BETHEL BAPTIST ASSN (South Carolina) NOT CALVINIST

 The earliest record I can find for the Bethel Association in South Carolina are the minutes of 1791, but no articles of faith appear. The articles of faith I have included, come from an individual church within the association. Also, these articles are from the 1840's long after the Bethel Assn. was formed. The Bethel Assn was a Separate Baptist association, and Separate Baptists eschewed confessions and articles of faith, and said the Bible was a sufficient confession. Most of them did however, adopt articles of faith after 1800 as the United Baptist movement came to the fore. 

So how do I come to the conclusion that Bethel was not a Calvinist association? First, the church whose articles of faith I will furnish, finally got around to writing something down, there was nothing that many Calvinist articles would have, such as a "definite number" clause. There is no hint of limited atonement. While perseverance is mentioned, "preservation" is also mentioned aka "kept by the power of God". In article 7, notice the order. Conversion comes BEFORE regeneration. In article 4 it seems election is corporate rather than individual, and "belief" is what bring you into election.

Second, we can get a glimpse of what the Bethel Assn. believed from the memoirs of Dr. Jesse Mercer, a Calvinist. he states that the Bethel Assn in South Carolina preached "general atonement" and were "general provisionists" He says:

  "It seems to be taken for granted that all those venerable fathers, who founded the Baptist Denomination in this state [Georgia], were as stern calvinistic preachers as are the opposers of the new plans.  But this is altogether a mistake. Abraham Marshall [Son of Daniel] was never considered a predestinarian preacher. Some of them were so--seemed to be set for the defense of the gospel.  Of these, Silas Mercer and Jeptha Vining were the chief.  To use his own figure; he used to say, 'he was short legged  and could not wade in such deep water.'  He, with several others, was considered sound in the faith, though low Calvinists. Peter Smith and some others were thought rather Arminian; some quite so. But no division was thought of till Jeremiah Walker adopted and preached openly the doctrine of final apostasy.  Then a division ensued; but soon after the death of Mr. W., the breach was healed.  And here it may not be amiss to add, that the Baptists in the upper parts of South Carolina, in those days, comprehended mostly, it is believed, in the Bethel Association, were general provisionists. I think most of their ministers preached what is now called General Atonement.  But this was never thought of as a bar to correspondence, or even Christian communion." (Memoirs of Elder Jesse Mercer, C.D. Mallary, 1832, pp.201-2, quoted in A History of the Kiokee Baptist Church in Georgia, James Donovan Mosteller, MA., B.D., Th.D., First Printing, 1952, p.37, emphasis mine).

The final piece of evidence, comes from the minutes of the Bethel Assn. of 1806. (see pics) You will notice in the list of churches, the names of their messengers to the association. One of two messengers from Little River Church is Elder David Andrews. This is the same David Andrews that formed the North River Association after moving to Alabama. There is NO doubt about what Andrews believed, and that he preached general atonement and rejected calvinist determinsim vehemently.. You can read about him and the North River Assn here .

 

1. We .believe in one only true and living God, the Father, the Word, and
t!he Holy Spirit.
2. We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testament are
the word of God, and the only rule of faith and practice.
3. We believe in the doctrine of original sin.
4. We believe in the doctrine of election, and that God chose His people in Christ before the foundation of the world, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
5. We believe in man's impotency to recover himself from the fallen
state he is in by nature, by his own free will or ability.
6. We believe that sinner.s are justified in the sight of God only by the
imputed righteousness of Christ.
7. We :believe that God's elect shall be called, converted, .regenerated
and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
8. We believe the saints shall persevere in grace and never fall finally
away, being kept by the power of God.
&. We believe that baptism and the Lord's supper are ordinances of
Jesus Christ, and that true believers are subjects, and that the true
mode of baptism is by immersion, the back being foremost in the water.
10. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, and a general judgment.
11. We believe the punishment ·of the ·wicked, and the joys of the
.righteous, will be eternal.
12. We believe that no ministers have a right to the administration of
the ordinances, only such as are regularly baptized, called, and come un,-
der the imposition of the· hands by the presbytery.
 
 


 

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