, on the whole, the state of Baptists in the first two-thirds or three-quarters of the eighteenth century was one of spiritual declension. However, as we will see, this problem, for the most part, continued among the Baptists even during the early period of the Evangelical Awakening This was especially true of the particular Baptist's in London Now I think we who are Reformed Baptists ought to be concerned to understand this period of our history What happened to the Baptists? What are some of the factors in the decline of particular Baptist's... And in their early resistance to the Evangelical Awakening? I'll only be able to begin to touch on the first one before we break off this evening We'll take the others next time I. **[First Factor: There Had Developed an Excessively Inward Focus upon The Maintenance of Their Own Congregational Life]** Let me explain how this developed and what I mean That didn't come until later in the 19^th^ century.... So here was the situation They weren't experiencing the kind of overt physical persecution they endured before that, but it was a more subtle kind of pressure Baptists tended to be viewed in a bad light in English society They were out of step; they were out of the mainstream, as it were This kind of subtle social pressure can sometimes be more dangerous for the church than overt persecution The tendency is to become defensive and self-protecting Well, in a sense, this is what happened with many Baptists I quote again from Haykin He goes on to quote from a prominent Baptist pastor of that time.. He's quoting there from John Gill So, this was the situation Many Baptists responded to the social, and sometimes even legal discrimination, surrounding them by being content to stay behind the walls of their meeting houses... It's interesting and, perhaps, a bit embarrassing for us to read the impression some good men had of Nonconformist churches at that time Now it's true, and we should know this to be fair, that in England at that time Nonconformist ministers were required by law to proclaim the Word of God only within their meeting houses The same is true of many of the other great preachers God used during the Awakening Now, again, there were notable exceptions There were Baptists like Benjamin Beddome Also, men like William Mitchel and David Crosley who evangelized towns and villages throughout parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire[^22^](#fn22){#fnref22.footnote-ref} And there were others. But on the whole, there was this excessively inward focus upon the maintenance of their own congregational life. Well certainly this can be a great danger for us today as well I wonder if, perhaps, there is this tendency at times among Reformed Baptists to be too inwardly focused in some of our churches (in our own church) Certainly, we need to do that, and we must do that Our distinctives are very important That often views us as churches that are out of step with the spirit of the times and out of step with mainstream evangelicalism... We can become content maintaining our own congregational life and preserving our distinctives... And have a sense of self-satisfaction about them and become excessively defensive about them Thus, while preserving our congregational life, a terrible deadness can come over us.... [Comment]- other factors...next time ::: {.section.footnotes} ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. ::: {#fn1} This is quoted by Denver McDaniel in an internet discussion thread and is taken from Ian Murray's biography of Wesley, *Wesley and the Men Who Followed* (Banner, 2003) 8-9. The thread is entitled *John Wesley is not saved?* And can be found here: https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic\_id=18772&forum=40. 8[↩](#fnref1){.footnote-back} ::: 2. ::: {#fn2} Ibid. Quoted from Stephen Tomkins biography of Wesley, 2003, p.168.[↩](#fnref2){.footnote-back} ::: 3. ::: {#fn3} I draw here from the summary of Wesleyan preaching given in Mark Noll's America's God, as he is quoting from Freeborn Garretson, a Methodist preacher, 334-35[↩](#fnref3){.footnote-back} ::: 4. ::: {#fn4} Lloyd-Jones, *The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors,* "John Calvin and George Whitefield", 119.[↩](#fnref4){.footnote-back} ::: 5. ::: {#fn5} Ibid. 110.[↩](#fnref5){.footnote-back} ::: 6. ::: {#fn6} I draw in this sketch of the life and ministry of William Grimshaw from there sources, Faith Cook, *William Grimshaw of Haworth* (Banner of Truth, 1997); J.C. Ryle's *Christian Leaders of the 18^th^ century*; Nick Needham, *2000 Years of Church History Vol. 5: The Age of Enlightenment and Awakeing* (Christian Focus, 2023), and an article from Banner of Truth Magqzine, December, 2002 entitled *William Grimshaw and the Revival at Haworth* accessed on July 12, 2024 https://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2002/william-grimshaw-and-the-revival-at-haworth/[↩](#fnref6){.footnote-back} ::: 7. ::: {#fn7} See Ryle, Christian Leaders of the 18^th^ Century, 333-34.[↩](#fnref7){.footnote-back} ::: 8. ::: {#fn8} Dave Merck, *Modern Church History;* manuscript of lectures given for Reformed Baptist Seminary, 247.[↩](#fnref8){.footnote-back} ::: 9. ::: {#fn9} David Englizian, as quoted by Merck, 259.[↩](#fnref9){.footnote-back} ::: 10. ::: {#fn10} Michael Haykin, *One Heart and One Soul: John Sutcliffe of Olney, his friends and his times* (Darlington, Co. Durham, England: Evangelical Press, 1994)*,* 15.[↩](#fnref10){.footnote-back} ::: 11. ::: {#fn11} Ibid. 25.[↩](#fnref11){.footnote-back} ::: 12. ::: {#fn12} Ibid. 24. Haykin is quoting John Gill.[↩](#fnref12){.footnote-back} ::: 13. ::: {#fn13} Ibid. 25.[↩](#fnref13){.footnote-back} ::: 14. ::: {#fn14} Haykin, *Sutlcliff,* 20[↩](#fnref14){.footnote-back} ::: 15. ::: {#fn15} Ibid.[↩](#fnref15){.footnote-back} ::: 16. ::: {#fn16} Ibid.[↩](#fnref16){.footnote-back} ::: 17. ::: {#fn17} Ibid.[↩](#fnref17){.footnote-back} ::: 18. ::: {#fn18} Ibid. The pastor quoted is John Gill.[↩](#fnref18){.footnote-back} ::: 19. ::: {#fn19} Ibid.[↩](#fnref19){.footnote-back} ::: 20. ::: {#fn20} Ibid. 21..[↩](#fnref20){.footnote-back} ::: 21. ::: {#fn21} Ibid. 21.[↩](#fnref21){.footnote-back} ::: 22. ::: {#fn22} Ibid.[↩](#fnref22){.footnote-back} ::: :::