Baptist Confession of Faith, the 1689

the most famous and well known of the calvinistic baptistic confessions - others do exist before and after the formulation of this one. most baptists' today opt for 'statements of faith' but this booklet highlights a bygone era, how baptists thought especiallythose that emerged out of the reformation in england and in particular the puritan movement NOT the anabaptistic movement as explained in the introduction. \\nI would highly recommend this small booklet to any baptist to purchase and read, it comprises of 33 chapters on all the major themes of doctrine beginning with their understanding on Scripture all the way to the end times teaching. each chapter has a number of subsections, the one 'on the church' is quite detailed and is worth a look for this was the main departure from the Westminster Confession of Faith on which it was based.

The Baptist Confession of Faith originally appeared in 1644 and represented the Beliefs and teachings of the Reformed Baptist Churches of London of that time and was revised in 1646. It therefore first came out 2 years before the Westminister Confession. \\r\\nThis book is on the further revised 1689 Confession of Faith of the Reformed (Particular) Baptist Churches. \\r\\nIt is very readable with excellent comments by Dr Peter Masters gently 'clarifying' the meaning of archaic terms and words. \\r\\nAs a Baptist Pastor I find this book has immense value as a study tool both for individual and group Bible studies - and not just for Baptists. \\r\\nHere with clarity and brevity together with scripture proofs the foundational doctrines of the Christian Faith is carefully laid down. It gives us a clear understanding of the great depth of understanding of our Baptist forebears and poignant reminder of how far we have fallen.

To get a good understanding of Reformed theology, then you must read one of the historic confessions of the Reformed tradition. The Westminster Confession is the usual first port of call, but if you're a Baptist then you can read the Baptist version and if you're Congregationalist then you have the Savoy Declaration. \\r\\n\\r\\nWhat does the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith teach? Advanced systematic theology. All the major doctrines of the Bible are present and accounted for with proof texts. \\r\\n\\r\\nWhy do I say it contains 'advanced' systematic theology? This confession was shaped by some of the greatest theologians who ever lived and every word of it is carefully chosen. This is not a document you skim read, but one you read carefully and meditatively. Thus, it is truly 'advanced' reading. \\r\\n\\r\\nIs it for everyone? If you claim to come from the Reformed tradition I would recommend you try reading through it at least once. Firstly, to expose yourself to first class teaching even if you don't understand it all. Secondly, to give yourself some awareness of historical theology. Not everything in the document is supported by all those who call themselves Reformed today. Nevertheless it is good to see where your forebears stood on something like children dying in infancy and whether we are warned against the pope in Scripture. \\r\\n\\r\\nWhy read the Peter Masters' edition? The theology is hard enough without the additional struggle of reading older English. So this…